Good Morning,
Firstly, we would like to thank you all for your patience in awaiting our response. This is for two reasons - (a) we are extremely busy as we have a full order book and (b) the relevant legal advise has had to be sought before we respond.
In response to “Wiseman Windows” first post on the forum and on this post - This information posted is not correct and is out of date. We have had some issues with a few suppliers including failure to supply goods to the correct quality (or at all), but only one remains outstanding and we believe that this will soon be settled in court in our favour. It is sad that a competitor would choose to post such information without the full picture, in order to discredit our brand which we have worked very hard as a family to develop over the last 10 years.
The issue with long lead times is not in anyway related to the suggestion that GrippaTank is “going down” or as suggested that “we owe suppliers a lot of money”. Whilst 2019 has indeed been an interesting year for trading, as the Brexit political situation has caused an element of uncertainly, we are blessed with having a very full system order book, along with having a very active parts and consumables dispatch fulfilment team.
This thread however has certainly given us some really useful feedback and shown we have to take drastic measures to improve the way we fulfil our customers parts and consumable orders. As a company, our growth and reputation has been built off the back of the GrippaMAX Crash Tested systems we build and supply, and this is what we specialise in. As the business has grown, our web/telephone smaller sales orders has grown steadily along side the system building side of the business. However in the last 18 months, our parts dispatch side of the business has grown to a size that has meant we have struggled in some cases to fulfil dispatch orders on time. Most of our products are “not off the shelve” items, but involve some form of workshop time to configure to the customers requirement before they can be shipped.
In September 2019, we appointed a new head of strategy, who is tasked with streamlining our dispatch side of the business, so that this is run efficiently allowing us to focus on what our passion and strength is - the crash tested system installations along with premium bespoke vehicle builds.
As a result of this we are working very hard to develop a new management system, implement training within the team to implement clearer communication amongst ourselves, and ensure better communication to the customer.
With 6500+ customers on our books, we have a large number of loyal and happy clients. However, we would like to apologise for any customers who have experienced issues with order delays, and would actively encourage you to contact me directly to discuss your feedback. We would also like to thank our loyal customers for their continued trade and support, and also taking the time to place their positive feedback as well.
If anyone wishes to contact me to discuss directly the comments above or any additional feedback you have - I would be very happy to do so.
Oliver
Managing Director
oliver@grippatank.co.uk————————————————————
To reply specifically on some tech/support based questions:
@LEE GLS - Thank you for your time this week and discussing the carbon filter stock issue we currently have. As discussed the Ez-Pure Carbon Filter is large seller for us, and thus we working desperately hard to resolve the new product design issue we had with the batch manufactured. With all our systems ever sold using this filter, it’s within our interest to get this resolved with the next few weeks. In the meantime, as agreed with you Lee - for any customers who have outstanding orders for Ez-Pure Carbon filters with us, they can either opt to wait and then will receive a second filter FOC as thanks for their patience OR we will collect the existing filter and refill it with new media, and then send on the new filter once finally in stock.
@Chris Turner - As per the above - this is a large stock item for us. Once this final design issue is resolved it means we will have greater control over the stock of this item as it’s not imported and made in the UK.
@Smudger/Darran - I believe the part you were looking for, we called you after the order was placed on our website to advise you of the lead time of this part or to offer you a refund? We do now have these items currently in stock
@Deeege - please can you email me directly with your order details so I can look into this order delay please? We would of course love to assist you with your system requirement - but would want you to feel totally happy first - please contact me to discuss if you would like to.
@Bungle - As agreed we supplied you free of charge the new friction brake for your previously purchased GrippaReel. You did indeed have a long time waiting for this friction brake, which was then supplied incorrectly for your reel. The youtube video was made upon your request, however the friction brake needs to be fitted as per the instructions on the plumbing side - not the handle side - please see here:
https://youtu.be/-V0fewCFni0?t=18. We are sorry you had the issue with this FOC order and the previous order - we wish you all the very best with your business in the future.
@David Mark - the GrippaReels have a 4 point bearing system on them, so they should not be stiff at all to wind in - but rather they should feel very very smooth and easy to wind in (easier than a Claber) - please contact me directly and I will help you resolve this.
@NWH - Thank you very much - its always a pleasure to do business with you.
@ASCJIM - I am sorry to hear that. I think we may have already discussed this before - but if you would be so kind as to email me - I would love to discuss this with you.
@P&F - ALL trade is important to us. We are indeed very busy with the hot HydroHeat systems we sell, but are working hard to ensure we have the staff in place to ensure smaller orders are given as much priority too.
