Concerning Trial Runs.
Page 14
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By Henry Sturrney.
The remarks, made Editorially two weeks ago, upon this question and the abuse of the system, come very opportunely : they undoubtedly touch on a matter which is being seriously felt by the manufacturers. There is, of course, a certain amount of reason in the intending customer's request for a practical demonstration of a motorvan in actual use, but the reasons for that request grow less valid every day. Three or four years ago, when the construction of motor vehicles was less understood than it is to-day, and when the requirements of commercial vehicles were also no fully recognised, it was not unreasonable, but really necessary, that the buyer, in his own interests, should ask, not that he should merely see the van running, but that it should actually do the work, under his own observation, which its manufacturers put it forward to do. Experience with some of the converted pleasure ears which were then being offered so largely for commercial use had, in the majority of eases, been disastrous, and it was certainly a wise precaution on the buyer's part to want to satisfy himself of the ability of the particular vehicle he might be discussing. So far as the manufacturers were concerned, those who were seriously embarked on the commercial side of the industry had such faith in their productions that they were only too willing to give the buyer practically any test he asked, more especially seeing the general and great scepticism which pertained to the whole subject at that time,
The Folly of Long-Period Trials.
To-day, things are very different, and, especially with those firms which have been in the business some time, the general reliability and durability of the commercial yehkle can be depended upon to be equal to that of the best pleasure cars. There should be no call whatever for a lengthy -demonstration in the case of what may be termed a " known " vehicle, and, as for such demonstrations as a month of regular use, the proposition is both impracticable and unreasonable from the point of view of the manufacturer. If the trader who asks for a month's trial of a vehicle before making up his mind to purchase will think for a moment, he will see what an unreasonable thing he is asking the maker to do. Let him remember that he is not the only customer with whom the manufacturer is in treaty, and his is net the only vehicle which ihe manufacturer has to sell. Let him suppose, for a moment, that all the possibL: buyers asked for the same thing, and the absurdity will be apparent, for it would mean that the manufacturer would, for each van he had on the road for demonstration work, only be able to discuss business with a dozen customers in the course of a year. In those circumstances, let us suppose that even a moderate proportion of those twelve are only out to get all they can out of the maker for nothing, it will be seen that the unfortunate manufacturer would be spending some 4:300-4400 a year per van out to secure the possible sale of, Say, half a dozen vehicles, whilst, to do business upon any satisfactory sale at all, he would be required to keep an enormous fleet of demonstration vans upon the road. In other words, he would require to have somewhere about half his capital locked up in the selling side of his business, and the expense of running such an organisation as this would enormously increase the price which the maker would necessarily have to ask for his vehicles.
Free Ca rt a ge.
As the Editor says, there is evidence of sharp practice going on at the present time, here and there, about the country, on the part of unscrupulous men who have no serious intention of buying, but are asking the lrade to do their distribution work for them for as long a time as they can persuade the guileless vendor to do it. Some of the newer firms in this branch of the industry are, just now, prepared to do almost anything that is asked of them, on the chance of securing business, but those with greater experience, and with a greater knowledge of the qualities of their vehicles, are not prepared to do business on these lines, but fairly and firmly ask that a reasonable charge should he made for the demonstration work required to he done. Even then, for the reasons above indicated, it is neither reasonable nor fair to ask the manufacturer to tie up his vehicles to individuals for lengthy periods. The handicap to business is too great.
Seeing is Believing Still.
I am not saying that demonstration trials are not, at times, desirable and perhaps necessary, in order that the buyer may assure himself that the vehicle will do the work he wants of it. Every buyer thinks the requirements of his own work to be more severe than that of his neighbour, and, just as the pleasure-car buyer, in the earlier days, always had a INA hill in his own back garden, metaphorically speaking, up which he was quite sure the trial car would not get, in spite of the fact of its having travelled successfully from Land's End to John o' Groat's, so the commercial user of to-day is often not to be convinced by the fact of vehicles' running successfully in the services of other traders. lie wants to he assured that the van will do his work, and, when a vehicle is placed at his disposal, it has work to do with a vengeance, for he both selects the heaviest course in the district, and one which, probably, he would studiously avoid with his own horsed van, or even with a motorvan when he had it, and loads the demonstration van up beyond its capacity.
Exceptional Tests.
As a case in point, a van which the intending purchasers admitted would rarely have to carry, in their regular work, more than to cwt., was loaded up to 18 cwt., and then taken, as hard as it could be driven, over the worst roads in that locality, the argument being that, if the vehicle would accomplish the excessive task set it when new, it could reasonably be expected to be equal to the task of the ordinary work of the firm when it began to get out of adjustment and shaky in its joints I In this particular case, although the vehicle accomplished all that was asked of it and more, when it came to discussing business, the man to whom the demonstration had been given, began to find fault with the constructional system, with the principles of which he said he did not agree, and which, it will be readily seen, he could have discovered before the trial was made, which incident only shows how unreasonable some people are.
In another case, in the early part of December, a firm was very anxious to have a week's trial of a certain van, and, when the manufacturers were prepared to discuss the question of a trial, it was asked that the trial should be given the week preceding Christmas, a request which at once showed the manufacturers what those very clever parties were after, with the result that they declined to have anything to do with trials, free, or otherwise, with the parties in question.
Equity, and Nothing More.
More motor commercial vehicles are being bought every day, without demonstration trials, than was formerly the case; but, as I have said above, a demonstration trial is not an unreasonable thing to ask under many circumstances. The peculiar nature of the work of a particular firm, and the suitability of a motor vehicle for dealing with it, can best be ascertained in practice, but, seeing that, if a firm's goods arc delivered, whether it be for a day or a week, by means of the motor vehicle, this service will save the firm at least sorne of the expense of delivering them in the usual way, it is only fair to the manufacturer that a payment should be made, at least in the case of an adverse decision's being given on the question of purchase.