Have we had a 'dumb things people do' thread on DIYnot?

[Big Tone]

Not a Darwin award but how people haven't basic common sense skills. I've had two lately.

My neighbour has a mains extension lead that doesn't work. They, five in the family, deduced it's the extension lead because the charger worked in the wall mains socket but not in the extension lead.

Now, as we know here, there's not much to an extension lead. So what to check, try, change?

Are we really saying, has it come to this, that whole family's cannot think "fuse". I mean I didn't do domestic science at school but I can boil water and make a scrambled egg = same thing or level of basic competence?

Next, and you'll like this and probably not believe me. But you can't make this stuff up..

In my job I was called out because some equipment, a remote switch basically, wasn't working. Knowing the product as I do and knowing I left a spare PP3 battery there at a Nursing Home with the carers, I said have you put the new one in that I left?

Yes, she said. (Carer at said Nursing Home). So I had nothing left but to go out and see for myself. (Birmingham to Stoke!).

The battery I left, as we buy them in, come with a little black plastic 'hat' over the positive terminal for safety. They put the new battery in all right; with the plastic hat still on!

How the hec she got it in is beyond me because it was effin tight; I had to lever it back out!

Beat that?

 

[longdogs]

Had a call once from a guy who said his bath was leaking. So I went and had a look. When I got there I found that his kitchen ceiling was on the floor where it had been leaking. He told me that it had been leaking since yesterday!!!

I had a look at the bath and discovered that his brother-in-law had lowered the bath by about two inches (why, I don't know) but had not replaced the tiles and mastic around it so the water from the shower was going straight down the gap when they showered.

I had some spare white tiles and said I would charge him £80 to retile and re-seal. He said that was too expensive so I said ok and left.

Two weeks later I got another call from him to say that the bath was still leaking.

 

[Big Tone]

I already like where this is going thanks squeaky

 

[cajar]

Complaint of a noisy phone line when speaking to her sister at night. several engineers visited could find no problem with the line but suspected the bedroom phone. changed phone but problem remained. eventually found the cause...,, the old ladies 'beard' scratching on the mouthpiece when propped up in bed.....

 

[EFLImpudence]

Asked to attend and investigate an electrical socket outlet which was 'beeping'.

Because of my incredible knowledge and skill I manage to cure the problem.

I switched off his alarm clock.

 

[longdogs]

Complaint of a noisy phone line when speaking to her sister at night. several engineers visited could find no problem with the line but suspected the bedroom phone. changed phone but problem remained. eventually found the cause...,, the old ladies 'beard' scratching on the mouthpiece when propped up in bed.....

 

[Big Tone]

Complaint of a noisy phone line when speaking to her sister at night. several engineers visited could find no problem with the line but suspected the bedroom phone. changed phone but problem remained. eventually found the cause...,, the old ladies 'beard' scratching on the mouthpiece when propped up in bed.....

X2

 

[longdogs]

Heard the story of two plasterers who used to do work for the council. They ended up at different but similar addresses and both went in and removed the living room ceiling for re-boarding. Neither of the tenants spoke good English but understood they were from the council and let them in.

When I asked how the plasterer at the wrong address got on, I was told he said he was popping out for a sandwich........and never returned.

 

[cajar]

linesman showed an apprentice one way to get an earth was to drop one lead of his multimeter into the water at the bottom of the manhole. fast forward 6 months and the same apprentice was found trying to test from a customers house with his lead in a cup of water.

 

[cajar]

had a bookmakers call our fruit machine company to complain all our machines had blank screens during a power cut. only came to light about the power cut when we tried to get her to check they were switched on and she refused as the whole place was in darkness.

 

[jockscott]

Police round our way, raided a house suspected of being used as a drugs den. Sadly they got the right number, but the wrong street. When they broke the door down , they found two OAP's sat having a cuppa.

 

[JBR]

Just to turn this around, when my wife and I bought our first house we discovered that the mains water pressure was very low, so we called in a local plumber.

The stopcock was turned almost off.

Yes, I felt a right prat.

The plumber saw the funny side and wouldn't accept any payment, although I offered.

 

[Big Tone]

A nice plumber? He deserves a dove award. (Midlands thing on the Ed Doolan show). Cooo Coooo

 

[JBR]

A nice plumber? He deserves a dove award. (Midlands thing on the Ed Doolan show). Cooo Coooo

Indeed. This was in the Midlands - Tamworth.

 

[OwainDIYer]

2 electricians couldn't work out how to wire a switch so a doorbell could ring a bell either downstairs or upstairs

I offered to draw them a circuit diagram but they declined as I was only the receptionist and wouldn't know about such things.

Accountant (this is sort of DIY in that he tried to do it himself) trying to send a fax asked "where do I dial the number?"

"You don't. That's the laser printer. The fax is over there."