We Are Now Sweet 16!
Yes that is right – we started importing, distributing and selling Hunter ceiling fans way back in 1999. During that time we have seen many other retailers and even national distributors of Hunter come and go especially during the recession. We have seen a lot of the “low price” box-shifters like Wayfair or other internet retailers pop-up only to disappear a few years later. These are companies who have little or no knowledge of Hunter fans and who provide little or no backup and service when things go wrong. They don’t have any staff trained and knowledgeable in the products, cannot provide pre-sales advice on selecting the best fan for your situation nor post-sales service and support. We still honour and support the warranties of our customers who bought from us or one of our approved resellers during these whole 16 years. For those who didn’t – and we get a steady stream of support calls from them every week – you on your own and good luck to you. Hunter will not support you direct but only via their distributors that supplied the original products and that means dealing with retailers and distributors in other countries, if they are still around which is unlikely. The other thing we are seeing more and more of is the emergence of cheap and nasty fake copies of Hunter fans from China which look like Hunter but are not and have far inferior components and so are no better than a £30 fan from B&Q. It’ll work for a year or two before developing annoying buzzes, hums, wobbles and noise or packs up completely, so your great “cheap bargain” has turned into an expensive con. Alternatively, and more difficult to spot, you might be shipped a second or return or inferior product and never know it.
We are not like a Lidle or Aldi we are a John Lewis providing great real value and great service to our customers year in – year out. To recruit and retain decent, knowledgeable and dedicated staff who can provide great customer service and support both before and after the sale costs money. To keep a good range of genuine Hunter stock of products and spares costs money. Paying a “low price” of sometimes 30-40% lower means an instant “saving” but you can easily end up paying far more down the line or even worse have to bin your fan completely. Smart people and companies consider the “total cost of ownership” and are not duped by an artificially low purchase price, ie take into account the full lifetime cost of a product including not just the purchase price but the costs of installation, maintenance, breakdowns and repairs along with the time and hassle costs in sorting things out.
For example if you are missing a crucial screw for your electrician to assemble the fan or maybe a damaged blade which happens more often than you would like. One call to us and we send out a replacement the same day but with other companies – so we are told – you have to call and email many times and are lucky to get the missing screw sent even many weeks later. You then have to call back your electrician to complete the job for an extra £70. Or when your fan starts humming or buzzing after a few months or worse still stops working all together. We recently replaced with brand new fans completely free-of-charge 3 Hunter Lugano fans for the Hertford House Hotel restuarant that had all stopped working, probably due to a power surge. These were bought from us 8 years ago and were replaced by just one simple phone call from the customer. No hassles or argument or chasing just a quality reassuring service that delivered. Now try doing that with ebay, Amazon or Wayfair! Why take the risk?
We have been around for 16 years for a reason – we only sell genuine Hunter products and our customers trust us and like the great customer service and reassurance that we provide. That creates long-term satisfied and happy customers who keep coming back.
