Beware of sales tactics

joanlawson

I have been finding it difficult getting in and out of the bath because of OA in my knees, so started looking at various adverts for bath lifts. I contacted Nationwide Mobility and they sent a salesman to the house for a demo.

He was quite good in asking quite a bit about my condition in order to decide what would be suitable for me, and then demonstrated two types of lift. One was an inflatable type,and the other was the type which rolls out from a fixture on the wall across the bath and anchors on the floor. It has a remote control and lowers and raises you in and out.

The second one seemed good, as the fixture is neat when not in use and it was suitable for me.Then came the price :!: £1400 :!: When I hesitated, the salesman said he could reduce it by £100 if I ordered it on the day. Then when I said I would think about it, he said that the prices were going up, but he was doing me a favour by offering me the old price. What a load of rubbish :!: :!:

We showed him the door, but he rang a couple of days later. When I said it was too expensive, he said that he could include me in a bulk order and that would reduce the price to £1000.I think they are cashing in on people with disabilities, and these sales tactics are disgraceful.

Guess what? I got the same thing, only the Deluxe model, which was even more expensive, by bidding on E-Bay. It is still in guarantee and works a treat. It cost £200, and we paid an electrician to wire it in safely. My husband reinforced the wall to make sure it could take the weight.(I'm not that fat, really!) We took a gamble, but it paid off.

Just wanted to warn people about dodgy sales tactics.

Joan

colinone

Good post joan we want a good bargain and stuff for disabled is so expensive.

Most things for disabled are overly expensive I think it’s the fact that we not so much want to buy but need to buy. And its not just the big stuff. I done a post on this subject some time ago, however I have recently run down a firm from Liverpool I bought a chair lift from about 15 years ago I paid £600 for it second had. I had it until last year and it broke once that firm fixed it and the repair cost me £15 that’s a great deal I think and although £600 was a lot of money it was still working when I replaced it last year. If your buying larger and expensive items it does pay to shop around you can save yourself pounds. Ebay is good if you are prepared to take a chance. I just bought special type of wheel chair from ebay it cost me £200 and it was broken, Cost me £500 to have it fixed now like new
If I was to buy it new the price was over £4.000.00. But you do take a chance. Lots of the small things you can get from the £ shop or similar places if you shop around. Knife Fork and Spoon with big grips £19.99
£ shop £1 including tea spoon and sweet fork. Bottle and Jar opener from my local Disability shop £8 £ shop two for a pound and they where the same make. Talking of big grips B+Q pipe lagging it like a type of foam stuff you can cut it into strips and slide it over handles on KFS and many other things. £ shop sell BBQ kebab skewers quite long with wooden handles if you turn the ends to form a hook or whatever shape you want they are great Six for £1 Button and zip doers local mobility £6.99
Ebay a couple of quid and if you haven’t got one yet you must get the long handled shoe horn its great for all sorts from scratching your back getting socks off and yes shoes, also good for pushing clothes off shoulders but I have a couple of sticks for that as well.
You should not forget your OT department and there is plenty available from them from chairs to bathroom equipment, often at no cost or on loan. The other thing is don’t forget social services your OT can put you in contact with them and although they have a waiting list they will prioritise if you need it. They will help with things like wet rooms, stair lifts accesses to your home for wheel chairs I know it can be embarrassing asking for things, even just a bit of help but if you don’t ask you don’t get and that’s what they are there for.
Colin

joanlawson

Thanks Colin. We can always rely on you for good advice. Your suggestions are very useful.

The bath lift we bought on Ebay said "buyer to collect" and luckily the address was quite near us. We thought that made it a safer bet because if anything was wrong with it, we knew where the sellers lived. Mind you I'm not sure how you would get your money back :!:

I am quickly learning that if you don't ask, you don't get, and I am not too proud to ask :!:

Joan

nearlybionic

Good for you Joan!
It makes me sick with anger that these parasites are out there preying on the vulnerable. But good for you for standing up to them and not being talked into his`deal` and out of you money!
I use ebay for lots of things but agree it can be a bit of a gamble. But when it pays off in your favour it does make you feel good doesn`t it?
I am starting to come round to the idea of asking for help and using aids to make things easier in life. Why struggle? There is no shame in asking for or accepting help. And believe me that is not an easy thing for me to say!!!
NB

eckstardeluxe

That's shocking, making money out of vulnerable people. The sad thing is for every one like you who wouldn't be swayed I bet their are hundreds of poor people who are duped. I'd have phoned trading standards on them. Dodgy indeed.

woodbon

That sounds very expensive, we bought a new one for my mother-in-law about 6 years ago and it cost around £500. It goes in the bath but can be moved out and is a proper seat with back.and goes quite low (about 5inches) from the bottom of the bath. You can operate it by remote control and it swings out of the bath so its easy to get on. Made by a firm beginning with C....... C.... I think they are still around. They didn't push us to buy at all. Love Sue

pussycat

During the time I have had RA I have generally asked my OT for advice on what type of aid would be most suitable for me.
He gives me good advice and sometimes has suprised me by saying that I am entitled to a grant to help pay for the item and even better has often told me that he can provide the item to me for FREE!

Similar situation with the cutlery I asked OT for advice and he said that I was entitled to a set due to my hands and sent them to me 2 days later.

keepindependent

Post deleted as it was in direct contravention of the house rules 2) The forum is not a shop so please don’t advertise or promote products and services on the forum in any way

Moderator
YH

joanlawson

Having read the that the last post has been removed from the site, I suddenly thought that it could be seen as though I was advertising Ebay in what I said. This was unintentional,and in fact we thought we were taking a risk with our money when we got the bath lift. We only went for it because it said "Buyer to collect" so we would have possibly had some redress if it hadn't worked. Luckily it is great but I would be very careful about using Ebay as a general rule.
If someone has tried to use this site to sell something, it proves my point about dodgy sales tactics.
Joan