When all you want to know is how much to budget for maintaining your alarm system, why then does it all seem to be shrouded in such mystery?  Why is it, that you can only get some kind of obscure response from some operators, assuring you that everything will be cheap?  “Yes, we can do an emergency call out for £50 or £60 pounds,” they tell you. Or, “Yes, we can test an extinguisher for £1.00.”  It sounds too good to be true.

Level of trust
The question that the client has really to ask themselves is: can I really trust a maintenance provider that seems to be so cheap? The answer is in the question. If they can offer this service for such a low cost, then how are they making their profit to enable them to say in business? If the up-front prices can’t cover their base costs, then they have to recoup it elsewhere.  And you’ll find out how they do it.  Later.  After you’ve already given them your business.  When you’re asking yourself: did that work really need doing?  Like, for instance: did the smoke detectors changed in my premises really all fail in the space of one year? And how is it that so many of my extinguishers have to be replaced?

Incentives
We’ve spoken with various engineers who work for the bigger companies. Their strategy, it seems, is simple. Step 1: Sell the maintenance contract cheap to gain the volume of work. Step 2: Make sure that as many of the parts are changed during the service visits as can be. Compared to industry standards, engineers employed by the bigger companies are paid a low basic wage, and incentivised to change equipment on site in order to supplement their wage. They have to decide; should I change the detectors, and keep my bosses happy, and put a bonus in my wage packet, or should I tell the client that all the detectors are working fine on this visit?

Real Support
Having been in the industry for a good number of years now, it is clear to me that the practice is widespread. In my opinion it is wrong to incentivise engineers in this manner. What clients need, especially in the current economic climate, is a specialist contractor who is on their side, helping them achieve value for money for their asset, giving them good decent and honest support and advice on the lifetime of their products; working with clients to support them in making a profit themselves, so they don’t have to worry about being ripped off.

Evidence
What evidence can you find to support our stance?  Well, I am sure that most of the big players will deny it, but any organisation who reviews their costs will see when this is happening. When a price is too low, if you’ll excuse the pun, the alarm bells should start ringing.

Ethos
WFP operates on the ethos on honesty, and reliability. We’re in business just like you, to make a profit; but we always put the client first. We want our customers to thrive. What we don’t want is for them to be spending money on devices that don’t need replacing. And if we make the odd mistake, then we always put it right.  I hope the mists have cleared a little now. If you need more clarification, call us on 0800 988 3312; one of our team will be happy to give you the facts.

Tags: technical expertise, Trust, value for money