Good point and one of the first things that came to mind, but after reading all the experiences I think it's equally important that the problems were resolved in a professional manor which in turn shows what we are made of.
I personally stepped onto sheetrock (not all the way through, just enough to rip all the tape and rock in that area) while a tech was having a conversation with the client just below. Within 4 days the repair was made to the clients satisfaction and we returned in the future for more work. The client made a point to tell me the reason they wanted us to return for more of their needs was because of the way we handled fixing our mistake. I believe that is when you show your true colors.
So please include the solutions in your article.
CMack

That article appears in the premier issue of "CustomRetailer" magazine. (They have a website though I didn't look to see if the article is online.)

To address twix's reservations: Names were named in the article, mistakes were outlined and associated with those names, and careers may have already been ruined.

On a lighter note I've yet to work for anyone who does not make mistakes. And when I do get that gig I will still be in a quandary over the fact that he does not make mistakes, yet he made NDBEER.

>>
To address twix's reservations: Names were named in the article, mistakes were outlined and associated with those names, and careers may have already been ruined.
>>

I assume (hope!) Shiek is being sarcastic here. I edited the piece myself and the emphasis was on triumphant solutions to weird problems, not the problems themselves. The section in Custom Retailer is called "Tales From The Trenches" and will be in each issue. The section is meant to be a "share the wisdom" for the custom business.

I think anyone who sees the article will agree that it didn't make anyone look bad. Rather, I thought it made them look good -- these are the guys who confronted a horror story and came through.

The Custom Retailer site is being built, nothing there yet but a signup page for the magazine, which everyone here is obviously invited to fill out. The mag is free to people in the trade. The url is www.customretailermag.com.

If anyone would like a PDF of the article, drop me an email at [email protected]

Cheers, and thanks again to all that participated in the story!

Ron Goldberg

This message was edited by Ron CR on 10/28/02 13:18.49.

i always dread going back after first fix! "oh we cut it off we didnt know what it was! " "Oh right the words SPEAKER CABLE written on the cable did'nt give it away. and the fact you had drawings of our cable positions made the electrician put a spot light where the KEF ceiling speaker was supposed to be.this makes my job oh so easy and you want me finished by today...Rigght!
the worst jobs are for family or friends i swear if i charged my parents for the time i spent doing jobs i would be a millionaire" oh can you move the power socket over there and add a new point over there ,i rang three people out of the paper they all said £500 i said my son would do it for £50!!"and then they want plastering and decorating all for £50 .I class my friends as the ones who Know what i do for a living but never ask me to "get stuff cheap" and when i do a job they pay a fair price ..it's my living for goodness sake!

Sorry if I left room for doubt Ron; yes it was sarcasm. I would hope that an installation company's reputation would precede them by word of mouth, and not be endangered by a magazine article. I agree with you that the article focused on the installers being professional and "saving the day" for the customer.

Wow!
After reading these stories, I am very glad that I am not in the residential market, only industrial / professional. But I have a nice horror story too.
We just finished installation of a sound system in a large public hall. Two large speaker clusters had been suspended from the ceiling, about 120' up. The clusters could be lowered and raised as needed for performances, storage when not needed and all the way down for maintenance. The hoist/motor/gearbox etc. all is on the platform under which the speakers (2 large bass horns, mid- range horns and highs, all high Q stuff because of terrible acoustics) are suspended with wire rope. Everything worked perfectly, until the building was taken off of the temporary construction power and moved to the permanent power feed. This happened about three months after the Grand Opening. The problem was that the phases where reversed in the process.
The operator pushed the button to lower the speaker cluster for an upcoming performance. Well, instead of down, the speaker cluster goes up. No problem, it hits the switch for the storage position and stops. Hmm. The operator doesn't quite understand what is going on, so he tries again. And again. He keeps hitting the down button, every time he does, the cluster moves a little, and finally he makes it past the storage position cut off switch. And the cluster moves up further. Hey, no big deal, it hits the ultimate safety cut off switch and that trips the power relay entirely. So the whole affair now gets no power whatsoever. Unless someone resets the power relay...it actually needs to be held on, forced on manually and then keep your finger on it. The power relay is about 12' away from the speaker cluster-operating panel. Well, no problem for our clever house sound system operator, nothing a broomstick wouldn't take care of. So that idiot takes the broom stick, holds the safety power relay on with it, and pushes the f...ing down button again. Now the cluster goes up again, hits the ceiling, tries to go up some more, can't make it through the roof. The gearbox finally brakes, and the whole thing falls down into the occupied space. Luckily, it didn't kill anyone. 30 minutes later, people having lunch would have occupied the dining tables it crushed.
The amazing end of the story: The operator didn’t get fired. He still works there.

