Discuss What have you been blamed for ?? in the Electricians' Talk area at ElectriciansForums.net

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Hi all,

Just had a little laugh to myself, when thinking about a job I did with a friend a few years back, where the customer blamed us for her sink and waste pipes all getting blocked up, she was adament that we had caused it to happen by bonding the pipework under the sink !!!!
Out of goodwill we cleared the blockage for her, although it obviously wasn't our fault.

Thought it may make an interesting thread, hearing what you lot have been blamed for in the past, after work you have carried out ?

Im sure it must happen quite often where you get the old ' Well everything was fine until you did the work in my house !'
 
had one where after cutting out for 12 downlights, all exactly spaced in a single room, the customer decided to split the room unequally into 2 rooms. this threw all the light positions out, and he said i'd cut them in the wrong places. what a plonker.
 
Rewired a kitchen. The next day I got told the toaster is not working properly. There were 3 elements on this toaster, 2 outer and one inner, the inner wasnt working. Of course, it was my fault as it was fine until I had touched the electrics.
The same house I found a radial circuit with 3 socket outlets with no earth continuity.
I told them they couldnt use that circuit until I had found the fault. Again, it was my fault, as it was fine until I had touched it!
 
Turned off a circuit breaker, changed a damaged socket, switched on again and at that precise split second all the power in the premises went off.

So right away you think 'what have I done' tested everything, customers ranting and raving 'cos I couldn't fix it, fridge is defrosting, no telly, can't get the car out of the garage, houses on both sides have power blah de blah, Turns out there is no power coming into the cu. main fuse gone? - phoned them out, main fuse ok, phase down? went off off check - yep.

5 hours spent on what should have been a 5 minute socket replacement listening to never ending versions of 'it must have been something you did'.
 
Turned off a circuit breaker, changed a damaged socket, switched on again and at that precise split second all the power in the premises went off.

So right away you think 'what have I done' tested everything, customers ranting and raving 'cos I couldn't fix it, fridge is defrosting, no telly, can't get the car out of the garage, houses on both sides have power blah de blah, Turns out there is no power coming into the cu. main fuse gone? - phoned them out, main fuse ok, phase down? went off off check - yep.

5 hours spent on what should have been a 5 minute socket replacement listening to never ending versions of 'it must have been something you did'.

Nightmare mate :rolleyes:
 
Worked on a social housing contract once. This scumbag new how to play the system. She claimed for anything and everything. They believed everything she said for some reason. e.g. she said that she had brass s/s/o throughout and that we must have thrown some of them away
 
I had one a few years back the hubby accused my of s*gg**g his misses ( she was fit and she was very flirty and making lurid suggestions while walking round the house half naked but no I did'nt nor would I ( had'nt been paid ) but he was adament to the point he installed cctv,
Turned out to be the next door neighbour! and all was forgiven
 
we rewired a house and they refused to pay the balance because on of the light switches confused them?? their old one was on in the normal off position etc, so i spun it round and told them to pay up. got the cash and they asked if i could turn it back again as they had got used to it :mad::mad:
oh then theres the old the dog should not be let out when your walking through the door with all your tools
there are some more real stupid ones that i will pop up later
 
had one where after cutting out for 12 downlights, all exactly spaced in a single room, the customer decided to split the room unequally into 2 rooms. this threw all the light positions out, and he said i'd cut them in the wrong places. what a plonker.

Yes you where for putting them in the wrong place and knowing he was going to divide it into 2 rooms.:D
 
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we did a rewire on monday in a ciuncil property with a tennent from hell
after we finished we got it in the neck for everything
the next day we got called into the office a there was a little mark on sofa (notfrom us) but the best thing was we were getting blamed for cutting up te blokes step ladders for the wood they were made from
my responce was look pal times are hard but not that hard!!!
 
Me and a mate got blamed for wearing the stairs carpet out on a job once, this was 1st day on the job about half nine in the morning, been up n down the stairs prob twice each carrying tools up. They we're already thread bare and this nutter was stood there going "look there knackered now, i'm claiming for this". Good old council house rewires.
 
