Idiot reasons for returning electronics

P

Phil Allison

Guest
** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

Some that I recall from my days working in parts shops are:


1. A gentleman who returned a new 100VA Ferguson mains transformer ( from a
Playmaster 140 stereo amp kit) saying it must be faulty as the primary
resistance was only 19 ohms. By his reasoning, it would therefore pull 12
amps and blow the AC fuse.

2. Guitar players who tried to return valves like 6L6GCs or 6CA7s saying
there was a faint blue glow on the glass and they must be gassy.

3. TV techs trying to return TV horizontal output transistors since their
( small signal) transistor tester read zero on beta test.

4. A young lady who returned a 5 inch reel of 1/4 inch tape saying it would
only record on one side ......


Any others?



....... Phil
 
"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:62pammF23i3t8U1@mid.individual.net...
:
:
: ** Hi to all,
:
: Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up
with the silliest
: reason for returning electronics goods or components they
know ?
:
: Some that I recall from my days working in parts shops
are:
:
:
: 1. A gentleman who returned a new 100VA Ferguson mains
transformer ( from a
: Playmaster 140 stereo amp kit) saying it must be faulty as
the primary
: resistance was only 19 ohms. By his reasoning, it would
therefore pull 12
: amps and blow the AC fuse.
:
: 2. Guitar players who tried to return valves like 6L6GCs
or 6CA7s saying
: there was a faint blue glow on the glass and they must be
gassy.
:
: 3. TV techs trying to return TV horizontal output
transistors since their
: ( small signal) transistor tester read zero on beta test.
:
: 4. A young lady who returned a 5 inch reel of 1/4 inch
tape saying it would
: only record on one side ......
:
:
: Any others?
:
:
:
: ...... Phil
:
:
Phil you left out the best one I ever heard! What about
that idiot that bought some second hand Quad ESL63s without
listening to them first and then decided that he would
return them because the parts inside looked a bit rusty!

Oops! Sorry, I forgot, you were the idiot right?

Bwaaaahahahahahaha........................

TT (wiping tears of laughter from eyes)
 
"David L. Jones"
"Phil Allison"
** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

I had a guy return a built-up kit to me (unsolicited) and demanded
that I fix it "under warranty".
He claimed that he had checked every component twice and all the
soldering and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, so therefore
it must be a faulty component. He also said he refused to follow the
troubleshooting instructions and measure supply voltages because this
would further damage the unit.

The fault - the main 7805 voltage reg installed backwards.
Click to expand...

* A regular job I had when working for Pre Pak in the early 70s was
repairing all the CDI ignition kits they sold.

Yep - nearly all of them came back for fault finding and de-bugging.

The single most common problem was that the constructors ( ie tattooed
petrol heads ) had used plumber's (acid) flux to help solder the parts onto
the PCB !!!!!!!!!!

Eventually, the owner of Pre Pak ( Ian Ralph) decided to " bite the bullet
" and supply a yard or so of resin cored solder with each kit -
accompanied by a note explaining what it was for.

He at least had the optimism ( more than mine) to assume his kit buyers were
literate.



....... Phil
 
"TT" <TTencerNOmorespam@westnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:13sf23jp9d5op70@corp.supernews.com...
"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:62pammF23i3t8U1@mid.individual.net...
:
:
: ** Hi to all,
:
: Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up
with the silliest
: reason for returning electronics goods or components they
know ?
:
: Some that I recall from my days working in parts shops
are:
:
:
: 1. A gentleman who returned a new 100VA Ferguson mains
transformer ( from a
: Playmaster 140 stereo amp kit) saying it must be faulty as
the primary
: resistance was only 19 ohms. By his reasoning, it would
therefore pull 12
: amps and blow the AC fuse.
:
: 2. Guitar players who tried to return valves like 6L6GCs
or 6CA7s saying
: there was a faint blue glow on the glass and they must be
gassy.
:
: 3. TV techs trying to return TV horizontal output
transistors since their
: ( small signal) transistor tester read zero on beta test.
:
: 4. A young lady who returned a 5 inch reel of 1/4 inch
tape saying it would
: only record on one side ......
:
:
: Any others?
:
:
:
: ...... Phil
:
:
Phil you left out the best one I ever heard! What about
that idiot that bought some second hand Quad ESL63s without
listening to them first and then decided that he would
return them because the parts inside looked a bit rusty!

Oops! Sorry, I forgot, you were the idiot right?

Bwaaaahahahahahaha........................

TT (wiping tears of laughter from eyes)
Click to expand...
That sounds about right, corse, [sic] it wasn't the buyers fault, he just
believed everything he was told,
And the nasty man at Campsie Hi-Fi, new when he was on a winner, when ''
Phil the Fool '' walked in.


bassett
 
Phil Allison wrote:
** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

The "abusive man" who had "accidentally severed" the phone line cord. He
Click to expand...
made pains to explain (once he stopped the abuse - I was so close to
walking out the shop door) that he had neatly rejoined the cord and it
still did not work. I replaced the cord & everything worked fine.

