Stair Lifts

[Sean Regan]

This subject is a nightmare for many old people. They are often very vulnerable when they find they need one.
We need one for when my wife comes out of hospital. So I got some quotes.
The people next door had one installed by a particular company a couple of months ago. Our two houses are "mirror images" in that the staircases are the same. 10 steps up to a landing then a right angle turn, ours to the left, theirs to the right.

So I made a note of the name of the company and decided to make that one of the suppliers I'd ask for a quote.

Big mistake! They never stopped calling, it was different sales people every time. Even a call to say,"We've got an engineer in the area and he could come along this afternoon and check it out."

In the end I told them to "sod off," I wouldn't be getting a stairlift from them. I got two other quotes. I got the one I liked the look of, to match the other quote and give me a two year guarantee. It should be here in less than two weeks, some time before my wife will be home.

My neighbour rang me yesterday asking me for as favour as he and his wife are now housebound, for which I was happy to oblige. The stairlift was for him and he wanted to bang on about how wonderful it was and what it could do. I said I was having to get one for my wife, I didn't say I'd already ordered it.

He told me all about the features, the two remote controls etc., etc., he said they were a wonderful firm. What he'd described was exactly what we're having. I didn't ask, but he told me how much it cost, £7,000. That's not quite £2,500 more than I will be paying. I didn't tell him.
I checked my company out, they are the biggest stairlift manufacturer in the UK. (there's only three), lots of recommendations and videos on YouTube.

Given the number of calls I'd got from his supplier, I'd guessed there was a lot of commission to be earned. So I believed I'd be ripped off.
I've only had to deal with one person with my supplier and they weren't at all pushy.

 

[Sean Regan]

It's the same with any "captive market."
If you want to travel with a small child in a car, you must have a car seat for them. Look at the prices they charge. You could buy a second hand car for less!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

You could buy a second hand car for less!

Not nowadays, there simply are not any 2 to 5 hundred pound bangers any more, my little Seat 500 cost me two thousand a few years ago, I could get six for it now.
I am looking forward to seeing if you get a reply, but I expect they filed your letter carefully in the bin.

 

[Sean Regan]

My eldest granddaughter has just bought a little Renault Clio from "a friend of a friend" for £300. They checked it out on the DVLA site. No problems.


Did you mean an answer to my letter to the C O of United Utilities?

As for a reply. My letter was sent recorded delivery. These days big companies including the NHS which must get thousands of complaints have departments dedicated to handling them. The C O may not even see the letter it will likely go straight to such a department, but usually if you write to a CO, you will get a reply from them, they may not write it, just read and sign it. If I don't get a satisfactory answer, "I have my camera ready." I've no time for the recognised social media, but my daughter says she'll put it on TikTok.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I don't do stuff like TikTok either, but even if stair lift users are not the main clientele it should still make them sweat a bit, right on, good for you.

 

[Sean Regan]

I don't do stuff like TikTok either, but even if stair lift users are not the main clientele it should still make them sweat a bit, right on, good for you.

No, I've not written about stairlifts.
It's about my mains water pipe replacement on Monday of last week.

From my curtilage wall to the corner of the kitchen behind the oven unit, including moleing under the concrete drive and one of the guys crawling around on top of the concrete raft in the void under the floor of the house. This cost me £1080. The only evidence of which is here, where they had to go through the concrete drive.

To replace the 18" of old 15mm copper pipe left, to which my contractor had to connect the new pipe, as they aren't allowed to connect to United Utilities water meters, United Utilities wanted to charge me £1800, to replace the old pipe with 18" or whatever of 25mm plastic pipe.
It'd be easy enough to dig out the hole that my contractor made and reach through to the water meter.

If they charged me £300, I'd pay it, but still feel ripped off as it's no more than two hours work, if that.
The water pressure is now far better than it was and manageable, but far less than that which both I and my contractor had expected

 

[Sean Regan]

Our stairlift will be fitted tomorrow.
I'm sick of elf n'safety, it must be the biggest business in the world.

Whilst I was on the phone to the supplier confirming I will be in all day tomorrow, the girl said she had to give some information and ask me a lot of questions before the installation, as it was an "'elf n' safety" requirement.
A lot of them were totally irrelevant to the particular job.
It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't sounded so officious.

