As an apprentice I was told a tale (true or not) of a service tech that fixed a fault that never was.
It was a rental customer that complained of a jittery picture, several tech's had been to the customer, returning that that there was no such fault. The customer kept on calling to get the problem fixed. Finally the service manager a crusty old timer ex repair tech went to the house. Next morning, said the problem was fixed & that the customer was satisfied. Perplexed all the techs that had been there including the inside techs asked "what was the fault", the response was that there was no fault. So how did he fix it?
Well it was easy he said, having come across a similar problem when he was an apprentice, he adopted a similar technique...he stuck a drawing pin in each corner at the front of the TV cabinet & told the customer it would hold the picture steady.
^^^ we all know that cannot be true.
The actual one that happened to me in Canada was a customer screaming her head off that the TV was dead, tried plugging & unplugging it, it would not come on.
A service call, loud abusive customer ranting about missing her soap opera. Let me take a look.
*It was a no fault fault*. The socket the customer had the set plugged into was on a mains switch on the wall, she had turned it off after using her vacuum cleaner that was plugged into the same socket as the TV.
Any of you have a personal experience of a *no fault fault* ?
A customer left a key under the mat (people did that in the 70's) for our engineer to gain access. The set was a dead Pye CT205 (British Relay version). He duly fixed the set but was confronted with one of the dirtiest tube faces he'd ever seen.
So, having a sense of humour he literally cleaned the left hand side of the screen and left the right hand side all gunked up. He locked up and went to the next call.
Next day and there was another call from the same house. This time the fault description was "shading on the picture". The engineer assumed it would be poor earthing on the CDA panel but the customer (who was at home this time) explained that since the first repair was done, they only had half a good picture!
The engineer cleaned the other half of the screen and then had to make an excuse as to why he'd only cleaned half in the first place!
I did a Back Door Unlocked call in Balmain, back in the days when there were two coal-fired power stations operating in the vicinity. (Most people in Sydney don't know that they used to mine coal under Sydney harbour!)
I fixed the immediate fault but then felt guilty about how dirty the CRT and safety glass was. Cleaning it involved pulling the chassis and the CRT so I could understand why the last tech didn't do it.
The difference was staggering!
Anyway, next day the service manager called me on the radio to tell me the customer had rung and complained that the picture was too bright and it hurt their eyes!
You just can't please some people....
@mickmcmichael This was a common problem when a lot people smoked in their lounges, & the build up of tar & nicotine on the screen of a TV could be considerable, not to mention the ash building up inside as sticky fluff!
When anti glare shields were fashionable in the mid 1980s, many sets would attract dust with static from the screen & usually the glass wouldn't be airtight. This meant a layer of dust would be trapped between the glass shield & the CRT, & many an engineer would have to clear it out on a call about a dim screen even when the settings were turned up.
a lot people smoked in their lounges, & the build up of tar & nicotine on the screen of a TV could be considerable, not to mention the ash building up inside as sticky fluff!
Don't I know it! My Salora 1F4 looks like it was on 20 a day, I've put off cleaning far too long.
The ones that spring to mind are aerial unplugged (Blamed on Grandchildren), speaker switch off (same), Whistling noise (kettle in kitchen). Then we have the dickhead with a ruler on the testcard... The "focus poor on objects in the background". I have had them all!
Old engineers told tales of making the frame roll and asking the customer to pick the best picture, defocussing the picture and then refocussing the customer then being happy with the new picture... The fussy customers were usually the ones like Onslow but less clean. Cat turds behind the set, suspicious damp patches in the Brown shagpile that smelt like a damp dog... Usually had a dog called "LADY!!" and a kid called something obscure... " Frogmella! cum 'ere!"
The Philips set my family had for years was prone to the speaker switch being accidentally turned off, also contrast was controlled by knob on the back which occasionally caught by my Mum when dusting it!
My parents bought a combined radio & CD player when they had their kitchen refitted, which was fitted under the wall mounted units. Unfortunately it wasn't good at picking up AM radio especially when the lighting under the units was turned on. After a few years my Dad got rid of it & bought a DAB radio & CD player that worked a lot better.
Then we have the dickhead with a ruler on the testcard...
Please tell me that was not for real... Wow! 🙂
Then we have the dickhead with a ruler on the testcard...
Please tell me that was not for real... Wow! 🙂
Seriously ! I think the set was a Sony and the guy was measuring the squares on the CH4 testcard. When the local transmitter broke down which it did from time to time back then he would always be first to phone the shop.
On another occasion I mentioned to one of the field engineers that the guy had booked a call. To which he replied "what's the problem ? is Reginald Bosanquet's left eyebrow slightly lower than his right one again? 😀