Curiosity got the better of me and I undid the extremely neatly taped up
join, which immediately revealed the problem. He had randomly joined the
wires, ignoring the 4 colours. When I asked why, he said "I didn't think
it mattered", I was stunned.

Just what DO you say to these dills?

Kevin Martin

--
To Reply, delete what is "Not Required" in abbreviated form
 
On Feb 29, 1:58 pm, "Phil Allison" <philalli...@tpg.com.au> wrote:
** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?
Click to expand...
I had a guy return a built-up kit to me (unsolicited) and demanded
that I fix it "under warranty".
He claimed that he had checked every component twice and all the
soldering and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, so therefore
it must be a faulty component. He also said he refused to follow the
troubleshooting instructions and measure supply voltages because this
would further damage the unit.

The fault - the main 7805 voltage reg installed backwards.

Dave.
 
"Kevin Martin"
Phil Allison wrote:

** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

The "abusive man" who had "accidentally severed" the phone line cord. He
made pains to explain (once he stopped the abuse - I was so close to
walking out the shop door) that he had neatly rejoined the cord and it
still did not work. I replaced the cord & everything worked fine.

Curiosity got the better of me and I undid the extremely neatly taped up
join, which immediately revealed the problem. He had randomly joined the
wires, ignoring the 4 colours. When I asked why, he said "I didn't think
it mattered", I was stunned.

Just what DO you say to these dills?
Click to expand...

** Bet ya he was colour-blind - as well as a total dickhead.





......... Phil
 
"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> schreef in bericht
news:62pammF23i3t8U1@mid.individual.net...
** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

Some that I recall from my days working in parts shops are:


1. A gentleman who returned a new 100VA Ferguson mains transformer ( from
a Playmaster 140 stereo amp kit) saying it must be faulty as the primary
resistance was only 19 ohms. By his reasoning, it would therefore pull 12
amps and blow the AC fuse.

2. Guitar players who tried to return valves like 6L6GCs or 6CA7s saying
there was a faint blue glow on the glass and they must be gassy.

3. TV techs trying to return TV horizontal output transistors since their
( small signal) transistor tester read zero on beta test.

4. A young lady who returned a 5 inch reel of 1/4 inch tape saying it
would only record on one side ......


Any others?



...... Phil
Click to expand...
A colleague ever had a client that want to exchange the floppy drive in his
(bosses) computer as the drive did not work. The colleague found the drive
in perfect order so he asked the client for an explanation. "It does not
read anything and the door will not open anymore" the client complained. It
turned out to be that he managed to push a 3.5" floppy into the CDROM
player. I could hardly believe it until I checked out for myself but it was
there black on white: The complaint, the diagnosis and the bill.

petrus bitbyter
 
"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:6d0ab69b-4174-46b8-920a-e158c047e3df@i29g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
On Feb 29, 1:58 pm, "Phil Allison" <philalli...@tpg.com.au> wrote:
** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

I had a guy return a built-up kit to me (unsolicited) and demanded
that I fix it "under warranty".
He claimed that he had checked every component twice and all the
soldering and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, so therefore
it must be a faulty component. He also said he refused to follow the
troubleshooting instructions and measure supply voltages because this
would further damage the unit.

The fault - the main 7805 voltage reg installed backwards.

Dave.
Click to expand...
In the UK a few years back there was a documentary on the rise of the home
computer age, an amusing anecdote from the Sinclair company which sold some
of its computers as home build kits. Some bloke returned an assembled unit
for fault finding as it didn't work, the Sinclair engineer opened it up and
found it very neatly and precisely assembled - with Airfix glue!
 
"petrus bitbyter" <pieterkraltlaatditweg@enditookhccnet.nl> wrote in message
news:47c83685$0$715$e4fe514c@dreader16.news.xs4all.nl...
"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> schreef in bericht
news:62pammF23i3t8U1@mid.individual.net...


** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

Some that I recall from my days working in parts shops are:


1. A gentleman who returned a new 100VA Ferguson mains transformer ( from
a Playmaster 140 stereo amp kit) saying it must be faulty as the primary
resistance was only 19 ohms. By his reasoning, it would therefore pull 12
amps and blow the AC fuse.

2. Guitar players who tried to return valves like 6L6GCs or 6CA7s saying
there was a faint blue glow on the glass and they must be gassy.

3. TV techs trying to return TV horizontal output transistors since
their ( small signal) transistor tester read zero on beta test.

4. A young lady who returned a 5 inch reel of 1/4 inch tape saying it
would only record on one side ......


Any others?



