It seems to be the name of the game these days!

[Evans Electric]

What does ? I hear you say .

Brand new goods costing you money & time . Thats what.

Today's job , onsite by 9.00 with all the gear, 6 lengths of conduit  , cable , two oversink handwash units in printer's staff toilets, up two flights of stairs.

Gas /plumbing man turns up on time , removes two old gas oversink heaters , caps off the gas, fits our heaters c/with plumbing and gone .

Our conduit is in , stop for cuppa,  wiring , connect commission .   12.30 pm.

All is going swimmingly well , its almost like we know what we're doing ,  wave hand at heater , hot water sprays into sink ...what could go wrong now ...my mate is carting stuff back to the van ...its Friday and we're gonna  miss the rush hour ....sweeping all our carp up ...the sun is shining  ....there are cartoon bluebirds fluttering round our shoulders & fairys are scattering petals on the path between the job and the van ...........then ..hang on !...why is the water still running from the heater , power has switched off after 40 seconds but water keeps flowing and won't stop .        And the Gents is the same .

They're both faulty and have to be returned  and no one pays you to collect some more heaters , and go back another day to change them , like its all your fault.

Another load of junk made in the great republic no doubt :C

The number of tiimes this happens is so bad I,m begining to accept it as the norm these days. 

 

[rapparee]

By that stage it is an installed product and is the responsibility of the manufacturer to come out and fix?

I know that's how Dimplex operate and our sister company RedRing who make electric showers.

 

[Evans Electric]

know that's how Dimplex operate and our sister company RedRing who make electric showers.

Funny you should mention those particular manufacturers in connection with my post  Rapparound .    I phoned the Tech . dept of the latter of those two   and was told they don't have engineers who do site visits , I have to return them and receive replacements. 

 

[rapparee]

You're being fobbed off.

Took this off their website

Q: My Redring shower is in guarantee and has a fault what is the procedure?

A: If in the unlikely event of a faulty unit that is within our manufactures warranty then please contact technical services on 0844 372 7766 stating model number, serial number and your details. These details will then be passed to one of our recognised engineers within your area who can provide a service to repair the unit, in line with our terms and conditions.

 

[Lurch]

The number of tiimes this happens is so bad I,m begining to accept it as the norm these days. 

Unfortunately they don't make things like they used to. I fitted some mixed flow fans on a job and had to go back 3 times because they would apparently not turn on for the customer. Eventually took 2 new ones with me just in case and discovered that there were a couple of components missing on the control PCB. What did I get for the hassle? ****** all.

Some things are just accepted as being the norm these days as well. Photocells used to have the hex recess in the bottom for your locknut, it's hard work finding ones with this in them nowadays, I have had quite a few that don't have this and just have a plain bottom. Not the end of the world but a PITA at times.

Fitted a wireless room stat the other day, one of the segments on the display stopped working after 15 minutes, had to go and get a replacement, at my own expense.

You could probably set up an entire forum dedicated to this subject, would be interesting to keep track of who/what turns up faulty and see what the cost to tradesmenpeople is.

 

[SeánH]

I had a job a couple of months ago, simple enough job installing an Ex lighting circuit in Tata Port Talbot.

Five of the fittings being Em bulkheads. Opened them up to check to find no internal wiring.  Just a bare fitting.  I guess that's what you get for buying a cheap and nasty fitting from an old eastern block country.  I was surprised it was even rated.

Thankfully the supplier no longer buys that make.

 

[Evans Electric]

You're being fobbed off.

Took this off their website

Q: My Redring shower is in guarantee and has a fault what is the procedure?

A: If in the unlikely event of a faulty unit that is within our manufactures warranty then please contact technical services on 0844 372 7766 stating model number, serial number and your details. These details will then be passed to one of our recognised engineers within your area who can provide a service to repair the unit, in line with our terms and conditions.

I'm taking that on board , Rapparound, thank you .   But I think the procedure is , ( correct me if wrong)  I bought them from Denmans , so Denmans have sold me faulty goods ,  Denmans have given me two more off the shelf ..I have to go back to change them, and return faulty ones to Denmans . Its a PITA.

 

[Murdoch]

If a product I've bought goes wrong more than once, it won't get recommended any more .....

 

[Evans Electric]

You could probably set up an entire forum dedicated to this subject, would be interesting to keep track of who/what turns up faulty and see what the cost to tradesmenpeople is.

Could we have a separate thread on the subject? 

We had a problem with some LED garden lighting  , driver kept packing up .  A good customer of ours where we often drive past so we changed it a few times , to no avail .       Approx cost to us of around £100  if we were to invoice the call backs .  

So when it packed up again we got the makers involved and to fair to them it has been sorted , they were specifying an undersized driver .  Not naming them as they tackled the problem and got it sorted .  

 

[kerching]

Quote...

We had a problem with some LED garden lighting  , driver kept packing up .  A good customer of ours where we often drive past so we changed it a few times , to no avail .       Approx cost to us of around £100  if we were to invoice the call backs .  

So when it packed up again we got the makers involved and to fair to them it has been sorted , they were specifying an undersized driver .  Not naming them as they tackled the problem and got it sorted .  

