Electrical nightmares

**adrianh** · 24-Jan-20, 09:39 AM

Originally posted by ians

Interesting to see how ECA and Carte Blanche make a fool out of the person...and dont get the facts right themselves

For example i sometimes install as many as 4-5 even 6 breakers in a DB... just for the kitchen plugs... to prevent overloaded....making a statement that there are too many circuit breakers in the DB ...mmm.

Picking up an insulation resistance tester and telling everyone it is a multi meter ...well need i say more.

I am not saying the fella is right (prices are over the top) ... but at least get your facts right before going nation wide with a film.

He has a a point about the doctors who rip a hole in your backside so big ...he needs a medical aid to hide his blatant theft... i dont see any carte blanche movies about how the medical profession is ripping the public off ?

I go for a scan... i am told if i have medical aid ...they will rob my savings of R2900 ...but if i pay cash ...i only have to pay R1200.

Lets no even talk about anesthetist.

My GP says that Discovery is unethical - He hates Discovery as much as I do. I don't care for movie tickets - I want low medical costs!

**Dave A** · 24-Jan-20, 12:24 PM

For those who aren't regular watchers of Carte Blanche (like me) and need to catch up, here's the story Ian is talking about.

**Rifrug** · 24-Jan-20, 02:13 PM

Thanks Dave A this was the first time in possibly 10years that I watched something of carte blance, I lost all respect for them long time ago when they went after some small time electrician for also over charging to fix a DB. and at that time I saw Carte Blanche had no real stories so they were what I call (poep vir punte) It reminded me of myself many years ago when I was treated like trash by a customer who did not want to pay a deposit for a job that he wanted me to do like yesterday. After he sweared at me and said I’m probably going to quote him R30000 for a COC. Guess what? I sent him a quote for R30000 and am glad I never heard of him again. Then that “multi-meter” displayed by Matthys is not very convincing. I wonder what his insulation tester looks like.

**Derlyn** · 25-Jan-20, 10:02 AM

Be grateful he isn't a doctor.

He would suggest a heart transplant if you presented yourself with a sore ankle.

Cheers and peace out ..... Derek

**ians** · 26-Jan-20, 10:09 AM

The hand of safety ...I dont even need to "set traps" for certain hand safety members... i have just returned to another ECA members illegal COC... I dont even waste my time reporting them anymore there are so many...so using the ECA to point fingers at other electrical contractors is a bit rich

The problem with the elctrical industry is much bigger than 1 small little one man operation ... they should be investing the real problem... but I suppose Carte blanche couldnt handle a real problem like the electrical industry...its out of their league.

I take my rescue pavement special mut to the vet yesterday ... he cant tell us what is wrong with the mut ... or what is causing the marks on her legs... so he cant treat her... but he writes out a script for R800 worth of medicine ... it cost a total of R1800 for a 15 minute visit.

**ians** · 26-Jan-20, 10:45 AM

max. 20 % mark on material... what a load of horse shyte... as an ECA member for over 10 years ... i was advised during investigation where i was robbed of over R70 000 by a customer ...informing me that i had over charged ...it was the ECA recommendation that a 25 % markup for material was justified to cover overheads ...which they provide a cost schedule to cover ECA fees and national bargaining council fees etc etc etc etc... which as an electrical contractor we are forced to pay (not ECA membership)

Another thing to point out... the calculation with the 2100 %+ mark is not only the material cost ...it includes the installation cost... R45 for a circuit breaker and R363 for an earth leakage is she reffering to a din mount chint or a heineman breaker... a heineman single pole e/l unit will cost you close R1000 inc vat ...a 3 phase heineman earth leakage unit will cost a lot more than that.

The video is so full of false info... surely they should be held accountable for misleading the public... i always thought carte blanche was responsible with their content and carried out a thorough investigation... i was told about the video by a customer.

So if i find a fault in 5 minutes due to my qualification and over 30 years of hands on experience ...and charge a customer doctors rates ... i am crook?

**Derlyn** · 26-Jan-20, 05:40 PM

Check the video again.

They are not misleading the public. They are spot on.

Jessica's DB is DIN Rail. The cheapest you get.

R11800 for circuit breakers.
There are 15 circuit breakers, an earth leakage relay and a main circuit breaker/isolator.
Any contractor who pays more than R1200 for the above needs to shop elsewhere.

R4895 charged twice for earth leakage relay (R9790)
Any contractor who pays more than R300 for a din rail earth leakage relay also needs to shop elsewhere.

Doesn't matter whether you love or hate the ECA, he is a shyster and deserves every second of bad publicity he gets.

Cheers and peace out ... Derek

**ians** · 28-Jan-20, 07:17 AM

Originally posted by Derlyn

Check the video again.

They are not misleading the public. They are spot on.

Jessica's DB is DIN Rail. The cheapest you get.

R11800 for circuit breakers.
There are 15 circuit breakers, an earth leakage relay and a main circuit breaker/isolator.
Any contractor who pays more than R1200 for the above needs to shop elsewhere.

R4895 charged twice for earth leakage relay (R9790)
Any contractor who pays more than R300 for a din rail earth leakage relay also needs to shop elsewhere.

Doesn't matter whether you love or hate the ECA, he is a shyster and deserves every second of bad publicity he gets.

Cheers and peace out ... Derek

This video certainly makes him look like a shyster... however i dont agree with you about the rest... the video is all over the place ...it shows an invoice for single phase ...but the next clip is a heineman 3 phase...they certainly got their point across.

