Great 'disguised Own Brand' Hunt.

jicms

garyclay wrote: »

I recently had a repair man to my AEG dishwasher. "I've got the same model at home" he told me "But mine's Zannussi"

After a little confussion on my part he explained that there are very few individual manufacturers left. The badge is just a front. My AEG is exactly the same as his Zanussi but the external fascia is altered so that they look different so the consumer doesn't realise.

After a little research I found the following on the web

"Many appliances are no longer made by the companies shown on the logo. Successful brand name companies go bust or are taken over by bigger companies but they usually keep the "old" name for various tactical marketing reasons. In a way, it shouldn't matter who makes which brand, but a couple of concerns should be considered.

Firstly, if a customer is very unhappy with a product, or the service provided by a manufacturer, they are likely to avoid purchasing from that company again. They may well end up purchasing virtually the exact same machine with a different logo complete with the same company service engineers as well as the same company ethos.

Secondly, there are sometimes differences between brands made by the same company - even when the machines are virtually the same. An example of this is with Creda and Hotpoint, both of which are now made by the same company. Hotpoint machines have a free five year parts guarantee but Creda machines don't. There is little difference between the two makes inside, but they are priced differently too. A similar thing occurs with Hoover and Candy who are both owned by Candy. Hoover have a free 5-year parts guarantee, but Candy's don't.

Eventually, all washing machines are likely to be made by just a handful of companies and in fact we aren't that far off from this scenario already. Note that some brands retain all their original differences but are just owned by a rival company and some are virtually the same machine inside with different logos and trimmings. Here is a sample of some of the household names who are owned or made by the same company.

Electrolux: own well over 50 brand names (though not all of them washing machines) Among the more well known ones are AEG, Tricity Bendix, Zanussi.

GDA: manufacture Hotpoint, Creda, Cannon and GE, English Electric,

Candy: own Hoover, Zerowatt and Kelvinator among others.

Merloni: own Ariston, Indesit, New World, Philco, and have just bought a large interest in GDA (who make Hotpoint and Creda)."

So next time I'll be going for the cheap option!!!


If anybody out there is an appliance repair man, or married to one, do you know which models are the same under the different badges?

Hope you find this useful.

Siemens are exactly the same as Bosch. You just have to work out which are the identical models as their model nos. don't bear any resemblance. Even the instruction manuals are identical with the only difference being the words "Bosch" and "Siemens" and the advantage that Siemens offer a free five year guarantee as opposed to Bosch's two year.

aangel240283

from the professional beauty web site xxxxx


Health and beauty retailer Boots has acted over the sale of some of its No7 and Botanics lines in Poundland.

It emerged yesterday that the Boots products, including some still on sale in the pharmacist’s shops rather than end of line, were available in Poundland and B&M Bargains and new labels had simply been stuck over the originals.

The news was embarrassing for Boots because the products are sold for much higher prices in its shops than in Poundland.

Boots said: “Boots UK invests significantly in research and product development to ensure our products are made to the highest possible standards.

“Boots UK does not supply Poundland and B&M with stock. We occasionally have excess stock that has been produced for our international businesses, which cannot be sold in our UK stores.

“As a business with a strong sense of corporate social responsibility we prefer not to dispose of excess products through landfill or incineration. Therefore we sell these products at below cost price for sale overseas where we do not have stores – an option that is far better for the environment.

“We believe a small amount of this stock has been diverted into UK retailers and sold without our permission. We have now taken steps to ensure that the stock is no longer available through this route.”

Poundland said: “There is a bona fide relationship between Boots and our supplier to reliable the products after removing the original label.

“On this occasion a mistake occurred and we are working with our supplier to rectify the situation.”

machofairy

Sooler wrote: »

LG and Sony tellies may be asembled in same place but it doesn't mean an LG is identical to Sony.
Some components may be common, other components will not.
You're not going to get Sony's BRAVIA Engine Full Digital Video Processor in a LG telly.

But what exactly does that mean? I find it hard to tell the difference between most of the tellies on display at my local Currys superstore.

GuineaFowl

Halford's bikehut range of bicycle lubricants are actually Weldtite bicycle lubricants. Same bottle. Same content. Different label.

chelms38

There is still far too much brand snobbery that goes on today,although the numbers are coming down.Personally I buy non brand stuff and apart from a supermarkets 28p for 80 teabags have never seen the difference. :T

DCFC79

chelms38 wrote: »

There is still far too much brand snobbery that goes on today,although the numbers are coming down.Personally I buy non brand stuff and apart from a supermarkets 28p for 80 teabags have never seen the difference. :T

agreed, i do try and buy non branded goods and not done too bad,

mbb123

in reply to this message on car tyres and going slightly off the subject of different branding,

Originally Posted by George_Bray
I've never noticed a scrap of difference in road holding or anything else, not that I drive as if I was on a race track. Companies love you to be scared into paying over the odds when 'only the best is good enough'. It's illogical. If cheap tyres weren't safe, I doubt if they would be approved for sale.

a close friend of mine who worked for a tyre sales place once told me that the specs for new tyres do not have to be of a set standard and some of the cheaper ones are not as good as remoulds which have to be over a specified specification. thats not saying that the cheaper ones are actually unsafe just that they may not last as long or damage easier.

LadyDee

I am looking around for a new combination microwave oven and I've identified a few that I like but wonder if I should be looking at supermarket or stores' own brands if they all come from just a small number of manufacturers.
Those I'm considering are made by Sharp, Panasonic, Sanyo and Samsung.
Other than product reviews, I wonder if anybody has any useful tips regarding these please?

Doc_N

LadyDee wrote: »

I am looking around for a new combination microwave oven and I've identified a few that I like but wonder if I should be looking at supermarket or stores' own brands if they all come from just a small number of manufacturers.
Those I'm considering are made by Sharp, Panasonic, Sanyo and Samsung.
Other than product reviews, I wonder if anybody has any useful tips regarding these please?

One of those few things, I think, where you're likely to be better off with a decent brand than an unnamed one (with the exception of a John Lewis one, and those are Panasonic).

Panasonic are in my view the best, bar none - just a personal view, though. We've had two over the last 8 years or so, and it would have been just one if the wife hadn't tipped melted butter into the top of the first one!

Reliable, efficient, good looking - can't fault them. Maybe a bit dearer than some, but made to last.

LadyDee

Thank you - that's very interesting about Panasonic/John Lewis. I had actually put a Panny in my Amazon basket yesterday whilst looking around, just been to check and the price has gone up £20 since yesterday! Off to look at JL in the morning.