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Re: British Gas Homecare
I think BG poaching one of my techs is well out of order. I won’t dwell on the whys & hows, but let’s just say I’m not best pleased.
I can see the lure of money was the incentive, but he will be run ragged repairing all makes, with little tech back up and support. He will have a tracker in the van, so no sloping off home early or shopping trips. He was hungry enough to look at the financial rewards, so best of luck to him.
Like Dave I was an agent for B.Gas. What an operation that was! They couldn’t run a bath. I won’t bore you but the work stopped overnight once they took on the Homecare structure. However, if the local engineer went sick or on holiday, a load of calls would appear after a month of nothing.
They used to fax 1st thing in the morning the calls booked for that day, they could be anywhere. We would phone some customers to apologise they had double booked us, only to be told that they were booked over a week ago. Why BG didn’t pass the call on at once was never answered, they told me, “this is the way we do it, put up with it”!
I’m going now or, I will start getting passionate.
Alex
Re: Specialised Electronic Services
Have tried Google, Yahoo, Ask.co.uk Yell.com & BT web enquiries, nothing. Found one in Dallas Texas though.
That is why I popped them on here. They may be well established, but under another name & I thought it a good idea to sound them out.
Alex
Re: British Gas Homecare
I missed this one.
They have a fix though, phone other companies engineers over the Christmas period whom they happen to know of, and offer loads of money to join them.
They were obviously not content in taking away the work when they took on National Nightmare, they are grabbing engineers as well.
Re: Is buying new better than repairing?
I am totally banjaxed by this??
How can someone charge you £40 odd, then say it can’t be done? there is no such thing as can’t; difficult or costly maybe, but not to just shrug shoulders and walk away.
The secret, as per Woz. if it went in there, it will come out.
If you can’t get it out via the drum paddles (lifters) or through the drum door seal gap, get a torch, shine in through the holes till you see the offending item, work out where the drain hose goes out from the tub and then with a bit of wire or small screwdriver through a hole in the drum, tease & move the sock until you can push it down into the sump hose aperture. Take the hose off the drum and et-viola, take out the sock.
Don’t forget to refit the hose and you should be away. If you took out Currys Coverplan, accidental damage is covered and you can safely call them for an engineer to address this problem.
Let us all know the outcome.
Alex
Re: women
This was sent to me months ago. I thought I’d share it.
How many men does it take to open a beer?
None. It should be opened when she brings it.
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Why is a Laundromat a really bad place to pick up a woman?
Because a woman who can’t even afford a washing machine will probably never be able to support you.
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Why do women have smaller feet than men?
It’s one of those “evolutionary things” that allows
them to stand closer to the kitchen sink.
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How do you know when a woman is about to say something smart?
When she starts a sentence with “A man once told me.”
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How do you fix a woman’s watch?
You don’t. There is a clock on the oven.
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If your dog is barking at the back door and your wife is yelling at the front door, who do you let in first?
The dog, of course. He’ll shut up once you let him in.
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I married a Miss Right.
I just didn’t know her first name was Always.
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Scientists have discovered a food that diminishes
a woman’s sex drive by 90{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}.
It’s called a Wedding Cake.
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Why do men die before their wives?
They want to.
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Women will never be equal to men until they can
walk down the street with a bald head and a beer
gut, and still think they are sexy.
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In the beginning, God created the earth and rested.
Then God created Man and rested.
Then God created Woman.
Since then, neither God nor Man has rested.Nothing to do with me I hasten to add.
Alex
Lawrence wrote:
Dave_Conway wrote:
‘scuse my ignorance Jason but what the hell is “man flu” ?Dave.According to my missus women have a cold and get on with life ,But when men have a cold they are dying and its flu ,hence the term “man flu “
I don’t know what she means 😉
LawrenceLook at it this way.
Just compare the size of handkerchiefs between Ladies & Gents for size.
We get a sheet which fills in no time, they get a little square with frills around the edge for wiping a sniffle.Women live longer than men, just look at how many Widows there are compared to Widowers, we are an endangered species.
I rest my case.
Alex
Re: Service Engineer Required
If you are west of London.
Sedgemoor Domestic Appliances are seeking addtional engineers to join our existing team.
The successful candidates will be servicing Household Domestic Appliances in consumers homes for leading national brand products. Refrigeration and/or gas experience would be a distinct advantage.
We offer above average rates of pay, which include a pension bonus and sickness scheme. A liveried van, uniform and mobile phone with blue tooth hands free are provided.
Please telephone 01278-424550 in office hours and ask for Alex Reed.
You can contact by e-mail via the links at the bottom of this page.
The above was posted October 2004, and once again, we are seriously looking for an additional engineer to join the team.
We cover from East Dorset, (Bridport) South East Devon (Seaton), North Somerset (Weston Super Mare) as well as Shepton Mallet, Wells, Taunton Minehead etc.
