Whitwood Truck Stop & Driver Hour Guards Beware!

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

I received 2 calls today from totally Different Drivers,

The First Driver was in Lymm Services and had seen the TS01 @ £44.95 and was rather peed off that he’d bought one at Whitwood Truckstop costing £59.95

The Second Driver was calling as he had spent all weekend trying to download the data from the TS01

I explained that the TS01 does not do the Download, low and behold he said he thought it did as it was £59.95 at Whitwood Services.

The first Driver called me back at Tea Time to say he had called in at Whitwood and asked why they were only £44.95 RRP yet Whitwood were charging £59.95

Her Reply, was quite Simple, they can charge what they like

So be warned, if your buying anything at Whitwood, your probably paying well above the RRP “Because they can Charge what they Like”

If your looking for a Driver Hour Guard either Purchase from a reputable Truckstop or direct from Techno Solutions, I know what Whitwood paid and as I purchase items from their suppliers, believe me the profit off those 2 timers alone are obscene to say the least when you look at the £30 extra they have screwed from Drivers.

2

robbing bar stewards!

3

One for West Yorkshire trading standards me thinks.

Ken.

4

I doubt it Ken.
The old fashioned definition of a bargain … The buyer was happy to pay the original asking price the seller was selling at.

so long as the goods where in good working order, and remain so, as far as the seller in concerned they have fulfilled their part of the sale contract.
only afterwards did they cross check prices elsewhere.
it just pays to do your homework when spending your money, instead of splashing the cash without thinking

Davey, am I correct in thinking that the people at whitwood purchased their stock directly from you?

IF they did, Im guessing theyd not be happy with you, as their wholesale supplier posting negative comments about them.

However IF your not the wholesale supplier, they still have a right to sell goods at, whatever the wholesalers RRP. it will be their customers who will finally decide if the price is reasonable, by buying them or not

I await their comment on here

5

personnelly I`ll wait for Mk2, 3, 4, or 5 before splashing the cash.
Especially after getting bit in the ■■■ with the last ones

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peirre:
Davey, am I correct in thinking that the people at whitwood purchased their stock directly from you?

No they didn’t Buy direct from me

As for them not been happy■■?

I’ll make this point regardless of who it upsets

The Driver Hour Guards were brought out as a means of keeping drivers legal, I sell to wholesalers at a good price which allows them to sell on to outlets such as Whitwood where both make a reasonable profit.

I dont make a large profit as I deliberately try to keep the retail price low so it’s in the range of drivers pockets, in the case of sellers such as Whitwood it goes like this

I Import and add my percentage on, I sell onto a Distributor who then adds his percentage on, he then sells to the shops who add their percentage on.

As you can see, each time it increases the price, hence the reason an RRP is in place, that RRP takes into account the final profit for the shop which is quite reasonable, however, it would not be right for me to discuss just how much it is.

When Shops such as Whitwood add extortionate profit margins on, it’s not me it effects directly, but, the drivers who purchase them as it leaves them a little peed off at being overcharged, and as in one case, a driver who thought he was getting a bargain thinking it was a version that downloaded the data to a PC bought it only to find out he had paid £15.00 over the top for it.

There are 5 changes currently being made to the software, (actually whilst I was writing above the Software Writer got me on MSN to say he is sending the new software Rom file tonight)

The changes are listed in the Driver Hour Guard Forum on this site along with our own Technical support website, these will be the only changes taking place until the Drivers Hours Legislations change again.

Replacement PCB’s will be fitted free of charge to timers already in circulation, the PCB’s should be available from around the last week in June. Only timers with the serial numbers 01-0001 to 01-0600 & 01-0001 to 02-0600 are affected, timers with serial numbers above 01-0601 & 02-0601 will already be manufactured with the latest software version.

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peirre:
I doubt it Ken.
The old fashioned definition of a bargain … The buyer was happy to pay the original asking price the seller was selling at.

I suppose this is the case but it annoys the hell out of me when some places are blatantly ripping the customer off. There is nothing wrong with profit, that is what makes the world work, but greed is different.

My biggest gripe is with the motorway services when supply and demand allows them to charge £4 for 2 slices of bread and some slimy chicken with black lettuce, or for them to charge 75p or £1 more for cigarettes than the local shops. It isn’t as easy to nip into the village with a 40 tonne truck for some ■■■■.

In this case the Drivers Hour Guard should probably have been called something with the price in its name like a penny chew.or a snappy advertising slogan How about something on these lines:

Save your pounds till you have Forty.
Vosa are pleased, you are not being Naughty. :smiley:

My brain hurts now, so I am off to the Pound Shop :stuck_out_tongue:

Oh, and you could all boycott Whitwood until they have returned some money to the customers

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I’m all for profit,but being greedy is another thing.

I wonder if one of our trade press would be so kind as to contact Whitwood,and get their stance on this? (CM,T&D etc…)

While we aren’t exactly the richest industry in the UK,any saving in the drivers pocket,is a help,after all,they are the ones that are buying the product.

Failing that,find another retailer,and give them the business.

Ken.

9

Wheel Nut:
I suppose this is the case but it annoys the hell out of me

me too …definately a case of Caveat emptor

At least with the new timer you can time yourself eating those slices of toast :wink:

10

Well I emailed the Distributor who supplied them and basically requested that they no longer supplied the Hour Guard Timers to Whitwood if they insist on over charging.

However, I spoke with Nick, who is the Distributor, and he informs me he has since spoken to the guy in Whitwood who says

He had not received the Pricelist from the Distributor which gives the Purchase Price and suggested selling price. Whitwood say they thought it was the same as the old CE02 and having sold that at £79.95 they automatically put the retail price at £59.95 thinking they were selling at a cheaper price as they were buying cheaper.

Whitwood informed Nick that they were dropping the price to £49.95 which is still £5.00 above the RRP but it is their decision at the end of the day, EU Legislation prevents price fixing, but my understanding that would be in cases where shops were agreeing to sell for no less than, not a maximum price.

Needless to say I still stand by what I’ve always believed in, If someone is trying to charge over the top, I’d rather they did not do it with my products.