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Forum 141

TV Trade

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crustytv
(@crustytv)
Posts: 11869
Vrat Founder Admin
Topic starter
 

This weekend got me thinking, I spent most of Saturday in a car with Gary ( 405 fan) on our way to pick up some TV's in Manchester. On the way I listened to wonderful tales of his days in the trade, how he started, how got his shop and the sad decline. Then yesterday whilst scanning and reading a whole raft of Rediffusion company data, I reflected on what it must have been like for Malc working for one of the Major rental companies.

So I thought I would start this thread and ask all the Ex trade amongst our ranks to offer up some insights for everyone to enjoy. A sort "Show-N-Tell" without the show. Of course if you have some photos from those far off days, be it you, service mates or the places you worked, all the better.

So how about answering these 10 questions to help paint a picture for us who can only wish we had followed your path too.

  • Did you always want to be a TV engineer[/*:m:23p7iwz1]
  • Did you dabble with TV or Radio at an early age, did you subscribe to the "Television" magazine.[/*:m:23p7iwz1]
  • When did you start in the trade and how old were you[/*:m:23p7iwz1]
  • Did you do your City & Guilds[/*:m:23p7iwz1]
  • What companies did you work for and which one did you enjoy the most[/*:m:23p7iwz1]
  • Did you have your own business. If so, when did it launch and what was it like[/*:m:23p7iwz1]
  • What chassis' did you most enjoy working on[/*:m:23p7iwz1]
  • What was your least favourite chassis to work on[/*:m:23p7iwz1]
  • When did you leave the trade and why. If you had your own business when did you close.[/*:m:23p7iwz1]
  • Finally if I could wave a magic wand and it was the height of the trade all over again, knowing what you know now, would you do it all again.[/*:m:23p7iwz1][/list:u:23p7iwz1]
  • Now its over to you.........

    CrustyTV Television Shop: Take a virtual tour
    Crusty's TV/VCR Collection: View my collection
    Crustys Youtube Channel: My stuff
    Crusty's 70s Lounge: Take a peek

     
Posted : 05/10/2015 12:03 pm
slidertogrid
(@slidertogrid)
Posts: 990
Honorable Member Registered
 

Ok, Here goes..

My interest in Tv started at an early age when I was at junior school. My parents rented a British relay set and I was fascinated by the sight of the glowing valves when the man came to fix it. I was off school a fair bit as I suffered badly from asthma as a child so was often at home when the man called.

Then I was given a TV chassis by a friend's grandfather and my interest began. My parents bought me a shed for my 11th birthday mainly I think to keep me and the crap out of the house!My early career started with scrounging old sets from the local TV shops, any I got going were sold to mates at school. The failures were used for spares and target practice!

I went into the trade from school in 1977, working for Paul Taylors in New road Peterborough. The workshop was a rabbit warren behind the shop. There was separate rooms for the mono workshop, colour workshop, audio workshop, secondary colour workshop, in rack and ex rental disposal room. It was in this room I had the most interest, lots of Dual standard sets were being disposed of. Philips G6 GEC and Pye. The GEC sets were the best buy as the G6s mainly had duff lopts the Pye sets had been plundered of panels to keep the later sets going.

I stayed there until late 1981 by which time I had my City and Guilds and had passed my driving test.
I was offered a very well paid job working for an industrial electronics firm so I left. After three weeks I realised my mistake! I hated my new job! So I handed my notice in and decided to work for myself.

My parents were less than happy saying that I couldn't run a business from a shed in the garden! (well, two sheds and their conservatory!) I did for a couple of years until a friend retired and was giving his shop up.
I took over the shop and ran it until 2000 by which time I realised the writing was on the wall.
I sold the business as a going concern with a fair few rental contracts to Kellyvision from Whittlesey one of the few independent shops still in business today.

I really had had enough by then, the trade was no fun anymore, nothing had any value and it was getting hard to make it pay.
Within four years all of the engineers had moved on or retired, repairs had all but died.
One of the sets I hated was the Ferguson ICC5 series, what a pile! There were others but the ICC series was the one I most enjoyed slinging in the skip!

