Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Re: just when you think you have heard it all
Years ago back in the early 80s when I worked at Bosch I went to a call with a reported fault of dishwasher breaking dishes, it was a huge house in Hampstead owned by the Nigerian Government I think it was their ambassadors house. Any way got in there and the kitchen staff were all busy working, one member of staff took me into a utility room to see the dishwasher, when I got there it was a washing machine
Yep that’s right they were putting dishes in the washer and it was breaking them. the kitchen staff were all new to modern machines and thought it was the dishwasher, apparently the staff in the kitchen were changed every time a new ambassador came over, none of them had ever seen a dishwasher in Lagos.
That for me was the daftest thing any customer has done in my time in the trade.Re: Just lost the job
funkyboogy wrote:we normally advise customers that we wont warranty any part that they are able to get cheaper of the net…
if they want our services with a peace of mind warranty on the job then they have pay…
if not they can go else where…most are ok when you explain
ally
I refuse point blank to fit customers parts,or get involved with putting right DIY attemps that fail. The customer who wanted a stat fitted on her sons fridge for £18 thought to travel 32 miles return journey and charge £60 inc parts was a rip off.Crazy people. :rolls:
Re: Just lost the job
I had one who phoned me last week wanted a stat on a larder fridge, 16 miles from where I am, quoted her £60 all in, she went ape and told me she would only pay £18 tops God only knows where she plucked that price from. She told me she had a stat fitted by someone a year ago for £18, I said call them to fix it I don’t work for nothing.
Re: Bad Payers
neilsukwg wrote:The lesson is blatantly obvious.
Make sure you know before you do any work that money is available.
Explain the costs
(not the exact fault, beware the diy brigade)
then say “would you like me to go ahead now ?”
This usually prompts a conversation about money.If you are still not sure, just ask again, and keep asking until you are sure the money is available.
Havnt been ripped off by a customer for years,
but was lucky enough to have been ripped off when I first started out and never forgot the lesson!
I agree 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} with all you’ve said. My policy is no money no fix, and never explain the fault, that is suicide with so many have a go heros around.Re: wasted callouts
I try to give a two hour slot, but always say it is a guide time and if I go over I ring them. The ones that make my p88s boil are the people who ring at 10.04 when the call is booked for 10.00 – 12.00 and say you said ten o’clock and I have to go to work at half past, can you call after 7.30 tonight since you can’t keep the appointment. I had one last week do this to me, when I said my last call was after 4 she went into one, and told me Hotpoint would give her an exact time, after I stopped laughing I asked her what she had been drinking, she hung up. Customers like that I just don’t need. The great british public, the’re not that great.
Re: Insurance Assessments
I had an idiot phone me on Friday wanted a free quote and free writen report for his insurance company, knife through the evap plate of the ice box on a 10 year old fridge. He asked if I did free reports for insurance, he got quite upset when I told him we charge for the call and an additional charge for a written report to be sent to his insurers.
Re: Fixing somebody else’s mess
If a customer tell me someone has been there before me, I refuse the call, chances are they have paid someone else to look at it and I find them less likely to want to spend more money putting it right.
The other calls I always turn away are the ones that say, we have the part but my husband doesn’t have the time to fit it. :rolls: Or we have the part we looked it up the fault on the internet and got it from eBay.
Re: Fridge explosion
My gripe with r600 is the lack of training requirement, anyone can work on r600 without training.
spimps wrote:No great problem if safe working practices are followed.
I quite agree with you on that, the problem is there is no training requirement to work with r600 so how does someone new shall we say a novice who has just started up on his own, know what are safe working practices with an explosive gas that is heavier than air, something needs to be done.
When I worked in London a local cowboy was going around doing re-gassing without any gauges or proper tools, I was called to a Hotpoint mistral frost free the day after he had “re-gassed it” the compressor was making a right din the customer told me the freezer had packed up after the other bloke left. I connected my gauges and they went off the scale, I connected up my recovery rig and got 970 grams of r134 out of it.
the correct charge was 103 grams, the fault was a dropped door not making the fan come on hence a warm fridge. With idiots like that working unchecked on r600 it is only a matter of time before a house gets blown up. I know the cowboys like him just won’t bother to train if they can get away with it. r600 is going to give us all nightmares in the future.Re: Fridge explosion
The idea of using R600a as refrigerant was asking for trouble IMHO it will only be a matter of time before we get real problems. The other stupid idea is we all have to get a C&G 2079 or F gas reg to work with r134 but need no qualifications to work with an explosive gas like R600a.
It makes no sense.Re: Jury Duty
I was called up for it about 3 years ago, I just ignored the letter, I never heard another word about it, If you don’t reply what can they do, I’m sure they don’t follow up every non reply to their letters.
Someone I knew got his wife to say he had left home and had no forwarding address, he never attended.
My wife was called up and did 10 weeks at the Old Baily, that’s why I blanked it.Re: Worst Week Ever
I’ve been very busy in the past few weeks but this week has been dead, the punters are all on holiday, lucky sods!
Re: motor temperatures
I don’t think there’s much to worry about with motors running hot, the TOC will deal with any problems.
The acid test is to mesure the current being drawn, under a known load, if it’s high the motor will get hot, it depends on load. Make up a socket with a test meter in circuit to monitor the machine in the workshop if you really want to test it.Re: no work
Dead as a post here 3rd quiet week, one call came in on Monday nothing at all today, phones not rung.
Last week was not much better. Even the heatwave did not boost calls to fridges on the blink.
