Thread: How bad can tradesmen get?

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

We have a mechanic who refuses to grease machines as part of a service,not his job,operators responsability he says.
Andrew

Originally Posted by lyonsy

i adgree that on earth moving machinery mechanics should not grease them as the operators should be greasing them as they know how many hours they have done since the last grease and over greasing can be worse then undergreasing them

The mechs should be doing this regardless.

Its not a bad thing that operators do this IMHO as yes, they know how many hours they've been running, but it also means they're keeping an eye on the equipment for wear and tear etc.
Too many times I've seen operators that just say "stuff it, it'll get seen to later". By the time it gets to service though, there's extra damage to components etc that really could have been avoided, and then the mechs have to fight to fix it. It ends up costing everybody extra time, labour and cash.

Originally Posted by bacicat

If its internal to the vehicle I will strip the insulation back without cutting the conductor, solder the new wire to it, then tape it up.

Ditto, except I use self-vulcanising tape, not electrical tape,

long story cut short; I am a fridgy first and Electrician second, got so jaded with it all started my own business.

A friend is having a sunroom added for her mother. She wanted the door to swing against the wall (I can't recall if it was to be hinged on the right or the left).

The door and frame duly arrived and, when it was about to fitted, she noticed it swung the wrong way.

When she commented, the tradies doing the work said all doors are now swung that way. She said that's not what's on the contract and drawings. She was right.

The tradies even got the boss out to tell her all doors are swung that way.

She wasn't having it and sent them back to get the right door. Had she not been home it would have been finished and wrong.

35 years ago, at our previous home, I had my 14' wide garage extended. I came home from work to find they'd poured a 12' wide slab behind the garage You'd think they would look at it and think, "Something's wrong here".

Originally Posted by p38arover

You'd think they would look at it and think, "Something's wrong here".

That's the key Ron - many unfortunately just do "the job" and don't THINK.

I have a couple of tradesmen that I use again and again at work - why, because they think about the job I am asking them to do and often give me better suggestions than the original request.

They think about the end user, question things and have pride in what they do.

Tradies like that are worth far more to me than the rates they normally charge.

Mark

Originally Posted by rijidij

I've heard of a mechanic who dabs grease on all the grease nipples with his finger to save time and make it look like it's been done.

Cheers, Murray

Very old trick. Used to be normal practice at a major Brisbane new vehicle dealership. Cars were allowed twenty minutes on the hoist for grease, oil, and filter. If not finished, dab fresh grease on the missed points.

Originally Posted by blitz

long story cut short; I am a fridgy first and Electrician second, got so jaded with it all started my own business.

Another Fridgie! ::


That's about 6 of us I think. We need our own sub section on Aulro!

Originally Posted by Bytemrk

That's the key Ron - many unfortunately just do "the job" and don't THINK.

I have a couple of tradesmen that I use again and again at work - why, because they think about the job I am asking them to do and often give me better suggestions than the original request.

They think about the end user, question things and have pride in what they do.

Tradies like that are worth far more to me than the rates they normally charge.

Mark

I wish all clients thought like that!




On connecting cables - I like scotch locks for controls applications. But always use the gel filled self sealing type. They provide a far better connection than any screw based connection device in high corrosion & moisture environments, in my experience.
My pet hate is BP connectors. Sure, they have a place in the scheme of things - but not when you end up with a potentially dangerous, bloody-difficult-to-test-&-fault-find, rat's nest! I use chocolate block (terminal strip to Aussies) when appropriate & crimps for permanent connections.
With crimps, I always use a ratchet crimping tool. The use of plier type crimping tools is mostly banned / illegal in the UK, although like here, they're ubiquitously on sale!
I was shocked recently when an apprentice was going to use his linesman's pliers to do some crimps, having ignored the proper tool in my crimp box. When I told him off & explained why, he said that their TAFE instructor had told them to use pliers!
No bloody wonder we complain about the quality of young tradies if that's the level of training they're getting!!!!!!


And that brings me to another thing. My pet hate with Australian attitudes to trades, etc. "It'll be alright mate" as shorthand for "I can't be bothered to do the proper job" or "The customer doesn't want to pay for the proper job, so we'll just bodge it". Yes, it has it's place & on occasion I take that attitude myself. Sometimes you have to. However, I believe that as long as we have that attitude as the general consensus, we cannot 'lead the world' in anything but bludging regardless of what the pollies & media try to tell us.


OK, rant over & apologies to any who feel I've been a 'know it all foreigner racist bastard with my thoughts.