Dropping Standards… March 16, 2016

Is it just me or are standards dropping everywhere? Nobody seems to care anymore about ‘quality’ anymore… it’s all about getting the money in, getting the orders, making the dosh and moving on…

I first noticed this with car salesmen.

I’d always had a fairly good relationship with the dealership where I bought my cars then gradually started to notice a cooling off – and a distance from the salesmen which was then reflected in the prices that they were charging and the trade in deals that were forthcoming. I was then advised that they were working to ‘set standards’ which meant that they had no wiggle room on car prices – so no matter how many cars you’ve bought or what relationship you’ve had with them – there is… ‘no room for discussion’.

OK that’s fine Mr Car Dealership – so why the fuck should I use you then? I might as well go to any other dealership and get the same price – relationship over.

I then bought a car from a new dealership and thought that I had made a new friend with the ever so attentive salesman. He was a great guy whilst I was looking at the car, he was great whilst I was confirming the car but once he’d got his money…didn’t want to know when there was a problem.

I then noticed that the hotels that I was staying in regularly – began to change staff. All the familiar faces were leaving to be replaced by more and more foreign labour. Doormen disappeared, car parking fees raised, less variation on menu and the TV film listings just never seem to be updated…(surely ‘Die Hard’ can’t be a recent release??? )

The room standards have fallen, carpets need cleaning and the whole place has an air of … ‘on the way out’…

I am a big advocate of… ‘you get what you pay for’…yet the world seems intent on doing everything cheaper?

Food, clothes, phones …cheap, cheap, cheap… and cheaper

Where does it end? …

If you are forever cutting costs then how are you going to pay for upkeep of your equipment, training of staff and maintaining relationships with your customers??

I know of several new start-up ‘Japanese Knotweed’ companies who have appeared over the last few months and are offering ridiculously low prices which are not based on economic sense.

We have Scottish based companies coming to Manchester to do chemical spraying for day rates which I as a local contractor can’t match. We have Brighton based companies giving prices for projects in Bolton and Bury that I as a local contractor can’t match…

What is the point of working for nothing? What is the point of travelling miles and miles to make no money and not cover your costs? All this does is ruin the market for sensible companies that wish to cover costs and make a small margin…enough to ensure that they carry on trading.

Can we stop all this cheap nonsense please?

Note –

The world is a far more complex place to live in – PRICES SHOULD GO UP NOT DOWN

Risk assessments, method statements, aftercare reports – PRICES SHOULD GO UP NOT DOWN

More and More Health and Safety training – PRICES SHOULD GO UP NOT DOWN

Vehicles are far more expensive to maintain – PRICES SHOULD GO UP NOT DOWN

Fuel is more expensive – PRICES SHOULD GO UP NOT DOWN

Wages have increased – PRICES SHOULD GO UP NOT DOWN

My wife shopping bills are horrendous – PRICES SHOULD GO UP NOT DOWN

Sorry but it’s true…

Mike C