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Re: Washing machine fires
Incidents are more common place than yrs ago, hence the over the top insistence brands place on Safety Testing to cover there arse’s, also some brands are reclaiming components off exchanged products via some sources they wouldn’t want made public.
Re: Espares videos DIY
Gotta luv Capitalism.
There will always be winners and looser’s, my old man went from well paid skilled steel worker to window cleaner over night, then alcoholic, depressed and a stroke killed what was left.
The Directors of the business screwed the pension money before the company got sold and everybody apart from the young guys and directors left with sore arse 88les.
Seems that lifestyle depends on arriving into a career well before or just after it evolves into a pile of turds.
Sorry but there is very little chance an independent appliance engineer can evolve with the changes. Too many sharks not enough spears.
Re: Sale of goods act ?
Most of these companies buy direct from Brands without guarantee, preferring to do it in house and given free parts.
Brands are well aware who the clients in general are and prefer not to get into that area.
Very messy.
literally.
Re: Faulty or wear and tear ?
tradesite wrote:Would any of you, as engineers, class a set of prescision made washing machine bearings that have collapsed after 12 months, the machine being used twice a week by a pensioner, as wear and tear or faulty goods ?
Regards.
Nigel.
Hmmm
Bearings are made not by the brand,so they have recourse from their suppliers should a batch be faulty. Washer bearings are made in the same place as car bearings etc etc to the specs required, there are different grades of quality etc etc. There is also a certain failure rate that happens because life is not perfect and the components are not built for the aircraft industry, nobody is going to die if they fail. If Whirlpool have no issue with that product then it’ll be deaf ears you’ll be complaining too.
There is a very bright house in my street, with not so bright peeps in it, but they cover there brightness so well that nobody can complain about the shine or the smell.
Due to the type of agreements and the people who buy the products they cover themselves very well legally and without trying to stereo type people, their clients tend not to press much attention to looking after the products, most are poorly educated and instead of asking what there agreeing too before signing prefer to rely on Assumption, Shouting & Ignorance Partners, Solicitors to the dumb, as there defence. One engineer I no who worked for a company in a major city left after a few weeks, it was either that or stop going into the streets at night, start wearing a stab vest 24/7 and hope nobody knew where he lived, (unmarked vans for a very good reason)because they would not change their policies and frankly people where left in this position and very angry, most either had partners in prison or had been in prison or if they hadn’t been in prison it was only a matter of time.
They won’t move on the agreement, they well and truly have there clients by their short a curly.
Re: British Gas
There short of engineers, in the words of an ex engineer I know there “Treating people like s888t”.
Expect contract work to dry once they have completed the recruitment drive that is currently ongoing.
Re: Starting up an Appliance repair business
Its tricky these days as so many peeps are doing it.
Most important I would suggest is too keep it small, don’t go spending money on premises, flash van or loads of stock etc etc.
Here’s an example.
“A real story about Hippies and loaves of bread (yes, true!). Many years ago, a bunch of people decided to bake some fresh bread and sell it door to door in a nearby ‘posh’ neighborhood. They baked half a dozen or so loaves and went out and sold every one. Flushed with the success of their brush with capitalism, they went out and purchased a load of flour and other ingredients. Working overnight, they produced several dozen loaves. Out they went, and just as their market testing had predicted, they sold six loaves”.
Marketing is also important, including a web page, but again don’t pay too much for flash ads or a site.
Word of mouth is king, so if you remember people you have been to and repaired for before send them some info, speak personally to them and make contacts, network, a lot.
People skills are important, more than being an employee, but don’t fall into the trap of trying to please everybody, learn to walk away, you’ll be surprised how people can turn against you.
Price your work to your costs, not everybody else’s.
Here’s why.
Too many small businesses are afraid of putting their prices up (yes, even in the current climate) for fear of losing clients.
