Employing a Technician?

[dazedandconfused]

I may be buying a spa outside my local dealers territory due to a great price savings ($1000+)  So, I probably count him out servicing it even though he should.  But that is another soap box.

Anyway, I was thinking why couldn't I hire my local dealer's technician to service my spa and do warranty work?  The dealer where I would buy from said he would mail parts to me for warranty work but would be my responsibility to install them.  Thats fine with me.

My local technician could come out to my house during the weekend or during his time off.  He could earn a couple extra bucks.  We both would win!

Questions:

What is an average hourly wage for technicians?
Does my plan sound feasible?  Any problems with it?

Thanks

 

[tony]

My guess is that you may void your warranty if a Sundance authorized tech did not perform the work.  A better solution may be to pay a travel charge to the dealer you are buying from.

 

[dazedandconfused]

Thanks.

I would actually ask the authorized Sundance tech from my local dealer to do the work on his free time.  Would that work?

 

[tony]

Good question.  It might.  I would say the answer lies with the dealer who is selling you the spa.

 

[lets]

One thing you might want to consider. .... If your local technician is an employee of your local spa dealer, what you're proposing could be legitimate grounds for termination.

 

[tony]

Good point Doc.  If it were my employee, he/she would be gone.

 

[Chas]

A thousand bucks savings - if you own this spa for the ten year warranty period, you will have saved about 30 cents per day.

Why not get the better deal in writing, and go to your local dealer. If he splits the difference with you, you both win. If he stays with his price, at least you know what you're dealing with and that he'll be there for you down the road.

 

[dazedandconfused]

Good point.  But couldnt you argue what an employee does in his/her spare time is of no concern to the employer?

 

[dazedandconfused]

BTW - What is an average rate tech's make?  $15, $20, $30 an hour??

I know that dealers charge $100 (just as an example - some dealers charge a fee and some dont) for a call.  The tech gets a small % of that for himself.  Right?

 

[Chas]

I have sold many brands over the years, and I can say with certainty that the reason I have gone back to only selling a top brand is because of after-sale service.

Shoppers - I can't stress this strongly enough: Find the spa you like, and buy it from a local dealer that will be there to take care of you down the road. If you have to spend a bit more to do so, you will not regret it.

The sting of a bad product or crummy dealer will ALWAYS outlive the joy of a low price.

 

[doodoo]

Good point.  But couldnt you argue what an employee does in his/her spare time is of no concern to the employer?

Gotta tell you, I'm somewhat shocked by what you say.

What you propose is to save $1000 and get my service tech to come and work off hours on your tub because the dealer you bought from (not me) will supply you with the parts at no cost (under warranty) if and when you have problems. My first thought on this is how will the dealer know what parts to ship to you free of charge? It requires a tech's determination that the part is indeed faulty and needs replacement. In this case my tech? I don't think so!

What my staff do on their own time is of no business or concern to me unless what they do impacts my work environment. So, if the tech were to do work outside of business hours in the manner which you propose, he would first advised to cease and dissist. If it was a repeat, he'd be fired.

A component of being in business is to make money by providing after sales service. That's called loyalty which is a two way street. My business is to deal with the consumers that have purchased my product and want service related to the product that I am selling. Does'nt matter which product, but I am spending a lot of time, effort and MONEY doing this.  If the tech in question is the owner of the business then hey that is the free market economy, but if the tech is an employee, then he is impacting my business and ya know something after spending my money growing my business and assuming all of the risk that is associated with that only for one of my staff to turn around and cut into my business. It would'nt take long to see a reaction from me. After being fired I guess he would have all of the time in the world to service you though.

I'm not a hot tub dealer but an owner. In the end my best reason to go with the local dealership is that I dial his number and he comes.

 

[zzaphod42]

"There is hardly anything in the world that some men cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper; and people who consider prices only are these men's legitimate prey. The sweetness of low prices is lost by the bitterness of poor quality" (John Ruskin, 1819-1900)

I thought this fitting as I feel it applies to service as well.

Joe

 

[Chris_H]

Dazedandconfused,

Congratulations on saving yourself $1000+ on a spa!  

The major manufacturers being Hotspring and Sundance require that the seller of your spa also repair the spa should anything go wrong with it, especially if they sell it OUT of their local territory.  

You could possibly hire your local dealer’s technician for some warranty repair work.  However, if I am not mistaken he would have to submit a warranty claim through his employer (the dealer closest to you), he would not be able to submit it though his personal business.  

Our business has a few policies for service:  Let’s assume I sell Hotspring and Sundance spas.  I don’t by the way.  I sell Haven.  

Back to your post…

Lets make some assumptions.  I require a sales receipt to do any service.

You buy a Hotspring Spa from me.  Circulation pump goes in 4 years.  It is under warranty.  I will not charge you for service.  I will not charge a per-trip charge.
You buy a Sundance Spa from me.  Circulation pump goes in 6 years.  It is not under warranty.  I will charge you for service.  I will charge $75 dollars an hour.  I will not charge a per-trip charge.