...... Phil



A colleague ever had a client that want to exchange the floppy drive in
his (bosses) computer as the drive did not work. The colleague found the
drive in perfect order so he asked the client for an explanation. "It does
not read anything and the door will not open anymore" the client
complained. It turned out to be that he managed to push a 3.5" floppy
into the CDROM player. I could hardly believe it until I checked out for
myself but it was there black on white: The complaint, the diagnosis and
the bill.

petrus bitbyter
Click to expand...
Makes a change from "the computer works fine - but I broke the cup holder!".
 
On 29/02/2008 17:00 Phil Allison wrote:
"David L. Jones"
"Phil Allison"
** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?
I had a guy return a built-up kit to me (unsolicited) and demanded
that I fix it "under warranty".
He claimed that he had checked every component twice and all the
soldering and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, so therefore
it must be a faulty component. He also said he refused to follow the
troubleshooting instructions and measure supply voltages because this
would further damage the unit.

The fault - the main 7805 voltage reg installed backwards.


* A regular job I had when working for Pre Pak in the early 70s was
repairing all the CDI ignition kits they sold.

Yep - nearly all of them came back for fault finding and de-bugging.

The single most common problem was that the constructors ( ie tattooed
petrol heads ) had used plumber's (acid) flux to help solder the parts onto
the PCB !!!!!!!!!!

Eventually, the owner of Pre Pak ( Ian Ralph) decided to " bite the bullet
" and supply a yard or so of resin cored solder with each kit -
accompanied by a note explaining what it was for.

He at least had the optimism ( more than mine) to assume his kit buyers were
literate.



...... Phil
Click to expand...

Someone once told me about an EA kit which was returned to DSE's Kit
Dept because it didn't work. It might have been a Playmaster amp. I
don't remember what its problem was.
Anyway, apparently the kit notes said to insulate the mains wiring
with spaghetti ... and the constructor had taken it literally and
threaded the wiring through pasta tubes (uncooked). :)


Bob
 
petrus bitbyter wrote:
A colleague ever had a client that want to exchange the floppy drive
in his (bosses) computer as the drive did not work. The colleague
found the drive in perfect order so he asked the client for an
explanation. "It does not read anything and the door will not open
anymore" the client complained. It turned out to be that he managed
to push a 3.5" floppy into the CDROM player. I could hardly believe
it until I checked out for myself but it was there black on white:
The complaint, the diagnosis and the bill.
petrus bitbyter
Click to expand...
A variation of the toast-in-the-VHS story !

geoff
 
Bob Parker wrote:
On 29/02/2008 17:00 Phil Allison wrote:
"David L. Jones"
"Phil Allison"
** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the
silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?
I had a guy return a built-up kit to me (unsolicited) and demanded
that I fix it "under warranty".
He claimed that he had checked every component twice and all the
soldering and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, so therefore
it must be a faulty component. He also said he refused to follow the
troubleshooting instructions and measure supply voltages because this
would further damage the unit.

The fault - the main 7805 voltage reg installed backwards.


* A regular job I had when working for Pre Pak in the early 70s was
repairing all the CDI ignition kits they sold.

Yep - nearly all of them came back for fault finding and de-bugging.

The single most common problem was that the constructors ( ie tattooed
petrol heads ) had used plumber's (acid) flux to help solder the
parts onto the PCB !!!!!!!!!!

Eventually, the owner of Pre Pak ( Ian Ralph) decided to " bite the
bullet " and supply a yard or so of resin cored solder with each kit
- accompanied by a note explaining what it was for.

He at least had the optimism ( more than mine) to assume his kit
buyers were literate.



...... Phil



Someone once told me about an EA kit which was returned to DSE's Kit
Dept because it didn't work. It might have been a Playmaster amp. I
don't remember what its problem was.
Anyway, apparently the kit notes said to insulate the mains wiring
with spaghetti ... and the constructor had taken it literally and
threaded the wiring through pasta tubes (uncooked). :)


Bob
Click to expand...
I can verify that one. A friend of mine was there when this happened. I think it
became one of the service department 'trophies' at DSE.

Acid-core flux and plumber's soldering irons were also very regular as Phil
mentioned.
 
On Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:58:29 +1100, "Phil Allison"
<philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote:

** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

Some that I recall from my days working in parts shops are:


1. A gentleman who returned a new 100VA Ferguson mains transformer ( from a
Playmaster 140 stereo amp kit) saying it must be faulty as the primary
resistance was only 19 ohms. By his reasoning, it would therefore pull 12
amps and blow the AC fuse.

2. Guitar players who tried to return valves like 6L6GCs or 6CA7s saying
there was a faint blue glow on the glass and they must be gassy.

3. TV techs trying to return TV horizontal output transistors since their
( small signal) transistor tester read zero on beta test.

