Pc Callout Ltd ???

leosayer39

Combiseries wrote: »

This is an old post, but seeing as it caught my attention, I would like to contribute.

I have only in the last couple of days sent off my CV to PC Callout Ltd, after seeing their advert in the yellow pages. I am a bus driver as a full time job. However, I am also a qualified computer technician with six years experience doing the `odd job` from my own advertising.

The thing is, I live in a small seaside town in South Wales, and there are around 12 people in my town and around 50 in the city 12 miles away that are doing computer repair. 5 new ones have appeared in my town in the last month or so. My work has completely dried up. Now I don`t mind travelling 50 miles to a job, if it is worth the money, but I am not going to travel that far only to find out it cannot be fixed without ordering parts, going back, or taking the computer to my workshop (shed at home), if it is not going to be worth the while. The reason I drive busses is because there are virtually no jobs in the computer repair industry here, and the ones that are doing it, are either in debt with loans to start up so they can look good, (something I won`t do.) or a really dodgy but end up being successfull. Believe me I know, I`ve done a lot of research.

I am going to give this company a go, I am not expecting a lot of work from them, simply because there is too much competition in my area anyways. (Everyone seems to be doing it.) I will then look at their work ethics and if I find they are dodgy I will file it with the office of fair trading, and I will also be willing to liase with anyone else here who has had a bad experience with them so we can all file a case against them and get them closed down.

They are probably not the only ones out there that are ripping people off and doing honest people out of work! Lets get them closed down. However, if I find they are good to work for, more fool me.

Keep us updated......

gargantuan_2

I'd save yourself your bother if I were you. If you dont mind travelling 50 miles to earn 15 quid, then go for it though :rotfl:. You're forbidden from taking the PC from the customer's premises anyway, and you'll find yourself constantly given the most pitiful description of the problem, meaning you more often than not walking into every situation blind.

I found it quite frankly embarrasing, as customers are given the facade of it being a highly professional company, yet the opposite is true!

collis

Well, i have to say I might give them a go.
At the end of the year I will be out of work again, for the second time in less than a year and both times through no fault of my own as the 1st time was redundancy and the second is because my contract is ending because i was un-successful in gaining a permanent place.
I've seen an advert with them recently on the job centre website and think i might as well give it a go along side another web development job just to keep some money comming in untill i can get something more permanent.

ServerDude

I have read these posts a little too late unfortunately.

I have only worked for them for a few weeks but have been shocked with their attitude and professionalism. I was a little sceptical about their setup, I knew they were in Spain but it did not bother me too much as we are all part of a global world and as long as they do as they say then what is the problem? Unfortunately, they do not do as they say. I have many examples and will list a few as well as their internal emails which will shock hell out of you. They really should be listed on Watch Dog.

I spent a full day working for them and driving around on a tight schedule from one stop to the next. I completed 3 calls, with driving time I was out for a full 8 hours, great I thought, sat down to create the invoice and could only charge them for 3 hours. I have never worked anywhere where this type of reward is acceptable. There is a lot of paperwork and personal time creating the invoices, printing off the documentation calling the customers and arranging visits, all for 3 hours work. They really are taking the biscuit.

During my nights off I would get phone calls from customers waiting for a return visit asking me where I am. I would explain I was not working, but they would tie up further personal time by explaining they were not happy, I would have to be with them tonight as the office promised them I would be there. This happened with the same customer two nights in a row. I felt sorry for the poor guy but I had already advised PC Callout, 1 week in in advance I would not be working.

They would promise weekly pay and come up with many excuses why you would not be paid.

If there was a time consuming (not straight forward) job, you were expected to do it in your own time with out charging the customer as much time as it took.

The interview process was quick and slack. They spend 30 minutes talking about them self's and at only a couple of minutes finding out about you. This ethos continues all the way through your employment. It seams their only prerequisite for giving you a job is, will you turn in to work? This shows a desperate company grabbing what ever staff they can because they cannot hold on to them.

If you can cope with all these problems, then try getting weekly emails telling you not to rip them off, "make sure your availability form is in by Sunday or you will be off their books. Then an email saying if you leave you will not come back. Then on Saturday giving you a final warning that your Availability form is late, get it in or you will be off their books for good, and you won’t be allowed back.

Then the emails about how to make more money from their customers by selling unnecessary parts or software. The only problem is, that for any genuine person with integrity, trying to tell a 60+ year old they should spend another £50 - £150 on upgrades is hard to justify. You are the one facing the customer, not them.

For a little light reading I thought I would paste some of the internal emails I have received as I find them wholly unprofessional and unjustifiable.

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Memo to: All Engineers.

Almost every day, we receive an e-mail from a different former engineer, who has previously left the company, asking if he or she can return to PC Callout Limited.

Given the current economic situation, this is perhaps not surprising.

In the past, we have accepted back some engineers, however, it has then seldom worked out for whatever reason.

