Volvo puts money where its parts are
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SINCE last September, when Volvo Trucks (GB) introduced guaranteed delivery within 48 hours of urgently needed parts in "a genuine emergency," only 112 have "missed the boat." Fifteen of them were just an hour late. They had been walled up in an aircraft at Heathrow, where it was so cold that it took four hours to thaw and open the freight-hold door.
Under the guarantee, any part up to a value of £1,000 is supplied free if it does not arrive within 48 hours. The service is costing an extra £25,000 a month in transport charges but so far Volvo has had to pay out only £5,444 on some 70 orders within the rules of the scheme.
Inevitably, some wide boys have tried to beat the system. Terry Hardie, general manager of the parts division, told me of one who ordered four reconditioned engines for vehicles which were believed to have been laid up for some time and were being refurbished. Two engines were supplied within 48 hours and the operator tried to invoke the £1,000 guarantee on each of the others.