d.o.r's

[farmer]

Just recieved memo from f.s.m.
we are now to be penalised £7.50p on any d.o.r we raise, on blinds 28 days after dispatch of the blind.

So take today for example.....
Have been trying to contact customer for weeks, (she'd changed her phone no:) went to fit the blind, needs d.o.r ing !!!!! So now have to tell a little story to f.s.m. to get a code to enable the blind to be remade.

JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER DOESN'T IT.

Good job its a freephone number, my partner spends nearly all day on the bloody phone.

[RED]

farmer said:

Just recieved memo from f.s.m.
we are now to be penalised £7.50p on any d.o.r we raise, on blinds 28 days after dispatch of the blind.

So take today for example.....
Have been trying to contact customer for weeks, (she'd changed her phone no:) went to fit the blind, needs d.o.r ing !!!!! So now have to tell a little story to f.s.m. to get a code to enable the blind to be remade.

JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER DOESN'T IT.

Good job its a freephone number, my partner spends nearly all day on the bloody phone.

I can not believe this is true. well I for one will not be ordering a dor after 28 days if it is true and Hillarys can loose the customer goodwill, But it cant be true, can it?
Red

[BlindWizard]

I think I have received same memo (see my posting "Year End Memo").

The part about new rules for Advisors reporting DORs is not written clearly but I don't think that we are going to be charged it's just a matter of reporting. I can't see any reference to advisors being charged.

It says:-
"DORs which report outside the 28 day rule will be assigned to a new advisor error code A02. The allocated A02 codes will be available for viewing on the daily reports. Detailed advisor reports will also show A01 and A02 DORs separately. A weekly summary of code changes will also be sent to the FSMs."

Loads of detail of how the 28 days is worked out but doesn't explain why it is being done !! I'm guessing it is to established which are created due to faults that were there when delivered compared to faults that develop later. If this is the case then the benefit would be that they can highlight the ones that should have been picked up by quality control before blind left the factory.

I hope that I'm right and your wrong farmer, otherwise it is a real issue.

Ross or someone else at head office please clarify as a matter of urgency !!

[blindmanbill]

Received our memo from fsm today, including the sentence " it has been decided that from January 2006, all DOR's raised after 28 days of the blinds being sent to you, will result in an Advisor Error code being allocated and therefore the £7.50 fine will be charged"
I for one will not be raising dors after 28 days. In effect this means that Sillarys now only offer a 28 day guarantee not 12 months as has always been the case in the past.
According to the memo, if you have a really good reason for raising the dor after 28 days you can ring your fsm to get a code to ensure you are not fined. As I can never get hold of my fsm, never get a reply to my e-mails or phone messages, I'm never going to be able to get the "code" so I won't be raising the dor.

[blindmansam]

Fitted 10 X 25mm wooden today .

8 need D/O/R due to various faults , but mainly no colour match with the samples i have in my presenter OR the samples customer obtained from Hillarys. Customer knows a slight variation is acceptable - but these were Shades apart!

When the new stock (from china?) arrived , did anyone at Hillary's think to check if we advisors have the correct coloured samples ? ...... or is it just me ?

Now - i believe the locks and chains are on the doors at H/O , so many staff are on thier hol's already . ie> Quote dept closed till the new year . Twice yesterday the advisor 0800 number was un-available.
Will the doors re-open - i am left to ponder! They are currently holding £1650 of my commission unpaid.

My suggestion to all advisors - Do not order ANY wood blinds in January what so ever !

Take Care , Xmas Greetings to all.

[BlindWizard]

My memo doesn't say anything about raising a fine. Why is it an Advisor's error if after 28 days, if anything it's a manufacturing error as it must fit or customer wouldn't have accepted it.

If they are planning this then they have lost it completely. Instead of sorting out the bad quality the advisors are being blamed.

[hereticus]

Is it really Christmas, or is it April Fools Day.

I have read the postings regarding advisor fines for DOR's received after 28 days with complete disbelief. I have not (yet) received any such memo myself so only have these postings to go by, but any such suggestion sounds absolutely outrageous. I can only assume either that the Hillarys memo is badly worded and giving the wrong impression, or that the intentions have been misunderstood.

To comment hypothetically I can fully understand why the company might want to differentiate between faults according to when they occur, so a new coding system is quite understandable.

The term 'DOR' means 'defective on receipt' and should therefore only be applied to faults which are immediately obvious at the time of fitting or a short period thereafter. This would cover most of the faults that we all come across on a daily basis, including missing parts, trasnit damage, incorrect assembly, material faults, etc.

However some faults take longer to come to light and these are more likely to result, for example, from poor construction, weak components, and design faults. Provided that the blind has not been abused by the customer (which in my experience is a rare occurence) these faults still qualify for 'replacement under guarantee' but are not strictly the same as being defective on receipt.