We now have a strict policy that no engineer who leaves PCC will ever be permitted to return. Therefore, the door marked "Exit" is now a one-way street and there is no way back in.

So, if you yourself ever decide to leave PC Callout Limited, for any reason, please do not then ask to come back!
Regards,
John Readman
General Manager
PC Callout Limited

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Memo to: All Engineers.

Some important points to remember: -

1. Remember to promote payment by Credit or Debit Card to all customers - avoid "bounced" or stopped cheques.

2. Remember to use the website *************** for all card payments or telephone them on 0800 083 6646.

3. Process all card payments yourself - do not ask the customer to do it.

4. Remember to obtain a signed Disclaimer Document for every job, even "No-Fixes" - you will not receive payment otherwise.

5. Promote sales of new components and earn commission of £7.50 per component sold!

If you have any questions - please feel free to ask.

Regards,

John Readman
General Manager
PC Callout Limited

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Memo to: All Engineers.

Here at the PCC office, we use a number of tune-up and maintenance utilities. One of the applications we use is "TuneUp Utilities 2010" and in general we find this to be the best of the maintenance utilities and better than "Norton WinDoctor", for example.

The reason for this message is to let you all know that a 30-day trial version of "TuneUp Utilities 2010" can be downloaded from their website at tune-up com and the trial version is fully functional.

The size of the installation file is just over 6Mb and so it would easily fit on to a CD or on to your Flash Drive (if you have one). It is the type of software that you can offer to install on to a customer's machine and then carry out some maintenance tasks using it. The customer can then use it themselves for the 30 days and then have the option of either buying a license key or simply uninstalling it.

The advantage of doing this is that it enables you to provide a more rounded and value for money service to the customers - and it will probably add at least 30 minutes on to the length of the bookings - so you also earn yourself more money :-)

Of course, there are times when all maintenance utilities cause problems as well as resolving them. I deleted some zero byte files recently and that then caused problems with our accounting software. The good thing is that the application keeps a record of any changes it makes and these can easily be fully reversed - which was quite handy for me!

We do not have any financial interest in the software and don't stand to gain anything whether the customer chooses to purchase a license key after the 30 days or to uninstall the application. The benefits for us are twofold - happy customers (hopefully) and an increase in the length of the bookings - for justifiable reasons.

So, there it is - if you would like to make use of it, let me know how you get on.

Also - Piriform CCleaner is very good - ccleaner com - another of my favourite "cleaning products" - it used to be called "Crap Cleaner" :-)

Regards,

John Readman
General Manager
PC Callout Limited

---

Memo to: All Engineers.

If you have not already submitted your availability document to us,

this message is your final reminder to do so.

You should e-mail it to us today, to the following e-mail address - (pcc_avails at pobox.com).

If you fail to submit an availability document, you will be removed

from our list of engineers, without further notice.

Finally, if you have already sent your availability document to us - Many Thanks - there is no need to resend it.

Regards,

John Readman
General Manager
PC Callout Limited

---

Memo to: All Engineers.

Engineers sometimes ask us "How can I earn more money from the job?"

Well, the answer is simple - SELL MORE PARTS.

YOU EARN COMMISSION WITH EVERY SALE.

Remember that you earn commission of £7.50 for every part that you sell.

When you are with the customer, it is not hard to sell them some kind of upgrade component. Many computers are not "state of the art" in terms of their specification and so there are always possibilities - a TFT monitor, a DVD-RW drive, a memory module, a new hard drive (and use the old one for backups) and so on ...

Of course, we understand that some customers are watching the clock and do not want to spend a lot of money. But this does not apply to all customers and the opportunity to sell upgrade components will often arise. Remember, it's commission for you - as well as often more labour to return and install the hardware.

So - in a nutshell - that's how to increase your earnings :-)

Regards,

John Readman
General Manager
PC Callout Limited

Voicemail: 020 7148 3253

P.S. - We are definitely not suggesting that you should inform customers that parts need to be replaced when there is in fact nothing wrong with them. The subject needs to be handled with a high degree of moral conscience and to ensure that all customers receive a good and value for money service.

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Sorry for the long post but as you see there are many things to be carefull of.

I have of course left the company and could not stick any longer than a couple of weeks. I did as is fair, pass all my comments on to the company, but the reply i got was not a supprise.

YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WARNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JasX

lol, maybe we should club together and form the Techie board PC callout Ltd -£25 per hour but only employ vaguely good people who get as close to the the full £25ph as overheads allow ;p

free4440273

my advice / get out/stay out and lock the door behind :rotfl:

leanneloves

Looks dodgy.

free4440273

leanneloves wrote: »

Looks dodgy.

employee or employer ?

GunJack

JasX wrote: »

lol, maybe we should club together and form the Techie board PC callout Ltd -£25 per hour but only employ vaguely good people who get as close to the the full £25ph as overheads allow ;p

Jas, count me in for North East Wales

free4440273

count me in too -- but call it PC shoot-out