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14 Dec 10 - 07:04 PM (#3053637) Subject: BS: Every man for himself? From: gnu I am THOROUGHLY PISSED OFF! Mum called. Furnace was US. She was cold. I went over, jacked op the T-stat and nada. I called the service company that did the annual maintenance this morn. Got a call from the guy that did the service. He asked me if there was power. I said that the furnace was working before he left but that I would go and check to see if the breaker was tripped and call him back... to which he said, I'll be right over. I said, "No. I will go check and call you back." because that is when I realized what MIGHT have happened. The breaker was not tripped. The power supply switch at the furnace, which is located at 5' 8" high at the furnace, was off. Now, how did a switch located at that height get turned off after he finished his job? When I called him back and told him about it he said he must have inadvertently hit the switch while he was putting his tools away. The lyin sack a shit! No way on God's green earth he could inadvertently hit that switch. He turned the switch off so he could get a $40 call out after hours. Every prick for himself, even if it means a little 84 year old lady gets cold and inconvenienced? Of course, I made a joke of it when I talked to him and wished him a Merry Ho Ho... but, if I ever win the lotto, I'll tell him what a piece of shit I think he is. Well, no, but I`d like to. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Sorry, but that crap just pisses me off. Taking advantage of the eldery! And, this being The Mudcat Café, well, many of us are subject to such abuse. Rant over. |
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14 Dec 10 - 07:31 PM (#3053652) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: Ed T Think'in positive, maybe the furnace guy was just lonely, and was want'in someone to call? So, he left the switch off? "Furnace repairman scare the living s**t out of me" |
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14 Dec 10 - 07:39 PM (#3053659) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: Beer Last month I let a furnace repair man in my son's rented home (which is next to me.)and he refused to do any repairs due to the condition of the furnace. He said that it was to dangerous and that he was not going to be responsible. So he called the landlord and they changed it to an electric furnace. I guess we lost him as a repair man but here was an Honest John. Ad. |
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14 Dec 10 - 07:44 PM (#3053664) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: Bobert Don't send that guy a Christmas card, gn-ze... |
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14 Dec 10 - 07:58 PM (#3053670) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: Rapparee Change repairman. |
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14 Dec 10 - 08:06 PM (#3053681) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: Rapparee Also, don't try screwing with an engineer. Or even a brakeman. |
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14 Dec 10 - 08:09 PM (#3053683) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: SINSULL Gnu - any chance he did his repair and never turned it on to test it? Equally nasty and maybe a bit dangerous. M |
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15 Dec 10 - 07:22 AM (#3053890) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: Little Hawk That's a shame, gnu. The furnace and plumbing repair people I've had visiting here in the last few years have been very helpful and responsible, I must say. If I were you, I'd get your mother to call some other outfit next time. |
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15 Dec 10 - 08:34 AM (#3053930) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: GUEST,Patsy I agree with you, how would he like it if it was his mother or grandmother, shame on him hope he gets hexed. |
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15 Dec 10 - 10:22 AM (#3054006) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: gnu It's on a yearly contract with the oil company... no choice. He did all the regular work. I checked up on him now and then. I witnessed the run up outside and the exhaust was a touch smokey for about a minute and then clean. |
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15 Dec 10 - 10:43 AM (#3054019) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: Midchuck Never assume intentional dishonesty in a situation that can be explained by failure to pay proper attention. Most people are honest unless faced with irresistable temptation. (What is irresistable varies from person to person.) But everyone who is human sooner or later fails to pay proper attention to what they're doing at the moment. We can only hope that, when our turn comes, it isn't in a situation where serious permanent harm will ensue. That's why I have a low stool next to my chair, to set my coffee on when I'm working at the computer. I've never spilled coffee into my computer yet, but I know that if I have it sitting on the desk next to the computer, it's only a matter of time. Especially with four cats in the house. But I ramble on. Peter |
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15 Dec 10 - 03:18 PM (#3054195) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: GUEST,Eliza In the UK it's best to get a 'Corgi Registered' plumbing/heating technician, they're monitored by the Association and their work is regularly inspected. I've seen TV shows where hidden cameras film nasty cowboy plumbers ripping off frail old people. A favourite trick is to pretend to replace a part and show a worn one, which they've actually fetched from their van. It's so wicked,an elderly person knows very little about plumbing, and will pay innocently just to have some heating. I hope the Universe wreaks revenge eventually, perhaps they'll face an old age shivering in a heatless house! |
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15 Dec 10 - 03:32 PM (#3054199) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: gnu Midchuck... "Never assume intentional dishonesty in a situation that can be explained by failure to pay proper attention." I didn't. My post clearly states he would have had to hit a switch at eye level while putting his tools away. |
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15 Dec 10 - 04:52 PM (#3054238) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: Jim Dixon Here's an alternative explanation: Maybe he deliberately switched it off as part of his routine maintenance/inspection and forgot to turn it back on at the end. When you called him, he suspected he had done something wrong, but wasn't sure what it was. Whatever it was, he was embarrassed about it, and he hoped to avoid making the situation worse, and making you angrier, by making you do all the work of diagnosing the problem and fixing it. That's why he wanted to do it himself. In any case, he wouldn't have charged you for the second service call. The part about "inadvertently hit the switch while he was putting his tools away" was a lame excuse, but it was motivated by embarrassment, trying to explain away a stupid mistake, not by wanting to cheat anyone. Too bad your mother called you instead of calling the company directly. She got you riled up for nothing. |
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16 Dec 10 - 06:53 AM (#3054632) Subject: RE: BS: Every man for himself? From: gnu You don`t flick a switch off AFTER the job is completed. Did I explain that... oh, yeah, I did. Did I explain that the switch is at a height of 1.73m... oh, yeah, I did. Mum... she didn`t flick the switch off either. She doesn`t call the company at all as her sight and hearing are failing. She did nothing to rile me. As far as Mum being charged for a service call... of course not. She wasn`t charged at all because it there was no service call in the first place. It was part of the maintenance contract, which I also explained. No more explanations. The guy switched the furnace off AFTER the job was completed and the furnace was running. These are facts. As a matter of fact, when I called him to tell him about the switch, I laughed and joked about it and said I was glad I went and checked it out so as to save him a trip back over, wished him a Merry Ho Ho and such. I am not callous OR stupid. |