Acorns business model is very much their own.
This is mainly a UK orientated forum and right to repair laws in the UK are very different to Canada and the US.
In the UK Acorn supply and fit all 180 lift in house – Brooks or Acorn badged, they no longer allow the trade to install and have technical information, van stock is a thing of the past and they will only supply parts 1 for 1 when given a lift specific serial number. Not an issue for most as there are many better lift options available to the trade.
They are not alone in some of these behaviours; many manufacturers in the UK will only supply technical support to engineers who have been trained on the specific lift they phone them about, quite fairly I feel, having seen some absolute hacks done by “here today gone tomorrow” merchants.
What I find frustrating is the uneven playing field that some of the bigger companies have created, taking deliveries back “in-house” claiming couriers are too expensive – truth is the couriers are too efficient and allowed us to compete with their response times from enquiry to install, otherwise why not give the option for premium courier delivery? Or another who take up to 48 hours just to respond to a spares purchase.
The end user is the looser as they are hooked to one repairer and tapped up for some type of insurance contract for fear that they may be left stranded.
None of this is an issue for me as after 40+ years as a service engineer my knees are shot and I’m nearing retirement so I’m passing responsibility on to the younger family members to continue.
