New Era Aquaculture Ltd, are aquatic specialists in South Yorkshire who formulate innovative feeding strategies for both marine and tropical fishes across the globe, they have recently secured a lucrative deal with Merlin Entertainment Group to supply all thirty SeaLife Centres across Europe over the next three years.

To cope with the increasing product volumes being handled the business had decided to invest in its first forklift truck. Peter Kersh and the team at New Era AquaCulture had already settled on a unit from a dealer in Warrington which they had found on-line however when the machine arrived it was not fit for purpose.

After some strong discussions Peter managed to persuade the company to swap the unit out. The stacker was returned to the supplier. The team were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the replacement truck however this never materialised and the saga goes on in that respect.

With a dim view of the forklift truck industry Peter contacted Ability Handling after finding a used BT LSR 1200 for sale on the web site. www.abilityhandlingltd.co.uk

After a visit to our premises in Rotherham Peter was impressed by the level of professionalism that he found. This then began to build confidence that he was dealing with a reputable company and that he would not be "burnt" again.

Peter commented that, "Steve and the team at Ability offered a great service and we did the deal that morning. Ability's ISO9001 quality system was very reassuring as every aspect of our agreed deal was put in writing and both parties given identical copies. We set the delivery date and the unit arrived fully serviced, ready to go and bang on time". Peter went on to say " This experience has restored my faith in the forklift truck industry".

So there you have; it Yes you can source "cheap equipment" on line but buyer beware, first check out that the supplier is a genuine, reputable business and ideally look for membership to a trade body such as the Fork Lift Truck Association; whose members are bound by a strict ethical code of practice.

As NewEra's experience shows, the Web is an excellent 'research and shopping tool' but in the final analysis you cannot beat dealing with a local company that can support that piece of equipment and offer best value after sales service for your money.