Got a call from the boss to go and have a look at some kitchen sockets that are no longer working. The home owner greeted me on the driveway and before I could say hello he says :- "right, let me fill you in. I picked up an electricians business card from Tesco's notice board and got them in to change my c/u. They have been in the void under the house and pulled out this (3 x 2.5mm t+e term blocks, all melted) and now I've got no sockets in the kitchen and the garage and all my frozen food has defrosted." "Let's have a look then, wait a minute where is the new c/u?" I said. "They couldn't get it to work, they called a friend but he was too busy to come and have a look at it so they just put the old 1970's Wylex one back on the wall! I lost confidence in them as it was clear that they didn't have a clue, tools they had was bog standard DIY stuff that you buy from any shed so I told them to leave and didn't pay and called you." I asked to see the business card, two first names with mobile numbers only, no address, no scheme membership and didn't do any testing before starting, cowboys. I asked him what he wanted to be done? Repair the socket circuit, book him in for a PIR prior to a c/u change? "No, just give me a quote for a full house rewire as I believe that is what they were after." A really nice man almost been had by the cowboys but have left him with extention leads all around the house, no cooker, no down stairs sockets and they didn't even bother to try and short it out for him. I offered to do him a temporary fix for the sockets just so he could have power but he declined due to getting it rewired this week. Anyway my boss has quoted him, hope he goes for us just so I know he will get a top job done by me/us. (btw I can no longer do paragraphs ever since the new smilies started on the forum, sorry)
