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Sorry to put a mockers on this Cornwell40 but get your act together man!! I had to read it twice in disbelievment.!!!!Why didn’t you set up a barrier or warn the woman to stay well back, you know this sh!t all comes down to “Risk assessment” and “health and safety” If she had been killed, jees it doesn’t bare thinking about. I know it’s not always possible but the customer should not be in the same room as you if you are working with live appliances.
Ill get off my box now.
Re: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
mal..you’re right about risk assesment and all of us do it all the time, we probably do the assesment really without really thinking about it!! however we cannot do a “numpty assessment”. :rolls:
richardRe: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
It’s when you turn your back for a second and they stick their hand in the machine that’s running and say, “Oh, is that a big lump of concrete?”. Even with the best risk assessment regime the problem is still there. Apart from putting up an Electricity Board – style striped tent over the machine and cordon off the kitchen with a police line tape every time you do a job, it’s almost impossible to stop idiots doing this.
I got some abuse once for grabbing a lady’s hand and pulling it out of the working machine. I had already got her to move her kids and dog from the kitchen, but “Death Wish Doris” still decides to put her hand in the machine. I replied that if that was the sort of language I should expect for saving her life, then I’ll take it as a compliment. 😉
Immediate apologies and lots of remorse now of course – she turns out to be one of my best customers for generating business for me.Steve.
Re: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
the other reaction…working on a w/m…house was a tip…boy about 5 or 6 comes into kitchen, i said please go back to your mum, of he goes, 10 secs later mum storms in, says if he wants to watch its ok with her, well i said its not ok with me! she kicks off…i unplug, make machine safe. thankyou i’m off…machine not fixed, no dosh. but everyone alive. heard later from aquaintance of customer that i was rude, abrupt and left her without working w/m..never been back!!!
richardRe: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
Yes WE have all had this happen, but I drew the line along time ago, it’s a simple matter of creating a barrier of some description, toolbox, chairs etc. you have got to have eyes in the back of your head. The average moron cannot see the danger this is why it is up to YOU 😉
. A police tape barrier sounds a bit ludicrous but believe you me if the smelly hits the fan it won’t look that bad will it?None of us would not put up with children in the same room when we are working so should you put up with the adult version?
Re: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
it’s a simple matter of creating a barrier of some description, toolbox, chairs etc.
Are you serious?
“Risk assessment” and “health and safety”
What if that barrier is blocking the back door and theres a fire in the front room!
I think you are overacting a bit here and not thinking of all the consequences.
I warn people of the dangers as i’m sure most people do but telling someone to vacate their own room is taking it a bit far.
Re: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
Mal wrote
Why didn’t you set up a barrier or warn the woman to stay well back,
Er. Thats why she was at the other side of the kitchen she’d already been told what I was doing and that was the same reason I was inbetween her and the washer. I must admit I fell short of the Glastonbury fence but where do we draw the line. As the woman pushed past me to get to the machine I’m sure a toolbox isn’t going to be much of a deterrent to someone with a deathwish!!
TC
Re: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
Well worth a look I’ve posted this before 😉
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/eis35.pdfRe: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
I don’t think anyone was disagreeing with you on the safety side of things.
What I was amazed at was;
Sorry to put a mockers on this Cornwell40 but get your act together man!! I had to read it twice in disbelievment.!!!!
You write like ‘Cornwell40’ is a complete idiot. Why is it so difficult to believe that a customer would do such a thing? and that something could have been done to prevent it.
I think the focus should be more on the customer rather than the engineer in question.
We all know that there are Health and Safety rules but accidents can still happen.
Re: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
It’s like a motorway or a railway line…
There’s signs, there’s barriers, there’s lots of dangerous fast moving objects making a lot of noise and they WILL kill you.
But some fool will always happily wander on there ignoring all of this and, if they survive, will often then complain that there’s not enough safety.
The short of it is, there’s no accounting for all the idiots that are out there and all the idiotic things that they do, all you can do is your best to ensure it’s as safe as possible, beyond that there’s not a lot to be done. You cannot be 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} safe 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of the time and you cannot be held accountable because a customer ignores all the warnings given IMO.
But let me ask you this, when was the last time that ANYONE so much as heard of a customer being injured while a service call was taking place? I know that in my time I’ve never heard of one such instance.
A separate thread may be better for the safety stuff though. 😉
K.
Re: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
timdowning wrote:You write like ‘Cornwell40’ is a complete idiot. Why is it so difficult to believe that a customer would do such a thing? and that something could have been done to prevent it.
I think the focus should be more on the customer rather than the engineer in question.
We all know that there are Health and Safety rules but accidents can still happen.
Couldn’t agree more Tim, Cornwell40 is probably a very competant person I have no bones about that, but on the same hand I feel very strongly about safety issues both engineers and customers. I will hold my hand up and confess that the self same thing has happened to me on more that one occasion, there is no halo above my head. 😳
Is it not good that we are now talking about this? I raised the issue a while back and it quietly disapeared from sight. Cornwell40’s post has at least brought the topic up again, I can only say well done Cornwell40.
If my coice of words caused offence then I am man enough to applogise, but if the customer had been electrocuted then I am sure the words that solicitors would use would be more devastating, thankfully it ain’t got that far.
I couldn’t agree more with Ken’s comment about never being a 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} sure, but if a we can at least bring the level up is it not a good thing?especially if the new TA is to be respected in the industry.
I also cannot remember anyone being hurt in the white goods industry, sadly I cannot say the same for brown goods, one of my best friends was electrocuted by his television, the day after it had been repaired.The engineer responsible for leaving a appliance in a lethal state never worked in the industry again after he was blamed at the inquiry.Yes Ken a seperate thread would be advisable
Mal
Re: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
When Flipper first voiced this subject almost 4 years ago now it has covered many issues. Issues based entirely on our day to day activities when dealing with our customers, the general public.
Factual accounts spoken from the heart on many and various aspects of our day to day lives. The comments posted were meant, by their contributors, to entertain, enlighten, educate and, so often as not, be in accord with their colleagues own daily experiences. The ideal topic for a light-hearted exchange of thoughts and feelings and a medium for sharing and comparing.
Sadly now it appears the ‘issue’ of safety has, for some unfathomable reason, interrupted this banter….???
WHY?????….please explain???? :rolls:
Re: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
Hear hear! Let’s get back to slagging off customers -not each other! 😉
Re: Whats the most annoying thing customers do?
Many moons ago I left a customer alone with a Hoover A3190 washer. The lid was off, plug out etc.
When I got back from van she had helpfully cleaned the grease and rust of the top edge of the cabinet with some wire wool. The fuzzy engineer stuff that literaly falls to bits as you rub with it.The crouzet style timer with its 70 plus bare wire connections was coated in the stuff.
After explaining the likely consequences and getting a disclaimer off her I brushed, blew and sucked away for a good 10 minutes. (Then I turned my attention to the washing machine)
Needless to say when I turned the machine on we had a lovely display, fixx, pop, crackle. Really good fun!
Since then I warn my customers not to go near the machine while I am away because the plug is still in and the machine is live and dangerous!
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