Do i charge the customer

[uk_ducati]

hi all

i have been called out to do a landlord certificate in a flat. Upon lowering the control panel (ideal isar 35he) there was a electrical short (still yet to be found) and the boiler went dead. Unfortunatly this short has blown the PCB. My question is would it be right to charge the customer for the pcb as the boiler was working before i touched it. Obviously this wouldnt have happened if i had not moved the control panel but it was nesassary to get to the gas valve.

thanks

paul

 

[Mbear]

hi all

i have been called out to do a landlord certificate in a flat. Upon lowering the control panel (ideal isar 35he) there was a electrical short (still yet to be found) and the boiler went dead. Unfortunatly this short has blown the PCB. My question is would it be right to charge the customer for the pcb as the boiler was working before i touched it. Obviously this wouldnt have happened if i had not moved the control panel but it was nesassary to get to the gas valve.

thanks

paul

you'll go out of business if u pay for the custs repairs, get a grip matey. you where asked to inspect, u did so, not ur fault. these boilers are awful for this kinda thing. if they wont pay upfront for new parts then id walk away. end of,

dont be taken for a mug paul mate

 

[dontknowitall]

"I have been called out" - to my mind that equals money in exchange.

However, it's not all black and white in this case and would be wondering the same thing.

First, I'd say up front to the next call out like this, that you can't take responsibility for parts being damaged during inspection (or whatever wording you'd like to use).

Secondly, experience will tell you that SOMETIMES it's too much of a coincidence to be called out to do an inspection. I used to teach people how to use computers in their houses. In the end I gave up. Most people realised it was cheaper to call me out to FIX their computer before I could teach them (then say they didn't have the money for the lesson after all) than to get me to go and fix their computer or take it somewhere else to get it fixed.

There are all sorts of questions to ask yourself: are you sure the boiler was working before you touched it? Was the customer recommended to you? Will the customer be likely to recommend you to others? Does the customer seem the sort who will pay?

My attitude is to try and keep them as a customer and not make the full profit but hope to make money in the future. I'd explain what's happened and how you are not able to inspect without moving certain items. Then say unfortunately you'll have to charge for the board but will fit it for ... £10?

But you need to be careful here, because there could be all sorts of other problems from this one and another component might fail and .... the list goes on .... so £10 won't be enough!!!

You'll find most customers want the truth and for us to be open and honest. If I don't know the price of something I'll tell the customer. If I don't know how long a job will take I'll tell them. But I will also give an estimate. I do this because customers value being told the facts as they are rather than fearing being stung for a huge bill.

So, to cut a long article short, expect to be paid for the job. There's no need to do it for free - just try to gauge how much you can get away with while keeping a customer who is likely to recommend you to someone else. If it's only £10 remember the recommendation could be a new boiler and five radiators! And if it's £10 and no recommendation at least there's something to cover the petrol.

 

[Puddle]

Well we can hum and arr, at the end of the day this was caused by inexperience and I say this with great sympathy to what has happened however lessons have to be learned
The control panel should not have been removed or indeed the boiler opened with the power supply on
Turn power supply off, remove casing and front panel access what you need to ,check appliance and when deemed safe turn on if required and carry out tests, if you see lose wires ,cables instead of flex ect be very careful
I am speaking for experience ,I have done the same thing, that does not make it right and we need to learn from experience and not blame others because I can assure you this situation can happen on lots of appliances you come across, which is why appliances should be isolated before you start works and only turned on when test required, in a controlled situation and power turned off straight afterwards
Follow that and all will be well, if not this will happen unfortunately again and again
Mean while in this situation, I would point out this should not have happened,the wiring of the boiler was not up to regulations, that you are annoyed that you have been put at risk by others faulty workmanship and the customer should think themselves luckly something serious did not happen to you and as they could have be liable, maybe suggest they pay for parts and do labour free as a sign of good will ,as long as they give you the gas safety inspections for the rest of their lives, or something like that
Ps check it is not just the glass fuse on the pcb that has gone
imho

 

[stevey]

i think i would agree with puddle on this one, lesson learned and no doubt next time you'll turn the power off first, also agree with them paying for the part and you fitting it for free

 

[Bernie2]

Agree with Puddle.

Learning curves can be expensive.

 

[Flanners]

I do agree to a certain extent. If you took the boiler casing off, carried out your electrical tests etc you may still get a positive reading (lose connections can make or break by just removing the casing and dropping the electrical housing etc) so youve done your test and all is ok. You put the casing back on and the lose conection breaks again. Then what?

Accidents do happen. You do have to learn from them. But they are sometimes UN-AVOIDABLE!!! anyone who says that they dont make mistakes (even repeat mistakes) is lying.

As to do you charge them. ABSOLUTLY. You have found the problem. Its a lose connection that has potencially blown the PCB.

Get a new PCB (or whatever the problem is) and you are done.

 

[uk_ducati]

hi

thanks for all the replys

just an update.

It was the fuse that had blown. Luckly. Upon inspecting the wiring and boiler, i can not find a short anywhere. All wires are ok. I can not make the fault happen again.

By the way i would just like to point out that the boiler was turned off when i lowered the control panel. The short happened when it was turned back on.

paul

 

[Puddle]

Pleased it all worked out Ok