Second Hand Stairlift Concerns

Here at Sykes Stairlifts we have noticed an influx of second-hand stairlifts being purchased from online marketplaces such as Ebay and Facebook.

As the industry continues to grow, more second-hand purchases are being made therefore stairlift installations are being carried out by those lacking knowledge and experience. This is starting to effect the level of professionalism and quality of stair lift installation within the market.

Our engineers will not fit any stairlifts that have been purchased online. We are noticeably receiving more and more calls to do so. Stairlifts are 75% about the person who will be using it and 25% about the stairs and although the stairlift may seem to fit the staircase it doesn’t mean that it will fit the person. Such criteria are the person’s posture, height, feet, knees, motor skills, etc.

Many people have jumped on the bandwagon of selling to vulnerable people as there seems to be people out there willing to offer prices that are extremely low because they are buying the stairlifts off these market places. The people who are selling the stairlifts are perhaps the ones who are dealing with a bereavement of a parent and are clearing out their childhood home. They ring a stairlift company and when they find out the costs involved they turn to a second-hand site instead with the possibility of being able to advertise for free, have somebody take it away and potentially earn some money from it as well. The result is another piece of equipment out there, likely being installed somewhere which is not suitable or safe for the user.

With the concern of user safety in mind, it would be nice to see some sort of Stairlift Company/Engineer registration in place where only those qualified to work on these products can install maintain and service stairlifts. Although this idea may be something that might happen in future, for now you can be assured that if this was to come into effect, our company and our team would pass with flying colours.