Sets that I enjoyed working on were all pretty run of the mill. The G11 was usually a good earner simple to fix and needing attention fairly often. I also liked the Decca Tatung sets, not for the build quality or the picture but for the reliability. You could buy one stick it out on rent and coin it in for years! Very few problems. Other favourites were Philips KT3 K30 K40 etc Thorn TX9 10.

If I could go back in time it would be back to the heyday when I first entered the trade. 12/14 field calls a day, a pocket full of valves, a battered old Ford escort van. Customers that treated you with respect, endless cups of tea and the summers went on forever....sigh!

Rich.

 
Posted : 05/10/2015 4:57 pm
Nuvistor
(@nuvistor)
Posts: 4594
Famed Member Registered
 

Quite a bit of possibly private info with those questions, any chance of moving it to the lounge?

Frank

Frank

 
Posted : 05/10/2015 5:07 pm
crustytv
(@crustytv)
Posts: 11869
Vrat Founder Admin
Topic starter
 

I certainly can move it if that's what members would prefer.

I stress nobody has to give full names or private company info. All the questions are generic and don't require personal names, dates of birth, towns or private companies. I don't see any harm in a member saying he worked for Rumbelows or Radio Rentals. Its all just for a bit of fun and an opportunity to reminisce about those days.

I would also just remind members don't be lulled into a false sense of security of the lounge being secure. Its only as secure as members make it. I know of posts that have been cut and pasted then placed in e-mails sent to others. Unbeknown to the perpetrator/s I was informed and copied in. Also in two instances of posts ending up on facebook, nothing is truly private!!

As I've mentioned before nothing is secure when the "Wet-Ware" that's the Human element, is part of the equation.

CrustyTV Television Shop: Take a virtual tour
Crusty's TV/VCR Collection: View my collection
Crustys Youtube Channel: My stuff
Crusty's 70s Lounge: Take a peek

 
Posted : 05/10/2015 5:55 pm
Katie Bush
(@katie-bush)
Posts: 4884
Famed Member Registered
 

Smoke and mirrors come to mind - smoke from the tellies, and mirrors on the walls...... :elc:

1.. Did you always want to be a TV engineer
2.. Did you dabble with TV or Radio at an early age, did you subscribe to the "Television" magazine.
3.. When did you start in the trade and how old were you
4.. Did you do your City & Guilds
5.. What companies did you work for and which one did you enjoy the most
6.. Did you have your own business. If so, when did it launch and what was it like
7.. What chassis' did you most enjoy working on
8.. What was your least favourite chassis to work on
9.. When did you leave the trade and why. If you had your own business when did you close.
10.. Finally if I could wave a magic wand and it was the height of the trade all over again, knowing what you know now, would you do it all again.

As little more than a workshop monkey, I can't really answer as someone from the trade, but as an interested party, and for the fun element, here are my answers, be they somewhat trivial and light hearted.......

Here goes....

1.. No.. I had plans on becoming a vet! In reality, I wasn't actually in the trade, it was my granddad's business, some time after the war.
2.. Oh yes, and could anyone stop me? Not a chance, I loved the smoke, and all the mirrors!
3.. I was about eight years old and was granddad's tool and parts "fetcha".
4.. Sad to say, no.. It was all a matter of "watch granddad, and learn" (monkey see, monkey do).
5.. Only my granddad's workshop.
6.. No. :ccg
7.. Philips G6, without shadow of a doubt! Followed by most other hybrids of the period.
8.. Anything by Thorn.. I never really got my head round transistors - and SYCLOPS? OMG! as the young uns say these days.
9.. Granddad gave up as his health held him back and the years advanced - about 1980-82(ish).
10. Would I ever! Except that I'd make a proper effort next time round. :thumb

Marion

 
Posted : 05/10/2015 7:53 pm
Nuvistor
(@nuvistor)
Posts: 4594
Famed Member Registered
 

Ok, well here goes, hope it is acceptable.

Started with building radios around 10 years old, not mains powered, crystal sets, battery valves etc. Early in the 1960’s I started in the trade with a company in Bolton Lancs, large firm. After a couple of years I felt I was not getting the training I needed so moved to a small shop in Wigan with a technical owner and an engineer who knew his job, both no longer with us. I took City and Guilds course 48 and the additional colour exam at Wigan Tech in the 1960’s. The Radio Amateurs license obtained though I have not been active on the bands for many years.

