Pc Callout Ltd ???

Freddie_Snowbits

Ah, chuck log on fire and tell us all. Should this piste be on the Job Bored?

free4440273

.... add to which the WANTED WRITERS thread

the_mad_monk_2

I have worked for pc callout and did not like the way things were done you have to phone through the customers card details and not take cash or cheques also you only get one or two jobs a day they also dont pay out very well as I am still waiting for payment from two years ago hope this helps anyone thinking of calling them out I would say dont

purple_ronnie2011

I worked for PC Callout about a year ago. I did 2 jobs for them and then packed in. I did eventually get paid for them. The emails ServerDude has posted are all to familiar. I think the calls were supposed to be within a 20 mile radius, but the ones they were passing to me were over 50 so I refused to do them. I do not like their morals at all. It is companies like this that give IT Professionals a bad reputation. I was paid by cheque which was sent from Spain. The account it was coming out of was in Scotland. This company is obviously a tax dodger.

ExNavy

I have worked with PC Callout Ltd now for 7 and a half years and find some of the comments on this board quite absurd.

Yes, the engineers rate is £15 per hour while working and 15p per mile to and from the job. For those of you who are in full time employment, how much does your company pay you to travel to work each day? What is the average daily commute? About 25 miles each way I believe. If you want to earn millions, and it sounds as though most on here do, then Computer engineer isn’t the trade to do it in. Are you aware that fuel can be set against tax? Some here probably aren’t.

I bet most of you on here are not on £15 per hour at work and it sounds as though most of you have full time employment as well as working on the side. How many of you declare to the tax man the earnings on the side? I do, I declare every penny, but there again I am self employed.

15p per mile, if you do 50 miles average to/from jobs and it takes you an hour each way then thats £7.50 an hour for driving. Not a bad rate, some HGV class 1 drivers aren’t on that and I doubt the bus driver in South Wales is on it.

Some jobs are a pain, but a call before you leave to say you’re on your way and “whats the problem” can save a lot of heartache when you get there. Yes, there are times when a return visit is necessary to fit parts but the majority of the job is viruses/malware and a damn good clean up of all the dross that normal home users leave on their PCs. I have never known when PC Callout allegedly told engineers they weren’t allowed to call customers. To the poster that says he was getting phone calls from customers wanting return bookings, giving your number to customers is against PC Callout policy, is it a wonder you didn’t last long if you break their rules?

In 7 and a half years I have only “failed” to be paid once when it was expected but that was paid in within 3 days, normal pay run is on a Thursday, into your account Friday morning. Show me a job where you get paid weekly, including the first two weeks that you work? Nah, didn’t think so.

A lot of the replies on this thread are from engineers that want to earn a fortune and found they cant. When I first started with PC Callout I had a contract with another company installing PCs for the less fortunate. I would be expected to carry out all jobs for £30, whether it was my next door neighbour or 120 miles away. Should I name them? They would pay every 30 days without fail, this then slipped to 45, 60 days, etc, until the payday before I left was 85 days. This was regardless of whether you invoiced them weekly or monthly. As I said at the start, millions of pounds and computer engineer don’t go together.

Getting called out: Times can vary but that’s what you put an availability sheet in for. If you are showing as available for the evening, expect to be called. Me. I’m available unless I tell them otherwise and with my sport now restarting after the winter break, I wont be available many weekends. Some have complained about getting calls at work, so when are you going to find out about jobs?

How can PC Callout be dodgy?? They pay tax in the UK and are VAT registered. I know of many companies that are “UK based” but don’t actually reside in the UK, are all these dodgy too? I also know of a lot of companies that DO reside in the UK and avoid paying the correct tax. Shall we start with the banks? They must all be dodgy so lets report them all to Trading Standards. With regard to Watchdog, please call them. I’ll think you will find they are more interested in the sort of engineer that they featured about 4 years ago, he was removing good parts and putting really cheap parts in their place. Then had the audacity to charge for them. Drove a nice car to with personalised plate of W1N ME. Gave me a good laugh and reminded me I will not be appearing on that type of programme.

Some of you have admitted to “knowing people that have taken customers away from PC Callout”. Hope you reported them to trading standards and Watchdog as this is fraud. PC Callout advertise on their behalf, not for you. Why should they not reap some rewards for their hard work in the background. Yes its easy to say they take approx £40 for answering the phone and putting the job your way but how much has been spent on advertising?

