Q&A with the owner of a home appliance repairs business!
Wash Tech Repairs is your local home appliance repairs specialists. With expert installation and a 24/7 support team, you can be sure that we’ll keep things running smoothly, keep you compliant and, most importantly, keep our promises. We fix 99% of faults on our first visit, and there is no additional charge if a further visit is required.
What’s your name and role within Wash Tech Repairs?
My name is Ian Sanders and I’m the owner and founder of Wash Tech Repairs.
I’m an experienced business professional with over 25 years of experience in the appliance repairs and sales industry. I established Wash Tech Repairs in 1984 as a family-run, local repairs business with customer satisfaction and efficiency at the forefront of its mind.
I’m well and truly involved in the business focusing on establishing a budget and ensuring our sales targets are met. I’m a skilled appliance and technical engineer specialising in home appliances. In addition to this, I enjoy the challenge of keeping up to date with our fast-paced industry, making sure our teams have the best equipment and our customers always receive an unrivalled service.
What makes WashTech Repairs different from using any other dealer to repair your machine?
Our customer service is second to none. We pride our business on always putting the customer first and ensuring they received the best and most relevant advice. We want a long-standing customer who will turn into an advocate of our business and this means putting their needs and feelings first. Customer satisfaction is our number one priority and this shows through our hundreds of reviews on Review Centre and Google.
How has the competitor landscape changed over the years? Are there more opportunities for smaller businesses due to dealer schemes from bigger brands?
Over the past few years, we’ve seen the majority of one-man-band operations virtually disappear, this means from a repairs point of view we’re competing against larger organisations with a variety of additional offerings. The majority of technicians we’ve noticed now work for companies such as Wash Tech and this is down to the current climate, working for another business provides security.
From a sales point of view customers behaviour has completely changed, we’re noticing more gravitating towards online shopping. After noticing this trend, we invested in a user-friendly e-commerce website so we could provide the full package to our customers; booking a repair online and shopping online.
There aren’t as many opportunities for small business to gain dealer schemes from bigger brands and this is down to some dealerships providing their own technicians.
What proportion of customers are opting for smart appliances?
We’re currently finding smart appliances are only favoured by tech orientated families. It’s a niche market at the moment but we can see smart appliances becoming increasingly popular as customer build trust in them. Technology has advanced so much over the years and it’s proving to be a huge benefit in creating eco-friendly appliances that save on water and detergent.
What’s the biggest purchasing trend you’ve noticed in home appliances?
Over the past 2 years, we have seen a trend in customer purchasing high-quality tumble dryers. This is because you can’t rely on the British weather to dry your clothes outside and clothes airers can often consume too much space. When you purchase a good quality tumble dryer, your clothes will be dry quicker and there will be fewer creases. This means ironing time is cut down.
What are your thoughts on the new ‘right to repair law’ coming into play from summer 2021? And how does this affect WashTech Repairs business?
We’ve been waiting for this for too long. The brands at the lower end of our industry are built very poorly with a low price to appeal to the customer with a smaller budget. The public was paying £250 for a washing machine 25 years ago and believe it or not, you can get an appliance for below £200 today. This does not make financial sense and we have become a throwaway society. After all, that’s what happens to these cheaper poorly built machines, they end up needing to be replaced after just 2 years of use.
Take Bosch, most Bosch washing machine cost around £400-£500 and will last on average around 10 years from our experience with perhaps one-three repairs during that time. If you purchase an appliance for £200-£300, you’ll be replacing it every 2-3 years in addition to multiple repair callouts. As a company, we believe over the course of time the public will become a repair society and not a throwaway one. We think in the future we will be getting more and more repair work thanks to the new right to repair law.
Which household home appliance brand do you feel produces the most innovative products and why?
This is because their home appliances represent uncompromising quality, technical perfection and absolute reliability. This gives customers the confidence that Bosch is going to be saving them time and improving their quality of life. From cutting-edge features that delight you day after day, to durability, ease of use, and a top service offering. Simply put: Bosch appliances are worth it. In the short and long run.
What does the future hold for Wash Tech Repairs post lockdown?
We definitely want to continue to build the business with a growing customer base and a team of happy and knowledgeable people around us. My personal aim is to have the best customer service possible. Our online 24/7 flexible booking service for repairs ensures we’re always available for our customers when they need it most. We always try and go the extra mile with our online site with lots of information and tips continually being posted every two weeks on our blog and emailed out to our customer base.
A lot of companies don’t prioritise their customer service almost treating them like a throwaway society, but we don’t. All customers of Wash Tech Repairs will be given the best possible customer service ensuring we build a long-term relationship with them.
If you are in need of a customer-focused repairs specialist, you can book a repair online or over the phone.
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Service Areas
Our engineers perform appliance repairs across central England including Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Birmingham, and Oxfordshire. You can see a full list of counties we service on our coverage page. Alternatively, view the map below.
The easiest way to see if there are engineers in your area, and to check if we support your brand of appliance, is to fill out the online booking. It only takes a few seconds and the form will automatically tell you if your area and appliance is covered.
Repairs can be booked online or over the phone by calling 0330 205 0220.
