Warranty announcements and some pricing information

[Ray Stafford]

Hi All

You may already have heard this, but Baxi have announced that the 7 year warranty on their Duotec HE A, and 10 year warranty on Platinum HE A will continue throughout 2015.

What they have not made clear is whether there will be an ERP* version of the HE A product family. If there isn't then production will cease in the summer, although the product may still be available later in the year from stockists with deep pockets and large warehouses.

Ideal have also announced that their 7 year warranty on Logic plus and Independent plus, and the ten year warranty on the Vogue will also continue throughout 2015.

However, Vogue users should expect an increase in price (from us, at any rate) of between £50 and £100 in the new year. I am expecting Duotec to go up about £20 - £40 per boiler at the same time (but not Platinum), although at present, we are not aware of any increases on Logic +, Independent or Independent +.

Expect to see aggressive offers on both Vaillant and Glowworm either just before, or just after Xmas. These are likely to be short lived, so fill your boots while you can.

If you are a WB user, talk to your rep about unvented cylinders, and he may well extend the cashback deal for you through to next year. And you will earn brownie points with them. Just don't mention that I told you, please.

And that ends this bulletin from the boiler room.

🙂








*upgrade to energy efficient pump

 

[Ray Stafford]

Hi All

You may already have heard this, but Baxi have announced that the 7 year warranty on their Duotec HE A, and 10 year warranty on Platinum HE A will continue throughout 2015.

What they have not made clear is whether there will be an ERP* version of the HE A product family. If there isn't then production will cease in the summer, although the product may still be available later in the year from stockists with deep pockets and large warehouses.

Ideal have also announced that their 7 year warranty on Logic plus and Independent plus, and the ten year warranty on the Vogue will also continue throughout 2015.

However, Vogue users should expect an increase in price (from us, at any rate) of between £50 and £100 in the new year. I am expecting Duotec to go up about £20 - £40 per boiler at the same time (but not Platinum), although at present, we are not aware of any increases on Logic +, Independent or Independent +.

Expect to see aggressive offers on both Vaillant and Glowworm either just before, or just after Xmas. These are likely to be short lived, so fill your boots while you can.

If you are a WB user, talk to your rep about unvented cylinders, and he may well extend the cashback deal for you through to next year. And you will earn brownie points with them. Just don't mention that I told you, please.

And that ends this bulletin from the boiler room.

🙂

*upgrade to energy efficient pump

Update to this:

Vogue users who are quoting for work after Xmas should be allowing for increases of £90 per appliance on 26kw models, £70ish on 32kw models and a more modest £30 on 40kw models. Independent should stay much the same, but Logic + is likely to rise £30 ish in the new year. Shop around in Jan, as those merchants with lots of end-of-year stock may be prepared to do deals.

Baxi Duotec HE A users should expect £30 - £40 increases in the short term, but don't take ANY long term pricing bets on this appliance. If you do site work, and are pricing long term, get your Baxi rep's promises in writing. My best guess is +£100 by early summer. Platinum users should worry less, but still seek assurances from the manufacturer before making any long term commitment.

As per my earlier post, expect very aggressive offers on Glow-worm in Jan, getting less generous after the Feb price increase, but now I am guessing NOT on Vaillant - where prices are expected to harden with two increases likely - one in Jan from the supply chain and another in March/April from the factory.

WB should stay constant in Jan/Feb, but don't ask me after that. For WB unvented, if you can't talk your rep into extending the £100 cashback, you really need to give up and go home... 🙂

Have fun

Ray

 

[SimonG]

Sod that, what about the 'real' boilers? Oil 🙂

 

[Ray Stafford]

Sod that, what about the 'real' boilers? Oil 🙂

Grant - likely to stay the same price - although external models may go up a bit.

Worcester Oil - likely to increase between £30 and £50 per appliance from mid Jan.

 

[SimonG]

Grant - spit, spit, spit.
Worcester, nice boiler, shame about the customer service.

Still waiting for a crack at the worcester mkII though 🙂

 

[northcarr]

Thanks for keeping us up to date Ray .
PS thanks for another spot on delivery last week one of your lads even rang to check I was happy with everything now that's customer service :santa_smiley::santa_smiley::santa_smiley:

 

[EPH]

Grant - spit, spit, spit.
Worcester, nice boiler, shame about the customer service.

Still waiting for a crack at the worcester mkII though 🙂

Mk 2 is a much better boiler.

What at problems you had with customer service? I've never a dealt with a company that's better in my opinion.

 

[SimonG]

Wouldnt replace a shell under warranty due to health and safety, yet on the same boiler they had replaced oil pump just three months earlier.
Wanted a customer to wait 7 days to replace a pump on an external combi.
Rep being a spineless tool.

