spazio light fittings

[AndyD]

Yeah it's a tricky one, if your original complaint was to your supplier and they requested you liase directly with the Spazio rep then the lines get a bit grey and blurry. Bottom line is they delivered sub standard equipment so they must make good. I would just catalogue all the events as facts only with a time line in one document and forward it to your supplier. Send him a separate letter expressing your dissatisfaction and your feelings that the Spazio agents are ducking the problem with finger pointing etc and tell him to get active toward a resolution.

I've come across a few suppliers with weird and wonderful returns policies in the past and the two cases of ours that came to legal action both settled long before court. I would guess that now with the recent CPA regulations, any attempts to renege on warranties are likely to be all mouth and no trousers if you appear tenacious with your claim.

[murdock]

i am starting to get the feeling...looking at the condition of the boxes when they arrived on site...that someone else had returned the fittngs already....they didnt know what to do with them so they forwarded them to me hoping i was just gona accept it...i didnt and returned them...now they have indicated in a letter that i must pay to collect them from their premises at my cost...yeah right.

the CPA clearly indicates that i have a right to request a new product if it is defective for a period of 6 months as indicated in wendy knowlers most recently show...with regard to the watch which was returned to edgars and the customer has a right to reapir or replace "regardless of the companies return waranty policy

these light fitting were delivered in a defective condition...so i have the right to request replacement fittings which we did...unfortunetly the rep could not get more than 4 fittings out of 12 in satisfactory condition...so now i want my money back...they have sent me pictures of damaged fittings indicating that i damaged them on site...unfotuntely for them and lucky for me i contacted their rep who removed the fittings from the package and attempted to repair them...i also took pictures of the packaging before it left site....i only repacked them because the spazio rep walked off site and has never returned...my supplier has been trying to ge thold of him to setup a meeting so we can resolve this issue...unfortunatey he is not responding to calls or messages...so we sit and wait..........and wait

now another problem is arising...my payment to my supplier...my customer will not pay me because i havent passed a credit for the fittings which they paid for...and so my supplier cannot be paid until i receive payment from my customer....mmm and so the big payment wheel grinds to a halt...the amount outstanding to my supplier is about the same amount my customer owes me...so it is in my supplier best interest to resolve this issue as soon as possible...maybe i should contact wendy knowler...this could be an interest task for her...the only problem is like the other problem with virgin mobile i dont like talking on the radio so they got someone else to tell his story which was similar to mine...but i lost out on the R500 voucher from virgin mobile...bit of a cheek if you ask me...in fact my issue with virgin mobile...even though they were at fault...i have still been blacklisted for R230...which i refuse to pay.

[Dave A]

My best suggestion is to try to ringfence the lights as a disputed transaction with both your customer and supplier to minimise the impact on unrelated stuff.

Unfortunately easier said than done. Anyone that has leverage will tend to use it in a fight, and the man in the middle is often the one with the least leverage.

[murdock]

we setup a meeting for this afternoon and it went exactly as i expected...unfortuntely i will only believe it when i see the credit note...it was a rather interesting meeting.

i still think i should go to wendy knowler so that we can bring this whole ordeal to the public attention...so that little contractors like myself dont get steam rolled like i did in this case...and indicate to the public what rights we actually have when it comes to reject or defective fittings being delivered.

by the way justloadit...it was a meeting which included the directors of my suppliers and the rep from spazio.

[murdock]

one of the interesting comments made during the meeting was the fact that spazio have a company policy...a 48 hour report time frame in which to report damaged packaging or defective goods...what they are saying is you have 48 hr from the time of delivery to report a faulty or defective product...if you do not report that your packaging or product is damaged...faulty or missing components as in my case all of the above and you only realise after 3 days that they have sold you a reject product you have no leg to stand on and no claim against them...


as in my case...the fact that some of the fittings are installed and a period of almost 2 months has already passed (and this issue is still not resolved)...i no longer have any claim against them...never mind the fact that i have not kept the original packaging (like seriously are you expected to rent a storage facitilty for all the product you ever buy...just so that the company can honour their warranty)...therefore i have no claim against them as they cannot claim from the courier company (because now they are trying to blame the courier company) regardless of the fact that the light fittings are all rejects...which the rep pointed out...while he was attempting to repair some of the fittings on site...at which time he instructed me to drill holes into the fittings which were already installed in an attempt to try get the end caps to clip into position.

[murdock]

this statement got some attention from my suppliers MD

"I truly apologise for the inconvenience that has been caused. I cannot understand the unhappiness of your client, as you have been dealing with Spazio for many years and never have you experienced a quality problem in the past."

i was also under the impression that i was the only one who had a quality issue with spazio...my supplier MD made it very clear in the meeting that this is not the case and he would be willing to bring numerous other electrical contractors sales personal in to back him up to the fact that they have huge problems with the quality and service from spazio.

as i indicated in the meeting that i have been involved in massive commercial and industrial lighting installations...which include hundreds if not thousands of street lights...parking lot...shopping centres...office blocks...banks...the reserve bank...factories just to mention a few...in the 30 plus years of hands on installations...have i ever had to deal with so many defective lights.

[murdock]

The lesson learnt from this ordeal...dont accept or sign for anything unless the packaging is in perfect condition...in a way i feel sorry for anyone who delivers anything to me in the future...if the box has a scratch on it...it will be returned...the other lesson...remove one item at a time and if at any stage...the product inside is in any way defective...take photos...contact the company rep and make him/her sign acknowledgement of defective goods and make sure they sign for the entire package...and only accept the product from the rep or company once all the items have been cleared by your customer in the case where you are supplying or yourself if it is for you and make sure it is in working order...

from previous experience i will be sending literally everything back...it a way it might not be a bad thing considering the way i have seen the courier companies throwing around boxes which are clearly marked "FRAGILE"

[Justloadit]

..it a way it might not be a bad thing considering the way i have seen the courier companies throwing around boxes which are clearly marked "FRAGILE"

Didn't you know, the "Fragile" word or logo stands for - Let's see how hard I can throw it before I hear something break

[murdock]

Didn't you know, the "Fragile" word or logo stands for - Let's see how hard I can throw it before I hear something break

the reason i mentioned this was because i had to fly to and from a job...i put "BIG FRAGILE" stickers...i even had the box wrapped in the cling wrap...just in case...when i collected my equipment worth over R150 000 (lucky it has all risk insurance) the enclosure was totally smashed...it looked like they had taken it and thrown it from the plane...lucky the airline insurance did payout...even though it took a while.

[murdock]

i have just received an email to indicate that spazio lighting will be passing a credit for all returned items...

[Justloadit]

Well done. If we all place pressure, it can only improve the situation.

I think the issue here is that no one gives a damn, and as consumers, it is up to us to put our boxing gloves on and moer the suppliers who do not conform to a set of minimum standards.

[AndyD]

i have just received an email to indicate that spazio lighting will be passing a credit for all returned items...

Glad to hear it all worked out......eventually.

[murdock]

still waiting for my refund...but i do believe my supplier has received it.

bad news is while collecting light fittings from another supplier i over heard someone else who is having quality control issues with spazio light fittings.

good news i found a really good fitting...more compact...better looking and better quality..."thorn light fittings" you get what you pay for...and even though these fitting are on par with the cost...i have to say much better quality.