A gentle gripe

Jamie Hall

Had the spout on a Chicago Faucets faucet fail this morning (an odd failure — corroded out right at the base, where the snap ring holds the gasket widget). Got the part number from Chicago Faucet, no problem. So… called the local supply house which distributes Chicago Faucets. Can I get this replacement part? Uh… um… duh… hey Joe can we get a replacement part for a Chicago Faucet? uh… gee. don't know. You'll need a whole new faucet.

Now mind, while this conversation was taking place, looked for it on Amazon. There it was, OEM, correct part number, two day delivery. I left that up…

Final. "no don't think so, bring the faucet in (mind, this is an active sink in an active building)".

Ordered from Amazon. It'll be on site Thursday (this is Tuesday).

They could have looked it up too, given me three days delivery, added a nice markup, I'd have paid it happily… but no.

And we wonder why supply houses are going out of business?

delcrossv

Well, the supply house that's selling through Amazon will be the one one that stays in business. 😉

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

If the spout is corroded, there might not be enough meat to hold the snap ring in place. You might end up ordering a new spout.
Chicago, at times, can be a PITA to service, but when they work, they are wonderful.

Jamie Hall

Quite correct @Alan (California Radiant) Forbes — that's exactly what happened. And I did order the new spout.

And I agree on the PITA — but there better than Moen, and they last longer too…

Steamhead

Laziness and greed, purely and simply.

We've gotten a bunch of new customers this winter. One had a steam boiler, not that old, where some pipes near the boiler were leaking. The first "company" they called told them they needed a completely new boiler. We fixed the worst of the leaks (have to remove a wall to get to the other one) which let us get the heat back on, and will upgrade the main vents and do a couple other things later.

Then there's the elderly, retired gentleman with an older boiler with a bad stack relay. It originally had a Delco burner but now has a Beckett AF. Customer is a retired gentleman who really cannot afford a completely new boiler, but that's all he's been hearing. We're going to upgrade him to a CAD cell primary with a delay valve- yes, you really can get the junction box Beckett makes for these burners, to mount the new primary on.

Doesn't make our industry look good………………

mattmia2

There is an electrical supply house about 4 blocks from my house. I used to buy most things specialty electrical from them until they started charging the fictional retail price for things. I bought a 4-11/16 duplex toggle cover from them and they marked it up to like $15. I could have ordered it and paid for shipping for that. Now I order from online suppliers and buy the bulky things like conduit that can't be shipped from home depot or lowe's. See the previous conversation about the $7 ell from home depot.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Things are really crazy.

My 18-year-old PU truck has an engine noise. Bought it used 9 years ago with 93,000 miles on it. It owes me nothing, all I have done is tires brakes, battery ball joints and tie rod ends…….normal stuff. Brought it in and they can't find where the noise is coming from in the engine. I was told exploratory surgery is expensive!!!

Replace engine, buy a new truck, buy a used truck??? I could by a new one probably 35-40K, plus $1000 excise tax and additional insurance probably $600 more.. I need it for a second vehicle, but it doesn't get driven that much. Not worth it in my mind.

Used is probably more problematic. Most trucks have 100,000 miles on them and there still $20K

Did some research on You Tube and found the noise could be the "Cam Sequencer" so he (the mechanic) is looking into that.

Common problem on a Ford 4.2 liter

Nobody wants to fix things any more "you need a new one" Is the new catch word.

mattmia2

if you can install a boiler you can take an engine apart…

Intplm.

Im guessing, but I have noticed that this type of behavior has become much more of an issue ever since the supply house chains have taken the counter man out of the loop and have made things self service. That is, going down an ail to get what you are looking for yourself. No more counter man. The guys at the counter are less exposed to the product and as a result, know much less.

EdTheHeaterMan

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1840210#Comment_1840210

But why would you want to?

mattmia2

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1840220#Comment_1840220

Because it is far easier than finding someone that is competent to pay to do it?

