Opinion on this "electrician" ??

scot-canuck

I am a council tenant and I have had issues with their "designated maintenance electrician" who had done some excellent work in the past rectifying problems with the kitchen baseboard fan heater, (bit of an attitude problem but nothing major)

However when he was called out to replace a split electric storage heater power cable, said "its double insulated cable so its safe but I'll replace it anyway for your peace of mind" (despite the fault report I sent to the council mentioning there being a split in the live conductor insulation),I then went to talk to some family who had come to visit (and also as I hate being watched when working so thought I would extend the favour), he simply loosened the cable clip, shoved the cord inside the heater and left.

I found this out as I removed the front panel to do a yearly clean before switching on the heater and to remove the 1/3" thick layer of tar, dust and nictone from the previous tenant..yes she smoked more than a forest fire from the look of things :eek:...my first thought when I saw his shortcut..."you sneaky bar steward".

Reported it to council, who then called me back, saying the contractor had said it was alright as "it was in an enclosure and double insulated"....yeah if the live had not been split.I then get the electrician company owner on the phone to me, being aggressive ("why are you touching them????, they arent your heaters!!!!" nope and they belong to the council not you),

Proceeding to yelling ("how dare you question my employee, he has 30 years experience, I dont think your being straight with me, He never said he would replace the cable, he said he would if needed, not definetely") [a total fabrication on his part as I have witnesses to the orig statement],

Then being irrational ("you could have shocked and killed yourself and others"....[from unscrewing and carefully removing the heater front panel with both the heater switch and the heater breaker off....pull the other one..I repair computers as my sideline occupation so I am fully aware of how to isolate appliances from the electricity supply to avoid damaging myself, others or the equipment worth over 10K in a good few situations] )

I ask council for another sparky for a second opin...reply : "well you see the contract doesnt allow that", they then promise to warn him about his behavior and attitude and say they will send them out to fix it properly.

Weeks and Weeks later, I phone the building inspector to chase the matter up as its below zero outside (who seems to be on the side of the electrical contractors rather than the tenants), she informs me that she will not deal with the matter anymore and refers me back to the contracts department,

Who do come out with said abusive company owner, contracts dept guy spends the whole time tugging his collar and fidgeting and saying to the contractor "well its up to you, only replace it if you feel its necessary".

Meanwhile the contractor denies theres a problem (despite 100+ degree bend in the cord), then claims the live isnt split (takes me getting a maglite to prove the point), Still claims its safe as "its only a little split", but then agrees to recable but spends the whole time going on about how its only a tiny split and doesnt really matter since its in an enclosure (yeah a metal radiator...hmm isn't metal conductive??) and how I'm being over the top about it all.

I'd like to hear some opins about this incident from any sparky's reading this. (yes the company is NICEIC registered and his staff are all "fully qualified and certified")

Sorry about the length of my rant there...corner cutting annoys me as does lying about what was done or promised. Plus if I spoke like that to any customer I dealt with I'd be out of a job before I knew it. I wonder if he has ever heard of "customer service"? :rolleyes: wishful thinking methinks

jennynoo

I hope you get some replies to this and some good advice but if not try posting on the ultimate handyman website, the guys on that website are really good at replying to queries like this.

totalsolutions

Replace the cable.

scot-canuck

jennynoo: thank you very much!

totalsolutions: thanks, it did get replaced, but was like pulling teeth trying to get it done. Guy still doesn't see why I was so bothered about it.

Inactive

You really had no rights to take the front panel off of the heater, in my opinion.

If you considered that it required cleaning, you should have contacted the council.

jennynoo

The council contractors in my area are terrible, they get paid if they visit a location but can't gain entry so I have had several visits where they just put a note through the door saying I wasn't in - they could have tried knocking :mad:. I've ran down the street after them but with no luck. In the end I put a big note on the door saying "We are in, please knock." Better to just get on with things yourself.

capita_guy

Taking the cover off is something you as a tenant should not do. Electrician was technically correct. The Councils have told ALL contractors to save money because of the current climate.

sparky883

You seem electrically competent,And i assume it was only the 3 core cable from the Spur Unit to the heater-So my question is Why did you not replace the cable? I know its not your Heater/House/Cable/Spur Unit But if you thought it was dangerous?? And for the sake of £1 in materials Could not common sense prevail !! I bet there is other things you ignore by renting Council Owned and do not seek their permission for all DIY rectifications?

scot-canuck

In relation to taking the front panel off, the majority of the electrics are still behind another panel, the front cover is decorative, removing it allows access to the damper on top of the heater to remove dust and such as mentioned in the heater manual under "keeping your heater in good working condition" (yes its old, really old. works better than the newer heaters though...oddly)

His attitude stunk in my honest opinion, I'm just glad he isnt my landlord, would be like living in the dark ages.

Trust me, I wish I had just replaced the damned cabling myself, would have been less hassle and done better. I just figured that since there have been other "issues" with the flat electrically that it would be better to get him to look for gremlins and I didn't remove the cover till he had been to "change" the cable.

The council inspectors here really have no clue, they turn up in totally unsuitable clothing (one woman turned up in stiletto heels) and bleat they don't have anyone who is an electrician apart from the contractor, and they can't send another electrician as "the contract forbids it" << bad contract then.

sparky883

Think you are making a mountain out of a you know what-And so what if the council inspector turned up in high heels,Are you living on a building site?

scot-canuck

@ sparky883 - your entitled to your opin but I disagree and
at that moment I was living in a building site due to cack handed council employed renovators leaving the place like a tip and she knew that.
How are you meant to inspect an area which is all messed up if your wearing clothes you dont want to get dirty?