After passing the exams in the 60’s I became the engineer both field and bench, the senior chap moving to sales.The shop had a good range of test equipment for a small business, not all purchased at once but we built up, including Phillips colour pattern generator, Oscilloscope, Avo 8, Wobbulator for TV and radio alignment, RF signal generator, Philips FM generator, Sudgen audio oscillator, Sugden Audio output meter, Sudden AF filter, these three Sugden units used for the HiFi repairs and used in testing THD etc, home made audio dummy loads etc. On the van were Avo, cross hatch generator, signal strength meter, degassing coil, usual spares and manuals, I would take the scope with me if I thought I may need it. Possibly other equipment but long forgotten.

The years between 1960 and the middle 70’s were good, it started down hill for the shop after that, discount warehouses made inroads to our sales, just like the internet is doing now to the those discount chains still with shops. Making the weekly wages became harder and the business owner was getting on and all getting to much for him, a man of great integrity. I was not in any position to buy the business and it was sold and I kept my job moving to another premises. Things improved for a while and then competition to small businesses from discounters go worse. I wanted to avoid a race to the bottom so left the trade about 1980.

The radios and TV’s we sold and later rented, RBM, Pye/Ekco/Ferranti, Dynatron, ITT, Hitachi, Toshiba, Roberts, Hacker, Rogers, Luxor, and possibly an odd little known make or two I have forgotten.

No real favourites/dislikes, the Bush and its Murphy equivalent B/W TV135U (Not to be mistaken with the cheaper TV135RU) was a reliable TV with a good performance, I always felt the Pye 691 chassis performed better than the RBM A823 chassis although not a lot in it for reliability. The early Hitachi 19 inch had a dimmer picture but just worked and did not fail, later Hitachi’s were not as reliable. All sets had their faults of some sort, but none I found a major problem. We did occasionally repair the Thorn CTV range from the middle 70’s, I found these more difficult but that was due to not stocking spares and unfamiliar circuits, but that was my problem not the sets.

We took a decision in the middle 60’s not to stock the Thorn BW range, we had a few (850,900 chassis) and although the sets were very easy to repair we found them less reliable than the others we stocked. Some of the circuits features I did not like, Aperiodic aerial input stage in some UHF tuners, IF response that could cause adjacent channel problems, Thorn produced a plug in filter between tuner and IF stage for affected sets. I know many members would have these as their bread and butter sets, especially the big rental firms owned or connected with Thorn. That was our decision, good or bad, many may not agree.

I enjoyed the work, it was varied, BW TV’s, CTV’s, HIFi’s, radio/radio grams, record players, tape recorders. Most of the area had good signals but there was the odd location that presented challenges, that made things more interesting with installations in those areas.

I feel the training and experience I gained helped me in later jobs and I always enjoyed the job, just not the struggle to make ends meet. Perhaps if I had been a good business man I could have made more money and kept going longer in a shop of my own, I could fix things but not run a business. I went to fixing computers, the big ones that filled a room, it was a move I have never regretted.

Frank

Frank

 
Posted : 05/10/2015 8:42 pm
TVJON74
(@tvjon74)
Posts: 680
Honorable Member Registered
 

If we're all sitting comfortably then I'll begin ttt:

Being the son of an auto electrician and having a great uncle who used to dabble in all things electrical/electronic plus spending my early years (up to around 7 years old) living in a flat above a TV sales/rental/repair business I guess I was destined to do something electronic/electrical. I think I was in my last year of primary school when I made my mind up that I wanted to fix televisions for a job.

I can remember the big pile of dead TV sets and old radio's at the back of the workshop and could sit there for hours taking things apart, never got anything working, just took them apart.
Dad got me a couple of those electronics kits with the components mounted on a board with springs that made the connections to the components and a set of coloured wires were used to form the various circuits printed in the instructions.

I started in the trade in 1989 when I was 15, as a Saturday boy and after school. My first ever real repair was to a G11 with a blown fuse caused by a shorted diode on the line scan PCB. When I left secondary school the following year I was taken on full time, I then went to college in 1990 and took City & Guilds 224 on day release.