Tom_133

I see it exactly as the points above! The only caveat I will throw out there is that many (not all) of my customers are kinda pretentious, know it all jerks who feel plumbers are thieves and liars. For instance let's say you get a job to swap a boiler for someone. Within a few days, you typically get a call back that it makes a noise they aren't use to. So you go there and they tell you "my old, (terrible and dangerous) system never made noise" (it did, I heard it). Then you explain as nicely as you can "its pipe expansion where the copper goes through the floor and rubs on the wood". They dont care they just want you to fix it. Even after you explain its not from anything you did they still want it fixed. Sadly people lack many things today, patience, aptitude, and common sense to name a few. Believe me I fall into those categories a lot of times so not throwing stones in a glass house, but it is hard to fix something that may cause other issues, or in this case look something up for someone when you haven't been trained, or you dont care and there isn't much of a carrot for you.

Society needs a reboot. Sadly I think it's going to get worse before it gets any better.

EdTheHeaterMan

@Tom_133 I hear! I feel your pain!

Try to have this next conversation in the kitchen

I tell the customer that the “new noise” was always there, but their old heater was so noisy, they didn’t hear it. Now that the new heater is much quieter, and much more efficient and going to cost them a lot less to run. They’re just gonna have to live with a little bit of noise that they always had that they just didn’t hear before because the old heater was too noisy

Then I say something like “did you just hear that“? When they say no, I just say “oh you must be used to it“. Of course they’re going to ask what it’s about. Then I reply “the compressor on your refrigerator just started.” Since I’m not used to your refrigerator, I can hear it. But since you’re used to it, you probably don’t even notice it. That’s the way the noise that you hear from the heater is going to be in about a month. won’t even notice them.

if you still hear them in a month, give me a call, and I will give you a price for tearing the floors up and placing isolators on all the pipes that goes through a joist, a rafter, a ceiling, or a floor. That can really get expensive, so see if you just get used to the noise after you get your next gas bill or oil bill for energy that you did not use

I close with “ did you hear that?” Your refrigerator compressor just stopped!

for the next few days, they will be able to hear their refrigerator compressor cycle on and off along with the pipe noise from the heater

EDIT: if using this story gets you paid on a problem customer job, you can send me 2% for a collection fee. Just PM me for my CashApp account number.

Jamie Hall

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1840255#Comment_1840255

And it's fun! But what's the noise? Unless it's Uncle Rodney living in the crankcase, the cam and timing chain is a good bet on those 4.2s. Not hard to attack… but a bit tricky to get back together in perfect time. Photos. Timing marks on the chain. Before you take it apart!

delcrossv

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1840276#Comment_1840276

Ford + 150k = timing chain/belt. 😉

SlamDunk

I had a knock in my ford 4.6 and replaced the cam phasers. We must have seen the same video. It wasnt hard but it was no help. Switched to a higher viscosity oil 5W-30 and it no longer knocks. At 167k miles. Good luck with It @EBEBRATT-Ed

hot_rod

STP. Is that even around anymore? It fixed knocks and whatever ailed the engine.

Trivia question, what was Andy Granatelli's claim to fame other than STP?

ScottSecor

@hot_rod I had to look him up. I was correct in my guess that he was a race car driver. However, I had no idea he was that famous and accomplished all of those things. I barley remember the STP commercials from my childhood.

EdTheHeaterMan

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1840322#Comment_1840322

The Kiss that started the Indy 500 Andretti curse?

Or the cameo appearance in The Love Bug movie?

EdTheHeaterMan

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1840267#Comment_1840267

If using this story gets you paid on a problem customer job, you can send me 2% for a collection fee. Just PM me for my CashApp account number

guzzinerd

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1840210#Comment_1840210

Like to think it works both ways

londonrefrig

The competence of wholesaler staff in general has severely declined in my 15years in the trade. As the old guys retire, the younger staff dont think they need to know anything google cant tell them. A few of the best counter guys never put a hand on a wrench, they just knew enough to shut up and listen when they were younger. For some suppliers, i refuse to deal with counter and walk to the back offices. Others, i pay a little more to get actual service. Im surprised some enterprising company hasnt figured to hire a few broken down service techs and have them run the counter. At least they would know what a low pressure control and a flame sensor is... Throw in some chairs and beer in the vending machine, busiest supplier in town.