I get a call from an old customer who tells me that they are renovating the reception and office area of one of their health clubs. The wanted me to go there and see about getting the phones back at the front counter and offices.

So I get there and I get the same old story from a kid (well not really a kid, probably 30) that is "in charge" and works for the GC- "the wiring is installed, all you have to do is put the jacks and phones in".

Fortunately the sheet rock hasn't been installed yet on one side of the knee wall that will hold up the front counter so I could see what this guy called wiring. I see a bunch of blue Carlon plastic boxes with a blue and a white CAT5 in each one. Cables run around the knee wall and disappear into a hole in the existing wall which the knee wall runs into.

The first red flag was the boxes and CAT5. I ask the kid where the cables were run to. Keep in mind that we installed the system and wired the place a few years ago. The KSU is down on the first floor in the electrical room. It took the kid a few seconds to process what I was asking and he replies "oh, they all go to that office over there". Sure enough, all 12 inches of each run was hanging out of a hole in the sheetrock about outlet height.

So now I'm at the end of my rope with this crap and I can feel my blood start to boil. I can't believe anybody could be that stupid. I ask the kid who did this and if it didn't occur to him that maybe he should have checked with the company that handles the phone system to see what was required? He says he thinks it was some IT guy.

Now I feel like I'm about to stroke out and figure I better get out of there. I try to calm down on my way to the door and tell him that nothing can be used, we will have to run everything new back to our equipment. Tell your boss that they may want to back charge him for it, that's up to the owner.

Now back at the office I call the owner. No problem she says, do what you have to do. The GC threw the wiring in for nothing. :bang:

-Hal

and it was worth every cent of it

Hal -

It doesn't just happen to you. I think it happens to all of us.

Be calm. Don't go to the Dark Side. Don't stroke out. We need you here.

Sam

Because your Hal. :rofl:

It really does happen to all of us and at an alarming frequency these days. Everyone is in panic mode with the economy being so bad, so they either don't want to pay the money to have it done correctly or the contractors are so hungry to get the job that they will throw in anything for "free".

We just completed an office relocation where the customer asked us after the fact if we would run a few RG6 cables for CATV. I give her the price, which was discounted since we were already on the site. She declined our offer since she found some jackleg who would do them for (get this).......$30.00 less ($5.00 per cable run). Would you believe that he had the audacity to ask if we would include his wiring on our low-voltage permit? Of course he was cheaper. He was not only unlicensed, but probably not insured either.

Hal, it's not just you. It is everywhere.

I just had a sparkie try to tell me today how he "future proofs" everything by using CAT5. I had to walk away, he was young and probably could take me and I couldn't find any big sticks close. Yep, it's all over Hal.

Bill, doesn't Nebraska have "Shall Issue Concealed Carry" yet? John C.

the contractors are so hungry to get the job that they will throw in anything for "free".

That's the reason I'll vote for.

The GC lucked out on this one because I got there before he completed the sheetrock on that kneewall. No problem to pull that junk out and replace it. But if it was a few days later he would be eating the cost for replacing the sheetrock and if it was even later after the finishes he would really be sorry.

-Hal

I would be willing to bet that the GC would have simply called around until (not if) he found someone, somewhere that would be more than willing to use the existing junk to make it work. :bang:

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by hbiss:
<strong> ...The GC threw the wiring in for nothing. :rofl:

Even though I don't have the appropriate California license, I think I'm going to start doing all the three phase wiring at my customer's sites.

True, I'm not qualified. But fair is fair. If sparkie thinks that all low-voltage is the same, then I can certainly play that game with his subpanel.

I mean, how hard can it be? I've got three spools of THHN and all the knowledge I need. It's white to silver, black to gold and a ground wire, right?

Hang in there, Hal. We need all the soldiers we can get.

i work for a small school district, one of our sites the janitor is a jack of all trades. I know i have gig switches in my closet and i was working on a computer and i saw it was only connecting at 10, now the machine had a gig card. i asked the janitor if the network drop had ever been moved, he said yup and very proudly showed me his splice made with marettes and black tape.

i told him never to touch the wiring again or i would start doing propane work!

Ev did you point out that jackleg jerk to your customer, or report him to the licensing folks?

I would be willing to bet that the GC would have simply called around until (not if) he found someone, somewhere that would be more than willing to use the existing junk to make it work.

Guaranteed! I'll bet you anything that when I confront him he'll have the crust to say that he never had a problem before. He'll just get his guy to do it.

Maybe that's what I should do. Drill down through the floor in the office where his runs come out of the wall and and stick my 8 home runs up through it. Then I'll UY onto his and leave a big knot right where a desk is going to be. Then again why waste UYs. Wire nuts are the standard for this kind of work.

-Hal

Sort of, Jim. When I said no, I pointed him to the EC on the job. They let him tag along on their permit for the low, low price of $500.00. Old "Leon" surely lost money on that job. The customer was aware of what was going on, but that $30.00 was more important to them.

Reporting people in the corrupt city of Washington, DC is nearly impossible. Sitting on hold and dealing with "atti-tood" is too much. Their on-line forms simply result in an automated reply stating: "Your message has been received and you will receive a response within 15 days". The replies never come. I have some complaints filed with them that are over two years old. The whole city is a joke.

They can sure hunt you down for a fifteen year-old parking ticket though! :rofl:

There was a time years ago in telecom that I thought everyone else had it easy and somehow I was just cursed with all the bad crap. Especially, lazy, lying, stealing, stupid, manipulating techs.

When I finally found out that all I was going through was the norm, everything changed. Kind of strange. As long as I know everyone else goes through the same unnecessary, frustrating and stupid crap .... it isn't so bad!

Misery loves company?

-Hal