In That  case, since the Manuf made the mistake, i would be wanting all my lost money back from them and some freebies

they have more money than we do

just saying

 

[Evans Electric]

If a product I've bought goes wrong more than once, it won't get recommended any more

I'm much the same Murdo , we always fitted Crabtree boards  or Denmans Steeple brand which were made by Crabtree .   The main idea was we would always have Crabtree bits & pieces in the van .   After the MCB recall it just proved that what was a trusted brand , made here in the Midlands, they are now outsourced for cheapness and have  lost all credibility .    

 

[Murdoch]

^^ its hard enough to earn a decent living without spending hours each week doing FOC changes of carp products.

This is precisely why I tend to avoid customers who want to supply the kit and buy it from "internet" sources.........

 

[Evans Electric]

n That  case, since the Manuf made the mistake, i would be wanting all my lost money back from them and some freebies

You're right Kerch ,  it could have been a different thing had the job been in  say, Shrewsbury , a 100 mile round trip  for us  multiplied by three visits . 

As I said , this is a good customer who's used us for 23 yrs , we have a key and pass the door at least three times a week.

I've approached the wholesalers on the subject of charging  but no one wants to know . 

 

[Evans Electric]

I'm just thinking ....perhaps nothing changes .  I remember coming "on the tools" at  age 21   just after the Norman Conquest it was  :innocent     I was used to industrial installs,industrial breakdowns  &   new build  hospitals , schools , office blocks etc. Never did domestic.  So I was moved to cover call outs from the office :C

Week one .  some lights not working in city centre offices so with the parking another sparks drops me in the van and beggers off.    

Corridor lights , 4 lamp X 600 x 600 ...have to walk across the city to get a load of series starters ...walk back ...job done .  about 2 hours.

Next job , ( should have looked at it before walking to wholesalers)  2 old fluoros with 4 pin starter , prove it by borrowing another ..... walk across city again ...return with starters ...they don't work ...try in good fitting ....walk across city ...return with more starters .....they don't work either ........walk across city again .... guy hands me two more starters , another guy stops him ..... don't sell any starters from that box , they're all faulty      So I take a box of ten (which I should have done in the first place )  walk across city ...everything works . 

Back to office to face  " Why has it taken nearly all day to repair 4 fittings " ?    You live & learn.

Even now I find that from a box of 10 FSU  starters  , one won't work .

 

[ProDave]

^^ its hard enough to earn a decent living without spending hours each week doing FOC changes of carp products.

This is precisely why I tend to avoid customers who want to supply the kit and buy it from "internet" sources.........

There is two sides to that argument.

I will fit customer supplied items providing it is clear I am on hours, and if it doesn't work and needs changing, that's more hours. If I supply it and it doesn't work, then it's my loss of time.  So sometimes customer supplied is better.
 

 

[Blue Duck]

I'm just thinking ....perhaps nothing changes .  I remember coming "on the tools" at  age 21   just after the Norman Conquest it was  :innocent     I was used to industrial installs,industrial breakdowns  &   new build  hospitals , schools , office blocks etc. Never did domestic.  So I was moved to cover call outs from the office :C

Week one .  some lights not working in city centre offices so with the parking another sparks drops me in the van and beggers off.    

Corridor lights , 4 lamp X 600 x 600 ...have to walk across the city to get a load of series starters ...walk back ...job done .  about 2 hours.

Next job , ( should have looked at it before walking to wholesalers)  2 old fluoros with 4 pin starter , prove it by borrowing another ..... walk across city again ...return with starters ...they don't work ...try in good fitting ....walk across city ...return with more starters .....they don't work either ........walk across city again .... guy hands me two more starters , another guy stops him ..... don't sell any starters from that box , they're all faulty      So I take a box of ten (which I should have done in the first place )  walk across city ...everything works . 

Back to office to face  " Why has it taken nearly all day to repair 4 fittings " ?    You live & learn.

Even now I find that from a box of 10 FSU  starters  , one won't work .

Sometimes we walk between jobs on days when not a lot of tools are needed, Then when we have walked between a few and we get to a job that's not as described and needs more lots tools...

Where's the vans?

we left them 10 miles away!!!! :slap

 

[Lurch]

it could have been a different thing had the job been in  say, Shrewsbury

Oi, stick to your own patch.

 

[Evans Electric]

Thought you were in S. Yorks Lurchio  !     We don't go far these days but we have worked in Shrewsbury as M5 ...J1 is on doorstep.   Just using it as a example really.  Whats your connection with Shrewsbury then Lurch , just work or have you moved. ?

 

[Evans Electric]

Sometimes we walk between jobs on days when not a lot of tools are needed, Then when we have walked between a few and we get to a job that's not as described and needs more lots tools...

Where's the vans?

I soon learned that the firm had 5 sparks based on day to day jobs , two of them on domestic , we were not really aware of them as we always went straight to the  sites or factories ...  must have been about 150 of us with another load at the car plant in Oxford. 

These guys had plant & materials stashed in cupboards in offices all around the city centre so you learned where to  find stuff . Steps etc too.  

And of course it was long before the onset of the cellphone so very difficult for the office to contact you until  the next morning at the office.

Meeting place was Woolworths restaurant at 10 am  where the 6 of us would sort out the job cards , one guy might join you on your job to pull cables in  say .

 

[Blue Duck]

That's an Idea!

'Scuse me luv, do ya mind if I leave these drums of cable ere, you're halfway between Victoria Park and Mare Street.'

To be fair we do have access to some empty properties. :innocent

@Lurch I hope I'm not stepping on your patch! :lol: