What Would You Tell Him??

K2

I'm in the eight year of my four year apprenticeship, (I got left back a few times), now doing service calls. So today i go out on a call of a dryer not working. The guy has the outlet apart, some weird disconnect feeding a range apart , and a sub panel apart. I find the dryer is pretty straight foward and feed into the main panel and find the breaker unmarked and off. So i put all the other crap back together and flip the breaker and the dryer works fine. So i clearly mark the panel and when the guy asks me what was wrong I tell him I tightened some connections. He was tickled and thanked me a hundred times and paid the bill in cash. .... I just couldn't tell him it was the freaking breaker... What would you do??

rbsremodeling

You did right. You fixed the problem and collected your money. Case closed

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WarnerConstInc.

Sounds like the old blown ballast thing, really needed light bulbs, man those were some expensive bulbs.

acrwc10

They love to hear how the just didn't screw the bulb "all the way in" and that is why the light didn't work, or the fuse was not screwed in all the way, and one of my favorites the plug strip on the floor under the desk that they hit the on/off switch with their foot.

Ponsse

I would do the same thing. Look at yourself as a humanitarian, you lied for his benefit, just like when you tell a woman she isn't fat, this way he didn't feel so stupid and everybody is happy.

WarriorWithWood

That's all good, but what caused the breaker to trip in the first place?

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-Dennis
www.bowmanch.com

K2

I thought of that but they had 5 loads of laundry ready to hit the dryer last night so i figured I'd hear about it this morning if there are any problems. They have lots of "projects" going on so my guess it was accidently turned off..

220/221

I would have told him exactly what I found and what I did. There could have been another intermittant issue that was not showing itself right then. Now if it stops working again he will think you didn't do the job correctly.

I also would have wondered if it was a set up.

You are still going to get paid, right?

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Just because it's within code doesn't make it safe.

Just because it's against code doesn't make it unsafe.

TrblShooter

I'm with 220 on this...always tell the truth
Not only because it's the right thing to do, but there are a lot of "news shows" just dying to catch us "Scum" contractors ripping ppl off.

Funny how ya never see hidden cams in a lawyers office when they tell their clients to lie out right huh? lol

You billed for your time and expertise..doesn't matter if the breaker was just off. You still made the trip, used gas, had to pay all your business expenses, and had the knowledge to fix it. In my book, that's priceless

That way you could have explained that you have no idea why it was off and for them to keep an eye on it. Just in case , god forbid, there actually is a problem. You may find out about it the next day..hopefully by a phone call from the HO saying that it shut off and not on the news as a fire

Never be afraid to be honest...yeah people can be a pain in the butt when it seems "simple", but you'll walk away knowing ya did right.

Bubbles

I highly agree with last 2 gentleman. #1 it's just plain honest and right and also the news show thing. I havent had anyone yet argue that it took only 7 min...why you charging me $100 scenario,but, if they do I will explain all the previous things. Stay Honest..it will pay in long run. Just remember...if you don't you might end up on dateline NBC in primetime.

jrclen

I agree with the last three. I would have told the truth. I would have used my amp clamp to check the current draw with the dryer running. I would have explained that I have no idea why the breaker is off. And I would have told him to call me back if there were any further problems.

I went on a call this summer. Lightning struck a tree next to the house. The bathroom was dead. The lady said she reset the circuit breaker and that didn't help. After determining the bathroom was dead, I asked to see the electric panel. The circuit breaker was tripped. She had tried to reset it by just pushing it to on. I turned it off, turned it on, explained to her how to reset a tripped breaker, and gained another happy customer. She got a smile, a handshake, and a very expensive lesson on how to reset tripped circuit breakers. But she is happy the bathroom receptacle and lights work again.

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John

Double-A

OK, I was with the "Let it go" crowd until I read this part.

I sure hope you didn't just violate this home owner's stinky version of lock out/ tag out. What else was on that breaker? Other projects? What other projects?

I hope the reason you don't hear from them is that its all good, and not that the house burned down or they are all at the hospital with a child that was electrocuted or burned.

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"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

K2

I'll be back out this week to put a gfi outlet in to run the extension cords to the horse trough so he doesn't have to plug into the front porch light anymore. Most of the house is scary at best but I will come clean on the dryer breaker. ... That's why i asked... But if it was a sting I only charged him the minimum show up charge even though it was after hours, out in the boonies, and snowing to boot. I don't think I'll be on 60 minutes.

220/221

If I had a hundred dollars for every time that happened................oh, wait. I do

In those cases I spend a little time inspecting the service/panel and explaining the electrical system to them so they feel like they got something out of it. Occaisionally, if I didn't go out of my way, I might just say Merry Christmas.

__________________
Just because it's within code doesn't make it safe.

Just because it's against code doesn't make it unsafe.

Static Design

I must be an ass then because I always tell them what it is haha, I did a service call a couple of weeks ago because a guy didn't have the bulb screwed in right. People amaze me..............