Leather Guarantee Guard Announces European Expansion Plan
March 26, 2001
Brussels, Belgium – Leather Guarantee Guard, the quality label organization for leather lounge furniture will expand from the Benelux countries towards France, Italy and Switzerland. Currently, the company is building relationships with furnishing manufacturers, retailers and the main consumer organizations in these countries. L.G.G. plans to be operational there at the beginning of 2002.
L.G.G. was established in Belgium last year and has since added operations in the Netherlands. It is headed by Andre Verhagen who runs Leather Clinic, a company that specializes in products for the maintenance of leather lounge furniture.
"Experience has taught us that disputes about quality, presentation and construction were frequent in the sector and were very difficult to settle to the satisfaction of all parties involved," said Lieve Op de Beeck, L.G.G. marketing specialist. "The main reason was the lack of professional knowledge and directly linked with this, insufficient consumer information. Moreover, appointing experts as referees proved to be expensive and time-consuming and failed to solve the real problems.
"Quality problems were a matter between manufacturer and retailer and the link with the consumer was never made. In most cases the manufacturer had to be consulted to compensate for the retailer's mistakes, which stemmed from a lack of product knowledge."
On the other hand, Op de Beek said, the consumer didn't have enough information to understand what kind of expectations he should have for the product.
So she and Andre Verhagen decided to create an organization to support warrantees and to avoid problems involving the manufacturer, retailer and consumer.
Furniture producers who want to participate in the system have their leather qualities tested, free of charge, by the Belgian lab Servaco. Upon approval, the products receive a code that is listed on the quality label and the matching certificate.
The testing modalities and (ISO) standards used by Servaco are respected in Europe. The approved samples are, together with the test results, archived by Servaco. A team of L.G.G. inspectors makes daily spot checks for fraudulent or incorrect use of the label.
The Leather Guarantee Guard certificate, signed by the retailer and the buyer offers a three-year guarantee, if the suggested maintenance method has been followed. Excluded by the warranty are damages due to normal wear, sharp objects or mistreatment, transpiration and chemical products etc.
L.G.G. activities are financed by the participating retailers who pay an annual fee of around $600. In return they receive free training courses for their staff, extensive technical information on the labeled products and promotions material, which taken together amount to a promotion all by itself.
L.G.G. supports every warranty given by the manufacturer, even if there is no specific guarantee given for the leather: in such cases the country's legal trade standards are applied.
Disputes
Leather Guarantee Guard deals with complaints on every level, gathers expert's assessments when necessary and acts as a mediation and conciliation commission. For the cases where no conciliation can be reached, L.G.G. has concluded an exclusive deal with the leading consumer organizations of the countries where the organization is (going to be) active, through the international network "Conseur."
The disputed dossiers are submitted to a special commission within these organizations of which the pronouncement has binding effect upon all parties. This procedure results for all parties in saved time and cost reduction.
L.G.G. was established in Belgium last year and has since added operations in the Netherlands. It is headed by Andre Verhagen who runs Leather Clinic, a company that specializes in products for the maintenance of leather lounge furniture.
"Experience has taught us that disputes about quality, presentation and construction were frequent in the sector and were very difficult to settle to the satisfaction of all parties involved," said Lieve Op de Beeck, L.G.G. marketing specialist. "The main reason was the lack of professional knowledge and directly linked with this, insufficient consumer information. Moreover, appointing experts as referees proved to be expensive and time-consuming and failed to solve the real problems.
"Quality problems were a matter between manufacturer and retailer and the link with the consumer was never made. In most cases the manufacturer had to be consulted to compensate for the retailer's mistakes, which stemmed from a lack of product knowledge."
On the other hand, Op de Beek said, the consumer didn't have enough information to understand what kind of expectations he should have for the product.
So she and Andre Verhagen decided to create an organization to support warrantees and to avoid problems involving the manufacturer, retailer and consumer.
Furniture producers who want to participate in the system have their leather qualities tested, free of charge, by the Belgian lab Servaco. Upon approval, the products receive a code that is listed on the quality label and the matching certificate.
The testing modalities and (ISO) standards used by Servaco are respected in Europe. The approved samples are, together with the test results, archived by Servaco. A team of L.G.G. inspectors makes daily spot checks for fraudulent or incorrect use of the label.
The Leather Guarantee Guard certificate, signed by the retailer and the buyer offers a three-year guarantee, if the suggested maintenance method has been followed. Excluded by the warranty are damages due to normal wear, sharp objects or mistreatment, transpiration and chemical products etc.
L.G.G. activities are financed by the participating retailers who pay an annual fee of around $600. In return they receive free training courses for their staff, extensive technical information on the labeled products and promotions material, which taken together amount to a promotion all by itself.
L.G.G. supports every warranty given by the manufacturer, even if there is no specific guarantee given for the leather: in such cases the country's legal trade standards are applied.
Disputes
Leather Guarantee Guard deals with complaints on every level, gathers expert's assessments when necessary and acts as a mediation and conciliation commission. For the cases where no conciliation can be reached, L.G.G. has concluded an exclusive deal with the leading consumer organizations of the countries where the organization is (going to be) active, through the international network "Conseur."
The disputed dossiers are submitted to a special commission within these organizations of which the pronouncement has binding effect upon all parties. This procedure results for all parties in saved time and cost reduction.