Jump to content

Equiniti selling back surrendered equipment?


Ian Cunningham

Recommended Posts

I've just received a very odd e-mail from a company called "Ramco" trying to sell the radio mics that I surrendered in January back to me!

 

Obviously done in alliance with Equiniti as they have the number of surrendered items correct and the surrender *value* is correct for that claim. The price they want to charge is 50% of the surrender value before VAT and early-surrender uplifts

 

Has anyone else received a similar e-mail?

 

After my initial "cheeky barstewards" reaction, I'm now wondering If it's worth getting the handhelds back...hmmmm.....

 

 

Ian Cunningham

Solus Technical Services

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think everyone who surrendered kit has had the same letter. So basically I'd like to thank ordinary members of the public who haven't even heard of the pro-audio industry for donating so much of their tax to my worthy cause. It's a great system, send equipment to the Government to store for a few months, then they return it with a nice cheque for storage. Excellent!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just had my e-mail.

 

I just can't see that many people taking advantage - after all, what are we supposed to do with all the outdated gear in 6 months or so when it's unusable...??

If they were selling off at TEN percent of the surrender price it might be concievable as a consumable, but half price is very steep!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just can't see that many people taking advantage - after all, what are we supposed to do with all the outdated gear in 6 months or so when it's unusable...??

If they were selling off at TEN percent of the surrender price it might be concievable as a consumable, but half price is very steep!

 

I'd anticipate that any kit which isn't reclaimed by the original owners will be offered to all comers, at that stage there may well be a price drop. And I'm sure at some point somebody will be paid to clear all the unwanted systems from whichever warehouse they are currently occupying...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe I need to read the small print a bit closer (or at least I would if I had an interest in getting it back) but the letter reads as if everything is still in the same boxes as I posted it in with all the bits missing that I didn't send. Do they want to sell me lots of radio mics and receivers without powersupplies, capsules and antennas?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ramco are a disposals company that typically deal with ex MoD equipment etc. In this case they seem to have a disposal contract for Equintii

A small amount of chan 69 kit appeared in eBay from them about a 6 weeks ago, but the small print of the advert stated that they could only sell to licence holders. Having had a chat with them it seems that this was a condition placed on them by Equintii after they had agreed to dispose of them, and they were unable to persuade them of the strangeness of this constraint, insomuch as the residual value of the kit lies in its use on Chan 70.

Clearly they were not very sucessful in selling them in this way so are trying another approach.

The whole thing seems rather odd, and morally dubious. To me it smacks of someone in a government department being asked at the last minute to maximise the value of the (technically) obsolete kit that they have on the shelf rather than just disposing of it all. Accountants minds can be odd things...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"The majority of any proceeds from sales of equipment is used to offset the cost of the funding scheme, therefore reducing the burden on taxpayers. Any items that are sold are done so clearly on the condition that by 1 October 2012 any UK purchasers either dispose of the equipment under European Waste Electrical and Equipment (WEEE) Directive regulations or convert it to use Channel 38."
Quote from OFCOM (my italics).

 

POLITICS ALERT: So what has happened is that Equiniti was awarded a contract which we, as taxpayers have already paid for, to remove the gear from circulation.

 

Equiniti saw a profit making opportunity and are selling the gear back to you so that you can bear the costs of recycling/disposal/retuning.

 

End result? Taxpayers cash has been siphoned into private enterprise pockets with no effective end result. There might be some point if they had retuned to channel 38 while they had the kit but this is blatant taxpayer rip-off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.