Just got back from a lovely, leefy 'bike ride in the gorgeous (but thin)
afternoon sun and wuz talking to my next door neighbour..

A few days ago he told me the local Robber Baron 'HiFi Shop had quoted
him 50 quid to fix his (presumably ancient) VCR machine. I told him to
tell them to get stuffed and gave him a perfectly tidy Panasonic DVD
Recorder I simply never use.

The shop has apparently phoned him since and said they could now fix the
VCR for 29 quid!

****ing shysters...

Then he tells me the local 'Agricultural and Garden Machinery Engineers'
http://www.ibbetts.co.uk have just charged him 46 quid to replace a
little squeezy tit thing on his lawnmower....

****ing shysters...

On 6 Nov, 15:29, "Keith G" wrote:
Just got back from a lovely, leefy 'bike ride in the gorgeous (but thin)
afternoon sun and wuz talking to my next door neighbour..

A few days ago he told me the local Robber Baron 'HiFi Shop had quoted
him 50 quid to fix his (presumably ancient) VCR machine. I told him to
tell them to get stuffed and gave him a perfectly tidy Panasonic DVD
Recorder I simply never use.

The shop has apparently phoned him since and said they could now fix the
VCR for 29 quid!

****ing shysters...

Then he tells me the local 'Agricultural and Garden Machinery Engineers'http://www.ibbetts.co.ukhave just charged him 46 quid to replace a
little squeezy tit thing on his lawnmower....

****ing shysters...

Thats cheap to fix a video..Less and less stuff these days gets
repaired as the gears so cheap to re-new.Hence service engineers don't
get enough work to live on...so to stay in business prices have to go
up.Either that or pack it in and become a driving instructor.Hmmn,
wonder what they charge an hour...

Borosteve.

"borosteve" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 6 Nov, 15:29, "Keith G" wrote:
Just got back from a lovely, leefy 'bike ride in the gorgeous (but
thin)
afternoon sun and wuz talking to my next door neighbour..

A few days ago he told me the local Robber Baron 'HiFi Shop had
quoted
him 50 quid to fix his (presumably ancient) VCR machine. I told him
to
tell them to get stuffed and gave him a perfectly tidy Panasonic DVD
Recorder I simply never use.

The shop has apparently phoned him since and said they could now fix
the
VCR for 29 quid!

****ing shysters...

Then he tells me the local 'Agricultural and Garden Machinery
Engineers'http://www.ibbetts.co.ukhave just charged him 46 quid to
replace a
little squeezy tit thing on his lawnmower....

****ing shysters...

Thats cheap to fix a video..Less and less stuff these days gets
repaired as the gears so cheap to re-new.Hence service engineers don't
get enough work to live on...so to stay in business prices have to go
up.Either that or pack it in and become a driving instructor.Hmmn,
wonder what they charge an hour...


Oh sure, I got told once 'his time is worth 50 quid an hour when I
wanted a small part, one time' but that didn't stop him phoning me when
he wanted a PCB-mount valve socket. There comes a point when a shop
could just tell you 'it's beyond economic repair' rather than just take
your money - my neighbour is 75 and certainly doesn't have spare cash to
fritter away!

Don't bother to look these up, they were all at 99p when I found them:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-SLV-SE700... cmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aiwa-HV-FX5100...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JVC-HR-J255-6E...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Panasonic-NV-H...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JVC-HR-S5967EK...QQcmdZViewItem

In article ,
Keith G wrote:
A few days ago he told me the local Robber Baron 'HiFi Shop had quoted
him 50 quid to fix his (presumably ancient) VCR machine. I told him to
tell them to get stuffed and gave him a perfectly tidy Panasonic DVD
Recorder I simply never use.

The shop has apparently phoned him since and said they could now fix the
VCR for 29 quid!

****ing shysters...

I dunno. Just how much an hour has a shop got to charge to cover its
overheads? How long does it take just to open up a VCR to say replace a
drive belt? How much longer to find an unspecified fault?

I'll make a start. To employ a half decent service engineer in the SE of
England will cost you about 30 grand a year - before you add on NI etc.
So a labour charge of at least 30 quid an hour is the minimum - most will
charge rather more.

