What do you think of my welder repair website?

[Welderfix UK]

If anybody has a spare 5 minutes, please could you have a look at the site I have done at www.welderfix.co.uk

• Does it answer all the questions if you were going to send a welder for repair?
• Is the navigation clear?
• Does the content read OK and make sense?
• Are the key benefits of value?

It's a template based site so there are some limitation to what I can change aesthetically but would really appreciate your feedback.


Thanks,
Paul.

 

[Elmo Putney]

I'd say you've pretty much covered all the bases there.

The only thing you could add that may help is a few case studies with costs.

 

[slimjim]

repairs to plasma cutters seem a little understated

 

[Welderfix UK]

Thanks guys. Great idea about the indicative costs - will add that. I'm about to put a testimonials page on as well.

Jim, I think you are right about the plasma cutters. I will emphasize that more.

What do you think about the 12 month warranty and the 'no fix, no fee'. Worthwhile benefit? The fixed priced repairs seems to be going down quite well.

 

[gavuk]

May be worth mentioning if you will repair chinese machines,stuff like the cut40,3in 1 tig/arc/plasma's and ac/dc pulsed sets?...I agree testimonials and prices charged would be useful too....good luck

 

[Welderfix UK]

Thanks Gav, that's a good point as those machines tend to have very poor warranties. I have added average price to the FAQ page now and emphasized the plasma cutters a bit more on the home page.

 

[bump]

You also need to add a Privacy Policy and T&C's of the site, separate T&C's would apply to the the repaired item. The registered should appear in the footer of the site, this is common good practice. I'd also increase the size of the phone number in the header.

Consider splitting the info across pages, so a page for MIG with details and case studies, one for TIG....etc. This is useful from a search optimisation perspective and for a promotional perspective as you can target AdWords on process based repair. Having focussed landing pages will increase your quality score and increase your conversion rate.

 

[Welderfix UK]

Ooooo... there's a man who sounds like he knows a thing or two about web design. Thanks. I could link the T&C's through to our main company www.advanceproductservices.co.uk. I can't change the font size of the phone number unfortunately.

We have been repairing (and designing) switch mode power supplies from welders and general AC-DC psu's for 12 years so although Welderfix UK might look like quite new operation, it's just that it's only recently that I thought the welders should have their own specific web presence.

 

[anjum]

Make the telephone number stand out more on the main page Put it in green/red, if you can't increase the font size then put it in the main section as well, and don't go for one of the 0870, 0845, 0800 type numbers unless you also have an alternative landline number. Always puts' me off!
Otherwise looks good and seems to offer a good service. Postage and courier costs would be useful.

 

[Welderfix UK]

OK, I will try to add the phone no. to the main area as well. The postage and courier costs are already at the bottom of the 'contact us' page. But if you didn't notice, that probably means they need to be more prominent.

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

You have listed a wide range of manufacturers, but two at opposite ends of the price spectrum are absent. Do you repair Clarke and EWM inverters?

I realise that you are not personally in control of fonts, BUT…….
Young web designers with 20/20 vision are apt to forget that some customers have rather poor eyesight. For me, your pure white-on-black headings are very clear, the grey-on-black body text is not quite so easy, and the small red-on-black text at the bottom of the page is almost illegible.

 

[PTvor]

What do you think about the 12 month warranty and the 'no fix, no fee'. Worthwhile benefit? The fixed priced repairs seems to be going down quite well.

Definitely. People want certainty of costs with a service like this, not send the machine off and then have the estimate, which is about as much as it costs to buy a new one, and then find they are paying to have you look it over, but that wasn't quite clear.

Generally, people are put off by things which don't state the price. POA, items on stalls with no price and they won't ask.

The guarantee is a significant feature with buying a new welder so very worthwhile with repairs.

Presumably, there are a few welders not worth fixing, or so badly made you won't touch them and you filter those out with the initial phone call or email?

As a general criticism, too much tucked away in FAQs. Could be another section called "Dealing with us" spelling out the process for getting a welder fixed.

 

[Welderfix UK]

Good stuff, good stuff. Please keep it coming.

Have added Clarke and EWM and also a French manufacturer called GYS (Gysmi). I am really restricted with fonts, sizes and colours which is my only major complaint with these template based sites unfortunately. It's mostly all preset in the scheme.

PTvor - great points, thank you. I think the reason why a lot of repair sites in particular don't list detailed pricing is because it's very easy to be undercut by a tiny margin and so many people buy on price these days (not always wise with this sort of thing, I know) but that is the reality.

We quote a fixed price repair for 95% of stuff just based on the manufacturer and model so shouldn't have the situation you describe where it has been sent for an estimate and then the quote refused. Even if it was, we don't charge survey fees so they would have nothing to pay.

Surprisingly few of them are not worth fixing. The very bottom end of the Chinese stuff at sub £100 is probably the exception. We would be looking around £75 to repair one of those, add some postage and you will be getting very close to new price. Although you would then get a 12 month warranty I suppose!

The Chinese stuff is not that bad to work on surprisingly. They all use a pretty standard circuit but you sure can tell with the quality of the pcb fibreglass, connectors etc. They are certainly made to a price!

I'll have a think about adding a 'how to send your welder for repair' page.

Thanks again.