The company that took me on in 1989 was called BK Vision and with me on board consisted of a salesman and 2 bench/field engineers. We had quite a few rental sets out. We were sales and service dealers for JVC, Mitsubishi, Salora and later Nokia and BEKO, we also sold Philips, Samsung, Ferguson via Harris and Russell.
I was made redundant at the end of 1999 when the business closed, a very sad day! With my redundancy money I was able to build my current workshop with the intention of starting up on my own just doing servicing, but this never happened.
I had a great fondness for the Philips G11 as this was the first set I worked on along with the KT3 and K30 also the Ferguson TX9, 10, 90 and 100.
I hated with a passion the ICC5 chassis from Ferguson.

If I had my time again..... yes I would do it again, but I would of liked to of started 10 or 20 years earlier.

Jon
BVWS Member

 
Posted : 05/10/2015 10:31 pm
crustytv
(@crustytv)
Posts: 11869
Vrat Founder Admin
Topic starter
 

Thanks for all the input thus far, its very much appreciated. Hopefully like me, everyone is finding it fascinating and a great insight. Only wish I had a story to tell too but I'm afraid I started where Frank ended. If I had my time again I would go into TV and catch the last years like Gary. Now I just lock myself away in the workshop, test card F on with test card music playing beavering away on an early colour TV and for a while, just a little while, its 1974 all over again.

Keep them coming guys. :thumb

CrustyTV Television Shop: Take a virtual tour
Crusty's TV/VCR Collection: View my collection
Crustys Youtube Channel: My stuff
Crusty's 70s Lounge: Take a peek

 
Posted : 05/10/2015 10:46 pm
Nuvistor
(@nuvistor)
Posts: 4594
Famed Member Registered
 

Hi Jon,
I remember the course 48 being obsoleted and course 224 taking its place, I think that must have been sometime in the 1970's, the local tech were taking 16 year olds on from school and it was a 2 year full time course. I don't know if they had the full cert after that or if they had day release at 18, perhaps a forum member went down that route.

Of the sets you were repairing I only remember the G11 and saw very few before I left, they must have been a good few years old by the time you repaired them in 1989-90, unless the chassis was used in sets for many years.
I know nothing of the ICC5 chassis, it was after my time but we had very little to do with Thorn sets anyway.

So you only got about 10 years out of it and all that schooling as well, I hope course 224 set you up for further jobs as well as course 48 did for me.

Hi Rich,
Seemed you had the same feelings for ICC5 as Jon.

You were just starting in the job as I was seriously considering my options although I stuck out a few years more. I had a young family and a mortgage and although the change of ownership of the shop helped with a wage rise, those rises did not keep up with inflation. The business was now making money but the new owner was reaping the rewards, well it was his money he put in the business so i cannot complain about him, he was a good guy who worked as hard as any of us.

Frank

Frank

 
Posted : 05/10/2015 11:20 pm
TVJON74
(@tvjon74)
Posts: 680
Honorable Member Registered
 

Hi Frank,

Yes only 10 years for me, but continued repairing for a while for old customers who knew me plus friends and family. Yes the Philips and Ferguson chassis were quite old by the time I was got my hands on them, but they just kept working and still gave good pictures. IIRC the ICC5 chassis was full of MELF resistors and nice to work on, what put the tin hat on it for me was I had just finished repairing one and it was on soak test next to me for about 30 minutes or so and I heard a snick and the picture disappeared. Switched off put the set back on the bench and could hear a grinding noise as I moved the set. I happened to touch the tube base panel and the neck of the tube complete with scan coils came off in my hand!!! It tuned out the tuning cap had failed and the EHT had risen to God know what voltage and blown through the glass!

And yes all that training was not wasted, I now work for a hifi manufacturer making test equipment and jigs.

Jon
BVWS Member

 
Posted : 05/10/2015 11:39 pm
colourmaster
(@colourmaster)
Posts: 425
Honorable Member Registered
 

Hi everyone,

My story began when I was still at school being given old 405 line sets to "play" with. I have always been interested in television, my mother said that even as a baby I would stare at the telly when it wasn't on. I left school in July 1978 aged 16 and started work in the August as an apprentice for a local dealer John Moon TV. I took my physics project to the interview which must have impressed him as he said he would take me on straight away.

