20th Jul 2022
Buying anything online always comes with an element of risk, but buying industrial equipment, such as trolleys or sack trucks, often requires extra care. A lot of retailers may list their products but not manufacture it themselves. Therefore, you could be receiving false information regarding the product. This could be a genuine mistake by the retailer, but we find some product resellers are just falsely misrepresenting product to suggest it's better than it is. We have highlighted this in previous blogs. There is nothing wrong with resellers, but buying through a middle-man or third party adds possible cost, time, and risk. Buying straight from the manufacturer lets you get the right product at the right price.
Manufacturers Know Their Product
When ordering from a manufacturer, they will always be sure of how their product works, how it's made, and what its limits are. Speaking to an someone with experience will help you work out the best trolley to suit your needs, and even if you have been using the same process for 50 years, there may be a safer, more efficient, and less costly method. Just because its been done for 50 years, doesn't mean it's the best way to do it. Specification is also an important factor, as some suppliers that buy from overseas will simply copy and paste the specification from the seller without ever seeing the product. It is common for these products to be specified to foreign safety regulations, meaning the product you buy may be listed at far beyond its safe working parameters.
Warranty coverage
Many companies list their trolleys with a "5 year guarantee", but what does that really mean? If the supplier didn't make the product, getting anything resolved will often take time. If the product is sold through an online marketplace, the product was likely shipped from China. In this situation, getting replacement parts and fixings can sometimes be impossible, so they will have to replace the entire product at a great cost to themselves while taking up more of your time. This will also most likely be the exact same product with the exact same flaws, meaning it'll likely need replacing yet again. Merchants that sell through online marketplaces can also be fleeting themselves, coming and going under different names to avoid actually looking after their customers.
Manufacturing Quality
Everything we manufacture here at Handle-iT is built and tested to UK specification. We always prefer to go above and beyond in terms of safety, taking extra precautions when designing the product to ensure it can provide. Our professional quality assurance team checks over every trolley, both after construction in the factory, as well as when it is assembled and packed for delivery to your door.
Custom Bespoke Specification Options
Being the manufacturers of our equipment, we can make any modifications or changes you need. Whether its reducing the size of the trolley to fit in your elevator, adding a motor or dead-man brake to improve safety, changing the colour to meet your company brand, or changing the material or finish to work in clean rooms or ATEX rated environments, we have the facilities to manufacture any trolley to meet your exact needs. Deciding the bespoke specification is an art, trust us. We make bespoke products for many resellers out there, so we understand that there are some that really don't know their product, the industry, or even the fundamental basics of Health and Safety Law. At Handle-iT, we have an experienced team working in Health and Safety, with 3 key staff that have been involved in this work for the majority of their working lives, totalling 87 years of serious Heath and Safety and Materials handling expertise by themselves.
Not Just A Trolley
At Handle-iT, we try to sell not just a trolley, but a service too. Design, Advice, and an honest appraisal for your intended use is just a starting point. We want to look after our customers, and having a healthy relationship with our customers allows us to help you get the most out of your equipment. We can offer advice regarding health and safety, provide risk assessments and guidance for the use of all of our range, guides explaining the correct use of the product and how to perform routine maintenance of your trolley to keep it in top shape. We can even provide bespoke designs to suit your workplace. These are all services we offer, and we're always trying to add more to help keep you safe.