Think of this example: You run a business that buys widgets for £6 and sells them for £8. 100 customers makes you a profit of £200. Let’s say you decide to compete on price and reduce your prices to £7? Now you need 200 customers to still make that £200. Doubling your customer base is not easy. Instead of this, let’s say you up your prices to £9. You now only need 66 customers to make £200. In other words, a third of your customer base can leave and you still make the same amount.
Remaining customers can benefit from the better service you can give them and you have more time to spend on marketing and other activities beneficial to the business. If you just lose 20{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of customers through the price rise then you can bet they were mostly the high maintenance ones that caused the most hassle, paid late, and kept asking for extra discounts. Aim to deliver premium products and service at premium prices.
Good luck.
Re: comet
Matilda wrote:Ironic that the Titanic sank just some 100 years ago due to an error 8)
There was nothing wrong with her when she left Ireland. :rotfl:
Re: Hotpoint Service
Allsorts wrote:I have to disagree.. What are you saying here, that the customer changed the brushes to place the blame on the engineer?… I don’t think so. As AlanJ said.. The brushes were gone. That doesn’t happen overnight.
It can happen from one wash to another.
Also brand engineers are measured on performance, he may well have noticed the “Spark Noise” but either wasn’t furnished with time to do the call or no part on the van, which would turn a completed call into a part order which means his performance is reduced.
This type of measuring is more informative as to the ability/inability of the company, not the engineer.
Its not a perfect situation, ideally he would not have 10 calls to do in 8 hours, wouldn’t be measured by flow charts and percentages and all clients would understand everything in life is not someones fault.
If I had a pound for every voice call I’ve listened to due to clients complaining they said something in a conversation with customer service, only to find they didn’t say it, I would be a happy bunny in the Maldives now.
The very fact the client asked the guy to “Test” the appliance and he “Refused” indicates to me the client is lying and anybody doing Brand work would pick that up, as client never ever ask an engineer to Test the appliance in that manner.
Another point to add is that there are a hell of a lot of appliances out there and each engineer is monitored for productivity, more so since there now exists contractors, so an area with too many employed engineers verses call loading can mean engineers are no longer required, its a fine balance especially when a busy area can suddenly dry up and again thanks to the JTM’S etc this can mean life is hard, so its better usually to keep engineers to a minimum and clients waiting to ensure enough guys stay employed to cover the work and deemands of the sales dealer network.
Re: Microwave leakage testing
microgerry wrote:I was very surprised to read some of the posts above. I repair microwaves for a living and do leak test them. I have two types of meter – the Celtek A100 and the Apollo X1 and get them calibrated each year. I cannot believe that some people would say “why bother?”
Still, each to their own I suppose. Maybe I was brought up in a different era, or just trained by a responsible manufacturer.
GerrySome believe children should wear impact glasses when playing with conkers or trapeze performers should wear head gear. :rotfl:
You’ve just been the victim of probability vs improbability by the fukwit police.
The chances are very slim, the visual inspection should be sufficient unless the design of the appliance is flawed.
Re: Microwave leakage testing
philfish wrote:
Lee8 i think from some of your comments in the past you know one of the companies but as you can imagine it is a bit all hush hush especially seeing that the majority of engineers as you say do not carry testers so they would never know of the problems.Phil
Begins with a B then. :rotfl:
I thought they only had a vent issue on the integrated ones, causing too much condensation on the door even when using low moisture foods.
Haven’t been told about leakage, that’s interesting.
Re: Go Local
Hi Daniel
A bit of advice, free, many have tried to achieve your current enterprise, a few are still trying, maybe a pride thing keeps them going, more likely there just full of s888 and want to make a quick buck, anyway, I’d stick to your own brand name, stay local, learn the trade and do repairs yourself, you’ll never be rich, you’ll never make your grand kids proud and you’ll never write history, but at least you won’t be as poor, notorious and lonely as the ones who choose to walk the path your currently on.
Good luck.
PS I forgot bald, you’ll also get very bald and aged before your time and bad BO, teeth and a large bear belly.
