How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

[kwatt]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

It isn’t just that Martin, that’s only one element or example.

I’d like to see is knowledgeable and professional guys that are ahead of the pack out there as in, better than the nationals etc.

K.

[funkyboogy]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

as laurence pointed out earlier – front load the engineer with knowledge etc , this odes take time to screen every call and then find relevant data to customers complaint – and unless you contact the customer to confirm fault you can end up spending a lot of time gathering data for the wrong fault ..

i would say we should have a basic guide to hand and give to customers when required – much like the help section on here regarding stains – marks poor washing results etc .

if they see this for their own eyes the penny may drop re user fault misuse etc.

on a lighter note maybe a guide to cheap appliances and their shortcoming should be left with customer – so their over elevated expectations of their cheap ass purchase may also help ..

ally

[Specialist01269]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

Ken: I know I made a flippant reply to your post earlier but I do see exactly where your coming from & agree with what your saying, Especially about a lot of engineers standing still.

Funky: I don’t know if leaving any form of guide with the customer is going to do any good in the majority of cases, most don’t even bother to read the instructions that come with the machine never mind read any guide we might leave with them. A few years back I bought some discs with loads of appliance user manuals on, the intention being if a customer didn’t have a manual for their machine i’d leave a copy as a courtesy & they could hopefully use the machine more efficiently. In 5 years only 2 people have taken me up on that offer.

[timdowning]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

I don’t know if leaving any form of guide with the customer is going to do any good in the majority of cases

I’d much rather the customer stay ignorant, we all make a good living from it. You can tell them til your blue in the face…

[Martin]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

kwatt wrote:I’d like to see is knowledgeable and professional guys that are ahead of the pack out there as in, better than the nationals etc.

Your expectations are far to idealistic and beyond the scope of what is required of the job overall. Lawrence mentioned the P&G soap training thing and, using that as an example, we learned a lot from that it’s true. But using that knowledge in assessing customers washday problems was very often met with argument and blatant disregard from the customer. That we should dare tell them how to wash clothes after they have been doing it (wrongly) for years was an insult to their intelligence (or lack of). So today if they choose to use Ecover or Eco Balls to wash their nappies in with their track suits and trainers I don’t give a monkeys. Let them get on with it is the way me and Tim Downing feel is the way forward. Likewise if their machine fails under warranty then it’s null and void, no claim possible, they pay or no fix.

An engineers mindset should be focused every time on the certain knowledge that the customers has likely as not caused he breakdown. That each call is chargeable unless the engineer can prove otherwise in the customers favour. That’s the only skill required and as a washing machine is such a simple device that shouldn’t take much brain space to achieve generally. After all many guys on here manage that pretty well in spite of the fact a good deal can barely string a sentence together let alone carry out basic spelling. (Skoolin today ain’t wat it waz init. 😉 )

[kwatt]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

You’re reading too much into it and, now that I have your attention…

What prompted this was, primarily, nutbag customers insisting that their washing machine is faulty when it just is not so. I’ve seen and had to deal with several over the past few weeks let alone the past year or three. This is much, much more common with in warranty work rather than out of it where I rarely see this sort of complaint.

Trouble is, if the guys on the ground and, in large part telephone support staff, do not have the necessary knowledge of their subject to answer such thing adequately then it’s grief for everyone.

You have possibly two lines of defence against the nutters.

First is the point of contact on the telephone.

If that’s the actual engineer and he knows his onions then it should be, job done. Solved, there and then as you’ll put 2+2 together and get the right answer without having to waste your time trying to find a fault that doesn’t exist.

If it’s telephone staff then they should be made aware of this stuff as well because, as soon as they say that they will book an engineer’s visit, the customer then has it in their head that there must be a fault. Otherwise, why send an engineer to look at it?

If the customer then insists on a visit you have the option to tell them that’s fine but, if it’s not a fault with the machine then they will be charged for the visit. Which, in all probability will often reinforce what they have already been told.

That said, it’s no bad thing to have the knowledge of this sort of stuff even if you don’t do warranty work.

I’ve seen and heard of a lot of completely incorrect “The engineer told me that…” comments both on and offline. I’d hate to think that such repairers are on here with all the correct information that is freely available, if you take the time to read it and learn.

IMO, it is at least (if not more) important than being able to test a machine for electrical safety because you’ll see far, far more improper use than you will see appliances that are unsafe.

Therefore my view is that this is not optional, it’s essential to know and will make you much better at your job. Far more professional IMO to speak with authority on the subject than taking potshots in the dark and wasting your time looking for non-faults.

K.