Ideally any engineers residing in or near those areas that fancy getting out of the rat-race they currently have to endure with the bigger companies, now is your chance. Product specific training is available as well as full support.
Re: Sibson Meeting Feb 2005..Saturday
I’ll be there as the G.P. season doesn’t kick in till March 6th in Oz.
I Think Monaco is May 22nd. and that is what I’m aiming for this year.Alex
Re: Sibson Meeting Feb 2005..Saturday
That’s better.
I read it that the meeting was Feb 4th & Feb 5th. Sorry bit slow today.
Alex
Re: Sibson Meeting Feb 05..Saturday
What is the dates of the meetings.
Ive been looking at some postings that depict the dates as 26th Feb.
Are there 2 meetings aranged? i.e. 1 at the start & 1 at the end of Feb.
I need to book the room and would like to know what I’m supposed to doing.
Alex
Re: Agenda Items and Invitees
Steve Clarke if possible, he lives in the area.
If you fancy spares suppliers, Paul Jones from Distriparts as well as a representative from Data in Yeovil.
Alex
Re: 2005 New Year Resolution
Martin wrote:Over the years I have given the VATman over 60 grand and not once has he said THANKYOU!
He has double that out of me EVERY YEAR. Now you mention it, I don’t even get a Christmas card.
Well done Martin in stopping that revenue stream. It is a tax on distress purchases I’m sorry to say.
Do you remember Denis Healey’s 2 tier system of 1975? 8{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} if it was a cooking or heating product, 25{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} if refrigeration or laundry. I can still recall some landed gentry over Exmoor bemoaning the fact that a repair on his Hoover 4804 D/Washer carried the high rate and should have been classed as a necessity not as a luxury. Even the Hoover price list used to show different prices as the criteria was split between certain spare parts.
Happy days.
Alex
Re: £179 For A Zanussi Washer!
mikem wrote:Sorry I’m a bit late jumping in on this.
I’m surprised to read the comment about Lux making a stand on the “price war” when their strategy is to implement substantial cost-downs on materials in order to expand market share.
You’re right, service will have had little say in it.
So, from that then there will be “saturation” of the product, this will give us in service a greater workload as percentages come into the equation; however, we will possibly be undervalued as there will not be anything within the budget for failures. The end result will be us at the bottom of the food chain geting the crumbs off the table. Nothing new there then!
No problem with cost downs if the market can be kept bouyant. That does not mean fat profits, but money for research & development as well as investment in people and the infrastructure that goes with it. Eventually there could be a perception in the mind of the consumer that they have bought an above average product.
The snag is, we are all price driven and realists. I shop around for my tyres, heating oil, computer goods, stationery etc. As long as the big boys dominate the market they can dictate the same market.
In the early 60’s a certain character by the name of John Bloom went to Tallent engineering and asked them to make a Washing Machine that he could market for less than 20 guineas. The Rolls Rapide & Concorde was born. All very well then as there were few owners of washing machines and he helped create a market that was reachable to the masses. Regretfully for him though the bubble burst, nothing wrong regards the marketing or product in the early days, but he set a criteria that in the end he was unable to sustain. Tallent engineering kept making the product long after his demise through Colston or Electricity Board own badge, and went out at a more realistic price.
A no “whistles and bells” philosophy looks good on paper, but finally the perception will be a poor quality “cheap as chips” machine that doesn’t last. People soon forget they paid silly money for it, and then berate the quaility of what they bought. This then passes down the grapevine, and a poor reputation comes on the back of it.
Mr Dyson was successful in raising the vacuum cleaner market, and he looked like he was about to do similar on his laundry product. Didn’t happen though. Some retailers would place an AEG machine beside the Dyson Washer on their display, that would lead the customer to choose a different product than they intended. They were interested in what Mr Dyson had to offer on the back of his previous track record, but didn’t fancy the price or colour scheme perhaps.
I’m really hoping 2005 will be the year that realism starts to come back to this trade.
Alex
Re: e-Jobs
Take a long weekend, then come back to 4 pages on this one.
After a while I got fed up with reading as it seems to be an argument going nowhere.
Quite simple, let’s be grateful for what we can get out of this. There are bound to be some calls we each gain we may never have seen in the first place. Added to that we may miss some what we feel is rightfully ours, but in the meantime capture a call that would have been someone elses; healthy competition I call that.
All we should do for now is to work on whatever we get out of this, and manage whatever calls happen to land our way. Once the “lurning curve” is over, then we can be more territorial, dot the I’s cross the T’s etc.
You can be as pedantic as you like about it, but there will be the odd call you would rather not have for whatever reason; and if you are too inflexible, you won’t be able to suggest another agent take it on if you are busy or feel you cannot provide a good service.
Alex