**ians** · 28-Jan-20, 07:43 AM

Fact:

As a customer this is what you should be paying... the price includes the 25 % markup (advised by the ECA at the time i was a member) and 15 % vat.

A single phase 60 amp din earth leakage unit price = R316.00

A single phase 60 amp heineman earth leakage unit t = R 948.75 (i am surprised they are still around)

A 3 phase 60 amp din earth leakage unit price = R718.75

A 3 phase 60 amp heineman earth leakage unit = R3737.50

The labour rate you should be paying for a "registered electrical contractor" from R550 - R850 per hour...depending on his experience and qualification.

You can pick up "electricians" for around R250 on the street.

I see an invoice for a single phase but a clip straight after of a 3 phase heineman... i am confused ...so what was it a single phase din or a 3 phase heineman? I will watch the video again when i have some time and try make sense of the invoices ...clips and comments....which tie up to which and try figue out what multimeter it is that they refer to in the clip... it looks like a major tech MT 500 analog insulation tester to me... but hey i could be wrong.

**ians** · 28-Jan-20, 12:04 PM

Another fact:

Most companies take the wholesalers list price and markup 20-25 %...which would explain the high prices.

Some of us take the discounted price... offered to us by the wholesaler and add our markup ...which generally works out cheaper than the price you would pay... if you were to buy directly from the wholesaler.

All wholesaler sell directly to the public ...not just the ones which use it as a clever sales pitch.... just the discount structure is different.

**Rifrug** · 28-Jan-20, 03:35 PM

What was not shown is the labour cost and the hours spent on that job. I would of liked to see a detailed breakdown of material and labour to ensure those prices shown by Carte Blanche is in fact true. The two earth leakages charged, clearly is wrong and should be rectified, unless there is another sub DB they did not make any mention off. The customer is just as guilty for telling the guy to do whatever is needed without getting more quotes. In my opinion that was the electricians go-ahead to just replace rather than salvage parts and that was exactly the trap created by Carte Blanche.
Then he is guilty for fitting too many circuit breakers (Is there a regulation for that)?
Was a COC included in the price on completion?
Was there re-wiring involved and what parts of installation was worked on?
Are they comparing apples to apples with the other electricians E.L. replacement?
Is this guy registered with DOL under a different company name?
They did not convince me he gave a bad service and overcharged.

**Derlyn** · 28-Jan-20, 06:50 PM

The big question is ? Why refund the client R28000 if you're innocent ? That refund is an admission of guilt right there.

My last comment.

Cheers and peace out ... Derek

**ians** · 29-Jan-20, 05:52 AM

Originally posted by Derlyn

The big question is ? Why refund the client R28000 if you're innocent ? That refund is an admission of guilt right there.

My last comment.

Cheers and peace out ... Derek

nobody is denying the fact that Mark Levy could be a crook...but if you going to target one individual ...make sure you get your facts right and lay the facts out in a manner in which people can identify the problems ...not this whishy washy flash clips.

Then I ask myself this question ...why only target him... what about all the thieves issuing illegal COC's... i see literally by the day... why have they not investigated the DOL and why they dont do random checks on all the "registered electrical contractors" issuing COC's ...this industry is rotten right to the core.

it uses a system which if you play the numbers game ...you can get away with hundreds if not thousands of false COC's before you are caught out...you might make the mistake of issuing a COC where one of my customer purchase or rents a property... then you going to get caught out... however i am finding that even then there is a good chance that if you send around a bunch of dodgy labourers you will get thrown off site and get away with it ...the customer will ask me to go ahead and just make it right...or just leave it as is... then I sit with the problem in 5 - 10 years when the customer sells the property... why ...because the customer doesnt want to spend the money fixing something which should have been done right before the property was sold... and the customer comes with bulshyte ...but you have been doing my electrical for 5-10 years ...why didnt you just fix it "free" of charge... i have learnt the hard way ...i make sure that if the customer doent fix the illegal COC i send an email to confirm that the installation is illegal with a cost to repair... if they choose not to spend the money ...at least i have it on record (i joined the CYA club a long time ago)

This fella doesnt even feature in the real problems in this industry...did he actually do anything wrong... i would like to see real proof in a manner which we can identify the problem.

Who is more at fault ...him doing what doctors do every day ...or contractors who drop off unskilled labour and charge electrician rates... issue illegal COC's etc etc etc etc etc... we could point finger all day long.

let me not even get started with insurance companies... i have just got my vehicle back from a R55000.00 "minor" repair... talk about a bunch of crooks... and you wonder why they live like doctors.

**ians** · 29-Jan-20, 06:00 AM

another fact:

If you switch off all the breakers including the main switch... then switch on the earth leakage and it doesnt reset ...it means either the earth leakage unit is faulty or you have not reset the unit (this applies to the newer units) to reset the unit... you simply push the lever right down to the bottom and then up it should stay up...it will not reset if you just try push it back up.

If it resets and stays up then switch on the main switch only ...if it trips as you do this ...there is a good chance you have what we call a neutral fault (what they did in the video ) you then have to disconnect all the neutral conductors from the earth leakage neutral bar.

if the earth leakage resets and stays up when you switch on the main switch ...then you start switching on the circuit breakers.

Electrical nightmares

Electrical nightmares

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment