Executive Hire News › Archives › December 2009 › Crosshire : Competing with Santa's grotto
Crosshire : Competing with Santa's grotto
It used to be said that Christmas comes once a year, but for some punters it is apparently coming around more often. Not content with blackening our industry’s reputation with poor service and low prices, some hire companies are now so short of storage space that they are offering to leave equipment on site, on the basis that the customer only pays for it if and when he actually uses it!
I had a call from an independent recently who had been shown a shed full of power tools on a site from a well-known source, which were only being charged for if they were used. It doesn’t need much imagination to work out what a deal that is for the lucky customer, who no doubt has periodic attacks of corporate amnesia. I was aware that the access machinery hire market had grown so ragged that some hire outfits were leaving big metal on site on the ‘only pay if you use it basis’, but to find tools and portable equipment being offered in this way is not clever marketing - it is suicidal.
I can only wonder what level of arguments will ensue if any kit left under such arrangements is stolen or damaged. At this time of year, most of us receive communications from clients about their holiday arrangements. Many offer to retain equipment for use when they return to site, but do not expect to be charged for the period when they are not working.
Blind acceptance of these instructions, particularly when they are the ‘last exchange’ of communication between owner and hirer, has proved costly for some over the years. To avoid any doubt, we should always respond to requests for the suspension of hire by pointing out that, although we may agree not to charge any hire fees for the period requested, we will not suspend the contract terms. Unless a client agrees, any theft or damage that occurs over the holiday period will not be recoverable, as the contract was not in force.
Many larger clients are clever at wording their request for suspension of charges to imply suspension of all terms. Last year, a new ploy reared its head with some crafty sods using e-mail to send instructions that were impossible to comply with due to timescale near to the close of business on Christmas Eve. However, I have arranged with our IT supremo to have all our e-mail addresses bounce back mail received after close of play on the last business day before the holiday, warning that we have sent letters to site and office addresses in plenty time, outlining our terms for off-hire or holiday retention.
Any attempt to try it on with last minute instructions will be met by an invoice for all the time over the holiday and a warning that they are fully responsible for security. Not being a complete Scrooge I will not charge for the three statutory bank holidays, but that’s it! A few morons in some parts of our industry have been giving everything away during the current challenging times as though we were in competition with Santa’s Grotto. They risk adding to our collective woes by setting precedents in signing away the strength of our contract terms by agreeing (usually by doing nothing) to any unreasonable demand that drops through the letterbox in December.
Back at the ranch, my own employees have told me they will understand if the usual Christmas bonus is not forthcoming. They are dead right - it won’t be, but I am included in that decision also. I have also told my people we will make our now customary donation to charity again this year. I was impressed to hear about a hire business, which has had to make some redundancies, deciding to send a greetings card and vouchers to those they had reluctantly said goodbye to over the past year. Challenging times may be with us, but it is good to see that people are still valued and recognised as the core asset we must cherish for the future. Best wishes for a Happy Christmas and for many profitable hires throughout 2010.
• Just as I was signing off for the year, the sad news broke that Contract Journal is to cease publication due to the challenging economic climate. I first read CJ in the early 1960s, when you had to pay two bob (10p) for the privilege of handling a spine bound magazine full of first class information. CJ’s roots were in Victorian England at a time when the first real mechanisation of the construction industry was taking place. It is a great shame that the title has not stood up to the latest difficulties, but perhaps if we still had bankers and politicians of the standard and integrity that were around in the 1870s it would be a different story.
|
