Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Re: Ariel or Almat, Which is best?
Thanks Martin, pretty conclusive that powders are generally better at cleaning, except for greasy stains, consistent with advice I’ve been giving for the last 8 years.
Re: Ariel or Almat, Which is best?
And the other important question: Liquid or powder, Which is best?
(The overall scores for powders are missing from the table.)
Re: EEE safe email.
In my view it is extremely unprofessional to undermine non-registered repairers in this way. To imply that a £45 annual fee and “4 minute online assessment” will guarantee a better level of service is questionable.
I doubt they have any evidence that their registered DATs provide a superior service to non-registered technicians and their email may well therefore fall foul of the Advertising Standards code.
Re: Miele G640 dishwasher leak
Phone Miele parts and ask if they will email the relevant parts diagram to you.
Re: Liebherr Warehouse Fire
Ironic that apart from refrigeration, Liebherr also makes these:
http://www.liebherr.com/AT/en-GB/products_at.wfw/id-20245-0/measure-metric
Re: Dangerous
This can’t have been done by a qualified, Part P registered electrician, surely? Most likely a diy job or possibly rogue trader.
Re: Masterpart Again.
In my estimation Masterpart’s customer service has improved significantly over the last 5 years. Yes, things occasionally go wrong, but not much more than with other suppliers. They are not alone in failing to ring when in stock parts turn out to be out of stock.
Being probably by some margin the smallest of the “Big three” suppliers, their stock holding is not as good as the others, but it is still head and shoulders above anyone else. Their postage rate (£4.95) and minimum order threshold for free delivery (£60) are good, and their pricing usually better than Connect and Qualtex.
In recent years, Parts Center, SEME Nedis, and probably others, have fallen by the wayside as white goods parts suppliers. The last thing we want is for Masterpart to pull out of the market. Without them, Connect and Qualtex’s effective monopoly could become entrenched, with prices spiralling upwards and service downwards, to our loss.
Re: Masterpart Again.
I must be lucky as I’ve rarely had a problem with Masterpart’s stock accuracy, but I do wonder whether their large eBay business may be a factor as it presumably shares the same warehouse stock.
Re: Experience Vs Training.
Competence is as much about aptitude and attitude as about training and experience. With the right attitude and aptitude (which can be tested at point of selection), 20 days intensive classroom training is probably ample when followed up by effective supervision and monitoring.
Two questions I get asked occasionally by customers are “How long have you been doing this for then?” (code for “How experienced are you?”) and “Did you work for a manufacturer before that?” (code for “Have you received proper training?”). But the things that reassure the vast majority of customers are helpfulness, courtesy, honesty, efficiency, effectiveness and value for money.
Re: contract of employment
Discussed recently here:
Includes link to Gov website containing basic proforma contract
Re: YOUVE GOTTA LAUGH ?
Met one today, I wrote off her cheap slimline integrated dishwasher. “We’ll manage,” she said, “we’re away in Gran Canaria from tomorrow for Christmas and the New Year.”
Re: How can the person who tested this in 2002 got away with
Both these “commercial” dryers were rated between 4.6 and 5 kW and wired into a normal 13A fused plug. One was at a hairdresser’s and the other in a (disused) Sauna in a large house used as a Kindergarten. The hairdresser ignored my verbal and written warnings on several occasions over a 2-3 year period until he eventually replaced the dryer with a cheap domestic machine. Fortunately, the LG dryer was scrapped as it was deemed beyond economic repair.
It may be surprising, but BS1362 (the standard for fuses in BS1363 plugs) allows a 13A fuse a full 30 minutes to blow at a current of 24.7A (1.9 times the rated current) and specifies that it must be capable of passing indefinitely a current of 20.8A (1.6 times the rated current).
I suspect this is to ensure reliability under diverse loading conditions. It also explains how many people manage to get by with a washing machine and tumble dryer (for example) running simultaneously on a single 13A power adapter.
Re: How can the person who tested this in 2002 got away with
Not so, a 13A fuse will quite happy allow a 20A current to pass continuously without blowing. I’ve had at least two customers running 5kW “hard wired” American style tumble dryers on a 13A plug over several years without any obvious problem. Illegal of course, particularly in commercial premises, and a potential fire hazard.
I agree about the poor standard of PAT testing. I often see appliances in rental properties with recent Pass labels and no obvious sign of the appliance having been moved to access the mains plug. I remember advising my boss’s secretary in a public sector organisation to get a 4-gang trailing socket pat tested as its mains lead wasn’t clamped, and it came back unrepaired with a Pass sticker.
Re: Hoover switch to nickel coated heaters
European mains voltage was harmonized to 230V in 1995 but in practice power distribution in the UK is still set up for 240V as it would be too costly to upgrade the network.
Re: Which? Trusted Traders
It’s worth reading their code of conduct as it is potentially quite bureaucratic, for example requiring written quotations, 30 day payment terms (unless agreed in writing), etc.
Mind you, they don’t have a category for appliance repairs yet anyway. It seems to be limited to home improvements and motor repairs only.
