GORGI registered, big deal!

[corgiman]

I must say that I agree with you a client has every right to sit on your shoulder while you are working, after all its their boiler!!

there could be a myriad of reasons why this chap had trouble fault finding your boiler

he could have been out and about for ages, I for one know the feeling of being cream crackered and trying to get your head around the tenth different boiler you have seen that day, we really should have tachographs in our van with the hours we do. It really goes with the territory and you should get used to it pretty quickly. Also I never under play the part a client can have in diagnosis if you just listern to them when you arrive they can normally, usually unintentionally, point you in the right direction.

he may not have been that familiar with your boiler, must say this used to happen to me a lot when I first got started (on this point has the ACS cen1 changed as when i done it three years ago there was no fault find, other than gas safety issues included if they have change it GOOD about time) but I used to be honest with the client straight away and then book up a course with the maker ASAP.

I really respected then way he put his money where his mouth was by saying if he was wrong it would not cost you anymore, I feel this is a very professional approach and he should be cheered for it.

i get the feeling from reading your post that this is the most likely reason and he should have said so to you.

Please remember that "rip off artists" are very few and far between and most installers (for want of a better word) believe strongly in personal professional development. It has already been said the nearly ALL manufactures offer very comprehensive training on their products, personally I attended at least three manufactures courses a year to refresh and update, and I reckon most installers do the same, seeing as I regularly meet up with the same bods from time to time.

 

[ChrisR]

Check the corgi card it tells you if they are qualified to work on an appliance

Sorry I missed this bit, I'll do this next time

... and you'll be misled lilke everyone else. It only means you have rudimentary knowledge, mainly of the gas related bits.
There are hundreds of different appliances out there, all a bit or a lot different. Several times I've struggled to get the damn case off, which can be embarrassing.

Middle aged combis are the worst - lots of bits are getting less good at what they do , and it can be hard to say what or how many bits need attention.

Any one who calls himself an engineer should be able to do basic deductive fault finding, but the few hours spent doing Corgi assessments/ training don't cover that.

The situation should improve (!?) now that the pendulum has swung so far the other way . You can't even do training unless you have experience of doing the job you have to be qualified to do . Yes really.

 

[bripl]

i normally tell the cust i charge for an audience the barcelona is a horrible boiler to work on,maybe when the manufacturer brings out a reliable product things may change do a search on this forum for the barcelona you will find a lot of probs with this boiler.as for corgi you are right it is just a register of installers who have passed basic gas safety and very basic faults on basic appliances.please can anyone define competant in relation to a plumbing/heating engineers required skills?

 

[oilman]

I agree completely with corgiman. (Fortunately I don't have to suffer all these different gas models as I do oil).

Nobby^1 wrote:

Interesting! I think I had every right to stand over this engineer. Far too often we, the customer, get ripped off. You only have take a look at the TV docs exposing rip off tradesmen, heating engineers included. If you know what your doing why would it be a problem to have the customer watching?

You are paying so, yes, you may have a right to

stand over this engineer

.

That sounds a bit opressive doesn't it?

Far too often we, the customer, get ripped off.

Try replacing "far too often" with "sometimes". If it was far too often the whole system would collapse. Sometimes tradesmen don't get paid by greedy, dishonest customers too. Some customers are fine while they're watching, easy chat no stress etc. Some are not. Their watching is counter productive, making it difficult to form a train of thought to sort out the job. If it takes me longer, I charge more. If you don't trust someone, get someone else. If you don't trust anyone, you have a problem. Personally I would have charged the difference as well for the gas valve, or I would have negotiated a fixed price as I had to come back again, or I would have charged for all the time and for the genuinely faulty part.

You appear to have had a good guy do your job, try being a little more grateful.