 

[Scott_D]

Thanks Ray, doing some quotes today for after xmas

 

[Leo21]

Are Vaillant going to increase there warranty? And what am I getting for xmas, oh great oracle.

 

[julesverne]

I fail to see how ideal can increase price of logic plus when they are going to put in the same hydroblock that pro Combi exclusive has and I bet these prices are more than the current rate of inflation. Bar stewards

 

[Rickster123]

Lot of moaning going on in the north tonight....

 

[julesverne]

Adam hasn't anybody ever told you it's always grim up north

 

[Rickster123]

Adam hasn't anybody ever told you it's always grim up north

Is it snowing?

 

[julesverne]

Nope but it's fooking cold

 

[Ray Stafford]

I fail to see how ideal can increase price of logic plus when they are going to put in the same hydroblock that pro Combi exclusive has and I bet these prices are more than the current rate of inflation. Bar stewards

There are two types of price increase.

There's the usual, annual rate-of-inflation type, which for boiler manufacturers usually (but not exclusively) come between March and August. This is usually well signposted, and follows a set formula.

But there is another type of increase, which is less visible, never announced in the press, but often has more effect - this is when the Sales Director sends out the message to the troops "No deals". Normally, there is a degree of deal-making, which goes round in circles - so if manufacturer A has an offer at national merchant group X in quarter 1, then they will have a similar-but-different offer with national Merchant group Y in quarter 2.

In addition to this, if manufacturers are behind on a quarterly, half-yearly or annual target, and the sales team's bonus is in danger, then deal making can become frenzied. Other deal-inducing conditions might include fear of slipping under (or excitement about getting over) some psychological barrier - like selling 100,000 units, or 20% market share or whatever it is that some hot-shot has promised his board.

If this sort of deal-making is sustained for any length of time, it gets "priced into the market". So the Ideal Vogue and the Logic + have had deals "priced in" for virtually the whole of 2014, as Ideal have been chasing like mad to overtake Vaillant for the UK no 2 spot. The Vogue in particular has been under-priced since it shifted to a 10yr warranty in the summer.

I think that their internal numbers are telling them that either they have already done it, OR that they can't catch Vaillant in 2014, so there is no point in filling the supply chain with stock, and making it hard to sell boilers in Q1 of 2015. Either way, their appetite for deal-making has declined at the back end of 2014, so merchant prices will revert to "normal".

Glowworm, on the other hand, must be so close to their target that the sales director can nearly taste her bonus. So deals are being cut, boilers are being delivered into merchant warehouses, and they will need to be moved on in the new year, as merchants need stock to move through, not sit on the shelf. Hence my prediction that there will be a rash of discounting of that brand - but it will only be temporary as the end-of-year stock bubble gets shifted.

 

[julesverne]

Thanks Ray have a gin on me

 

[Ray Stafford]

Are Vaillant going to increase there warranty?

My guess is that they won't have an across the board increase to the out-of-the-box warranty. I predict that they will follow WB, and use enhanced warranties to further boost engagement with their loyalty scheme, and in particular to use add-on products like Vaillant branded controls, UV cylinders etc.

And what am I getting for xmas, oh great oracle.

Socks. Gloves. Some unpalatable liqueur. And the clap. 🙂

 

[tamz]

Good to have the insider view Ray. I knew some of it was happening but very much appreciated.

 

[Ermintrude]

When is the cust of Yorkshire coming down to be cheaper than center feed. Also why on earth is the copper from wicks £177.66/mm nicer than Lawton and black label?

 

[jase158]

On the plus side, I have water regs booked for february in reading £90!! plus 3 other courses including essential electrics for free!!

Also got a delivery coming tomorrow, had to get Mrs to phone up to order as I didn't have enough signal, chap says to her on phone, What do you drink? I wonder what he wants???

 

[jase158]

opened my crate to find a bottle of jack daniels and a bottle or rose wine!! Thanks Williams!!

 

[tamz]

Also why on earth is the copper from wicks £177.66/mm nicer than Lawton and black label?

If i was paying £177.66 a bundle i'd be looking for a BJ on the way out :smile:

 

[rpm]

opened my crate to find a bottle of jack daniels and a bottle or rose wine!! Thanks Williams!!

You might find Mr Stafford asking for his JD back mate, some kind of error blamed on new staff lol

 

[jase158]

Don't think so, ray has probably got a massive bottle ready for him!!

Shame nobody else is as loved as me!! must be ray's favourite!!

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

what does erp mean on the duotec ray?

 

[IDCHAPPY]

You guys are the only place I buy boilers now 🙂

 

[stevetheplumber]

what does erp mean on the duotec ray?

Energy rated pump

 

[Ray Stafford]

Energy rated pump

Yep. From summer next year (I think its Aug 1st) all appliances will have to have A rated pumps. For some manufacturers, thats a doddle, others may use it as a reason to get rid of an older model.