We were Philips & Decca agents and I remember that we were still taking deliveries of G8 & G9"s in late 78. I can remember the Decca lorry backing up to the back of the shop and off loading 25 at a time the 100 & 80 chassis models . The Philips G11 was also a popular set with us. When I passed my test in July 1980 I was given a Vauxhall Chevette estate and went out in the field doing service calls . We had mostly Decca Bradford , Philips G8 & G9 with the odd Thorn 3500, ITT CVC5, CVC20 & CVC30.

In those days we when out on a morning with 15 to 20 service calls , it was such great time for me. An especially exciting time for me was going around all of our rentals and tuning sets to receive CH4 in 1982. I attended day release on a Friday at the Charles Trevelyan college for my city & guilds course .

My job with John lasted until 1986 when he decided to retire and sold the business to a local firm who had their own engineers. I was 23 so decided to open my own shop which I ran until 2003 when the writing was on the wall for the TV trade. During my time self employed I managed to have 180 rental customers. I was gutted to leave the trade but I now get great pleasure in "playing" with my vast TV collection.

I hope I haven"t bored you all with my tales, in fact you can wake up now .

Regards
Gary .

 
Posted : 10/10/2015 3:55 pm
Anonymous
(@anonymous)
Posts: 16832
Group Deactivated Account
 

I'm guessing you are probably looking for some concise answers to the questions to make up some stats, without long stories so here you go..

1:/ No just something in Electronics.
2:/ Electronics/Radio stuff but not TV, Yes I subscribed for several years.
3:/ 1973, not quite 16.
4:/ Yes.
5:/ Greenside TV, Morley (good), Bickers of Dewsbury (OK), Mastercare (awful), K&M Television, Huddersfield (good).
6:/ Computers with just a hint of TV/Video/Satellite, the going was good for several years.
7:/ G8s and 3500, then later on 9000, Thorn and Philips mostly
8:/ B&O
9:/ 1984 to do Microelectronics, my Computer shop was a few years away yet.
10:/ hmm... tricky. I'm leaning towards a 'no'.

 
Posted : 10/10/2015 9:18 pm
Cobaltblue
(@cobaltblue)
Posts: 706
Honorable Member Registered
 

Well I never did work other than a Saturday job in the trade but it was always the plan!

Did you always want to be a TV engineer Yes ever since I found my Grandmas TV in Dutch Barn aged 7 after it had caught fire
Did you dabble with TV or Radio at an early age, did you subscribe to the "Television" magazine. Yes started at age 8 with the Philips Electronic Engineer kit EE8 started making my own stuff although in truth barely knew what I was doing started subscribing to PW aged 10
When did you start in the trade and how old were you 1968 aged 12 Saturday job only mostly recovering parts from ex rentals about to be scrapped, tidying the store removing and refitting backs.
Did you do your City & Guilds Yes, Plymouth Colledge of Further Education 73 to 75 Radio, Television and Electronics for Technicians.
What companies did you work for and which one did you enjoy the most None in the Radio and TV industry after qualification no jobs in 75 in my area for a newbie TV technician
Did you have your own business. If so, when did it launch and what was it like No
What chassis' did you most enjoy working on Did a bit of part time work for a local second hand shop mostly B&W did quite a few 1500's easy to work on and fix
What was your least favourite chassis to work on PYE!
When did you leave the trade and why. If you had your own business when did you close. Never really joined I don't think 6 months of Saturdays counts I moved to the Chip shop peeling and chipping spuds better paid :)
Finally if I could wave a magic wand and it was the height of the trade all over again, knowing what you know now, would you do it all again. I think being unable to get a job in the Radio and TV trade in 1975 was a blessing not that I though so at the time :)

Once I realised I wasn't going to get work locally in the Radio and TV trade I started looking at other options all over the Country finally setting me on my current career (if you can call it that :qq1)

Cheers

Mike T

I don't care if it was a bargain whats it doing on my kitchen table. www.cossor.co.uk