Here's a couple.

"The engineer will be wearing special shoes while he does the installation and he's not allowed to take them off."

"Ah! elf n' safety, he's working on a staircase, do they have spikes?"

No answer.

Then I got,

"Is there anything on the staircase that might impede the installation?"

"If you mean my herd of pigmy goats, I'll keep them off it by locking them in the front room until he's gone."

No response.

I don't think she was impressed, but that was the last question. So I said, "The answer to the unasked question is yes."

"What do you mean?"

"I've installed a 13amp power-point for it at the foot of the stairs, as without one, it will never work."

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Now I'm guessing other questions, eg.
Does the weight of any of the 0persons using the lift exceed 500 lbs?
Will the lift be used for descending as well as ascending?
Are there children under the age of 12 in the house?
Does the user wear a 'help' button in case of a power cut half way up or down?
Will the user carry hot drinks or meals?

 

[Sean Regan]

My wife made me smile last night when I went to visit her.
I brought in some information I'd downloaded, from the rehab centre she will be going for a couple of weeks, including dome reviews from the local paper, which she read out to me.
One woman had a lot of praise for it, saying when she left her mother could now get around the house, manage the stairs and able to cook again.

I said "Briliant!"

My wife said. "See! I might not need a stairlift, (she'd always resisted having one."

I replied, "No I don't mind if you don't need to use it, it was the cooking again bit that impressed me,"

 

[Sean Regan]

The stairlift is in and working.
Only two irritations, caused by the numpty surveyor.

He said that this shoe cupboard wouldn't be in the way.
Wrong! Not enough clearance for when the chair is at the bottom.

He said it needed a power-point and started looking at the fuse cupboard on the other side of the hall. I said, "never mind that, just point on the wall where you want the socket and I'll put one there."

Wrong!

I put it where he said, but I had to move it this morning, as the bottom support post would block it off.

Those minor hurdles over and it was all go.

Still plenty of room for me to walk up the stairs.

It can lock in this position, forming a barrier at the top of the stairs.

Or folded up, so the stairs aren't blocked.

It comes with two remotes, so you can call it if it's at the opposite end to someone who wants to use it. But in our case they aren't necessary. If my wife is downstairs, so will be the lift and if she's upstairs it will be there too. So I've taken the batteries out and put them in a cupboard.


I need to find a thinner but decent looking shoe cupboard that's not more than 50mm wide or 40mm deep instead of that table. Not having any luck at the moment.

 

[Sean Regan]

A search of the internet found as replacement cupboard that would just fit. It needed a bit of A4 paper and an upright spirit level to confirm this as the little bit of skirting board isn't square.
It's Oak with Oak veneer. I'll need to put in three extra shelves, but I'll get them cut at the wood yard in laminated chipboard.

The old cupboard is here for now in the front room. I don't want it there as the door won't fully open and it wouldn't look right even if it fitted. I'll get my son to give me a hand to put it in the box bedroom. It'll have to be lifted over the stairlift and its rail.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

By the time you are both using the stairlift you will have forgotten where you put the remotes. It's okay, you can ask us, "You took the batteries out and put them in the cupboard, Sean, don't forget, new batteries"

PS. Is it an upstairs cupboard or a downstairs cupboard? Perhaps you should put one in each just in case.

 

[Sean Regan]

Had an e-mail from stairlift company with a questionnaire about the installation.
Said the install was fine, not so the admin. Lost order, told cupboard could stay, but there wasn't room. Asked to put the power socket in the "wrong place."

Got a phone call half an hour later asking the same questions.

"How much did it cost to move the socket?"

"Could you get an electrician at a moment's notice? Neither could I. I moved it myself."

She must have been quite young, as this would be beyond many people of a similar age. As compensation, she increased the warranty from two years to three, documents will be in the post.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

TBH a two or three year guarantee doesn't impress me much for a fairly simple piece of kit that costs that much.

 

[Sean Regan]

It's a captive market. There are only three manufacturers of stairlifts in the UK.

Same a child car seats, another captive market, so both are expensive.
There's no alternative.