Raphael Khlat

In 2012, Faisal Jassim Trading Company launched 800 PUMPS, a dedicated service facility initiative for the maintenance of pumps. The 800 PUMPS business model has been received with a mixed reaction by the targeted segments, revealed Raphael Khlat, CEO of Faisal Jassim Trading Company.

Speaking of its progress, Khlat said, “The model is more geared towards the large pumps sector used by the hotel industry and bigger buildings, than the smaller pumps sector used by villas and smaller buildings.” He added: “Although we have our own customer base, we have not yet experienced the desired success. Hence, it has been a bumpy journey.”

He elaborated that hotels and large buildings usually have their own maintenance teams and, therefore, the company gets requests from this segment only when there is a big problem or when an old pump requires retrofitting.

About the villa segment, Khlat said: “Villa owners also do not usually call us until the pump has completely broken down. But even then, if the pump requires a spare part, they usually purchase it directly from the market. However, the challenge is that the spare can be a counterfeit, which may resolve the issue temporarily or cause additional problems. Although we do have the expertise to repair old pumps, but in most cases, it is usually replaced with new ones.”

The general attitude of villa owners, in Khlat’s view, is that they will not service pumps periodically, but call in for repairs only when a major problem occurs. “And, this attitude,” said Khlat, “has to change.”