Here is one, not electrical though.
Whilst working in Majorca on the Chairmans Villa, we were given permisson to use the red, ford four by four (jeep or whatever), to get matls and go for evening meals at the restaurant. I had driven the vehicle one night, did not use it during the following day. When evening came I went to ask his wife for the car keys and......
I was told I had bumped into something, somewhere along the line. Not I Mrs Chairman...... Well it was not me, was her response, the Chairman will not be too happy.
So we looked at the car and sure enough a black mark along the front wing. We got some T Cut and polished it out. She had bumped it and chose to accuse us.
(female dog)!!!!!!!!
 
was doing a full fire system in a home and some dithering old dear accused me and another sparky of nicking her minging smelly electric blanket.....because we reaaaallly needed one of those.
 
This ones industrial, it’s also a bit of a long story.

We had a 2000HP fan fitted with a slip ring motor and liquid starter. Saturday afternoon we would test run the fan to check it for vibration. So I started the fan and just as it got near full speed the 11KV tripped ? ? ? Checked the liquid starter and the electrolyte was as weak a p**s, now I am confused. Water can evaporate but not the caustic soda that’s dissolved in it. Called the boss and he makes the decision to change the electrolyte, great idea we’d got enough distilled water but needed 147lb of soda. We all split up to raid all the supermarkets in the area I went to Asda and cleared the shelf, apparently the manager had phoned another store to be told we’ve just had a guy in that’s wiped us out as well. The boss arrives at Sainsburys and clears the shelf, while waiting at the check out he’s invited in to the office by the police. They think they’ve found a bomb making ring.

Back to the starter, I decided increase the electrolyte strength a bit to improve the starting curve, this is where my problems started. First start, perfect. The following weekend the duty engineer complained he’d had to change a lot of brushes. Came Saturdays test run and the brush gear exploded, bits were found over 100M away. Now I’m getting it in the neck. Over the next 3 months it blew up another 6 times, me getting the earache every time. In the mean time I introduced new cleaning methods and test regime for the brush gear which stopped the explosions. But we still hadn’t got to the bottom of it. It was a chance conversation with an engineer from another company that solved it. He told me the company that made the brushes had moved factories and had had trouble with the composition of brushes afterwards. We had a new batch made, changed all the brushes, threw away all old stores stock. No problems after that except I was still getting blamed for it.
 
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Got blamed for leaving dirty foot prints all over a customer's bed. I pointed out that I'm a size 10, and was wearing (as usual) dewalt apprentice boots - these so-called foot prints on her duvet cover were half the size and obviously from a pair of trainers, as in one of the prints you could clearly see the letters adida........
 
I once went to a new clients property. And while discussing the works to be done, asked to see the previous periodic inspection report. The client franticly searched but could not find it. Then accused me of stealing it. He couldn’t comprehend the gravity of his physics defying imagination. It didn’t help that the apprentice and me were rolling around the floor in stitches.
 
once kicked the gauge off one of the nuclear systems in a rage and then got blamed for all other unaccounted for damage caused by every thing and any thing including a bunk light been broken!!
 
Did a big AV setup in a local sports bar, very complicated 8 screens 6 sat boxes, DVD players, karaoke, list goes, all run through digital matrix unit. Got a call from the owner telling me it was crap, it was so complicated he couldnt even get the TV's to switch on (staff had managed fine for the last 2 weeks) anyway got there he instantly grabs remote and starts pointing it at the three main tv's whilst shouting abuse. He must have felt crap when i turned him round and showed him the DVD drawer going in and out....................wrong remote what a plonker.
 
I installed a new shower for an old dear who called me back a few days later to tell me that there was not enough electricity getting into her flat any more because her kettle was taking longer than usual to boil , and it was ok before I touched it !
 
