I don't know who put this in but ....
Today was the annual service of the gas boiler and 'domestic appliances'. Every year a different engineer arrives from the same company and every year I hear the same spiel: "I don't know who put this [pipe, screw, pump, glass, light, other (delete as required)] here missus but it's got to come out." There follows a deal of huffing and puffing, tramping through the house to the van for spare parts, filling in of forms and finally a summary of what has been done and how it would have taken half the time if the last man had known his job.
I don't know if these engineers are insecure and feel the need to impress me with their singular expertise or maybe it is the first thing they are taught in their apprenticeship:
"Now, lads, you look inside, scratch your head and say, 'What idiot did this?' That gets you a Stage 1 Certificate in Denigration"
The same thing happens here too. One time, my husband got so annoyed he said, wait a minute, I'll call your office and ask them to send the same person who was here last time to come back and fix his mistakes. The person making the disparaging remarks quickly changed his tune, got to work, did what needed to be done and said no more.
ReplyDeleteWe took down his name though and let him know that the next time somebody comes in and wants to know who was responsible for his shoddy work, we'll have his name handy and will be able to quickly assign the blame where it belongs.
It also happens when you go to a new dentist, hairdresser, etc. Do you think it impresses anyone to hear that their teeth, hair, nails, etc. are a mess because you weren't smart enough to engage competent people? I don't go back when I hear that kind of stuff. It may take a while, but eventually you can find people who are confident enough of their abilities not to try to make themselves feel superior by knocking someone else.
Glad you managed to get through the Google trap at last, e! I'm also glad to know that I'm not the only person to come up against the blame the last guy behaviour. I'll be ready with some of your retorts next time!
ReplyDeleteI know a very good heating engineer in Minehead, in case that helps, M . . .
ReplyDeleteMmm ... I wonder what his mileage charge would be?
ReplyDeleteYour Gas boiler serviceand hot water heating equipment are built to last a long time, but even the best heating equipment breaks down, and needs service. When this happens, service calls along with parts and labor can be very expensive.
ReplyDeleteThanks, yacoob, (if you are a person and not a computer programme!) but I don't need a new set of engineers to sneer at the current service providers.
ReplyDeleteHow many Brits does it take to repair a gas boiler?
ReplyDeleteOnly one, Duck. The others are there to make derisory comments!
ReplyDeleteI suppose there's a union for that! ;-)
ReplyDelete