I get the feeling "Operator" isn't the best title for this individual.

This doesn't really qualify as a "horror" story, but I found it amusing anyway. My university recently started holding classes in a new building that is being wired for sound and video by an outfit called Custom Connections, Inc. Their panel van advertises custom installations, which is kinda funny since of all the many logos on the van - Bose is the only audio equipment. In pretty small letters below the company name it says "A division a Ketel Thorstenson LLP". Now Ketel Thorstenson is a local group of ACCOUNTANTS!!!! Seemed like a real strange choice to diversify your business. At least they probably don't have a bookeeping problem.

I guess the moral is... If internet sales don't get ya, then the accountants will.

Jim L

Hehe, I get the feeling "Bose" doesn't qualify as audio equipment. ~ICIM

This is an interesting story.
After measuring a ceiling for Kef motorized LCR's I cut the holes out and went to lunch. I left the ladder right under the last hole I cut. After returning from lunch, I installed the speakers, toned all cables, and cleaned up. As I was about to leave, when the customer asked if I had left the door open and let the cat out side. Franticly, she searched the house for the kitty, and insisted that I had left the door open and the cat escaped.After holding the can opener on for 5 minutes we heard a meow coming from the living room. It turns out that the cat climbed the ladder and went inside the speaker cut-out. I had to remover a speaker and the cat was inside.

How about this one - One of my installers was drilling through a top plate in an attic to run speaker wire down to a single gang opening at the bottom of a wall. He hit what he thought was a fire block so he went out to the van and got a 6ft. long thin bit. After drilling as far as it would go, he added an extension. He drilled and drilled and finally the bit broke through right behind the single gang cut out in the wall. All was well. He tied the speaker wire to the tip of the bit and pulled it back up through the top plate. Job accomplished.

Next day the customer's wife called and her inwall ironing board (on the other side of the wall) would not come down. I went out and found a speaker wire neatly threaded through the entire vertical length of the ironing board, and connected to the back of the wall plate. What are the chances of this happening???

But no harm was done. We cut the wire at the top and bottom of the ironing board and soldered in a new peice off to the side. I offered to purchase a new ironing board cover and everything turned out fine.

We have laughed about this for years. Moral - look on both sides of a wall before drilling into it. Next time, the fix might not be as cheap.

Bruce



This message was edited by sndtowne on 12/25/02 17:44.39.

This is not a horror story, but it is the sort of thing that frequently happens to designers/installers.

We were hired to prewire a house for a music system and satellite/off-air antenna system. Customer okays proposal. A few months later customer calls - he is ready for prewire.

When we arrive coax for satellite/antenna system is already installed. Customer says he hired a guy who works for the local cable company do the satellite and antenna system because his bid was "less than yours." Customer leaves. While we are prewiring for the music system we notice that there is only one coax cable coming in from the outside and all coax drops are daisy chained. The master bedroom is at the end of the daisy chain. We smile, finish the music prewire, and leave.

Six months later customer is ready for music system - and now wants us to install his antenna/satellite system. We tell customer the house is wired incorrectly for the antenna/satellite systems we install and suggest he call his cable guy since its his design. He does. Calls us back - his cable guy says he does not have a clue as to how to hook up a satellite and antenna system (or wire a house either). Customer demands we do it. Customer says we had responsibility to tell him about incorrect wiring before walls were closed and threatens to sue us. Our attorney says no safety issue was involved and we were under no obligation to oversee another subcontractor's work. Customer is really upset, but still wants us to do the music system. We ask him pay up front.

I'll bet similar things happen to the rest of you guys. Actually you could substitute the word "electrician" for cable guy and the outcome would be the same.

This message was edited by sndtowne on 12/25/02 18:11.29.