You bought a Hotspring spa in 2002 at a local dealer that went out of business.  I start selling Hotspring spas in 2003.  Circulation pump goes in 2006.  It is under warranty.  I will not charge you for service.  I will charge you a per-trip charge.  $75 dollars to come out to your house.
Y
ou bought a Hotspring spa in 1997 at a local dealer that went out of business.  I start selling Hotspring spas in 2003.  Circulation pump goes in 2006.  It is not under warranty.  I will charge you for service.  I will charge you a per-trip charge.  $75 dollars an hour; $75 dollars to go to your house.

You buy a Sundance spa in 2002 from a dealer 100 miles away because it was $1,000 dollars cheaper.  I am a long time Sundance Spa dealer.  Something goes wrong in 2004 and you cannot repair it yourself.  It is under warranty.  You call me to do the service.  First off.  I won’t do the service, and I have no requirement to do so.  We would kindly tell you to go back to the dealer you purchased it from.  You call your dealer to do the service…  First of all do you think you will be high on his list of service calls (you are 100 miles away)?  I would assume he would charge you AT LEAST $150 dollars just to go out to your house if it was 100 miles away.  He says it will be a month to get to your house.  You then call a non-certified Sundance spa representative to do your service work.  It is fixed.  You now have no warranty.  

Did you save any money?  This actually happen (dealers will agree) and this is why you buy local even if it saves you $1,000 dollars.

Chris H

 

[Spatech_tuo]

"There is hardly anything in the world that some men cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper; and people who consider prices only are these men's legitimate prey. The sweetness of low prices is lost by the bitterness of poor quality" (John Ruskin, 1819-1900)

Excellent, it appears not much has changed since the 1800's.

 

[autoplay]

Found this hard to swallow.......

"Good point.  But couldnt you argue what an employee does in his/her spare time is of no concern to the employer?"


Thats another form of a SCAB!

When r u gonna buy a spa Dazed??

 

[lets]

Good point.  But couldnt you argue what an employee does in his/her spare time is of no concern to the employer?

To an extent. However, when that employee starts to compete with ME for business, he's no longer an employee.

As for wages...... it really depends on "the going rate" in an area, and general policies. It could be as low as $10 per hour straight time (this includes paying the employee wages for travel time) as a normal employee (full benifits and employer paid taxes), to as high as $40 to $60 per hour paid out as an independant contractor (pay basied on "time billed").

 

[E-Man]

These are manufacturer warranties we are talking about correct? Isn't it the responsibility of the manufacturer to provide the authorized parts and labor to fix the product?  I doubt the dealer eats the cost of the parts and labor to fix it.  I'm sure they send in a claim to the manufacturer to recover their parts & labor and reasonable profit.  I would think that to be an authorized dealer, the manufacturer would require dealers to make their factory trained personnel available to perform warranty work in their sales area regardless of whether the unit was bought from them.

 

[ZzTop]

I have sold many brands over the years, and I can say with certainty that the reason I have gone back to only selling a top brand is because of after-sale service.

Shoppers - I can't stress this strongly enough: Find the spa you like, and buy it from a local dealer that will be there to take care of you down the road. If you have to spend a bit more to do so, you will not regret it.

The sting of a bad product or crummy dealer will ALWAYS outive the joy of a low price.

Ahmen!

 

[lets]

Actually many manufacturers pay a flat rate no matter what the problem is (to an extent). Typically what they pay is FAR less then what a service company would normally charge.

These are manufacturer warranties we are talking about correct? Isn't it the responsibility of the manufacturer to provide the authorized parts and labor to fix the product?  I doubt the dealer eats the cost of the parts and labor to fix it.  I'm sure they send in a claim to the manufacturer to recover their parts & labor and reasonable profit.  I would think that to be an authorized dealer, the manufacturer would require dealers to make their factory trained personnel available to perform warranty work in their sales area regardless of whether the unit was bought from them.

 

[UnderTheStars]

Wow, good thread!  I agree with supporting the independant business guy.  I negotiate pretty hard but also dislike the idea of negotiation so hard you drive a stake through the spirit of "fair price."  (A fair price is fair to all parties.)  I also appreciate the dealer perspective about the buyer who passes you by to purchase "out of area."

So here's my question:  I bought a Hot Spring from an adjoining town (50 miles, 1 hour away.)  I bought from them because they are the closest (only) HS dealer.  I just verified this using zip search on the HS web site.  I'm in a small town/they are in a major metro.  If/when I need service how likely is it I will be viewed as a non-priority compared to the "metro" customer?  I assumed they would run calls in the order received (with some minor shuffling.)

Am I headed for disaster?  Extreme trip charges?  I realize this probably depends on the attitude/policies of the guy that owns the dealership, but what do you dealers think?