your job

[Leo21]

Fair play. Good position to be in.

 

[Ray Stafford]

How about I service your boiler in your merchants for, lets say 46k.

Nah. Why would I pay a villa fan to do a job that a perfectly good pompey fan could do?

<waves goodbye to all our Southampton customers>

 

[Ray Stafford]

Trackers are necessarily a bad thing. I just think some places use them in an inappropriate way.
When I was on the cards, a chap in the office would watch them all day, and call you and ask you why your PDA said you where working, but your tracker said you where sitting in the van outside with the engine ticking over.

Used to annoy the hell out of me.

The biggest saving for us was restricting the drivers speed. Drive a van at 90mph, and you only get about 2/3rds of the mpg that you get at 70. Our fleet does a couple of million miles a year, and with those mileages 8 or 9 mpg savings adds up to real money.

 

[zeebeedee]

These come in handy

New Mini GPS Blocker-in GPS Trackers from Automobiles & Motorcycles on Aliexpress.com

 

[villa_tom]

These come in handy

New Mini GPS Blocker-in GPS Trackers from Automobiles & Motorcycles on Aliexpress.com

Nice. When I was last on the cards. If you undid the plastic bit under the glove box you found the tracker. It had an O2 SIM card in. We disconnected it there. We never used to do it in work time, well apart from Fridays. But it came in useful if you needed to use the van on the weekends.

 

[Rickster123]

I've got my notebook and pen out now! Plastic bit under glove box you say??...

 

[zeebeedee]

Nice. When I was last on the cards. If you undid the plastic bit under the glove box you found the tracker. It had an O2 SIM card in. We disconnected it there. We never used to do it in work time, well apart from Fridays. But it came in useful if you needed to use the van on the weekends.

Exactly what I use it for weekend runs and only from time to time

 

[Rickster123]

But can they not tell that it's been blocked at all?

 

[zeebeedee]

But can they not tell that it's been blocked at all?

Not sure, no one has ever said anything so either no or it's never checked, I only use it about every 3-4 months if that so I can plead ignorance if it does up, obviously every weekend would be a **** take

 

[zeebeedee]

*show*

 

[Rickster123]

I don't think I can be that dishonest. I'm going to continue to siphon the diesel into my car instead!

 

[Howsie]

Wrap the box in tin foil

 

[stevetheplumber]

I don't think I can be that dishonest. I'm going to continue to siphon the diesel into my car instead!

doesnt deisil taste bad

 

[stevetheplumber]

isnt diesel hard to spell

 

[Rickster123]

doesnt deisil taste bad

Not when it's free my friend! Free fuel tastes like a great single malt!

 

[villa_tom]

I never got questioned about private use on the van. But they did have thousands of vans, so not really sure if it was flagged up. I just got told to take the chip out and the SIM card and drive. So I did.

 

[mutley racers]

I love my job now and I have been doing it for 4yrs now. It is a lot harder than i thought it would be and I am still waiting for that one easy job. But, I don't think there is such a thing in this trade. Always getting quotes wrong, something always crops up that you didn't think of. airlocks here, washers that don't seal without silicone, changing bath taps. The list is endless. I do like the freedom it brings but not the stress of worrying where the next mortgage payment is going to come from

 

[dancinplumba]

experience,mutley. comes in time lol

 

[mutley racers]

comes in time hey, 4 yrs!!! how longs time

 

[TBServices]

comes in time hey, 4 yrs!!! how longs time

Forever. I HATE doing quotes.

 

[mutley racers]

thats hilarious. not getting much reassurance from that

 

[dancinplumba]

as tb says pmsl

 

[mutley racers]

sorry am not sure what pmsl means?

 

[dancinplumba]

sorry no offence

 

[Mike Jackson]

I never got questioned about private use on the van. But they did have thousands of vans, so not really sure if it was flagged up. I just got told to take the chip out and the SIM card and drive. So I did.

Just be a bit wary on the insurance side of things. If you're not covered for private use and have an accident you could be done for driving without insurance which can give a driving ban. It can also b construed as gross misconduct and lead to instant dismissal.

When I was with eaga a few guys got caught using the vans for private use and were goonered.

 

[hammers4spanner]

I love my job now and I have been doing it for 4yrs now. It is a lot harder than i thought it would be and I am still waiting for that one easy job. But, I don't think there is such a thing in this trade. Always getting quotes wrong, something always crops up that you didn't think of. airlocks here, washers that don't seal without silicone, changing bath taps. The list is endless. I do like the freedom it brings but not the stress of worrying where the next mortgage payment is going to come from

I prob get 70% of my quotes o.k , never quite happy at the end but it can be very hit and miss . Done two big installs last year one prob ended up working for about £11 per hour and the other prob £6 per hour was fuming about them . On other occasions tho have priced works and its been less time than expected and prob been on £30 per hour .

my biggest concern is any call back as then money can be lost on the job .

 

[R1CKY]

I used to hate my job. I started my apprenticeship in a small family company, which in time got larger and took on a few maintenance contracts. The boss became increasingly greedier, the jobs started having smaller profit margins on them and things became extremely stressful. All of this was taking place around the time the recession was really bad and firms were folding left right and centre.

There was no plan to a days work, you were given between 8-12 jobs a day, which included breakdowns, parts and services. They would be over a large area too. You worked until the jobs were done, which was 18:30 at best, sometimes a lot later. My dreadful wage stopped at 16:30, getting paid overtime was a hassle. It meant getting "authorisation" from the boss, which would consist of being moaned at and told how it was "swings and roundabouts", work late in the winter, finish early in the summer.

Summer would come and we'd be dumped with hundreds of services. Again between 8 and 12 a day! We were also on trackers, we'd get bollockings for speeding between jobs, I once got a rollocking for taking a 1/4 mile detour home to my Mum's house for 10 minutes!

Being on call was even worse, you did it for 7 days at a time, starting Monday evening and finishing the following Monday morning, meaning you'd work 7 days on call, covering the whole of South Wales, some West and often Bristol. They'd rarely bring anyone in Saturday and Sunday, so you'd work all day doing pre-booked jobs and any emergencies that came in that day you'd do in the evening. By the time you'd finish call out duty on Monday morning, you'd still have to work Mon-Fri before you could have a day off!

As you can imagine, life was very stressful and I hated the industry, if I was offered a minimum wage job, 9-5, digging holes in the pouring rain, I'd have jumped at it! I couldn't have a social life because I didn't know what time I'd finish work. I ended up on anti-depressants because of it and still suffer with bouts of depression now!

The straw that broke the camels back was a rollocking I received, in which I was basically told I have to keep proof of every bit of information I pass to the office staff because they lie and forget things. I handed in my notice the next day without a job lined up, borrowed some money, bought a van and started working for myself.

That was 7 months ago and I thoroughly enjoy plumbing now, I can take my time, do things the way I want to and feel no pressure from being rushed to finish jobs. As a result my work is to a better standard and I am a lot happier, despite the stress that comes with being self employed!

I

 

[villa_tom]

Just be a bit wary on the insurance side of things. If you're not covered for private use and have an accident you could be done for driving without insurance which can give a driving ban. It can also b construed as gross misconduct and lead to instant dismissal.

When I was with eaga a few guys got caught using the vans for private use and were goonered.

I know what your saying mike. I knew a couple of blokes who got pulled on this. Especially if they where not wanted, this was used as an excuse to get rid. Fortunately I don't work there anymore, the whole place went under and thousands lost their jobs, which is really sad, but for me I wasn't to bothered. I felt for the people who needed their jobs, but I was 22 and used it as an opportunity to go contracting.

The margins on council contracts seem to be so tight, that employers are really strict.