Perhaps we should take heart that Hillarys are trying to differentiate between the types of faults that are occuring, and when they occur, as this may be an initiative towards reducing faults and improving quality. However, the suggestion that agents should be fined because Hillarys have to replace a blind under guarantee is clearly preposterous.

This issue could clearly get blown out of proportion if it isn't nipped in the bud quickly so I would appeal to someone from management (Ross, Mellisa ?) to comment urgently, to clarify what is intended, and to explain the logic behind the thinking.

[farmer]

blindmanbill said:

Received our memo from fsm today, including the sentence " it has been decided that from January 2006, all DOR's raised after 28 days of the blinds being sent to you, will result in an Advisor Error code being allocated and therefore the £7.50 fine will be charged"
I for one will not be raising dors after 28 days. In effect this means that Sillarys now only offer a 28 day guarantee not 12 months as has always been the case in the past.
According to the memo, if you have a really good reason for raising the dor after 28 days you can ring your fsm to get a code to ensure you are not fined. As I can never get hold of my fsm, never get a reply to my e-mails or phone messages, I'm never going to be able to get the "code" so I won't be raising the dor.

All i will do now, is stop being "nice" to my customers, class them all the same, (name and number) like Hillarys do, move onto the next one.
Any problems with the blinds, pass them back to the customer care team, and let another advisor deal with it.
Thus costing Hillarys, instead of us.
It will get a response from f.s.m. which is good, as we can never get hold of f.s.m, to talk about 'owt anyway.
I know its petty, but what else can we do.
Before long we will be paying the customer for the privelidge of fitting their blind.

[inkjet]

I am unhappyat Hillarys.

It isthe DOR situation winding me up.

If it goes wrong I want to put it right, do not want to wait days trying to find Field Sales Manager. another 45 minutes trying to get through to Call centre.Certainly do not require an inquiry which pre judges result Agent did not do it Hillarys Way.

SAM plays up does not always change information put in.

How do you prove it?

Area Managers make mistakes like terminating agency by mistake. Conterigned by Melisa

Head Office fail to send off Interest Free Form for Sam I have had mine since May Today received details that payment wlll start.

From Jan 22.

Do I receivie an Apolgy Never.

Is there an inquiry Never.

[blindmansam]

Out selling today , first 2 calls are for wood - oh dear i don't do those!
BUT .....19 blinds on first one £2955 ( Just a Quote ) and second ....9 blinds £878 ( An Order - Oh Well )

I was approached by 'another' blind supplier just before Xmas offering commission on leads where i have not sold - just quoted!.... MMmmmm should i pass the above info ?? . Well NOT this time - BUT if things don't improve soon , then consideration will be given!

Have any other advisors been 'recruited' like this . I realize its a hot issue and i am NOT responding to it - but .... its nice to feel wanted , and to be asked .

[scotton]

I received my xmas present today in an e mail the nesxt one wished me merry xmas as far as im my fsm can stick their merry xmas where the monkey stuffed his. It goes to show that what they say is b******s. They seem to think that saying nice things one minute allows them to stuff you the next and I for one will not be standing for this little load of crap about dor's. I too can make new policy and even though I hate upsetting customers I am not standing for this. From january any dors outside 28 days I will go to the customer and give them my fsms name and mobile number I shall also give them hillarys number and the names of Mellissa Bunyan, Ross Kenney and Craig Edwards after explaining to the customer the reasons why I can do nothing until they approve the dor. I am not having monies taken from me because of a failure of hillarys product or because a customer decides they do not want their blinds fitted straight away. This is serious and i think hillarys have pushed it 1 step too far. If you agree with this please post a reply and lets see how many of u are not willing to put up with this.

[amberley]

What is this 28 day d.o.r. letter because I haven't had it? Was it in a weekly 'update'? If so what date?

Many thanks
Amberley

[RED]

amberley said:

What is this 28 day d.o.r. letter because I haven't had it? Was it in a weekly 'update'? If so what date?

Many thanks
Amberley

I myself have not heard anything about this. I have asked at Hillary's and they know nothing about it.
I am pretty certain it is a wind up. What would Hillary's have to gain from it, just more hastle for everybody. If any one has received anything confirming this please post it up here otherwise every one should just take it with a pinch of salt and stop getting upset over it, for now anyway.
Red

[scotton]

This is no wind up! It was in an e mail from my fsm And if my fsm thinks its funny to put this kind of thing for a laugh I think management have a serious problem. Perhaps your fsm is not so quick out of the blocks as mine.

[glen]

I will wait until I have had this explained in full, before I agree or disagree with any comments made

Glen