 
Posted : 11/10/2015 11:54 am
Anonymous
(@anonymous)
Posts: 16832
Group Deactivated Account
 

Did you always want to be a TV engineer
No
Did you dabble with TV or Radio at an early age, did you subscribe to the "Television" magazine.
First bit: Yes 2nd bit: No
When did you start in the trade and how old were you
1968 @ 18
Did you do your City & Guilds
No
What companies did you work for and which one did you enjoy the most
British Relay and Currys Group
Did you have your own business. If so, when did it launch and what was it like
Yes, radio repair before change of career to industrial electronics
What chassis' did you most enjoy working on
n/a
What was your least favourite chassis to work on
n/a
When did you leave the trade and why. If you had your own business when did you close.
Bit complicated
Finally if I could wave a magic wand and it was the height of the trade all over again, knowing what you know now, would you do it all again.
No - I'd have stayed with industrial chemistry in which field I first started work in 1967. Chemistry was my other hobby. Mind you, being Hazchem-trained was a great help during my industrial career when working on process control.

 
Posted : 12/10/2015 11:46 am
The_Teleman
(@the_teleman)
Posts: 271
Reputable Member Registered
 

Did I always want to be an engineer ?
YES
Did I dabble with radio & TV at an early age ? Did you subscribe to the Television mag
YES to both
When did you start in the trade & how old we're you ?
1972 at the age of 15
Did you do City& Guilds ?
Yes
What company did you work for & witch one did you enjoy the most ?
Telebank , Spencer's of Bedworth , domestic repair services , coin tv, Buy as you view.
The most enjoyable one was Spencer's , a privately owned department store .
Did you have your own business if so when did it launch & what was it like ?
Dabbled in it for about 12 months didn't really go anywhere so went to work for some one els
What chassis did you enjoy working on ?
ITT / KB , PYE
What chassis was your least favourite ?
Thorn , most non British sets
When did you leave the trade & why
Left the trade about 1994/95 had a change of direction went into the white goods repair
Due to lack of work in the brown goods repair at that time.
Finally if you could wave a magic wand & it was the height of the trade all over again , knowing what you know now , would you do it all again ?
A big yes ! Loved the trade would do it all again tomorrow ( I wish )

 
Posted : 12/10/2015 1:44 pm
slidertogrid
(@slidertogrid)
Posts: 990
Honorable Member Registered
 

Can I suggest a question 6B? Most "entertaining" customer? During the time I ran my own business I encountered a few...
We had a policy of checking mains plugs and leads on customers repairs for wrong fuses unsafe Joins etc. Any that were found were put right free of charge and the customer informed when the repair was collected.
One set, a Thorn 9000 ISTR had one of the most unsafe mains leads I had ever seen. The original lead had been cut and extended with a length of white doorbell wire. There were two bits of chock block with bare wires poking out and from one of those there was another pair of wires going to a male two pin plug! :elc:
I removed the lot and fitted a new mains lead to the set of the same length as the bodged cable had been.
In retrospect maybe I should have rang the customer first...?
When he came to collect the set he asked what the bag was on top, I explained it was his old lead and that I had fitted a new one as that one was very dangerous.
He went berserk! " What! I plug my table lamp into that!" " put it back!" I politely refused trying to explain that I would probably be responsible if someone was injured or worse!
What happened next surprised me a bit.. He pushed the set over onto it's screen, wrapped the lead around his hand and wrenched the lead (complete with flex grip and on/off switch) from the set!
He threw the new lead on the floor, shouted some more abuse, picked up his set and stormed out!
Luckily he had paid the bill before he saw the carrier bag and lost the plot! :bba

Another customer that springs to mind was an old dear who rented a set from us. She was your model customer. Paid her rent on time kept the set well polished and always made you a cup of tea when the set needed repair.
One morning she rang in a panic. "Can you come and repair the set as soon as possible? Its whistling."
I said yes no problem I will get someone to call this afternoon.
She replied " can't you come now? It's driving me mad, " I replied " OK, switch it off until we get there and I will get someone round as soon as I can"
" I have, and unplugged it and the aerial and its still whistling, Listen! "
She then held the phone so I could hear and sure enough a loud constant whistle, almost like a steam train whistle... :aaq
" Did you hear it?" "Yes" I replied, "sounds like a kettle.. But it can't.." Customer: "hang on!" (sound of whistle descending in pitch and volume)
" I'm back! Ooh I feel such a fool! Thank you! bye!
Sigh...I think I'll have a cup of tea..
:bba
Rich.

