your job

[Rickster123]

Bucketts by any chance?

No. Can't name them here! Actually they are still about but now down to about 3 vans rather than 18.

 

[villa_tom]

Me and a mate were chatting today about when we worked for a company 10 years ago. We had a great time. Finished by 12 each day, no tracker on the van, phones that lost signal so they couldn't ring us, a fuel card that we used to fill up the fishing boat fuel tank. We always booked a 10 hour day. Always! And nobody cared! Nobody questioned anything! Things have changed now. But they were great days!

So it's you and your mate responsible for this damn recession.

All these hoops I'm jumping through for a mortgage are because of you and your mate.

Im not your friend

 

[Rickster123]

I just caught the end of a very long wave mate! It was much easier to lose yourself 10 years ago when you were on the cards. These days they know when I stop at the esso to take a dump!

 

[Ray Stafford]

So it's you and your mate responsible for this damn recession.

Yep - I reckon AP was doing all the plumbing for Northern Rock and Lehman Brothers.

 

[villa_tom]

I just caught the end of a very long wave mate! It was much easier to lose yourself 10 years ago when you were on the cards. These days they know when I stop at the esso to take a dump!

thats what I don't miss. I started in this game after my apprenticeship 6 years ago now and trackers is all I've ever known. I'm subbing now so not in tracker, but the office phone from time to time with jobs late in the day. But atleast I can say no.

Alot of the older blokes when I first started where really annoyed at the time with all the big brother nonsense.

My old manager used to tell me stories of how he would turn up to work, raid the stores, get his work, do none of it and go and do a foreigner. Used to make me laugh.

 

[villa_tom]

Yep - I reckon AP was doing all the plumbing for Northern Rock and Lehman Brothers.

Probably ray. I think he should stump up some cash, so my deposit is bigger and my mortgage is easier to get.

Or here's a thought ray, you own a merchants.......or six you must be worth a few quid. How about I service your boiler in your merchants for, lets say 46k. That would make make bottom Line look really healthy. MORTGAGE OBTAINED

 

[Ray Stafford]

When we put trackers on our fleet, our fuel bill went down 30% overnight.

 

[TBServices]

Very easy to get down about it mate and extremely hard to pick yourself up once you are down about it. Get a load of leaflets printed up and start spreading he word and getting your name out there abit. It's not a huge expense and will worth the small investment. Plus the walking will reduce the Xmas turkey gut!

I have 2 houses to do up, and 2 bathroom recommends to quote for aswell as the regular stuff in the early part of the year, but if it dries up this is gonna be my next course of action. Will probably hit the villages out in the sticks, too much competition here in town and plenty of bodgers doing jobs on the cheap.

 

[Millsy 82]

It was great before all the training centers started churning out plumbers in 6 weeks there were enough cowboys out there before but now there is loads of them about but they dont even realise.

All the TV programs makes everybody wary of you even if you tell the truth people look at you if you charge anything over £60.

Trackers and companies thinking nothing of you as there are so many people willing to work for less than you even if they dont know what their doing.

Manufacturers offering long warranties its great for the customer but not for the trade as that is breakdowns not coming in.

That said I enjoy the job its self I dont think I could sit in an office all day or work in a factory doing the same thing day in day out. I can remember the days I used to start at 9 go out do all my work finish by 3 at the very latest with an hour for lunch but its an employers market now so they can screw you over.

 

[villa_tom]

When we put trackers on our fleet, our fuel bill went down 30% overnight.

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.