I volunteered to be on 'standby' over Christmas Day/Boxing Day many years ago.
So, no alcohol after Christmas eve until the day after Boxing Day. Gets to just after 6pm on Boxing Day and I thought, "Nobody is going to call now", so cracked a can open and took a swig. 'Ring, ring,' goes the standby phone! Thinking it must be a check call from Head Office to see if I reacted correctly, I gave it the correct response and introduced the company name first, then my name and how can I help etc.
It was from a restaurant called 'Arbuckles', and it turned out their extractor fan over the ovens had broken down and they needed an urgent repair or they would lose about £8,000 that night if they couldn't open as soon as possible. I replied that, as they were not on our customer data list it would be a 'cash up front' call out and I would have to contact my supervisor for the amount. He agreed so I called my supervisor. Can't remember the different prices because each time I told him a price I had to call my supervisor back and let him know. So, first price was £250 before I even took my tools out the van, next was something like £400 for the first hour or part thereof. Then it was that the first hour had already started. Then there would be a surcharge of something like £500 because their normal service company was a direct competitor of ours and they may make a claim against us. And it went on like this for about 3 hours until I eventually said to him, "Look, there is no way you are going to open tonight and make any money because you are only open until midnight. Why don't you call back at 7.00am tomorrow, like I suggested earlier, and you won't have to pay all these silly charges. You can the call your normal company or call us and you won't have the call out charges etc."
He agreed to call us in the morning. I was off over the rest of Christmas till after New Year and when I went back in after New Year I was called for everything by one of the other engineers. He had got the task of going out the following morning. He had to climb into the roof space through a small hatch over the sink and crawl along the rafters because it was a sloping roof to reach the extractor unit. The rafters were covered in grease and slime because the flue was damaged, and he been letting the fumes out into the loft area. After struggling for an hour, he discovered the unit had been installed pre-installation of the roof and the only way to get it out was remove a section of the roof tiles and possibly roof trusses.
So glad I was able to wangle out of that call out and promised myself never to volunteer for call out again!
So, no alcohol after Christmas eve until the day after Boxing Day. Gets to just after 6pm on Boxing Day and I thought, "Nobody is going to call now", so cracked a can open and took a swig. 'Ring, ring,' goes the standby phone! Thinking it must be a check call from Head Office to see if I reacted correctly, I gave it the correct response and introduced the company name first, then my name and how can I help etc.
It was from a restaurant called 'Arbuckles', and it turned out their extractor fan over the ovens had broken down and they needed an urgent repair or they would lose about £8,000 that night if they couldn't open as soon as possible. I replied that, as they were not on our customer data list it would be a 'cash up front' call out and I would have to contact my supervisor for the amount. He agreed so I called my supervisor. Can't remember the different prices because each time I told him a price I had to call my supervisor back and let him know. So, first price was £250 before I even took my tools out the van, next was something like £400 for the first hour or part thereof. Then it was that the first hour had already started. Then there would be a surcharge of something like £500 because their normal service company was a direct competitor of ours and they may make a claim against us. And it went on like this for about 3 hours until I eventually said to him, "Look, there is no way you are going to open tonight and make any money because you are only open until midnight. Why don't you call back at 7.00am tomorrow, like I suggested earlier, and you won't have to pay all these silly charges. You can the call your normal company or call us and you won't have the call out charges etc."
He agreed to call us in the morning. I was off over the rest of Christmas till after New Year and when I went back in after New Year I was called for everything by one of the other engineers. He had got the task of going out the following morning. He had to climb into the roof space through a small hatch over the sink and crawl along the rafters because it was a sloping roof to reach the extractor unit. The rafters were covered in grease and slime because the flue was damaged, and he been letting the fumes out into the loft area. After struggling for an hour, he discovered the unit had been installed pre-installation of the roof and the only way to get it out was remove a section of the roof tiles and possibly roof trusses.
So glad I was able to wangle out of that call out and promised myself never to volunteer for call out again!