 

[Justme]

The very bottom end of the Chinese stuff at sub £100 is probably the exception. We would be looking around £75 to repair one of those, add some postage and you will be getting very close to new price. Although you would then get a 12 month warranty I suppose!

You seem to be implying that you will guarantee the entire machine for any fault.

I would have expected it to be just the repair.

If it is the entire machine then shout it out nice & clear.

Its a major selling point.

Do you also repair other inverter stuff?

Like on & off grid inverter & inverter chargers or plain chargers.

I am thinking about makes like Victron, SMA sunny boy & Islands, Mastervolt ect. I would guess that the cheap imports would not be worth fixing.

 

[MattF]

I'm about to put a testimonials page on as well.

Personally, I wouldn't bother. Testimonials are worthless, IMHO, and the only time I generally tend to see those pages on websites are when the nature of the product or site is less than worthwhile. It's an instant red flag with regards to a site or company's legitimacy, in my book.

PTvor - great points, thank you. I think the reason why a lot of repair sites in particular don't list detailed pricing is because it's very easy to be undercut by a tiny margin and so many people buy on price these days (not always wise with this sort of thing, I know) but that is the reality.

Those tend to be the type of customer you can do without the hassle of anyhows, and if someone is going to shop around for prices, they'll do so regardless. Giving people an indication of price always helps. Nothing I dislike more than not having the faintest clue regarding cost. People can't plan or choose if they don't have something to work on.

With regards the undercutting, that's a subject in itself. If there's someone who wants to work for peanuts or turn out crap work, let them. If it's crap work, the customer will likley end up going esewhere when it goes faulty again, and if they're working for peanuts, they won't be for long.

 

[Robotstar5]

Maybe put a link in to the parent company for other inverter based and power supply repairs?

 

[PTvor]

I think the reason why a lot of repair sites in particular don't list detailed pricing is because it's very easy to be undercut by a tiny margin and so many people buy on price these days (not always wise with this sort of thing, I know) but that is the reality.

We quote a fixed price repair for 95% of stuff just based on the manufacturer and model so shouldn't have the situation you describe where it has been sent for an estimate and then the quote refused. Even if it was, we don't charge survey fees so they would have nothing to pay.

You must have to play the stats in the interest of offering a fixed price and take the rough with the smooth, and hope from your calculations there isn't that much rough.

e.g. Brand A, model 123 turns up. 50% chance it's a dry joint in one of several places, 45% chance it's an underspec'ed zener died. Redo the joints and replace the zener with a better anyway. 50p in materials and 45 minutes work. 4% other straightforward faults and 1% stinkers, heat dependent, multiple expensive parts died, damage to PCB etc.

Brand B turns up, 50% stinkers and either the fixed price is much higher, or you won't quote one.

Then there must be a small proportion of customers whose machines show every sign of having been dumped in a duck pond for twelve months.

Surprisingly few of them are not worth fixing. The very bottom end of the Chinese stuff at sub £100 is probably the exception. We would be looking around £75 to repair one of those, add some postage and you will be getting very close to new price. Although you would then get a 12 month warranty I suppose!

Yes, but you've got to honour the guarantee, and since it was all so bodged together and cut to the bone in the first place it might be more trouble than it's worth.

I'd have thought the respectable machines like Thermal Arc and R-Tech around a couple of hundred quid and a credible 2 year warranty would define what was and wasn't worth repairing at the bottom end.

There and again I'm often surprised what people will pay for second hand machines and some very dubious stuff for £150 or so.

 

[bump]

Personally, I wouldn't bother. Testimonials are worthless, IMHO, and the only time I generally tend to see those pages on websites are when the nature of the product or site is less than worthwhile. It's an instant red flag with regards to a site or company's legitimacy, in my book.

I disagree, if you look at pretty much any professional service website you will see client lists and testimonials. A few that spring to mind are Experian Marketing Services, Teradata and Sitecore.

 

[Justme]

You must have to play the stats in the interest of offering a fixed price and take the rough with the smooth, and hope from your calculations there isn't that much rough.

e.g. Brand A, model 123 turns up. 50% chance it's a dry joint in one of several places, 45% chance it's an underspec'ed zener died. Redo the joints and replace the zener with a better anyway. 50p in materials and 45 minutes work. 4% other straightforward faults and 1% stinkers, heat dependent, multiple expensive parts died, damage to PCB etc.

Brand B turns up, 50% stinkers and either the fixed price is much higher, or you won't quote one.

Then there must be a small proportion of customers whose machines show every sign of having been dumped in a duck pond for twelve months.

I just looked at the parent site & it seems that the "fixed price repair" is not actually a "fixed" price at all. Its fixed for most faults but if they find costly parts that need changing then its extra.

I also found that the warranty is just on the fix (and associated work) & not the complete machine. That must be what your consumer rights are any way.

 

[Badger1bear]

Hi fella just a query, you state on the website

Should you not wish to proceed with the repair, we simply return your welder

So you are paying the postage to return it to the customer BUT you have not failed to fix it so the no fix no fee thing should not apply to this bit above. The customer decided they did not want to proceeed you didnt fail to complete your side of the bargain.

I think you should add that the return postage (if you decided not to have it fixed) is payable by the customer

Just my thoughts


simon