thanks to Alco
Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009 at 21:08
ThreadID:
73374
Views:
2733
Replies:
3
FollowUps:
7
This Thread has been Archived
Steve
Up at
Rainbow Beach rrecently, I had a bit of a problem with my electrics. So, off I went to the local RACQ place where the guy puzzled over it for half an hour and said, "
well, I'm sorry I can't help you mate but if you could just see the girl at the front desk and fix us up" $55 to be told he couldn't help us. Admittedly, I was forewarned it'd cost but I had little choice but they really have you over a barrel. You'd think they'd have some understanding of electrics. I eventually had to go into
Maryborough and was told that Martin was the guy to ask for at Alco. Within 5 seconds he said, "
well it's not gonna work like this is it? We'll just strip it apart and start again". Fifteen minutes later I was off again with everything ticking along nicely. He even apologized for the inconvenience of me having to go down to
Maryborough. It's great to get a guy who knows his job and he probably wouldn't've even asked for payment if I'd not said "what do I owe you" but awkwardly said "twenty will do" It was a bit of a pain having to spend half a day of my short holiday on this but I had little choice. I had phoned him first and he dropped everything on my arrival and went to work right away. What a top bloke.
Reply By: Roughasguts - Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009 at 22:07
Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009 at 22:07
It's good to know theres some genuine and good operators still out there.
I just seem to find dud's.
AnswerID:
389171
Follow Up By: Patrol GU IV - Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009 at 23:08
Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009 at 23:08
Actually Martin works at Positive Batteries and they are Alco stockists.
Neil
FollowupID:
656893
Reply By: Member - Sigmund (VIC) - Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009 at 23:01
Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009 at 23:01
Yep, guy at
Arkaroola spent an hour trying to find out why my CT brakes were making a racket. No luck. Wouldn't take payment. And he was a pilot just helping out in the garage.
AnswerID:
389185
Reply By: DIO - Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 09:14
Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 09:14
Yes once upon a time...etc. If the mechanic or elcetrician spent time trying to find a problem and couldn't what's wrong with them expecting to be paid. Of course if you had reached an agreement before he started to diagnose that 'no find problem, no get paid' then it would be a different kettle of fish. Bet they wouldn't have spent too much time trying to resolve matter. Would they.
What happens if you call a plumber to your house because of a problem and they (for whatever reason) couldn't identify it. You would expect to have to pay them - wouldn't you ?
AnswerID:
389210
Follow Up By: RV Powerstream P/L - Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 10:48
Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 10:48
Thanks for the heads up on Martin from Positive Batteries in
Maryborough.
I believe he runs the
Maryborough store for the owner Mike.
Mike is testing some of our charging gear to sell from their three locations
Maryborough,Hervey Bay and
Rockhampton and I feel confident now that it could be a good thing as I always have reservations about peoples ability and your post gives me some confidence that they know what they are doing.
"Go Positive Batteries Walker Street
Maryborough, Islander Rd Pialba and
Gladstone Road
Rockhampton. "
Ian
FollowupID:
656930
Follow Up By: dbish - Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:23
Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:23
Having worked as a TV/VCR technitian & as a Motor Mechanic if you cant fix it, you shouldnt charge either. If you cant fix it you probably shouldnt be working on the equipment in the first place. Ive had to work with some mechanics I wouldnt let near my vehicle. These days some mechanics idea of diagnosing faults is to hook up a computer to a vehicle & expect it to tell them wot the trouble is, If it doesnt then they havent a clue. A lost art of Diagnostics.
FollowupID:
656949
Follow Up By: dbish - Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:23
Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:23
Having worked as a TV/VCR technitian & as a Motor Mechanic if you cant fix it, you shouldnt charge either. If you cant fix it you probably shouldnt be working on the equipment in the first place. Ive had to work with some mechanics I wouldnt let near my vehicle. These days some mechanics idea of diagnosing faults is to hook up a computer to a vehicle & expect it to tell them wot the trouble is, If it doesnt then they havent a clue. A lost art of Diagnostics.
FollowupID:
656950
Follow Up By: Tenpounder (SA) - Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 16:46
Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 16:46
Sorry, DIO, you are on your own in that view. If a tradesman agrees to fix your problem, it's fair for him to charge to do so. If he can't then; heh, he's in the wrong trade!! Same goes for plumbers and others.
FollowupID:
656995
Follow Up By: Steve - Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 19:17
Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 19:17
Dio - I'm a tradesman and it doesn't take half an hour to see if you can do the job or not. I was actually with the bloke and after 10 minutes it was obvious he was struggling but kept up the exercise to fill out 30 mins and charged us. Nice work if you can get it. The difference is with the instance I cited was; they did charge because they could. You obviously work in a very different environment. This is why some tradesmen charge a call out fee. Which is fair enough if you think it might be a dead rubber but the customer still wants you out there but I actually went to these people and I don't think any more than 5/10 mins was necessary. I have to go out to look at jobs and never charge - most tradesmen go out and do a free quote. There are slight differences but the bottom line is: they'll charge if they can - nothing to do with whether they should.
FollowupID:
657010
Follow Up By: Steve - Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 19:33
Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 at 19:33
My main point here was to give Martin and Positive Batteries (thanks Patrol) a rap but i don't think a dig at the other mob was out of order either. We had a week's food about to spoil and more importantly, my beer getting warm ;-))
I can't believe that the people who originally wired this up for me can be in business. Their attitude was the pits and although I won't name them, it p!$$e$ one off when you pay a fair bit of your hard-earned and have to spend your holiday running around to rescue the situation. The thing is, I should've spotted the fault which was pretty basic actually, but you can get a bit caught up in it and........anyway Martin, the Superman outfit is on it's way. It just contrasted so much from the previous efforts.
FollowupID:
657011