Sigh. What a load. A 'callback' on some of my jobs would require it to be scheduled on one of NASA's launches to the ISS. A lot of the work I've done was mission critical. There was no room for mistakes. Only when working as a TV tech when I was still in high school were the standards low enough to see the occasional callback. Of course, tube TVs needed a lot more maintenance than modern electronics.
No kidding. I've worked 20 hour days to get a job done on time, rather than make return trips. My crew brought their lunch, and the only breaks we took were for the restrooms. One firm rule was no smokers were ever hired, since a lot of work was in schools.
If you're not the first, it can't be pristine. ;)
nb
My experience with smokers has not been good. I prefer not to work with them. Of course, my allergies help make that decision.
So - the supply house carries maybe 10,000 items in stock. They have maybe another 40,000 or 100,000 they can order. You want the HVAC guy should carry one of each on his truck ?
A quick check at some random parts site
You figure the HVAC guy should carry 700 TEV's on his truck ? And that's just one part among hundreds that are common.
Now try doing the work outside, at night, in the rain, or in a blizzard, or in the blazing sun on a 98 degree humid day. Try having to go up and down a 32 foot ladder and then walk ~ 1/4 mile across a white roof in the sun to get to the unit. And back again for each tool or part you need.
If you happen to need a 50 lb tank of gas, or a 30 lb torch, or a 20 lb vacumn up there - get to humpin' it. Then bring it all down again.
And you better get 4 or 5 calls done, minimum, on a slow day.
TV repairmen are wusses.
Then you're an idiot.
And for pushing you in front of the truck, no doubt.
They also tend to disappear whenever the work starts, too. :(
On Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:54:21 -0400, .p.jm.@see_my_sig_for_address.com wrote: ...
TV repairmen are extinct. Nobody is going to pay $500 to fix a $500 TV. There was a while when some shops could stay in business fixing big screen (40"+) tv's but that was only while such TV's cost $5000. Those days are pretty much gone.
Yawn. Exactly what I'd expect from some lazy ass like you. A good customer has an emergency. They offer to pay for the overtime, so you sk the crew if they want the work. When they say yes, you do the job. Some where scheduled, but waiting for all the parts to arrive before we started the job.
I routinely worked two 20 hour days every other weekend while I was in the US Army. It's something that real men can handle.
Not at all. We finished a week's work in two days, then had five days off. It let the customer stay on schedule, and they sent a lot more work to us.
There are only a couple TV shops left around here, and most of their work is installing home theaters.
Not everybody uses a warehouse sized semi for a service truck. I carry enough parts on my truck to be able to effect permanant repairs 24/7 90% of the time. If I get called out at oh-dark thirty, on a Sunday, or holiday, your damn tootin I am gonna charge the OT service call just to come out, and charge 'em for the regular service call if I have to go back with parts I had to get from the supply house.
As a rule, if I don't have a part on the truck for the repair durning normal work hours, I don't charge to go to the supply house to get it, and I don't charge for a second service call.
I do *EVERYTHING* on flat rate, and the customer knows up front what its going to cost before I make any repairs. The only variable is the refrigerant charge. I can't tell them in that in advance until the system is running and I put the thermometers, and gauges to it to see if the refrigerant charge is correctly balanced.
I used a stepvan for field work. It saved me a lot of time, and I could do a couple more jobs per day because of it.
I've got no problem with a tech, and maybe his trainee, making a recon trip if they don't know what major parts will be needed. Of course they should have the common small stuff on the truck, but, but once you get past 80/20 rule, no truck is big enough. I try to be fair with tradesmen that come out to the house, but I'm not gonna trust them to be here while I am at work any more. I'm not an expert on all stuff house related, but I did grow up in the business, and it irritates me when they try to BS their way through something that I do know about.
I had a service tech out to work on my 46" plasma set. Panasonic covered it completely under their warranty, even though it expired a year before (seems they know they have a power supply problem). The tech had to come from Columbus GA, so there aren't many around here either, though the service manager at work has a side business repairing electronics.
Yep. And the models change so often, you couldn't get parts anyway.
My call back rate was also very low. That was because when I left, I was
100% sure that everything was done 100% right. I did not achieve 100%, as there were human errors, but call backs will kill you, especially if they are something that you should have done in the course of doing it right the first time. Half to a whole day shot. And Zero income for it.Steve
Fine. That's not what you said. You said 'rather than make return trips', which is bullshit.
And if you want to talk 'extreme' - I've had compressors ( there was exactly one in existence in the country ) flown in overnight on a chartered Lear jet, met at the airport by a truck, driven to the jobsite where a crane and crew and me were waiting at 6 AM.
When a cleanroom costs $ 50,000 / hour in downtime, you don't f*ck around, or worry about the chump change.
Like I said - wusses.
A REAL man would have gone home to shower and change, and head back to work.
.p.jm.@see_my_sig_for_address.com fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Awww... Poor BABY! Try setting up and shooting ONE fireworks show on the
4th in San Antonio. Then, do three on three consecutive nights.You wouldn't last through 1/2 of the first day's setup -- 104F actual O.A.T, 82%RH, and twenty hours of work for the first show. Then you tear down, re-rig, and get the next one up in 9 hours, and the next...
And 6" racks (of mortars, goof) weigh 80lb each, and you "only" have to lug about 80 of them, and 100+ 5" racks, and a couple of hundred 4" and
3" racks.YOU are not only a thief, but a pussy, too. I have even less sympathy for your lazy ass than ever before.
LLoyd
"Michael A. Terrell" fired this volley in news:e-mdneyJl-QtrTzRnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:
Not only, Michael, but when WE get a trouble call, we closely refine what it is the customer has, what he DOESN'T have, what we need, and what we MIGHT need. Then we pack up the whole lot that might be necessary for the call. And we do it on the first visit.
Alt.Hvac thieves don't... they WANT that second... third... fourth call at scale.
LLoyd
By hand, all by yourself, I assume.
Bet you wished you hired a helper, huh ? Must be tough on a guy moving 6,400 pounds all by himself.
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