Trust in Co-workers??

ddlong1286@yahoo.com

Hi all

To make a long story short,

The company I work for sends me on a no-heat call. I find a 150,000 btu input Smith boiler installed on an old gravity system. No bypass, taco 007 installed with boiler, 21/2 inch down to 11/4 inch from boiler. Around 9 years old and at least 3 thermocouples burnt almost in two and the burner roll-out switch jumpered to keep it going. No Chimney liner either. Cleaned out heat exchanger. Told customer that we need to install bypass as in install manual and also recommended using B&G 100 instead of 007, install chimney liner at a minimum.

Also recommended installing mod-con and replacing gas water heater to get rid of venting problems. Told them to contact our "comfort specialist" to get a load calc and find out the radiation from the cast iron rad. to match the boiler. Even gave them print outs from Dan's recommedations on gravity conversions.

They met with the comfort specialist and he gives them prices on new mod-con and electric water heater, indirect is too expensive, says the salesman.

I am informed by the salesman that because of him and myself they have bought the mod-con and lectric water heater. EVEN though they are not pleased with the past install.

The salesman did not do a load calc. Wrote down the rad sizes, but did not find out the radiation output and tells me he sold a 199,000 input boiler of a brand I was not encouraging him to sell. After asking me what we should do with this job and how to approach it.

Do I tell the customer they are not getting the service I recommended? What happens when I am involved in the install and asked questions by the customer that deserve an honest answer that looks like I led them astray??

When I question the salesman about the boiler size, he tells me it doesn't matter because it is a mod-con. And don't I have something else to do?

What would you do??

Don in Mo

keith

walk

Don,
My suggestion would be to insist on installing what is required to meet the expectations of the customer. The customer was promised and is expecting a superior system to what they currently have. If the company doesn't want to at least attempt to put forth their best effort why not suggest they make the less expensive repairs to the existing system?

The outcome will be similiar and the cost a lot less.

Keith
Keith

Unknown

Don,

IMO at least a standing count should have been done. Yes M/Cs are more forgiving, but proper sizing is the key for any customer.
If you took a list of radiation, how does it compare?

Dave

Jeremy_10

Don in Mo,
I don't do what you do for a living so it isn't apples to apples, but I would say that you always do what is best for the customer. Don't get them involved with something that isn't in their best interest without them knowing about it. If they do it with open eyes, no problem. If something doesn't look right to you, tell them.
You are the one they will remember, and my experience with customers leads me to believe that they might not like what you have to say, but they will always respect you and your opinion. If you mislead them, they will remember you for the rest of their lives, and never fail to bring up what you did to them.

bruhl

Mitch_4

Go to

your boss, and let HIM talk to the guy in charge of sales. Chain of command. Bring your concerns, why the wrong boiler will problematic, and see what happens..maybe recommend they guy take a course in hydronic heating, or recommend the sales team get some training so they know what the hell they are talking about.

Rich Kontny_3

Exactly

Go to the guy who writes your paychecks. He is the one who lives with this install. Sounds like you have great potential either as a representative of your current employer or as a future contractor yourself!

Contribute more by consuming less!

Rich K.

ddlong1286@yahoo.com

That's a problem

Talked to owner today to give me heads up on install date and why I was asking him for that heads up. He didn't know why a load calc wasn't done and only hearing my side doesn't believe me.

The problem is the owner is not a hands on person. Bought the business as an investment, was a retail manager before and was trained by the distributer and previous owner. His view of a good job is, didn't take long, made money, and the customer doen't complain. Does not matter if done right, correctly, etc.

Case in point, I get phone call from new service tech that helped on install today. Does not know the difference between manifold and incoming pressure. Can't tell me if the pressure was set right for said manifold press. Asks about perferated disks in combustion air. Installer couldn't find the info in the venting chart in the install manual. So the furnace works, but propably not correctly installed.

This will be brought up tomorrow and the owner will complain about the installer, but will not try to eduacate them or put processes in place to prevent this from happening again. I know because I have seen it since I starting working for him May 2006.

Hoping to hear about new employer tomorrow and will find out from the boiler owners if they are comfortable with the proposal and my reservations if they are not.

Thanks for the replies
Don in Mo

Douglas Hicks

It sounds as if you might have 2 problems. the obvious problem is the management people have no/little knowledge of your trade. The more serious problem is you and management do not have the same ethics. You have two choices, lower your standards or move. It is time for you to move on. Just do not run down your current employer while you are searching for new employment.