Has anyone had a reconditioned stairlift installed?

cymruchris

cymruchris

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My dad is of an age where a stairlift might be appropriate - and they're rather pricey - but looking around South Wales - a number of companies appear to be offering reconditioned straight stair lifts for about £800-850 installed. I imagine prices vary around the country - but has anyone bought something in this price range? And if so - how did it go - and how is it going? I know its not photography related as such - but there must be the odd member here that might have a bit of knowledge on the the subject (Not that I'm saying we're a load of old cronies or anything!)
 
I run my own stairlift company in Devon, so a little too far to be able to offer to supply one as the response time for breakdown callouts would be awful.
Find a specialist firm, many mobility shops just pass on your details to national firms who do the hard sell and the aftersales support is poor.
I sell reconditioned Brooks and Acorn straight lifts for £800, there will not be any vat to pay if dad has any type of illness or disability vat exemption for stairlift
I include 12 months parts and labour warranty but some firms will only give 3 months, straight reconditioned lifts are generally good, they can't really be raced or rallied the only real risk is that someone overweight has been using it previously.

You are welcome to PM me and I'll give you my number for a chat.
 
billy nomates said:
I run my own stairlift company in Devon, so a little too far to be able to offer to supply one as the response time for breakdown callouts would be awful.
Find a specialist firm, many mobility shops just pass on your details to national firms who do the hard sell and the aftersales support is poor.
I sell reconditioned Brooks and Acorn straight lifts for £800, there will not be any vat to pay if dad has any type of illness or disability vat exemption for stairlift
I include 12 months parts and labour warranty but some firms will only give 3 months, straight reconditioned lifts are generally good, they can't really be raced or rallied the only real risk is that someone overweight has been using it previously.

You are welcome to PM me and I'll give you my number for a chat.
Click to expand...

And there was me thinking I might find someone that's had one fitted - and instead I find a fitter :) This place never fails to astound me :) Thanks for your detailed reply.

I do want to avoid the big national firms - and have found a few local installers who all list lifts installed for about the £800 mark.

Not sure he'd qualify for VAT exemption - that although he's lost his mobility, and can't walk more than about ten steps without needing to sit down for a very long rest, and now uses a pushed wheelchair if he ever needs to go out, I don't think that qualifies as a chronic illness from what I've read? Aside from the loss of power in his legs - there's nothing much else wrong with him.

Good point in terms of the previous owners weight - but that's an unknown I suppose. He's only 8st9 now - so not a heavyweight himself.

I'm at the research stage I suppose at the moment - Brooks & Acorn have been reasonable for your business? Not too many headaches?
 
The joy of being independent is that I can pick and choose the right stairlift for each customer and I don't have to tolerate sub standard gear.
Brooks and Acorn are the same company just that Brooks supply the trade and Acorn sell direct to the public. People in the trade get a bit snobby about the budget end of the market but the lift does a good job it's quite and reliable, sadly what lets them down are the sales techniques used which are little better than double glazing sales used to be - "hang on I'll just phone my manager" and then halving the price.
They've updated the seat about 5 years ago and had an issue with the cables in the arms breaking due to being stressed at the same point each time the arms were folded up and down, that issue was remedied almost completely by generating more space for the cables to twist over a greater area.
They have also updated the internal control boards about 2 years ago so if you do buy one you really want one with a DC charger as that ensures it's got the most recent PCB and will offer better longevity with regard to spares, - some companies like to dump all the spares quite quickly after discontinuing a model to generate lift sales rather than repairs - it breaks my heart after 35+ years as a service engineer who was taught to fault find to component level, to see the speed at which equipment is binned rather than being repaired. Both versions of the PCB have one small weakness which is a relay on there which can fail (maybe 1 in every 50) - £10 for parts and some soldering or £350+ for a replacement PCB.
The Stannah 600 and Bruno elite are good lifts, others from the likes of Handicare / Age UK are not personal favourites of mine they do a job but others do it better.
 
my bird bought one for her mum when she went off her feet, 3.5 grand...i think she went up and down on it about a dozen times, when she died the company said they would buy it back off her...a couple of hundred quid they offered her...rinsed good and proper
 
Brendan that's a common story, at that price I'm guessing it was a curved lift that went up and around a bend or she was really stiffed.
Curved lifts are custom built to fit the staircase the idea being that if it should it ever break down that the user can safely get off of the lift at any point and not have a 2' drop down to the nearest step it also ensures a correct fit to prevent knees and elbows getting damaged passing narrow points such as newel posts or walls. Because the rail is bespoke to the individual staircase they have no resale value and will go straight to scrap when removed, the seat and motor can be re-used but we are limited to companies who are able to make new rails to the required tolerances, these suppliers have invested serious money in the forming machines and charge quite a premium.
There are some curved stairlifts which can be bought with modular tracks, effectively a giant meccano set, every joint will generate noise and vibration and they are very much a case of you get what you pay for.
 
I know this might be a long shot, but have you tried applying through social services and the council, involve his doctor too, my father had one installed free, they just took it out after he died.
 
Another option may be to hire one. I know thats possible from Stannah. My Dad used to do just that although I suspect (without knowing the costs) that longer term it works out more expensive
 
Long story short

I looked into a stairlift for my parents some years ago , Couldn't afford a new one so looked in LOOT ( Remember that )

Found one that was listed as 3 months old at £300 , I phoned and was told the following story

The couple had a house and were not sure if buying a stair lift or buying a bungalow was best, They phoned the lift company who said don't worry if you decide on a bungalow we will buy back the lift , So £2300 was paid and the new lift installed , 3 months later they decide due to further health problems they would move away into a bungalow , Contacted the lift company and said we are moving and would like you to buy back the lift , Yes OK no problem We can give you £300 for it

At that point the lady said I would rather let someone in need have it for £300 than let you have it

It was like new with 2 remotes , Mum and dad id enjoy it until they both passed away :(
 
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Thanks for all your very helpful replies - i've not been on the board very much for a few weeks - as there was a sudden turn for the worse - and he's now in hospital recovering from a mild stroke - but hopefully back home next week. @billy nomates - your posts have been really informative - but now considering there might be a need for a curved lift which is going to send the price northwards. He was managing the lower two steps on a corner, which is why I was considering the straight lit - but not sure he'll manage that now. Would it be too much trouble as you're the resident stair expert to pop you a photo of our stairs (exciting I know) and just get an opinion on what might fit before I get all the locals in to measure up? (Oh and now he qualifies for the 0 percent VAT)
 
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