Some have admitted that they were dismissed by email. My guess is that those that were dismissed this way were also thieving toe rags.

No Fix No Fee. Quite simple really. If you don’t know HOW to fix it then a fee is not charged, not even the callout. However, this does not mean that if I have diagnosed the motherboard is U/S and you don’t want me to do the job then you don’t have to pay. I am not a diagnostics engineer without getting paid.
It seems to me that the ones on here complaining and moaning want the life of reilly without working for it. Building your own reputation, for that is what you are doing, takes a lot of work but it seems as though most here don’t want a good reputation, just easy money.

Now, I challenge all those on this thread who have admitted to Fraud and Theft by stealing customers, and/or cash that customers paid to you, to come forward and give your full contact details. Its easy to hide behind a keyboard, if you got any balls, step forward and lets see what the authorities have to say.

By the way, I am not John Readman and have only spoken to him twice (I think) in 7 and a half years. I do have a good working relationship with Helen. If those in charge of this board want to contact me to verify who I am they may, they will have some details about me already.

Simply put, PC Callout are a reasonable company to work for, as far as I am aware most engineers are reliable and trustworthy. For those that are slagging the company off, we all know the real reason and that is due to you being light fingered and not liking it when you get caught out.

To any engineers out there thinking of applying to PC Callout:

Make your availability as much as possible, include weekends/evenings if poss.

You can have 7 or 8 jobs in a day, but on the other hand, you may have nothing for a week.

If you are thinking its easy money, think again. There is money there to be had but not all of its easy and you wont make your first million in the first month J

Make your area that you are willing to travel to as big as possible. I think the furthest I have travelled to a job is 120 miles each way, ensure you have a suitable vehicle. I currently drive a 9 year old Peugeot 206 which averages 72 to the gallon. I heard of an engineer that wouldn’t travel more than 5 miles from home as he had a gas guzzler, then complained when he got no work.

Be flexible.

societys_child

TROLL ALERT !!! ... first post?

15p per mile, if you do 50 miles average to/from jobs and it takes you an hour each way then thats £7.50 an hour for driving. Not a bad rate, some HGV class 1 drivers aren’t on that

Won't even cover the cost of fuel and van drivers are on more than that, never mind HGV 1

Couldn't be bothered reading it all . . .

debitcardmayhem

Seven and a half years with the same company, and a computer engineer on £15 / hour. Where were you nearly 4 years ago when this thread started, probably driving on 1p per mile on minimum wage:rotfl::rotfl:

ExNavy

societys_child wrote: »

TROLL ALERT !!! ... first post?

15p per mile, if you do 50 miles average to/from jobs and it takes you an hour each way then thats £7.50 an hour for driving. Not a bad rate, some HGV class 1 drivers aren’t on that

Won't even cover the cost of fuel and van drivers are on more than that, never mind HGV 1

Couldn't be bothered reading it all . . .

Yep, thats about right aint it. Someone wants to say something nice about a company that others have admitted thieving from and I get called a troll. Obviously posting on these boards is not allowed unless you will admit to stealing/comitting fraud.

Work out the sums, its quite simple really.

15p x 100 miles = £15. So, if you are only doing half those miles its £7.50. Average 50mph for that hour, guess what. Its £7.50 an hour.

Where was I four years ago when this started? Working hard, rather than trying to take a quick buck like alot here, I was working on the long term future for myself.

A long term future which is looking very good, that includes any work I may do on contracts, be it with PC Callout or anyone else.

societys_child

:wall:So, see if I get this right . . you drive 50 miles to a client and the company gives you £7.50. Fuel is around £6 a gallon, add VED, insurance, tyre wear etc . . you'd need to be getting somewhere near 50 MPG to avoid making a loss and you've driven for over an hour!
(Lets pretend you do manage an average of 50 mph)

An hour fixing the customers computer - you get £15

Drive 50 miles home (see first paragraph)

For 3 hours work you get £30 almost half of which has gone in travel costs.

OR to put it another way, 3 hours work for not much more than £15 = a fiver an hour.:T

fwor

ExNavy - unfortunately people like you who join up especially to say nice things about a company in a thread like this will always be seen as a company stooge, paid to put a positive spin on a negative thread.

A genuine post would probably look something like "I've worked for them for a few years and they are Ok" but you managed to write 20 paragraphs of nice things about them!

It doesn't really matter how much you protest your innocence or what you say to the contrary, because almost everyone here will see it the same way.