I installed a new shower for an old dear who called me back a few days later to tell me that there was not enough electricity getting into her flat any more because her kettle was taking longer than usual to boil , and it was ok before I touched it !
must be the new shower stealing all the electrons
 
Creeping along in a Town Center traffic jam, apprentice driving, as they like to do, head on swivels, girl watching, he runs into the back of the car in front.
Very low impact, we got out to inspect the damage, hardly any, broke the number plate on our transit, knocked a large amount of rust flakes off the underside of the car in front, a really old Sierra on it's last gasp, we all had a look, couldn't see anything, owner said no problem so we apologized and left it at that, bought a new number plate to keep the boss happy and forgot about it.
A month later, in the office, got called into the interrogation room,

"What's this about the crash you've had"?
what crash?
"Well only the crash where you wrote this guys car off, injured his wife, and wouldn't give him
your insurance details"

The guy was claiming for a new car and damages for his wife ( who wasn't even in his car) ????

Luckily our Boss was a good guy and saw the funny side of it when we showed him the old number plate that was still in the van, but I believe it caused him a bit of grief before it was done.
So don't forget to fill your accident reports in, never know who you're going to run into.
 
best one was Wifes pals boyfriend emailed my mrs saying Id been having an affair with her pal for years quoting a day Id been working away n long hours We had just been checking through bank statement and i had used my card god knows howmany times that day lol He had sent similar email to a few of the girls friends one who had just had a baby and others NUMPTY (I wouldnt give her one anyways shes way to skinny Id be feart she would break
 
So far today
1: letting the cat catch a bird
2: blocking the Hoover ( been nowhere near it )
3:making her loose an earing
4:letting the cat put said bird behind fridge
5:making her late for hair appointment
Ive been in about half an hour and stuck in the office - and in not moving!
 
bugsy, it's early yet. plenty of time fot 5 more.
 
Getting her pregnant
“You wanted a kid”
“That was before I knew what it’s like being pregnant”
I went for a vasectomy a month after my son was born!
 
I fixed a light in a ladies WC in an ediburgh Tax office. 2 hours later i got the boss on the phoning asking me why HMRC were complaining i had installed spy cams above the female showers!

Turns out it was the on site maintenance guy stirring it I dont think he is there anymore
 
did you say fiidling the books or piddling on their boots?
 
When I was a labourer I got blamed for smashing a window on the extention of the house. Tenant screaming and shouting at my boss that he has to pay and also swearing at me calling me some very nasty things!

Soon as my boss pointed out the water damage from rain over a months worth my boss told him where to go and that he is lucky that he doesn't deck him for trying to pull a fast one. I gave him a few chosen words of my own. Why do people think that they can try to make us (and other trades) pay for the broken things in their house?
 
When an apprentice I got blamed for the spark I was with smashing the van into a block house in a school playground. Apparently it was my fault for not looking where he was going! I was 16 and couldn't even drive!

Boss didn't like me because I didn't like Bristol city fc and I rode a motorbike. Ended up being forced out, bang went my indentures.

Bitter, me?
 
I quite often get blamed for nothing in particular:
Some old geezer who thinks he's funny will come up to me and say "it's your fault" then wander off.
 
friday doing remedials of PIR on a resteraunt manager came up after Id finished fitting spurs at handdryers n said "the lights in staff room are out they were working before you did your work" I went and had a look ffs they were out took diffuser off n the end caps were all crumbling on both fittings when lamps removed told her she said the usual They were OK before you got here lollol
 
yep the old " it worked before you did any work " line
i once got blamed for breaking a light , both the little bitch and her husband obviously in on the attempted stitch up
i looked in to it and soon discovered the problem.no wiring to pendant !|! it went from yes it definantly worked , to i am sure it worked to well i think so
got to love a chance i hung the rest of ther job out an extra day to make amends
 
I got blamed today for cremation a cable on a different circuit to what i was working on. In a building that i've condemned installation in because of the state of it. That apparently an NICEIC contractor tested in NOVEMBER, and i've not even started work in that sub main CU yet. And it's not what he was saying that was tickling me it was the way in which it was said. "Those lights were working before you turned the power off at the mains!"

because a cpc is irrelevant, i dont think so.
 
The gaffer pulling in in 80m of control cables then not incliding the 15 drops down to the panels! so in total being 30 metre short and having to joint them, the best thing is this is a brand new installation and the amount of cables we had to joint is unbelievable!

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
 

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