Stanah stairlift being used by woman in the home

Which? has granted Stannah Stairlifts, one of the UK’s largest stairlift manufacturers, its sought-after Which? Recommended Provider status, after the supplier ranked highly in Which? investigations.

Recently, the independent consumer body Which? turned its attention to the stairlift market, having run its Which? Top Stairlifts Brand survey at the end of 2018, asking 754 stairlift customers to score both products and customer experience.

In spring 2019, the consumer charity also ran a snapshot investigation, inviting sales representatives from Stannah, Handicare and Acorn to visit a mystery shopper’s home to pitch for a stairlift installation.

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Topping the charity’s brand survey and performing well in the mystery shopper exercise, Stannah is currently the only stairlift supplier to hold the Which? Recommended Provider status.

Patrick Stannah, Managing Director at Stannah, commented: “We are very proud to now be a Which? Recommended Provider, the only stairlift supplier to hold this status. It cements our commitment to excellence across all facets of our business.

“At Stannah, we take great care to recruit the best people who share our ethos and who we can rely on to deliver informed advice, first class service as well as dependable, life-enhancing technology.”

Founded in 1867, Stannah has evolved from a lift and hoist business into a globally renowned lift, family-owned lift business, providing both commercial and domestic lift products all over the world.

In this year’s Sunday Times annual Rich List, Stannah’s joint chairmen and brothers Brian and Alan Stannah appeared, with an estimated net worth of £155million, alongside Acorn Stairlift boss John Jakes, with a net wealth was estimated to at £210million.

Mystery shopper controversy

In the mystery shopper investigation, Which? alleged two out of three of Acorn’s sales representatives used pressure selling techniques denounced in the industry, including asking for an immediate decision on buying a reconditioned stairlift, calling a ‘mate’ in the office before offering a 20% discount, as well as requesting a refundable £500 deposit there and then.

Acorn says it does not accept that a deposit was sought on the visit, or that an immediate decision was required, but that it would look into the concerns raised by the charity.

Which? also called on the BHTA to look into the matter, which it said potentially breached its Code of Practice.

The Association told THIIS it is looking into the matter, however, noted that it audits members’ activities to check compliance against its Code of Practice and when it audited Acorn in April 2017, did not identify any problems.

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