Think you're a bit out of date as regards earning a living, Keith. ;-)

--
*All men are idiots, and I married their King.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
A few days ago he told me the local Robber Baron 'HiFi Shop had
quoted
him 50 quid to fix his (presumably ancient) VCR machine. I told him
to
tell them to get stuffed and gave him a perfectly tidy Panasonic DVD
Recorder I simply never use.

The shop has apparently phoned him since and said they could now fix
the
VCR for 29 quid!

****ing shysters...

I dunno. Just how much an hour has a shop got to charge to cover its
overheads? How long does it take just to open up a VCR to say replace
a
drive belt? How much longer to find an unspecified fault?

I'll make a start. To employ a half decent service engineer in the SE
of
England will cost you about 30 grand a year - before you add on NI
etc.
So a labour charge of at least 30 quid an hour is the minimum - most
will
charge rather more.

Think you're a bit out of date as regards earning a living, Keith. ;-)


Don't talk so stupid, Plowie - I had 50 employees in two firms and
probably know a little bit more about paying staff than you do. Add to
that I get charged for stuff like 'bike servicing and that Swim is in
full time employ, so I'm not quite so out of touch as you'd like to
think....

The 'Service Engineer' of that shop is one of the two brothers who have
recently been *given it* by their father who is supposed to have retired
(but is always hanging about in there). It is a goldmine - they have
been strimming the local Chavs for decades; my neighbour has known them
and dealt with them for 30 years. There comes a time you tell a person
like that when an item is beyond economic repair, not just take them to
the cleaners. (Note the drastic 50 to 29 quid reduction...)

Asitappens, Shiny Nigel who works at the shop is due round tonight, if
he makes it (he's in a state with ME or summat, so there's a chance he
won't show) I'll ask him how it's going in the 'repair department'
(loft, actually). My guess is that if it's gone quiet they'll have got
got rid of the *girl* who did most of the work....

In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Think you're a bit out of date as regards earning a living, Keith. ;-)


Don't talk so stupid, Plowie - I had 50 employees in two firms and
probably know a little bit more about paying staff than you do.

'Had' being the operative word.

Add to that I get charged for stuff like 'bike servicing and that Swim
is in full time employ, so I'm not quite so out of touch as you'd like
to think....

So pray tell what you feel a reasonable charge would be for this repair -
and it might help if you said what it actually consisted of. Plenty of
VCRs when they break are simply not economic to repair.

The 'Service Engineer' of that shop is one of the two brothers who have
recently been *given it* by their father who is supposed to have retired
(but is always hanging about in there). It is a goldmine - they have
been strimming the local Chavs for decades; my neighbour has known them
and dealt with them for 30 years. There comes a time you tell a person
like that when an item is beyond economic repair, not just take them to
the cleaners. (Note the drastic 50 to 29 quid reduction...)

Doesn't your neighbour ever visit stores like Tesco etc and note the price
of a new VCR? And therefore is capable of deciding himself if he wants it
repaired or not?

Asitappens, Shiny Nigel who works at the shop is due round tonight, if
he makes it (he's in a state with ME or summat, so there's a chance he
won't show) I'll ask him how it's going in the 'repair department'
(loft, actually). My guess is that if it's gone quiet they'll have got
got rid of the *girl* who did most of the work....

Seems you have forgotten the fixed costs of running any business.

--
*If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Think you're a bit out of date as regards earning a living, Keith.
;-)


Don't talk so stupid, Plowie - I had 50 employees in two firms and
probably know a little bit more about paying staff than you do.

'Had' being the operative word.


'Operative' how? I'm retired Plowie - have been for 9 years now, I don't
need staff. (If you'd worked a little harder in your youth maybe you
could be retired also...)



Add to that I get charged for stuff like 'bike servicing and that
Swim
is in full time employ, so I'm not quite so out of touch as you'd
like
to think....

So pray tell what you feel a reasonable charge would be for this
repair -


Anything over 20 quid *absolute max* would be a waste of money - I
pointed to a number of eBay auctions where VCRs were sitting at 99p + a
bit of postage...


and it might help if you said what it actually consisted of.


How TF should I know?


