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Ok, so, working in a DIY Home Depo like store in Australia, many of our team members have a skills that come from years of working in a trade like plumbing or electrical. These team members usually have name badges that describe them as a Plumbing/Electrical/Timber expert. These team members are great for helping with questions relevant to their field, but, there are some questions they can't legally answer.
For example: Although I'm not an electrician, my father is an electrical engineer and I have picked up a few things here and there.
If you want to know the most likely reason your power boards are shorting in your kitchen, I can probably tell you why if you give me a bit of info on what's plugged into it, where it is in the house, what you were doing when the short out happened. However, and this is important, I CAN'T LEGALLY TELL YOU HOW TO FIX IT.
And you better believe this is something customers bitch about on a regular basis. How unfair it is that they have to call a tradie out to fix their issue because the mean assholes at X Store won't tell them how to fix it themselves.
I had one guy today complaining endlessly because he brought a non functioning fan in that he bought last Summer. I had a look at it for him - looks like he took the plug out of the wall by tugging on the lead...and had pulled part of the inner wiring apart. He asked how to fix it. I informed him he needed to call an electrician as I was not legally able to provide him with the info he wanted. Cue a stroppy tantrum at the trade desk. Yelling, pleading, attempts at bribery. I had to explain multiple times that:
1. If my boss finds out I'm fired.
2. If you break your equipment, damage your house or electrocute your dumb ass after my advice I'M LIABLE.
The guy eventually got the hint, but holy crap people, the concept is not hard: If I need to do 4 years of training and multiple safety courses/certificates to do this work at someone else's house, THEN I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU HOW TO DO IT AT YOURS.
For example: Although I'm not an electrician, my father is an electrical engineer and I have picked up a few things here and there.
If you want to know the most likely reason your power boards are shorting in your kitchen, I can probably tell you why if you give me a bit of info on what's plugged into it, where it is in the house, what you were doing when the short out happened. However, and this is important, I CAN'T LEGALLY TELL YOU HOW TO FIX IT.
And you better believe this is something customers bitch about on a regular basis. How unfair it is that they have to call a tradie out to fix their issue because the mean assholes at X Store won't tell them how to fix it themselves.
I had one guy today complaining endlessly because he brought a non functioning fan in that he bought last Summer. I had a look at it for him - looks like he took the plug out of the wall by tugging on the lead...and had pulled part of the inner wiring apart. He asked how to fix it. I informed him he needed to call an electrician as I was not legally able to provide him with the info he wanted. Cue a stroppy tantrum at the trade desk. Yelling, pleading, attempts at bribery. I had to explain multiple times that:
1. If my boss finds out I'm fired.
2. If you break your equipment, damage your house or electrocute your dumb ass after my advice I'M LIABLE.
The guy eventually got the hint, but holy crap people, the concept is not hard: If I need to do 4 years of training and multiple safety courses/certificates to do this work at someone else's house, THEN I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU HOW TO DO IT AT YOURS.
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