Your best service call ever

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Jim W in Tampa

Jim W in Tampa

Senior Member
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Tampa Florida
mine was sign on a BIG LOTS.
told it doesnt light up. My thinking (stupid) is it will be breaker ,time clock,photo cell or something just as easy. After i waste good hour manager tells be the sign was removed because of huricane damage. New store front built year later and sign put back. Crawl threw nightmare to look at it. Abandoned all kind of cans wires ,juction boxes live with not even wire nuts and what ever just laying up there, open boxes with not even wire nuts but live, cans just laying up there . Sign not even wired in to anything. Needed cam . This was to be a service call !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What did this manager drink before calling ?
 
We wired a new house a number of years ago and had a set of 3-ways controlling the kitchen light. (fluorscent) The owner called and said that the light wouldn't work. When I got there he had the fixture (Luminaire) all apart. I checked for voltage nothing there. Went to check the 3-ways and found that one on the counter was behind a sugar can and had been knocked into the middle position. I turned the switch on and had power. He had forgotten that the switch was there. I ended up spending extra time putting the fixture back together as he was not very careful taking it apart.
 
A friend said his basement outlet wasn't working, about four feet an the side wall was a GFCI receptacle in the open, pushed reset. a second one was a outside outlet not working, there was no power on a standerd receptacle so I spent an hour looking for a GFCI, none in the panel, find it behind boxs piled against the wall.
Lou
 
SEO said:
We wired a new house a number of years ago and had a set of 3-ways controlling the kitchen light. (fluorscent) The owner called and said that the light wouldn't work. When I got there he had the fixture (Luminaire) all apart. I checked for voltage nothing there. Went to check the 3-ways and found that one on the counter was behind a sugar can and had been knocked into the middle position. I turned the switch on and had power. He had forgotten that the switch was there. I ended up spending extra time putting the fixture back together as he was not very careful taking it apart.
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reminds me of customer with jack and jill bathroom with 3 way . complaint switch is in down position with light on.
Handled it nicely without calling him an ID 1O T
 
I got called to a bar once where they said there outside lights arent working. It had about 10 recess cans in an overhang above the front door. I first suspected the time clock but it was working fine, I went out side to the lights and somebody had unscrewed all the bulbs just far enough so they didnt work.
 
bpk said:
I got called to a bar once where they said there outside lights arent working. It had about 10 recess cans in an overhang above the front door. I first suspected the time clock but it was working fine, I went out side to the lights and somebody had unscrewed all the bulbs just far enough so they didnt work.
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Thats called an easy trip that cost him plenty. But tell me why you thought time clock if 3 worked ?
 
Boat stuck

Boat stuck

My best was on a Friday just before 4th of july weekend
got a call while on the way back to the shop,
did'nt want to take it but it was on the way.

Get to this big house down on the beach
ring the bell and a woman answers wearing a white silk see thru wrap
great body as i could see all from top to bottom, my helpers eyes pooped and jaw drops.

I smile, She says her husband is around back, Well we go around back he is out on the dock
Seems that this area had no power and PoCo had down lines I can hear his genny running and he jumps for joy at our sight, He cant get his 40 something foot cigarette speed boat down off the lift to go to some party. (poor baby)

No problem main panel next to Gen panel 8 screws pull breaker wire and all over to gen panel. drop boat $ 200.00 dollar tip. plus the emergency service charge for 5 mins of work
with a great peek at his wife, Smiles all around that day
 
I'm not allowed to post mine......but it was really really funny. It involved a humming noise in the bedroom.

I've gotten a couple $100 tips before as well as lot's of 20's. I consider those good calls :cool:

Went to one where a copper thief went 480 phase to phase. The burned grass under the disconnect was a dead givaway. No chaulk outline though :(
 
220/221 said:
I'm not allowed to post mine......but it was really really funny. It involved a humming noise in the bedroom.

I've gotten a couple $100 tips before as well as lot's of 20's. I consider those good calls :cool:

Went to one where a copper thief went 480 phase to phase. The burned grass under the disconnect was a dead givaway. No chaulk outline though :(
Click to expand...

Yeah I may remember that one... pretty gross actually!

~Matt
 
Most luctritive service call was a 75KW transformer for a large super market that went high/low. (The neutral lug melted off because it over-heated due to the stock room guys stacking pallets all around and on top of it...) Mark-up for $5k a day for the generator, and rush charges for the transformer and that was not even for doing any work. The emergency rates for a 5 man crew for several days re-pulling a feeder and swapping gear. My employer at the time offered 10% (roughly 1/2 of the profit) of the final billing as an incentive for people to be all on-call and even show up on service calls - which for the most part amounted to nickles and dimes, but that one was a very nice pay check.
 
service call

service call

I went to a business several years ago and was told that the lights went off everytime the toliet flushed. After I got done laughing at her I flushed the toliet and sure enough the lights flickered on and off, in fact everything went on and off. I went outside scratching my head and after looking around found the problem. The buildings main was mounted on a pole outside that was loose in the ground and when it was installed the building main sewer line was run next to it. Everytime the toliet flushed the sewer line vibrated the pole, the main was loose and all but burnt up barely making contact on the busbar, so anytime the pole moved the main breaker sizzled.
 
We were working on a big remodel up in the foothills. Parking was scarce, so when a neighbor approached me to ask about a problem with his electric water heater I was very helpful, being as we parked in front of his house partway in front of his driveway.

He said there was never very much hot water and sometimes it blew the "fuse". I told him it was probably the lower element, and gave him details on how to check it and how to change it.

About a month later (BIGGG remodel) he comes back over and says how much would it be for me to check it out. I said what, the element didn't do it? He said no, it checked OK but he changed it anyway. then he changed the top one too. Then he changed the thermostat. Then he called a plumber, who changed the whole water heater.

What's it doing I said?

It keeps blowing the "fuse".

Only one? I said

Yes, always the same one.

Aha, I thinks, loose wire. I walk over, the fused disco is right on the front of the house, under the panel (Arizona). I pull out the fuseholder and before I can check for a loose wire, the "fuse" falls out of the holder. "This the one?" "Yup". I squeeze the clips together and put it back in. Everything is fine. 30 seconds service call.

I didn't charge the poor guy anything.
 
Friend that works at my night club wanted to change his thermastat from old dial type murcury to digital and wanted to know if its hard to do. I suggested he go buy one and bring it with him to the club and i would set all the jumpers for his heat pump. And tell him what color goes where.
He was given bad advice from big orange and told it needed no jumpers moved. So him and son inlaw changed it. I get call tuesday morning . Jim what are you doing this afternoon.
They managed to hook it up totally wrong and shorted transformer out. Next time i think i will just suggest he keeps hands off and let me do the job first. 15 minute job ended up taking 3 hours between travel, getting transformer, and then do the job. On bright side i didn't charge him a dime but he did buy a $40 transformer (way over priced shop).
 
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