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How far do you go? I went to a Neff d/w the other day which had flooded the floor.I knew when I looked in the cupboard next door and saw mouse droppings that the outlet pipe had been chewed.Laminate floor up to the plinth.This is a £25 grand kitchen built from solid wood – plinth wouldnt move.I had to call back with a keyhole saw and ripsaw to get through the plinth- 2.5cm solid wood.Also had to rip piece of wood off from the top which was covering the top fixing brackets which was screwed from the inside! Lo and behold two neatly nibbled holes in the outlet pipe.
So added to my tool kit is a new keyhole saw and ripsaw which again saw action tonight and made mincemeat of a chipboard plinth.Which got me thinking about ‘specialist tools’ for integrated appliances – a flat tyre lever but with right angled end -to hook behind the plinth, a couple of plastic or wooden rollers to help push back washers when theyre perched on a bit of worktop,winebottle corks(the rubber ones)to plug the end outlet hoses.Any more suggestions?
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
😆 up to date public liability certificate.
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
why dont you politely tell customer to get kitchen fitter back to remove appliance..
point is if you damage their 25 k …eh more like 3k kitchen you will pay big time..not worth it…as you have pointed out the short coming of the installation ..your slightly miffed customer will be looking for pay back..
and you will more than likley be the guy theyve been waiting for..you are not a kitchen fitter and have not received a hefty payment from their 25 k ? kitchen..so dont get your finger burnt
ally
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
Customers never seem to realise that the Donestic Appliance Engineer is not also a joiner/carpenter or kitchen fitter who has unlimited time to spend overcoming all the shody short cut work that they paid so called professionals 25k for then argue over your seemingly small fee in comparison. We do a lot of intergrated stuff as there’s lots of it in our service area. only the other week I had a situation where a customer had a beautiful looking kitchen which they had paid a company 16,000 quid for anf the dishwasher required removing. It became apparent that this was not going to be at all possible as the kitchen comapany had laid thick floor tiles right up to the appliances and they would need ripping up before any work could be done on the dishwasher, oh yes and of course then the tiles would need to be replaced and relaid !
The customer seemed to think I should have some practical means of removing them carefully without breaking them but I tactfully suggested that what the kitchem company had done was equivalent to buying and bew car and welding up the bonnet as it would never require repair or service ! I then sugested that they call the kitchen company .
Recently I saw one manufacturers service paperwork which their engineers ask customers to sign in the case of intergrated appliances which makes it clear that the engineer is there to repair the appliance not to take the kitchen apart and rebuild it which I thought interesting ?
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
It’s true to say that when dealing with integrated appliances the chances are the machine you’re all too familiar with is nailed, wedged, glued and screwed in differently. No one installation is the same as another for the most part.
How you deal with each one is the challenge and whilst I’ve never gone as far as reaper and bought a keyhole saw, I too carry several ‘devices’ on the van in order to gain access to the darn things. I only ever came across one I couldn’t do…… see link
That’s the only occasion I ever refused to attempt access, the implication toward litigation in that case was all too much for me to accept and I walked away.
Since that time I’m ever cautious when dealing with these installations. All too aware that unless I point out the difficulties in attempting a repair and the likely damage that may result. Making the customer aware before you start is always a smart move. The onus then shifts 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} onto them if anything goes wrong. And should it so happen it’s best to make a note on your job sheet/invoice and get them to initial it, job done! 😀
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
Do all the manufacturers do this when the appliance is under warranty?
S.
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
anything out of the ordinary and i wont touch it tell them to get the fitters out and sort there bodged job.Went to a bosch f/stand w/m the other day and just the cleaner was there with a big note for mew saying “if machine needs to come out be VERY VERY CAREFUL OF THE FLOORING”
I told the cleaner to tell him to get it out himself to which he was on the phone that afternoon to my ofice playing hell about how i aint fixed the machine.but in my opinion you are setting yourself up for a fall everytime.chris
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
Have to agree that if there is any doubt about damage to flooring or kitchen I won’t attempt to move it. Once had the ‘but you’re supposed to be an expert’ comment, so I threw it back and told them to get the kitchen fitter back in to rearrange the kitchen (starting with the overlapped glued plinth at the right hand end of the kitchen , to the left side where the washer was) and to see if the fitter would fix it while he had the machine out.
My point was proved and she rang back two weeks later complaining that the fitter didn’t know anything about appliances, even though he threw them into gaps everyday 😉 .TC
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
As Martin has said litigation can be a real problem in such circumstances and one has to use thier best judgement given the installation and the type of customer which they may be dealing with. I too have been in situations where they have some big flash kithcen and normally you find that both of the owners are out busy working to pay for it all, which then leaves you stuck with the likes of the lady who does !
I have had to advise more than a few that I was not prepared to remove their appliances due to the problems that I would have to encounter, they normally ring up creating merry hell that you should have fixed it and why take the job on if you cannot do it ! Ha I politely explain that I am not a kitchen fitter, never said I was nor profess to be, sure I can fix the appliance once they get it out and that they are lucky that I have not charged them a fee for the visit. Most of the time intergrated stuff is fine just the usual annoyances of feet balanced on tiny blocks of off cut chipboard, piles of sawdust where the kitchen fitters cannot be bothered to clean up after there work and short hose runs.
Assement is the name of the game, how easy will it come out ? How long is it likely to take ? Is the customer likely to sue you if you break something ?
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
I had an installation on a fisher paykal twin dishwasher, I am still recovering boys, what a stinker! and all for peanuts. Dont be tempted. was there for 4 hours. 😡
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
Just thinking about the thread title, does it imply that joiners are superhuman or sub human. 😉 😆
If you meant kitchen fitters then its definitely the latter. 😥
Jim.
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
JohnS.1 wrote:I had an installation on a fisher paykal twin dishwasher, I am still recovering boys, what a stinker! and all for peanuts. Dont be tempted. was there for 4 hours. 😡
built in one? four hours?, should be and hour tops
Re: Integrated appliances – Are we human or are we joiners
Did one yesterday 4h15 mins. Deinstall from tiled up to plinth, raised floor to tile level with wood on curved floor and fitted new bosch only to find the waste plumbing 90 degree elbow behind a cupboard in a corner had a kinked push fit o ring from when the kitchen was installed. Was leaking onto floor and ring main. All out again. dismantled cupboards to fit 2 quid compression elbow and reinstall. A pig of a job but with wet rot on boards and wet electrics concerned cust was quite happy to pay for the time. 😀
S.
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