Hi, I came across this forum when I was actually googling something else. I would like to introduce myself as Steven Coates, the CEO of ICT Refurbishment. I am pleased that we have generated a bit of a discussion and I would like the opportunity to address some of the concerns raised.
Firstly, we are a new company however I can assure you that we are a legitimate company. I established the company 4 months ago after I discovered how corrupt this industry is when attempting to launch a CSR programme at my old company Gazprom Marketing and Trading. If it helps establish credibility you can view my profile on Linkedin.
You can also find out more about my background and why I set the company up in my blog post ICT Refurbishment | fulfilment of WEEE obligations
I am pleased that there is a healthy degree of scepticism, after seeing some of the horror stories and scams in this industry (e.g. the BBC Panorama programme BBC News - Bank forgives debt for school technology lease rip-off) I share your scepticism, which is why I gave up my career to set up ICTR. However I can assure you that ICT Refurbishment has been set up as a legitimate business. Our clients, whose computers we refurbish, are all Bluechip companies (I have signed confidential contracts and so unfortunately I am not allowed to reveal who they are.)
We have actually launched this scheme at the school where both my children attend. We are genuine in our objective to provide low cost computers for parents.
The point about support for the computers is a valid one. Whilst we are not staffed up to provide a direct support line we are offering a 3 month warranty with all equipment (with the option to extend to 12 months for a small fee of £30, which I believe is standard for this industry.) Our warranty is simple, if it does not work and we can't repair it then we will replace with a model of a similar spec.
Before we release the computers we perform a full data wipe (which has a digital certification from our wiping software Blanco) we clean the computer inside (removing dust and particles) and outside removing scuffs and scratches where possible. We also use specialist software to perform over 150 hardware tests on the computer, screen and peripherals to ensure the all work.
We have included on all the marketing material email addresses and phone numbers of the relevant person within ICTR so the parents can contact us directly with issues.
I must state that we are a commercial business and have not been set up as a charity. However we want to develop a commercial proposition that delivers both quality and value for money.
The programme we are establishing with schools is one of our strategies for establishing new sales channels. Whilst we recognise we are targeting a captive audience with parents, as a parent myself, I recognise that we must do this responsibly and with the utmost respect for the reputation of the school. However I do believe we have a valuable proposition to share and I hope that many parents, children and schools will benefit from it.
Thanks to dgsmith for pointing out our error on the DC7600, this should not have been on the website for that price and I have removed it.
If anyone has any further concerns (or indeed advice on what you would like us to be doing) please feel free to contact me directly at
[email protected].
Kind Regards
Steve
