HP BRIGHTER FUTURES

[Millgate_Jon]

Hi Everyone

 

I`m going on a concerted push to get Millgate approved to supply HP kit on the Brighter Futures program, to get an idea of scale, to those of you who use it already.....

 

-What are your thoughts on the program?

-How committed to it are you?

-Is it possible to quantify how much it affects your buying decision?

 

Appreciate all and any thoughts of course......

 

Cheers

 

Jon.

[Squelch]

I use the program because it allows me to stretch my budget a lot further. It makes more financial sense to get cash back from old IT equipment rather than just recycling it.

Without the program the difference in price between HP and Dell laptops of a similar spec is negligible, with the program the same HP laptop was (in my case) £150 cheaper so it absolutely affects my buying decision. I wish Dell would do something similar.

[bigstan48]

We used the brighter futures offer to trade in machines, which would have otherwise been recycled.

[DrCheese]

I've used it once, but I still find HP struggling to compete with just buying equivalent machines from Dell Direct - Without the hassle of doing a trade in.

Reducing the requirements for traded in machines from 10 years to 8 years hasn't helped either (Yes, We had a fair amount of old kit )

 

That and I have to keep my initial outlay within budget - Doesn't matter if we get X back later, as it's not 100% guaranteed (Due to them grading machines) it requires extra justification/work to get it through which can be difficult.

Edited August 11, 2024 by DrCheese

[Steve21]

Used it once a while ago, recently though too much faff - Ages of machines don't go far back enough, fuss regarding power/batteries/chargers/case damage etc.

 

Seems it's gone off the "lets recycle stuff" to "we need to make money"

 

Steve

[bigstan48]

I've used it once, but I still find HP struggling to compete with just buying equivalent machines from Dell Direct - Without the hassle of doing a trade in.

Reducing the requirements for traded in machines from 10 years to 8 years hasn't helped either (Yes, We had a fair amount of old kit )

 

 

One aspect which is quite important is that even though quite a few machines were over ten years old, Brighter Futures calculates the age from the BIOS date - which made some of our 12 year old machines, only 5 years old!!!

[Millgate_Jon]

This is great feedback - thanks folks.

 

I didn`t know the degree of the savings offered other than they were significant so get a ball park figure is helpful. I can see how much it would make a difference on a large order/full hardware refresh.

 

Our HP Account Manager is working with us now to get us approved as we have worked hard with them, offering full support to clients, demo`s etc but not been able to compete when it comes to pricing.

 

No idea how long it will take to be approved onto BF but sooner than later I hope!

 

In the meantime of course we`ll continue quoting as best we can or trying to talk people into using other brands :-)

 

Cheers Folks

 

Jon.

[DrCheese]

One aspect which is quite important is that even though quite a few machines were over ten years old, Brighter Futures calculates the age from the BIOS date - which made some of our 12 year old machines, only 5 years old!!!

 

Yeah, some suppliers did say this to me, but I was wary they were telling me what I wanted to hear & that once I went to do the trade in, it wouldn't go through.

Remember - Once suppliers have your cash the trade-in part has nothing to do with them. You're at the mercy of the recycling partner to accept the equipment or not downgrade it for any reason. This can really screw your numbers up if the equipment isn't accepted/downgraded

 

As I say, for me it's the upfront cost that matters - Also (and aware this sounds lazy) there's no hassle sending stuff back if we don't do this scheme.

[E_G_R2]

Did it last year for the first time and it was good enough in terms of savings and hassle to do it again this year. Suppose last year was better as we were able to throw in loads of the totally naff government COVID laptops/notebooks so got a very good deal.

 

This year we are getting rid of mostly lower tier (not branded) stuff so will see how that goes as we will have more to shift next year.

 

So far so good.

 

Oh just make sure you keep any pallets and have wrapping film.

[Millgate_Jon]

Yeah, some suppliers did say this to me, but I was wary they were telling me what I wanted to hear & that once I went to do the trade in, it wouldn't go through.

Remember - Once suppliers have your cash the trade-in part has nothing to do with them.

This is true however I`d question any supplier who leaves you in the lurch after mis-selling the trade in requirements. I`d also report to HP and have them removed from Brighter Futures!

 

I`d be surprised if it were just a Millgate thing but here we have a structure in place to manage cash back and trade in deals for our clients. Not just on BF of course but anything along these lines.

 

Granted it`s little more than a spreadsheet but we manage timelines, send reminders, keep track of all the relevant links and invoicing info you`ll need for the claim - essentially look after and help you through the process so you don`t miss out.

 

Thanks

 

Jon.

 

`

[bigstan48]

One aspect which is quite important is that even though quite a few machines were over ten years old, Brighter Futures calculates the age from the BIOS date - which made some of our 12 year old machines, only 5 years old!!!

 

The above information was given to me by a Brighter Futures contact and not my supplier!