Plenty of
VCRs when they break are simply not economic to repair.


You got there in the end....



The 'Service Engineer' of that shop is one of the two brothers who
have
recently been *given it* by their father who is supposed to have
retired
(but is always hanging about in there). It is a goldmine - they have
been strimming the local Chavs for decades; my neighbour has known
them
and dealt with them for 30 years. There comes a time you tell a
person
like that when an item is beyond economic repair, not just take them
to
the cleaners. (Note the drastic 50 to 29 quid reduction...)

Doesn't your neighbour ever visit stores like Tesco etc and note the
price
of a new VCR?


No idea.


And therefore is capable of deciding himself if he wants it
repaired or not?


You're not really picking up on the dynamic here - the guy is 'old
school'; his instinct is to take a broken VCR to the local shop (where
he bought it) for repair and where he has been a customer for 30 years.
He doesn't know about the current 'throway ethos' and had probably paid
a ton for the machine when it was new. Where it falls on its arse is the
shysters (you need to see them in action) in the shop are/were more keen
to strim the old boy (a long-standing customer) for swift 50 quid than
point him in a better direction.

If you can see no wrong in that, then it tells a lot about you...



Asitappens, Shiny Nigel who works at the shop is due round tonight,
if
he makes it (he's in a state with ME or summat, so there's a chance
he
won't show) I'll ask him how it's going in the 'repair department'
(loft, actually). My guess is that if it's gone quiet they'll have
got
got rid of the *girl* who did most of the work....


Yes, she has left (some time ago) but it was her own idea, apparently...



Seems you have forgotten the fixed costs of running any business.


WTF would you know?





--
*If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Think you're a bit out of date as regards earning a living, Keith. ;-)


Don't talk so stupid, Plowie - I had 50 employees in two firms and
probably know a little bit more about paying staff than you do.

'Had' being the operative word.


'Operative' how? I'm retired Plowie - have been for 9 years now, I don't
need staff. (If you'd worked a little harder in your youth maybe you could
be retired also...)



Add to that I get charged for stuff like 'bike servicing and that Swim
is in full time employ, so I'm not quite so out of touch as you'd like
to think....

So pray tell what you feel a reasonable charge would be for this repair -


Anything over 20 quid *absolute max* would be a waste of money - I pointed
to a number of eBay auctions where VCRs were sitting at 99p + a bit of
postage...

**Yeah, right. Like one of my clients, who wanted a new tellie. I discussed
the situation at length and, due his TV room being large and with floor to
ceiling North facing windows, I suggested a large plasma would be a good
choice. He, being budget minded (dunno why, what with his 5 million Dollar
house, Merc SL500 and all) he decided to buy a used projector. I advised
against the projector, due to the high cost of replacement lamps and the
high ambient light levels. Anyhoo, the whole thing went pear-shaped.
Naturally, the TV cannot be watched during daylight (even with the fancy new
screen). But wait, worse was to come. The projector ceased functioning a few
weeks later. I called in, climbed the ladder, retrieved the projector and
deduced that the lamp had gone belly-up. My client protested that the lamp
only had a couple of hundred hours on it (according to the timer in the
unit). I fitted a new lamp and noted that the reset for the lamp hours was a
manual operation.......

Sheesh.

Trevor Wilson

In article ,
Keith G wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Think you're a bit out of date as regards earning a living, Keith.
;-)


Don't talk so stupid, Plowie - I had 50 employees in two firms and
probably know a little bit more about paying staff than you do.

'Had' being the operative word.


'Operative' how? I'm retired Plowie - have been for 9 years now, I don't
need staff. (If you'd worked a little harder in your youth maybe you
could be retired also...)

Why would I want to retire? I work in a job which involves that which you
seem to spend all your time with - ie audio. So get paid for my hobby. ;-)

Add to that I get charged for stuff like 'bike servicing and that
Swim
is in full time employ, so I'm not quite so out of touch as you'd
like
to think....

So pray tell what you feel a reasonable charge would be for this
repair -


Anything over 20 quid *absolute max* would be a waste of money - I
pointed to a number of eBay auctions where VCRs were sitting at 99p + a
bit of postage...