4. A young lady who returned a 5 inch reel of 1/4 inch tape saying it would
only record on one side ......


Any others?



...... Phil
Click to expand...
A patron threw it across the room (20kgs) so that must be a warrantee
repair.

Pulled the cables out of the wall, i wonder if the sparky was to blame
for that....
 
what about a video player in a microwave
to dry it out, after a drink spilled in it.

"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:62pammF23i3t8U1@mid.individual.net...
** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

Some that I recall from my days working in parts shops are:


1. A gentleman who returned a new 100VA Ferguson mains transformer ( from
a Playmaster 140 stereo amp kit) saying it must be faulty as the primary
resistance was only 19 ohms. By his reasoning, it would therefore pull 12
amps and blow the AC fuse.

2. Guitar players who tried to return valves like 6L6GCs or 6CA7s saying
there was a faint blue glow on the glass and they must be gassy.

3. TV techs trying to return TV horizontal output transistors since their
( small signal) transistor tester read zero on beta test.

4. A young lady who returned a 5 inch reel of 1/4 inch tape saying it
would only record on one side ......


Any others?



...... Phil
Click to expand...
 
It amazes me what these dsickheads expect to be covered by warranty, and
their rude approach to staff. I've had staff abused several times over
computer problems, and each time it's been the ID10T error.

Bruce

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:6d0ab69b-4174-46b8-920a-e158c047e3df@i29g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
On Feb 29, 1:58 pm, "Phil Allison" <philalli...@tpg.com.au> wrote:
** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

I had a guy return a built-up kit to me (unsolicited) and demanded
that I fix it "under warranty".
He claimed that he had checked every component twice and all the
soldering and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, so therefore
it must be a faulty component. He also said he refused to follow the
troubleshooting instructions and measure supply voltages because this
would further damage the unit.

The fault - the main 7805 voltage reg installed backwards.

Dave.
Click to expand...
 
In article <62pammF23i3t8U1@mid.individual.net>,
"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote:

** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

Some that I recall from my days working in parts shops are:


1. A gentleman who returned a new 100VA Ferguson mains transformer ( from a
Playmaster 140 stereo amp kit) saying it must be faulty as the primary
resistance was only 19 ohms. By his reasoning, it would therefore pull 12
amps and blow the AC fuse.

2. Guitar players who tried to return valves like 6L6GCs or 6CA7s saying
there was a faint blue glow on the glass and they must be gassy.

3. TV techs trying to return TV horizontal output transistors since their
( small signal) transistor tester read zero on beta test.

4. A young lady who returned a 5 inch reel of 1/4 inch tape saying it would
only record on one side ......


Any others?



...... Phil
Click to expand...
Not quite the same Phil, but I am sure many older TV techs will remember
the many customers who tried to fix their own TV and bought and fitted a
new 1S2 because it was the only valve in their set that didn't light up.

David
 
On 13/03/2008 13:22 glenbadd wrote:
Pity they didn't tap the 1S2 with their finger while the set was on to
see if it would light up. They would receive the shock of their life
that it works ok without a visible heater glow.

:) Glenn
Click to expand...

I was working on an Italian gentleman's valve TV once, with the
power on.
He was very curious about what was inside it, and asked "Whatsa
this?" as he pointed at the 1S2.
Before I could say "Don't touch that!", he grabbed it and sure jumped!


Bob
 
On Mar 13, 11:07 am, David <posti...@REMOVE-TO-REPLYconfidential-
counselling.com> wrote:
In article <62pammF23i3t...@mid.individual.net>,
"Phil Allison" <philalli...@tpg.com.au> wrote:



** Hi to all,

Inspired by the post from "Griff" - who can come up with the silliest
reason for returning electronics goods or components they know ?

Some that I recall from my days working in parts shops are:

1. A gentleman who returned a new 100VA Ferguson mains transformer ( from a
Playmaster 140 stereo amp kit) saying it must be faulty as the primary
resistance was only 19 ohms. By his reasoning, it would therefore pull 12
amps and blow the AC fuse.

2. Guitar players who tried to return valves like 6L6GCs or 6CA7s saying
there was a faint blue glow on the glass and they must be gassy.

3. TV techs trying to return TV horizontal output transistors since their
( small signal) transistor tester read zero on beta test.

4. A young lady who returned a 5 inch reel of 1/4 inch tape saying it would
only record on one side ......

Any others?

...... Phil

Not quite the same Phil, but I am sure many older TV techs will remember
the many customers who tried to fix their own TV and bought and fitted a
new 1S2 because it was the only valve in their set that didn't light up.

David
Click to expand...
Pity they didn't tap the 1S2 with their finger while the set was on to
see if it would light up. They would receive the shock of their life
that it works ok without a visible heater glow.

:) Glenn
 
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