[Neil Williams]

Well what can I say.
Last Thursday my 30 ft Prolong snapped through the clamp and pole on the top section, made phone call to Brodex.
Friday morning TNT arrived to take complete pole away at Brodex cost.
Monday courtesy pole arrives at Brodex cost. (Brand new pole!)
Tuesday call from Brodex to say KEEP the new pole we sent you as the old one is broken, even though it was just one of the sections that needed replacing.
NOW THAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE. EXCELLENT.

[macmac]

Well what can I say.
Last Thursday my 30 ft Prolong snapped through the clamp and pole on the top section, made phone call to Brodex.
Friday morning TNT arrived to take complete pole away at Brodex cost.
Monday courtesy pole arrives at Brodex cost. (Brand new pole!)
Tuesday call from Brodex to say KEEP the new pole we sent you as the old one is broken, even though it was just one of the sections that needed replacing.
NOW THAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE. EXCELLENT.

I would call it Sh***ing themselves more than customer service
They have always has a reputation for snapping poles & the prolong was suppose to be THE pole. Yeah, right.

Tony

[Simon_King]

Well what can I say.
Last Thursday my 30 ft Prolong snapped through the clamp and pole on the top section, made phone call to Brodex.
Friday morning TNT arrived to take complete pole away at Brodex cost.
Monday courtesy pole arrives at Brodex cost. (Brand new pole!)
Tuesday call from Brodex to say KEEP the new pole we sent you as the old one is broken, even though it was just one of the sections that needed replacing.
NOW THAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE. EXCELLENT.

I would call it Sh***ing themselves more than customer service
They have always has a reputation for snapping poles & the prolong was suppose to be THE pole. Yeah, right.

Tony

Ive got 2 pro longs. A 30' and an 18'. Ive had no problems with them.
Neil, how did it snap?

[Neil Williams]

At the precise time of snapping it was pushing shut a window 18 ft up (1st floor), just pushing not banging it.
The engineering expert I had with me at the time said that aluminium rarely shows any signs of starting to break, it just goes.
I still think this is a superior pole when you compare weight, material, rigidity against others.

In reply to the other post. Yes it snapped but the way in which the situation was resolved was excellent, particulary against other companies I have had issues with over the years.

[alanwilson]

the prolong is made from an aerospace aluminium - probably 7025 grade or similar - very light, very strong, very unusual for this to happen.

we use brodex poles and have to say their service and quality of poles is the best we know of.

[Glyn H]

I find it difficult to comprehend that an aerospace alloy pole would break from pushing a window shut.
Hate to be on the aircraft this type of alloy is being used on.

[alanwilson]

the aluminium used in prolong poles isn't the same aluminium used in critical components - if it was the 30ft prolong would weigh about 300grams and be strong enough to lift, errr, something really heavy - it would also cost about £15k.

theres some even more expensive alu-alloys available too - lighter, stronger, not cheap.

the only problem i see with aluminium being used for poles is that all grades suffer from stress fractures - caused by flexing, twisting forces - something that poles are subject too - day in day out - however good quality aluminium should withstand millions of cycles.

whatever grade alu used in the prolong poles certainly isn't used on critical aerospace components - so I wouldn't panic.

besides all the critical components are designed to take the most severe loading imagineable - I worked in aircraft design many moons ago (I'm an engineer) and all designs I was involved with the single most important factor was safety, very very closely followed by weight as every kg of unnecessary weight costs £thousands in fuel over the lifespan of the craft.

[supernova77]

Neil,

How long had you had the pole for before it broke?

Andy

[Lakes and Pennine]

I wouldnt recomend the co to anybody. you order something it comes days, even weeks after they prommise. they sell you substandered stuff you dont need. I have ally pole, yes its good but servise is U/S

[windowwashers]

At the precise time of snapping it was pushing shut a window 18 ft up (1st floor), just pushing not banging it.
The engineering expert I had with me at the time said that aluminium rarely shows any signs of starting to break, it just goes.
I still think this is a superior pole when you compare weight, material, rigidity against others.

In reply to the other post. Yes it snapped but the way in which the situation was resolved was excellent, particulary against other companies I have had issues with over the years.

Neil, sry to make a joke of this but............. come on  :


You had an engineering expert  with you at the time  (just so happened the pole broke at that time you must be very unlucky or your bending the truth a lot

[Ian Rochester]

Had some very good experiences with Brodex but recently we snapped the 3rd section of our 60' pole, this happened whilst raising the pole from horizontal to the vertical position so the only stress on the pole was the brush head and gravity and it is the third time the pole has broken in just over 2 years, we only use it about once a fortnight for a few very high jobs.

Contacted Brodex to ask for a replacement, instead they wanted to sell me another newer, better designed 60' pole, yes, at a discounted price, though still too much for me to fork out. 

When I said that it was too much and I just wanted a replacement section they quoted me just under £200 for the single section alone and I very much got the feeling that it was not the result they wanted.

We are now working with it at a max of 50' until I find a cheaper solution.

[Mr H]

I wouldnt recomend the co to anybody. you order something it comes days, even weeks after they prommise. they sell you substandered stuff you dont need. I have ally pole, yes its good but servise is U/S

If you didn't need it then why did you buy it...?... or you could have simply returned it...?

Regards
Mr H