Electrician not happy - help!

cool_dude_2000

So where do you get your twin and earth cables from then?

Doozergirl

novicerenovator wrote: »

Thanks Grenage for your considered reply.

I don’t see how the products we’ve bought from Electrical Counter would differ wildly from whatever crap the electrician would get from Screwfix or some other trade site.

AS IF a sparky would come back to the house 6 months later to fix anything he did himself - we didn’t come up the Clyde in a banana boat!

Sigh.

Perhaps you need to do a bit more due diligence if that's what you think and feel a bit more confident in who you're hiring.

I agree with Risteard.

I don't know how any lay person knows what's good and what's not, especially not to know what will stand the test of time. We work in the same way.

Our electrician knows what to buy so that he doesn't have to return to fix it. If I'm after something special or different, we'll discuss it together first. I don't think I could count the call backs in we've had on the fingers of one hand. If I do have an issue on a site then he goes out of his way to come to us. He's outwardly the grumpiest man you'll meet. I wouldn't change him.

Risteard

cool_dude_2000 wrote: »

So where do you get your twin and earth cables from then?

CEF - for much, much, much cheaper than Screwfix. (There are other types of cable you know - T&E is domestic-only cable.)

Screwfix can't even stock Irish T&E which would be a big problem for me given that a large percentage of my work is cross-border.

SHAFT

Risteard wrote: »

They really don't.

The only possible time is late at night or on a Sunday when everywhere else is closed for an emergency part. (Although anything non-standard or non-domestic won't be stocked.)

So who buys the consumer units they stock diyers?

Risteard

SHAFT wrote: »

So who buys the consumer units they stock diyers?

Sadly, quite often yes.

The fact they don't even stock Hager tells you something about their market. I wouldn't entertain BG (or MK - their quality has plummeted over the years).

SHAFT

Risteard wrote: »

Sadly, quite often yes.

The fact they don't even stock Hager tells you something about their market. I wouldn't entertain BG (or MK - their quality has plummeted over the years).

So these diyers have marked electricians vans too? Amazing what you can learn online.

But if you've never been to screwfix how do you know other electricians don't go there?

novicerenovator

So does anyone know if the brushed brass selection on Electrical Counter is any good or not?

I’m under the impression from the thousands of reviews that the Philips GU10s are just as reliable as any on the market, particularly for dimmer. They’re not “cheap and crappy” for our budget.

We are on a tight budget hence why I’m asking on a Money Saving forum, not a “Give me a dressing down for daring to question an electrician” forum.

Doozergirl

novicerenovator wrote: »

So does anyone know if the brushed brass selection on Electrical Counter is any good or not?

I’m under the impression from the thousands of reviews that the Philips GU10s are just as reliable as any on the market, particularly for dimmer. They’re not “cheap and crappy” for our budget.

We are on a tight budget hence why I’m asking on a Money Saving forum, not a “Give me a dressing down for daring to question an electrician” forum.

Have you bought them after first fix? If you have flat plate ones, they can often need a larger back box to fit all the wiring in than the regular switch plates that sit proud of the wall. That might be one reason for the grumpiness.

I'd treat it as an education. I'll happy to ask people on site to explain why they feel a certain way about something, ask them to explain how it works etc.

If you can go down to CEF or wherever this guy does his shopping and look at what the alternatives are and hold them in your hand, you might see/feel what the difference is for yourself and also get a second opinion.

It's really easy to be sucked in by what looks great, but the primary concern does need to be quality. I'm not going to pretend to know what you've bought. In the same situation, I'd do a double check, as you are, and if they're not great and I couldn't really afford it, I would opt for white plastic. No one's really looking and if I were going to make compromises (which I do, regularly) then it's the fancy coloured switch plates that go first.

My lovely friend is a home inspector and she was thrown across a room when she touched a metal switch plate. It makes me mindful, certainly.

bengalknights

Homebase have the brass type fitting for schneider at quite a low price at the moment, otherwise try a local Denmans, CEF or Edmundsons branch.

cybervic

novicerenovator wrote: »

I don’t see how the products we’ve bought from Electrical Counter would differ wildly from whatever crap the electrician would get from Screwfix or some other trade site.

Indeed it's hard to see the quality if you don't know what to look for that's why people tend to use stuff from a reputable supplier or manufacturer. I used to work in quality testing lab and have often see that things are cheap for a reason. The plastic behind may not be moulded accurately, the metal spring may be poorly embedded, all the details can be difficult to spot until you've used it.

novicerenovator wrote: »

So does anyone know if the brushed brass selection on Electrical Counter is any good or not?

We are on a tight budget hence why I’m asking on a Money Saving forum, not a “Give me a dressing down for daring to question an electrician” forum.

Unless someone has been using the same products for several years then no one can say it's good or bad. You've asked if electricians are right to say theses thing, you've ask how to handle the situ. People are telling you electrician's professional opinion is right and matters and have been giving you a rundown of reasons.

The flat I am in right now has original switches and sockets from the 60s, they look dead ugly but still works fine. The previous place I stayed has modern fancy chrome fittings but during the 4 years we were there, switches were blown twice and socket went bad once, so electrician came 3 times to sort it out. You have to decide how important safety and future hassle/cost is for you.