The Framers Forum

Hi Markw,

Yes I did. Like I said I was going to do, I emailed the Guild and explained the situation re the length of the form, etc. The reply I got back was the one I expected, i.e. its not the Guilds place to tell another company how to run their business, or how to construct their application forms. That bit I understood, but wasnt at all happy, the two parties could have at least consulted, and then if necessary consulted with some other Guild members and got the form correct before the company being brought in as a benefit. And to be honest 5% discount is not any where near good enough

I was also told to contact Besso directly, which I did, and was told to leave out the parts that werent relevant. If parts were not required, why have them in, in the first place. Fair enough I thought, but still binned it.

Now, heres the thing, and unfortunately it cannot happen until October, but the wheels are about to be set in motion, my wife who is Branch Master here is going to bring it up at Court level and see what runs up the flag pole. She is also bringing up the details of a few other benefits, such as the Thistle Hotels, the £5 discount offered is scandalous, and apart from that, there are no Thistle Hotels in Northern Ireland. She believes that some benefits should be loacalised to here, and if necessary localised in other parts of the UK.

The Guild should take a long hard look at the benefits offered by the FSB, and we have been trying to make them do so for the past 3 years, even from my time as Branch Master, and listening to the members and not their complaints, but their concerns as to what benefits actually appertained to here, and to what those benefits that didnt appertain to here were going to be utilised, 'if ever'

Just out of interest, and whil we are on this subject of benefits, whats your view (if I dont already know) of the benefits? How, in your opinion could they be upgraded or bettered? What other benefits would you as a member like to see? Have you informed the Guild of any suggestions?

Steven

Steven
I have attempted to use Besso twice now - first time many years ago - they failed to send me the form in time so stuck with old insurer - 2nd time thought things might have changed - I had previously whinged about Besso to the Guild - so they now use email - 35 page form merited a glance and straight in bin - i got same response to my comment about questions - I didn’t gat as far as a quote on either occasions so don’t know how competitive they are - something tells me that they wont be!

As for other benefits - credit card deal seems sound enough - but its tied for a relatively long period of time - but that is fairly standard - I know of other organisations that get better deals. Legal advice is probably the major benefit - fortunately i have never had to use it. Can’t recall ever seeing thistle hotels offer - 5% - phew?

Benefits should be an ongoing and ever improving part of membership - but i don’t believe they should just be about what you can get cheaper - we should be looking at all sorts of facilities that as a single small business you cant get access to - as part of a group you can.

I recently wrote to the guild asking them to look at recycling in our industry - especially glass - as a framer I dump far too much glass - I don’t know of any commercial solution that doesn’t cost a fortune - same applies to card and paper waste. many weeks have passed and I still haven’t had a reply!

Packaging - can be a real expense to go out and get good quality bags etc - if we had guild logo bags etc it could be of real benefit.

Sure members of the forum could come up with more things they would like to see.

When it comes to the question of insurance it strikes me that when you qualify as a GCF you should be eligble for insuarance arranged by the guild for qualified framers - many proffesional bodies cover their members for huge sums against the day to day problems that might arise. - this would raise profile of the guild and improve customer confidence in the industry and it qualifications.

Hi Markw,

Can’t recall ever seeing thistle hotels offer - 5% - phew?

, I didnt say 5%, I said £5 discount. I thinks its an affront to any person to offer a £5 discount. I didnt even go as far as the quote from Besso, like I said I binned it. I agree, i printed it off, 35 pages..what a waste fo my paper.

Funny you should mention recycling of glass. Like you, and every other framer I recyscle huge amounts of glass weekly or if it looks like building up, on a daily basis. Last Friday I spoke to, nay! complained to the chap in charge of our loocal recyscling depot / ammenity site, this was his answer, and i quote as close as possible.

'Green bottles are fine, they are crushed down to fine powder. brown bottle are also fine, they are also crushed down to fine powder, and clear bottles are best, they are crushed to a fine powder, and then mixed with the sand on golf course bunkers, thats why you see a shimmer when looking at them on TV' He also said that the local double glazing companies that dump glass there, have to put the glass into what they call the 'Domestic Waste' skip, they just dont want glass of any sort, just bottles. His excuse for all this and I think its the local Council's policy........well I near fell out of the back of my van......'sand is so cheap, they dont need to recycle glass'

So how do we get round that? I wonder would the glass manufacturers take the glass back to mix it with the manufacturing process, as i do know broken glass is also mixed at an early stage of the manufacturing process. I seen it happen, so someone, somewhere must have a use for it.

The Guild'slegal advice helpline is good, I unfortunately had to use it once, at 10:30pm, and it was a personal matter, my ex wife had been causing some hassle, and I got it sorted with half an hour, but unfortunately I was only given advice, and had to go and see my own solicitor the following day an explain it all again, but at least my mind was pout at ease at 11pm when they rang back, but thats as far as they went, unlike the FSB's legal helpline, they can provide a solicitor for certain cases, problems, etc.

Credit Cards, we use the Guild's bebnefit there, my wife would have to explain what she gets, but its not bad.

There is Guild logo bags, didnt you kow that? Ring up and see if you can get some. I have some here, but not sure whether they are for general use. I got mine from a mini trade fair I organised here, and they didnt want to carry them back on the plane. Only thing is they are the size of normal cheap shopping bags, not very big, not even as big as a decnt Spar bag, but I agree they should be made available....in the right sizes...and the 'RIGHT PRICE' I must bring this up...excellent idea!!!

I im also in total agreement that Guild GCF's should get a special insurance discount from companies, after all as an advanced driver I get a wee tad extra discount on my car insurnace. Not a lot now a days, but at least its something. Its more than a FIVER....hahahahahahahaha, but not a hell of a lot more.

Keep the ideas coming Markw.

Steven

Just had a Royal & Sun Alliance representitave round to survey our premises.

Among other things, such as upgrade to our alarm, they are asking for a yearly inspection certificate for our new compressor, a small Jun-Air with 25L tank.

Is this usual?

I'm just giving this question a wee *bump* up the list.

I think the insurance lady is being a bit unreasonable. We have never had to service the compressor before any maintenance has been done by us.


Arrrggggghhhh Insurance companies