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?Ebay Shurflo pump?
« on: April 16, 2008, 07:30:27 am »
Anyone seen this for sale on ebay?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEBTOX:IT&item=110241738647&_trksid=p3984.cTODAY.m238.lVI

It seems to be going well, you can almost get a new one for the price!

Weird that it says it has to be replaced annually though eh??

Alex Gardiner

  • Posts: 7744
Re: ?Ebay Shurflo pump?
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2008, 08:12:21 am »
Strange advert, of course it will work well when annually replaced!

Interestingly on the subject of pumps though, having spoken to commercial suppliers of carpet cleaning and industrial cleaning machines. They consider these type of pumps to be simply service items and would replace them as a matter of course when servicing a machine. They were quite surprised that window cleaners expect to get years of use from them. Their reaction is, 'but they are only cheap why not change them regularly or at least carry a spare at all times'. Good advice I thought. (and no we do not sell pumps!!)

[GQC] Tim

  • Posts: 4536
Re: ?Ebay Shurflo pump?
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2008, 11:59:47 am »
(and no we do not sell pumps!!)

May I ask you some questions Alex?

Why do you not sell RO's any more? Why do you not sell pumps and controllers? What happened to your ready made set ups that used to be on the website? When moving to a larger premise, will you actively start selling them again because you'd have more space to install them?

Alex Gardiner

  • Posts: 7744
Re: ?Ebay Shurflo pump?
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2008, 03:22:00 pm »
(and no we do not sell pumps!!)

May I ask you some questions Alex?

Why do you not sell RO's any more? Why do you not sell pumps and controllers? What happened to your ready made set ups that used to be on the website? When moving to a larger premise, will you actively start selling them again because you'd have more space to install them?

Good questions.

We found that the DIY kits and the RO systems were not making the firm any money, due to the enormous amount of support time that had to be provided over the phone.

With the pumps we were actually losing money. If a client bought a pump and it was suspected faulty, we would naturally like to send a replacement to them so they could continue working. They would then send back the 'faulty' pump, 30% of the time it would turn out that there was nothing wrong with the pump it was user error, we would then have a second-hand pump which we could do nothing with. Another problem was when we sent back 'faulty' pumps to the wholesalers we would have to be pay delivery costs both ways. They would then charge us for looking at the pump, whether it was faulty or not! Another 30% of the time the pump had been damaged by the user, so no warranty, but of course we had already replaced the pump. Even if the pump was faulty the firm would only repair the pump not replace so we would once again end up with a second hand pump of little value.

We decided about 18 months ago to concentrate on what was profitable and time effective. We are now in the position though, of moving into larger premises with more staff, so we will have more time available to pursue complete kits and systems again. We are also about to bring out a new range of pumps, which will be very affordable and be microbore friendly (warrantied). Also we will be in control of the warranty and replacement side of things so we can still provide excellent service whilst not losing out financially.

[GQC] Tim

  • Posts: 4536
Re: ?Ebay Shurflo pump?
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2008, 05:08:44 pm »
Ah yea, all that makes sense. That's great Alex, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. :)