 
Posted : 15/10/2015 10:38 am
crustytv
(@crustytv)
Posts: 11869
Vrat Founder Admin
Topic starter
 

Hi Rich,

Fantastic in fact I hope you don't mind but I've just published those two accounts as a trade tale article for the main site. :thumb

CrustyTV Television Shop: Take a virtual tour
Crusty's TV/VCR Collection: View my collection
Crustys Youtube Channel: My stuff
Crusty's 70s Lounge: Take a peek

 
Posted : 15/10/2015 11:10 am
TVJON74
(@tvjon74)
Posts: 680
Honorable Member Registered
 

Another customer that springs to mind was an old dear who rented a set from us. She was your model customer. Paid her rent on time kept the set well polished and always made you a cup of tea when the set needed repair.
One morning she rang in a panic. "Can you come and repair the set as soon as possible? Its whistling."
I said yes no problem I will get someone to call this afternoon.
She replied " can't you come now? It's driving me mad, " I replied " OK, switch it off until we get there and I will get someone round as soon as I can"
" I have, and unplugged it and the aerial and its still whistling, Listen! "
She then held the phone so I could hear and sure enough a loud constant whistle, almost like a steam train whistle... :aaq
" Did you hear it?" "Yes" I replied, "sounds like a kettle.. But it can't.." Customer: "hang on!" (sound of whistle descending in pitch and volume)
" I'm back! Ooh I feel such a fool! Thank you! bye!
Sigh...I think I'll have a cup of tea..
Rich.

:aaj :aak :aak

Jon
BVWS Member

 
Posted : 15/10/2015 12:28 pm
Refugee
(@refugee)
Posts: 4055
Noble Member Registered
 

When I had my go in the trade in the early 1980s the field engineer told me about the power company getting called out due to the electricity was making a funny noise.
It was an alarm on the house next door. There had been a brake in.

 
Posted : 15/10/2015 1:24 pm
slidertogrid
(@slidertogrid)
Posts: 990
Honorable Member Registered
 

Hi Rich,

Fantastic in fact I hope you don't mind but I've just published those two accounts as a trade tale article for the main site. :thumb

No Chris not at all! I'm flattered in fact! :ccg
I have got plenty more, Harold who lived with the chicken..? Honestly I'm not making it up! When I first passed my driving test the B4stards at work sent me on a few memorable calls on purpose, "Just to open my eyes".
Harold (not his real name) Lived on a caravan site in Peterborough. This was in the late 1970's before the sites were these modern clean places we see today.
I got the job passed to me as first job one morning, It was a bit off my normal call route but I was new to field service so didn't think to question it..
Arriving at the van I noticed a pyramid of tea leaves under the window to the left of the door. the window to the right of the door was open slightly and wedged in the frame was a wall socket with an adapter plugged into it with about three plugs in it. It was safe from the rain as it was sheltered by the partly open window. :aad
I knocked on the door and once inside things didn't improve.
The place was a total dump with rubbish everywhere. I took the back off the set, a mono Pye and hid behind it. looking inside the anode cap was arcing badly, to say the set was damp was an understatement. There was fungus growing in the bottom of the cabinet!
It was then I heard a noise, I looked up and saw a chicken eating from a bowl on the table.
Having thought about replacing the anode cap for about a millisecond I informed the customer that the set would have to go in for repair made my excuses and left.
When I got back to the shop they all thought it very funny that I had been so shocked by the state of the place and I even got told off for not attempting to fix the set!
Being a stroppy teenager I considered my options for a second and then said that I would go back and try to repair the set or do a pick up and loan no problem. One condition, the service manager came with me and went into the van with me.
He was too busy apparently... :bba
Rich.

 
Posted : 15/10/2015 3:37 pm
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