PureBasic Forums - English

I'm a renter of a small unit and recently the TV reception died. The guy that
came to fix it (while I wasn't home) changed the wall socket, cut up my TV
cable and put a new connector on it, and somehow an L-shaped connecter
that used to go into the old socket has gone missing. The reception is fixed
and it all works. Both the cable and L-shaped connector were my property.

BUT, I'm angry because I feel the guy had no right to chop up my cable and
"steal" my L-shaped connector. I feel he should've just replaced the wall
socket and told me what sort of new cable and/or connector that I'd need,
so that it'd be up to me to make use of the new wall socket. But my wife
says I'm crazy and overreacting. Being a renter, I may need the old style
of cable (before he butchered it) and L-shaped connector in the future.

Am I crazy for reacting like this? How would you react to this situation?
Bear in mind the wall socket is permanently changed so the new setup
is something I have to live with. Looking forward to your responses.

I would definately give them a ring and complain at the very least.

I did that today, and he accused me of calling him a criminal and so on. It
was quite an ugly phone call actually, both of us going off at each other. :roll:
I ended up speaking to the building's Body Corporate and complained, and
apparently the worker is now going to order a new cable for me. They don't
know what his plans are to replace the L-shaped connector. Probably won't
see it. Guess I'll have to cut my losses.

The guy might have had valid reasons for what he did.

He might have considered the cable and connector as "foreign" equipment and wanted to eliminate it as the cause of the problem. BUT!

Considering that both the cable and the connector were not his or the cable company's property, he should have replaced the cable and connector and left them behind but unused.

IMHO, he had no right to destroy the cable and definitely had no right to take the connector with him.

You might want to check your cable agreement though, there might be a clause concerning "foreign" equipment and how they would deal with it in case problem occur.

Lol, would have loved to listen in on that conversation because I know you can get pretty het up at times.

PB wrote:I did that today, and he accused me of calling him a criminal and so on.

Did you? (Call him a criminal).


BTW, not having a go. Am having a smile, though.

if someone would take away my property without asking, i would be definitely be pissed, no matter how cheap it is.

c ya,
nco2k

> You might want to check your cable agreement though

No, it's not cable TV. Just free-to-air, which, in Australia, is up to the tenant
to supply the cable that goes from the wall to the TV. Entirely my property.
All free-to-air provides is a wall socket for the aerial cable.

> Did you? (Call him a criminal)

Not directly. I asked why he chopped up my cable and converted it to a
different format that's incompatible with my other TV equipment now, and his
answer was all I needed to do was buy a new connector for the end of it. So
I said why didn't you just change the wall socket then and leave it up to me
to get a new cable for it, instead of mutilating my cable, and he got stroppy.
As far as good business goes, that's what he should've done, but good service
doesn't exist in Australia.

I then asked where my L-shaped connector has gone, and he said "Are you
saying I stole it? That I'm a criminal?" and I said well it's not here so I don't
know what you've done with it, and I want it back, it's my personal property
like the cable.

He then hung up.

Welcome to dealing with (some Australian) tradespeople.. Probably what has happened is he unthinkingly converted your plug & tossed the other one as redundant. The thought of preserving the old bits as your property or something that can be recycled never entered his head.. I know the style since I used to work in the electrical trades.. To make the situation worse, he thinks this item is a $2 piece of redundant plastic - he thinks it's not worth arguing about, so he gets angry if challenged about it - of course it's worth it to you, since it's your $2 bit of plastic. As annoying as it is - I'd walk away from it, but next time, leave a note saying 'if anything that needs replacement - please leave the leftover bits (don't trash them)'.

Okay, here's some links (to my exact products) so you know the whole story.

My original cable was this:
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.store ... duct/C0024

It was connected to the TV wall socket via this:
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.store ... duct/P2026

Now, he changed the wall socket to a different style of connection, and took
it upon himself to cut the end off my cable above and replace it with the new
style of connector. As for the little plug, I never saw it again.

But, the new connector on the cable above has broken off (I didn't mention
this before) and so the whole entire cable is useless. This happened last
Saturday afternoon and if you know Australian tradesmen, they don't come
to work except on a weekday. So, faced with no TV until I could arrange
for him to return and fix his work (whenever that would be!), I had to go
out and buy another temp cable with the same connector that he added to
mine (unfortunately no link to it at the site above, despite the other two
products being there). This other temp cable was also $16.99.

So, from his dodgy workmanship, I'm currently out-of-pocket by $37.96,
which is why you can see I'm pissed. So, assuming he gives me a new
cable as supposedly arranged, I can return the new one and get my $16.99
back (thank you DSE for your 14-day refund policy!) and the cost of the
original one will be absorbed by the replacement cable. If he also gives me
back the L-shaped connector, then I'll be $0 out-of-pocket, but I will then
actually need to buy a NEW connector for the new wall socket, which is one
of these: http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.store ... duct/P2025,
which, when you think about it, is all I should've had to buy in the first place!

Now do you see why I voted for option 1 when I posted all this?

Well, look what appeared today from the guy:

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3167/imgp1796kz8.jpg

I'm quite shocked that he returned the L-shaped connector and got me a
NEW gold-plated cable! And so he should.

What does the L bend on the connector actually do?

It just means the cable can come out of the wall at a right-angle, so something
like a lounge won't damage it.

Glad you got a good outcome PB!

The guy probably is working to a tight schedule and took the most pragmatic / direct approach to solving the problem as he perceived it. Few people act maliciously - even the ones who do things you disagree with have their own valid reasons (albeit sometimes misguided).
The point is - you asked the guy to do a job, he did the job but you werent there at the time, so he couldnt ask your opinion, so he used his initiative - unfortunately, you're unhappy with his method. I think you'd be more unhappy if he had abandoned the job because there he found an unfamiliar cable.
I agree that perhaps he should have left the old L-shaped connector behind, but from his perspective, perhaps it was junk and he did his job by clearing up the mess after he finished.
IMO - you over-reacted - the guy is just doing his job and maybe he just assumed you just wanted your TV fixing.

I'm giving you my honest opinion because I know you're an intelligent guy and just want a 2nd opinion (I'd do the same) - apologies if I caused any offence. I also am glad things worked out well for you...