29.07.2009

Predatory tactics

We have been sent a copy of an email and a promotional flyer from Hewden, one of the UK’s largest equipment rental companies and one of the few to include cranes. Aerial lifts and telehandlers in its fleet. The flyer promotes a new campaign ‘Return to Sender’ encouraging contractors to break existing rental contracts – ‘White Anting’ in Australian parlance.

The deal offers to match any rates the user may have and includes a free weeks rental and free delivery IF the recipient sends back any competitors equipment it has on hire, replacing it with machines from Hewden for a minimum three week period.
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The flyer that has gone out this week

The company that sent the information to us, did not take up the offer, thinking instead that it was “underhand and unprofessional”

We understand that this new policy was adopted on Monday of this week and has been emailed out on a regional basis to prospective and, one assumes, existing clients.

The email we saw said:

“IF YOU HAVE ANY KIT ON SITE FROM ONE OF OUR COMPETITORS AND YOU REPLACE IT WITH OURS OR IF YOU HAVE A NEW SITE STARTING WHERE THE KIT IS NEEDED FOR THREE WEEKS OR MORE THEN YOU WILL RECEIVE THE FOLLOWING –

-FREE TRANSPORT TO AND FROM SITE
-RATE MATCHED
-FIRST WEEKS HIRE OF ALL EQUIPMENT FREE.

PLEASE EMAIL OR RING ME TODAY TO LET ME KNOW IF THIS OFFER IS OF ANY USE TO YOU”.

Hewden was approached for a comment on this campaign as soon as we received it, but have yet to receive an official response.

Vertikal Comment

We only published this report after some serious consideration, as in one way it may well promote this offer more widely? One could argue that it ought to be ignored.

Our view on this type of selling is clear for everyone to see in our current editorial, which was due to come down today but which, given this news, we will leave in place for a few days more.

If this had been Australia, the company would have been thrown out of the national rental association for a blatant breach of its code of ethics.

It is also interesting to note that when British Airways was accused of doing this sort of thing to Virgin Atlantic customers a few years back, it was the subject of a major investigation and a massive legal case. Why then is this sort of predatory activity tolerated in the equipment rental industry?

The public nature of this campaign is also surprising given that Hewden is owned by the Cat dealer Finning, which attempts to sell its machines to other rental companies. Tactics such as these would hardly seem to endear prospective customers to that brand.

Many years experience show that no one benefits from such practices, the rates are rarely sustainable and in the end something has to give and that is usually service and responsiveness, the loss of which can cost a customer far far more than the few quid he saves on the rental rate or from a free weeks rental.

The sad fact is that this sort of campaign is usually a last ditch effort of a dying company.

Hewden is not a dying company, it has a fantastic pedigree, a unique offering in its product mix and range, excellent coverage, some first class people and a strong brand, sad then that it should feel that it has to resort to such practices.