Bulldog1

Service call for a bedroom with no power. Customer mentions her boyfriend changed a switch for the closet light in the master bedroom next to it. I asked did the problem occur after or before he changed the switch? Before.....30 minutes later I decide to look at the switch. He used a 3 way and connected three black wires to the three screws on the three way switch. Power in, power out and switchleg....

JRaef

So do you think that she lied to you, or he lied to her?

I'm thinking he lied to her to avoid admitting he's incompetent. She would have no incentive to lie to you.

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"If you don't know where you're going, then any direction will do." -- Lewis Carroll

Bulldog1

I think she just thought it was before. I don't think anyone lied intentionally.

Mr Rewire

You learned a valuable troubleshooting lesson , always check what the homeowner did first

220/221

I reset a GFCI recep today. We tell them on the phone to check the reset buttons. They guy said his wife told him she checked it. He should have checked it himself. It was a crusty dump, full of trash and animals so there is no future work involved. I gave him $10 off.

Bulldog1

I had already learned that lesson. Or so I thought....

mattsilkwood

That, and take everything anyone tells you with a grain of salt.

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A man that will not read has no advantage over a man that can not read.-Mark Twain

erics37

I had a service call a couple months ago at a local resort. The maintenance guys had replaced a 3-way switch with a single-pole, and attached one of the travelers to the ground screw

The ground wire was jammed into the back of the box.

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- Eric

Big John

Everyone knows that "green" means "spare for future."

-John

mattsilkwood

The easiest service call I ever had was a big box that I worked on was getting ready for their grand opening and the coffee machine wouldn't work. I knew the receptacle was good because I put it in myself.

I walked in and flipped the switch marked POWER on the back of the machine and voila, it came to life. All of this with every big whig they could fit around a coffee machine. Priceless.

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A man that will not read has no advantage over a man that can not read.-Mark Twain

Service Call

I got a call yesterday a customers heat wasn't working. They were pushing the thermostat in the wrong direction.

Magnettica

I don't understand why people can't tell the truth about something they've done.

That's like going to the doctor and complaining about stomach pains and not telling him you might have eaten some undercooked chicken or whatever.

B W E

I had a guy do the same thing. Called because a crapload of receptacles in his house "suddenly quit working". Spent a couple hours going through all the boxes, realizing pretty quickly that something wasn't adding up. Based on number of cables in the receptacle boxes, as well as ceiling fan in same room controlled by a switch loop, I KNEW there was a j-box somewhere in the attic, but took his word for it that this "just happened" and that my problem was in an outlet.

After two hours I decide the problem is in the attic. I go up there, and immediately see where the ceiling fan is installed, and notice a jbox with the cover off. Low and behold, the make up in the box is completely wrong, and you could tell it was just done. The way it was wired, the plugs could never have worked. Turns out, HE installed the fan, and screwed everything up in the process, killing all his receptacles.

When I finished fixing it all and turned the breaker back on, I tested the fan and the wife says "oh it looks so good!!", as if she had never seen it work. She gave up the secret . Idiot paid me for 3 1/2 hours of troubleshooting when I could have had it done in 30 minutes if he was straight with me.

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Amazing love, how can it be, that you, my King, would die for me?

Chris1971

I've heard that before from customers. It's quite funny to hear. I laugh even more on my way to the bank.....

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I'm innocent. I did nothing wrong. I'll take the fifth.

ilikepez

People are bizarre.