 

[PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN]

I dont have any problems with customers watching, as you said "it's your boiler", I can also talk and work at the same time, something which I find lots of people cant do and not just in plumbing.
If I am not familiar with a boiler I will tell the customer straight and work on a no fix no fee basis if I can get the bloody casing off, then if I cant suss it I will tell them to phone the makers for the number of their nearest
qaulified engineer.
As far as TV docs go, well it's just the usual easy target to grab viewers attention, britain is a bag of shiit when it comes to any services, new cars, garages, builders, cafes, post, parcel delivery, public transport,etc etc, we are all ripped of on a daily basis, just go and fill your car up with fuel !!!.
While you were being so vigilant noticing the TV docs on how plumbers or builder or whatever were ripping you off, when you watched the commercials with gary linneker getting a big fat wage packet for advertising crisp, did you "notice" how much it was adding onto the price of the crisp you were eating, how much time and effort did Mr Linneker put into the making of the commercial for the amount of money he was paid, then work out what he got paid an hour !!!!, multiply this by all the other rip off commercials for all the other products we buy, mmmm, dont see any TV docs on this do we, I wonder why, what company do you work for, are they sqweaky clean, where does their money/your money come from,little boy in indian sweat shop maybe, course thats not ripping off is it, thats "business".

 

[Nobby^1]

Interesting comments and I take on board some of them. But I still don't know what qualification I should be looking for when looking for someone to fix my boiler. It's clear that the fact that an engineer is GORGI registered doesn't mean they will know how to diagnose and repair a fault on a boiler, then again the guy I called did fix it in the end, so I suppose he does know what he's doing.
I get the impression the best people to call to fix the boiler is the manufacturer? I know I will pay more for this, but then you get what you pay for. Good luck to you heating engineers who clearly have a very difficult job to do, especially when the costumer is looking over your shoulder. Those of you who complain about working all hours for poor pay may I suggest you go self employed, those who are seem to do alright out of it.

 

[kevplumb]

words on a card are no substitute for experience thats the nane of the game

 

[oilman]

.......britain is a bag of shiit when it comes to any services,.......

Another tasteful observation from the world's nicest person. Got a chip on yer shoulder?

 

[zutman]

I agree that the corgi guy should have said that he was not sure on the problem but lest face it us corgi guys dont need smart ass customers that think they know it all, there are hundreds of boilers out there ranging from the new range condensing to 30 year old open flue, so you expect us to know them all inside out and back to front ! mmmm I think you would be better off getting a life and think about what we have to put up with and the childish minded customers that are out there ready to trick us when they can, Its a job the same as the job you may have or by the sounds of it may not.... so you have never made any mistakes at your place of work... The guy that came out to your boiler was doing his best can you knock him for that.

Why dont you go to school for 3/4 years get your corgi ticket If you can get through the ccn1 !!! and find out for your self...

 

[PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN]

I have a massive chip on my shoulder put there by being ripped of every time I spend any money anywhere anytime and 33 years of working for the public.

 

[zutman]

Why dont you move over seas and see if you can have another 33 years getting done over their.......

 

[DP]

Those of you who complain about working all hours for poor pay may I suggest you go self employed, those who are seem to do alright out of it.[/quote]

Come again. I think you have been reading the Sun.

 

[oilman]

I have a massive chip on my shoulder put there by being ripped of every time I spend any money anywhere anytime and 33 years of working for the public.

Why dont you move over seas ...........

Don't waste money on the ferry or the train or flying, after all that would just be another rip off, just go on foot. We all wish you well.

 

[PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN]

Exactly, the bus or taxi would be late, stinking of fag smoke, the train would probably come of the rails and of course nobody would be to blame for leaving bolts loose, the ferry would probably tip over due to some twaat falling asleep leaving the back doors open because there is not even a light on the dashboard to tell captin birds eye its open, the plane would most likely have either a hijacker or suicide bomber on it with a bag which said BOMB on it and no security staff would spot it that s if the pilot is bloody sober or they fly it into a mountain, lets face it they are difficult to see if you dont look out the window, nah nice of you all to recommend me going abroad but I may as well stay here and carry on working, thats if my van is ready after phoning for the third time to ask if it's ready when their supposed to phone me, with 20 minutes to get there with an hours trip in the traffic because of all the humps, speed cameras, chicanes, pedestrianised areas one way the long way roadworked double parking school mums pot holed roads we use, besides it would take all the fun out of winding you lot up

 

[Bahco]

Has nobody picked up on original post that said the engineer was GORGI registered and not Corgi registered
The engineer was obviously a cowboy with little or no qualifications