I'm not disagreeing with that - just the principle. A repair shop is in
business to make a living. Not dish out free advice on economics. The
person in question may well have wanted his VCR repaired for any number of
reasons rather than buy new or secondhand. He might like the way it
operates, the facilities or just even the looks.


and it might help if you said what it actually consisted of.


How TF should I know?

So HTF can you know what is a reasonable quote for the repair?


Plenty of
VCRs when they break are simply not economic to repair.


You got there in the end....

Err, you spend all your time doing uneconomic things. Why want everyone
else to be different?



The 'Service Engineer' of that shop is one of the two brothers who
have
recently been *given it* by their father who is supposed to have
retired
(but is always hanging about in there). It is a goldmine - they have
been strimming the local Chavs for decades; my neighbour has known
them
and dealt with them for 30 years. There comes a time you tell a
person
like that when an item is beyond economic repair, not just take them
to
the cleaners. (Note the drastic 50 to 29 quid reduction...)

Doesn't your neighbour ever visit stores like Tesco etc and note the
price
of a new VCR?

No idea.


And therefore is capable of deciding himself if he wants it repaired
or not?


You're not really picking up on the dynamic here - the guy is 'old
school'; his instinct is to take a broken VCR to the local shop (where
he bought it) for repair and where he has been a customer for 30 years.
He doesn't know about the current 'throway ethos' and had probably paid
a ton for the machine when it was new. Where it falls on its arse is the
shysters (you need to see them in action) in the shop are/were more keen
to strim the old boy (a long-standing customer) for swift 50 quid than
point him in a better direction.

There's an awful lot of 'probables' there.

If you can see no wrong in that, then it tells a lot about you...

No - I just get fed up of those who can't do something telling someone who
can what the job should be worth. And the assumption that someone 'old
school' doesn't know the value of things.

Asitappens, Shiny Nigel who works at the shop is due round tonight,
if he makes it (he's in a state with ME or summat, so there's a
chance he won't show) I'll ask him how it's going in the 'repair
department' (loft, actually). My guess is that if it's gone quiet
they'll have got got rid of the *girl* who did most of the work....


Yes, she has left (some time ago) but it was her own idea, apparently...

Answering your own points now? ;-)


Seems you have forgotten the fixed costs of running any business.


WTF would you know?

By your attitude. I gave you a rough idea of the sort of costs a repair
shop might have which sets their rate for repairs. You seem to think they
can do it for 1960 prices.

--
*I pretend to work. - they pretend to pay me.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
A few days ago he told me the local Robber Baron 'HiFi Shop had quoted
him 50 quid to fix his (presumably ancient) VCR machine. I told him to
tell them to get stuffed and gave him a perfectly tidy Panasonic DVD
Recorder I simply never use.

The shop has apparently phoned him since and said they could now fix the
VCR for 29 quid!

****ing shysters...

I dunno. Just how much an hour has a shop got to charge to cover its
overheads? How long does it take just to open up a VCR to say replace a
drive belt? How much longer to find an unspecified fault?

I'll make a start. To employ a half decent service engineer in the SE of
England will cost you about 30 grand a year - before you add on NI etc.
So a labour charge of at least 30 quid an hour is the minimum - most will
charge rather more.

Think you're a bit out of date as regards earning a living, Keith. ;-)

**Not that I enjoy agreeing with Keith, I understand where he is coming
from. Let me explain:

As a service guy, I assess each job as it arrives. I offer two options to my
clients:

1) A rough guesstimate of the job, based on the description of the fault and
my experience with the particular piece of equipment. This is free (I know -
stupid me). I also advise the client I feel the job is not worth proceeding
with. A surprising number of people will after request an item be serviced,
even though it is not economical to do so.
2) A full quote, which lists the parts required and the time taken to do the
job. For this, I charge AUS$55.00 UP FRONT. That cost is deducted from the
final cost. One of my mates in the business now makes more money from quotes
(which are not proceeded with) than he does from actual repair work.

IMO, if the story related by Keith is factual, then, IMO, the service guy
was morally wrong. Legally, probably not, however.

Let me also state, that fixing stuff is not the path to riches that it once
was. It is hard work and the rewards are not great.

Trevor Wilson