We meet again Peccavi with banter to boot.
I did but the site did not give prices another I emailed did not answer so that’s why the appeal went out. Reason a family friend who has a disable son who uses a through the floor Stannah lift as he’s wheel chair bound. He had to call out Stannah engineers after hours and for the short period the engineer was on site his mother had to pay over £200. They found the fault but did not have the parts I mentioned so they had to order them. The second visit again was over £200 to fit these parts 1.1/4 hrs on site add this to the £250 maintenance cover you are looking at a lot of money as the cover does not cover parts or labour. The cover includes four service visits, and most of the time is spent talking to the disable son (to bump up their time). On each visit according to Stannah when I complained on her behalf ( she’s a widow) a service sheet is filled in and left in the lift sheet pouch .. I found no such service sheet and neither has she. Now on both the invoices it shows 1 stannah lift and the charge nothing to say what’s been done, and each states call out charges when the second visit was not a call out but a visit to fit the parts ( a rip off on your price). So there you have it.
One lift breakdown has cost £214 1st visit £228 second visit add that to £250+ contract fee you have £692 forgetting the pence, on the basis of that I think Stannah are ripping off the disabled.
Any comments would be welcomed.
Written in a hurry I'm going out so hope its clear.

bob, June 2013

Thank you Peccavi for your reply and kind comments and original reply and the fact you took time to do a successful search I could not achieve.

I would say more about them after more info has been passed to me but won't bore you. I might send the invoices to Trading Standards see what they have to say.

bob, June 2013

This is true for so many appliances and devices we have in our homes that need spare parts from time to time.

The contactor you mentioned is nothing more than a solenoid operated switch - a relay if you like. Many companies make and sell them - the Benedict & Jager contactor will very probably have dozens of competing companies making the same or similar switch - the artistry comes from being able to compare and select the most cost effective solution - most people will not be able to do that so they're at the mercy of the service agent.

A control board for a Boiler probably costs no more than £5 to manufacture - less if from China - but by the time the end-user gets it the cost is well over £100

Sadly there's no answer - flippantly your Stannah relative might move to a bungalow.

As for the overload switch you mentioned I can only assume it operates to disconnect power if too much current is drawn - like a circuit breaker perhaps.

It has been many years since I messed with electronics so my knowledge and any advice I might give is somewhat frozen in time.

If the maintenance contract does not include emergency repair and parts (call out AND parts) then it's a pretty useless maintenance plan.

All I can really offer is sympathy - sorry.

Use Google - select images - enter contactor and see hundreds of them - similarly overload switch.

Good luck...

Peccavi, June 2013