Here in the famously sun-drenched streets of Manchester, we, like the rest of the country, were recently hit by a bit of a cold snap. Having to navigate the Arctic tundra to reach the shops proved a skill beyond many and my own attempts resulted in a series of triple pirouettes that Torvill and Dean would have been proud of. You may already wonder where the heck I'm going with this, but what saved many from the effects of the cold weather was adequate protection.
Life is full of mysteries, such as why loo cleaners are marketed with an ability to clean under the rim. Or, why when we reach 50 hair suddenly sprouts from every orifice but stops growing where it ought to be. I'm half expecting them to grow out of my eyeballs any day now.
Another great mystery is why certain manufacturers deem it wise to offer a lesser warranty than their rivals on quality products.
Anyway, enough of this cryptic prelude, let's get down to this month's rant - the subject of which many of you will now have discovered is, protection.To be more precise, the protection consumers feel when they decide to purchase from a retailer or the protection a retailer feels when purchasing from a distributor. Specifically, I wish to rant about the protection a manufacturer offers for the goods they produce.
Why on earth would a wised-up buyer pay more for a quality product if it doesn't arrive with a lengthy warranty against defects? It's my opinion that if a quality manufacturer has faith in the longevity of a product, then that should be reflected by the warranty they offer. To do otherwise is akin to letting your buyer know that it might last beyond two years, but it might not, and if it doesn't that's tough.
For that reason, I believe every bespoke worksurface should come with a manufacturing warranty of at least 10 years. Certain laminate worktop manufacturers, for instance, offer a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects, which dwarves any such warranty period for the bespoke surfaces I'm aware of.
It's not such a hard decision is it? It's certainly one that's important to the customer. Our customers are left under no illusion, for instance, that if they should tenderise their steaks with a sledgehammer on one of our Gemini Quartz worktops, they will not be warranted under the terms of a manufacturers guarantee and should always include accidental damage as an addition to their household policy. If, however, there is a defect in the worktop, a solid, confident warranty protects them.
Our clients generally voice their three biggest concerns before they decide to purchase. The first is cost, the second is gauging our experience and the third is the warranty period offered on the goods we sell.
If a manufacturer believes that to offer an insufficient warranty period may be overlooked in a client's search for quality, then they are sadly deluding themselves and those they deal with.
Protection is important and this fact can be borne out by those who won't make the same mistake of not checking before making their next purchase.
Tim Foley is the founder of www.kitchensfitted.co.uk