[helo_75]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

ken is 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} on the money here

even at comet, there were many numpties who threw many parts at machines, guessing, hoping that part fixed it… something was wrong, might just be that.. doesnt matter, cos if it didnt work, someone else can deal with it.. in a lot of ways, thats why comet service failed… several service calls, numerous parts fitted, never cured it.. expense of an exchange for the customer to ring back in, because the new ones doing the same thing – it must be because the last 18 engineers changed 16 parts and it was never cured, so the new one MUST be faulty as well , right?

theres many reasons for these problems

overworked/underpaid engineers.. the engineers loaded with so many calls.. under pressure to sell products, he has the aim of getting out of that house as quick as possible.. theres a rake of calls, the engineer doesnt have time to care… whos at fault there? you should never fit a part to a machine unless it tests faulty.. once a part is fitted, youve admitted to the customer its faulty, and they wont go away

i know i go on about it, but hoover candy taught me many things, just not anything about their products.. a 5 week training course on how to wire a plug , how not to rip customers flooring, health and safety and care plus protect… did i learn ANYTHING about any of their products… unfortunately not, every single day for five weeks, we had at least one session on bloody limescale remover sales

so… all employers with a brain should understand this… and get it good, cos although the figures seem to stack well when kissin the md’s rear… its far better to give the engineer a few less jobs and allow him to spend time talking to the customer, get to the root of their problem and solve it and never go back

any second/third visit kills all profit dead … simple really… what kens saying is right… customers are probably using their machines badly 80{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of the time….

engineers simply arent given the time to care

do the maths, i know im right

thanks ken, it pleases me someone actually sees the bigger picture

and before martin spouts his usual drivel.. im not perfect, im human, but so is the customer, we all make mistakes and sometimes a cup of tea and a friendly chat can save weeks/months of heartache and arguing… the customer just wants a machine that washes their clothes, and thats what we should all remember , a bit of common sense and good knowledge goes a long long way…

rob

[iadom]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

It’s not just washing machines, I heard very recently of a user complaining that her dishwasher wasn’t cleaning properly, turns out she was using it on prewash.

Somewhere in the Luton area so I’m told. 😉

Jim.

[admin]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

ive had many times
“dishwashers not cleaning ontop rack “?

i take a look to see someone has hung a dishwasher freshner on the bottom of the top rack that stops the spray arm going around.

i think hello75 is spot on just more time needed to be with customer,is all it takes most of the time

canufixit

[leavemetogetonwithit]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

Well, interesting topic for my first visit in a while.
I think some of this is to do with the fact that there are umpteen makes and models which (as an independent) one will encounter. Whilst it is possible to become familiar with the cycles of a long production run series of models such as the earlier Hotpoints and Zanussis and even with some of the more modern machines which are big volume sellers, if I had to study the timer charts etc. for even 10{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of the models I come face to face with in a month (with my low turnover) I would end up with an even more addled brain and a complete loss of the will to live.
The detergent training was useful but, TBBH, boring, and I haven’t really made much use of it or looked again at the books more than a handful of times. (Well, if you will give away a horse, you must expect the dentition to be closely examined.)
I’m not really that interested in washing machines; I mainly do it to pay the bills. Don’t expect all repairers to be passionate about what they do. It’s asking too much.
Mike.

[cornwell40]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

Give ’em enough rope……Most of the time with the, lets say unusual faults, the customer will eventually tell you what they’re doing wrong. You just need to listen to the clues. It wont spin..DAH DI DAH, I didn’t want to wash my best jumper with everything else….. or dishwasher wasn’t washing very well…….had a dinner party at weekend, new Ikea wine glasses, big plates etc. To these I usually ask if it’s happened more than once and the number that say …no only on the last wash usually makes me suspicious of a customer related cock up.
Most customers love to tell you that they always use their appliance like this and never had a problem :rolls: , unfortunately you need to sit through a life story, sometimes, to hear it.
Then again a problem I often encounter nowadays is customers who ‘know’ what the fault is (tinternet)and aren’t too keen on you upending their newly found knowledge 👿 .

Tony

[lee8]

Re: How Much Do You Know About Washing Machines?

kwatt wrote:

lee8 wrote:

If I had a choice between the doctor with not a lot of experience that had qualifications up the yahoos or, a field medic with bog all qualification but that actually knew the real world stuff through experience and how to stop me from dying whilst lying on a table bleeding out…

Well, I know what one I’d want to patch me up.

K.

Someones got confused between watching casualty on TV and the real world. 😉

Wouldn’t a field medic have a qualification. :rolls:

Lets put a more logical argument.

If I had a choice between the middle class/ educated with not a lot of experience that had qualifications or, a hoody with bog all qualification and I’m lying on the floor having a heart attack, who would I want holding the defibrillator. :rotfl:

The term qualification simply means you have done something, deemed competent and passed, it will never 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} weed out the muppets, but it will at least reduce the possibility.

I’d prefer that scenario to the one your promoting, a world of people educated without any recognition or proof.

I don’t believe anybody educated would find any logic in that theory. :rolls:

[Author]

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