customers

[Hawk]

A customer wants an extra socket installed in the living room. Carpets have been laid and they don't want them lifted. There is 1 double socket on the ring and an unfused spur to another double socket. They want minimal disruption and have suggested I run an extension lead clipped around the skirting. I have told them that this is not best practice and that it would be best to keep it on the ring.
What are your suggestions?

 

[Andy78]

Find some customers who want proper jobs doing and leave these time wasters to clip their extension lead.

 

[pcam1984]

As above. If they want an extension lead leave them to it!

 

[baldelectrician]

Tell them you are and electrician and not a magician and can't 'magic' cables in.
You may work in mysterious circles but not in the magic circle

 

[amlu]

for a proper job cover the carpet, chase the wiring in the wall from nearest socket or back2back from opposite room. Fill with easifill, sand down make good, or ask them to get a decorator.

if not
tidy job with some 1.5 flex, duraplug block, some small trunking or cable ties+support.
MK Electric FC4134WHI Duraplug White 4 Gang Heavy Duty Trailing Socket With Neon & Fuse 13A, FC4134WHI
I do it this way in offices sometime. Gives a lot of sockets in a secure way (plug-socket arrangement, dont have to switch the whole floor off to hard wire it. )

if not tell them you are no magician and walk off.

 

[Pete999]

Change the unfused spur for a fused one and add as many sockets as you want from it.

 

[Spoon]

What you have to ask yourself mate is, would you be happy to show people your work and say "I did that." If not then don't do the job.

 

[markc123]

What you have to ask yourself mate is, would you be happy to show people your work and say "I did that." If not then don't do the job.

I see where you're coming from with this, pride in work is so important and i can be my own worst critic.

However, having said that, if the customer is a tight as a yorkshireman a week before pay day then as long as it complies with regulations and isn't dangerous i wouldn't be rejecting work. Depends how busy the OP is tbf.

I'd just be making the customer aware its a pigs dinner job and it wouldn't look anything like tidy.

It's beggars belief that people can have their houses decorated, nice carpets laid but then don't want the hassle of the proper job and making the whole room look untidy.

 

[Spoon]

But when people come round to the customers house and see that it some new electrical work that looks like a pigs dinner is the customer going to say that he is an idiot and too tight to pay for a decent job or keep his gob shut and just say its what the electrician wanted...... Electricians rep goes downhill cause of some muppet customer.

 

[7029 dave]

Can you not run the additional new socket surface off the ring.?

 

[Hawk]

Maybe I should take a course in magic so I can abbra kadabbra cables into places!
I'm sure every spark gets jobs like this from time to time. The easiest option is to run a flex on a 13A plug in mini trunking to a surface mounted socket. Not ideal and not a professional job.

 

[Andy78]

Maybe I should take a course in magic so I can abbra kadabbra cables into places!
I'm sure every spark gets jobs like this from time to time. The easiest option is to run a flex on a 13A plug in mini trunking to a surface mounted socket. Not ideal and not a professional job.

And this is where I would walk. If they want it done like that then a trailing extension lead would actually look better.

Believe me, if I had a quid for every customer that said to me "We had an electrician in to do some work but it was awfully rough, so we won't have him back" every job speaks about you.

It occurred to me early on in self employment that in order to stand out from the crowd, whose standards seem to be very low in general round here, all that is needed is to maintain a high standard to every job you do.
It's helped me be selective and consistently charge what I am worth.
Don't settle for feeling grateful that a customer wants to give you work, they should be grateful I'm choosing to work for them. It's a conceited attitude but it helps keep things in focus.

 

[dave274]

the customers sound nuts, why would you get an electrician to plug an extension lead in?

 

[markc123]

And this is where I would walk. If they want it done like that then a trailing extension lead would actually look better.

Believe me, if I had a quid for every customer that said to me "We had an electrician in to do some work but it was awfully rough, so we won't have him back" every job speaks about you.

It occurred to me early on in self employment that in order to stand out from the crowd, whose standards seem to be very low in general round here, all that is needed is to maintain a high standard to every job you do.
It's helped me be selective and consistently charge what I am worth.
Don't settle for feeling grateful that a customer wants to give you work, they should be grateful I'm choosing to work for them. It's a conceited attitude but it helps keep things in focus.

That's what you getting living in Hull haha. Only joking mate.

I do understand what you're saying, and i would and have walked away from jobs in the passed - what i was trying to get at in my earlier post was that, if the OP is dry work wise then some income is better than no income. All down to the OP, it's his call and his name to the work ... if it's shoddy work through a customer being tight then along as its compliant with regulations and not dangerous then it's up to him.

I thankfully don't get many jobs where customers 'scrimp' but if it was say between 15th december and 15th january (when I'm at my quietest) then i'd definitely be considering slinging some mini trunking around the skirting for them.