Our Latest Twitter Updates

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Heating Repair Job

We received a phone call today at 7am from an elderly customer, who was rather concerned that her electric overnight storage heating had not worked for two nights and that as you can imagine she was beginning to feel the effects of the cold with overnight tempertaures close to freezing.

Our diary for all the electricians was already full for the day but you know that feeling you get when you know you just need to do what you can to re-jig the diary and help this customer. So thats what we did and I managed myself to attend mid-morning and as you can see from the photo, people should never under estimate what electricity in the home can do when things go wrong and why its always a good idea to have an electrician periodically inspect the electrics in your property.

A loose connection within the main switch had went undetected for while which resulted in this nasty burning of the cable and switches, which as you can imagine could have led to a much worse situation.

Thankfully though less than two hours later we had fitted new parts and managed to get some heat back in the home of this elderly customer.

You know after these types of jobs you get a scense of a warm glow that you know that a job you have done had made someone happy and I suppose thats what makes it all worthwhile.

Saturday 22 November 2008

The AA

Let me start by saying that when my vehicle did breakdown on two occassions during my initial AA cover, the breakdown service went smoothly and I was certainly grateful for the recovery service they provided me at the time, but I do have a little gripe about The AA now.

If you don't require AA breakdown membership for your vehicle anymore then make sure you cancel the cover and don't suspend cover. Five years ago I had AA cover on my car and when I changed that car in 2005, I called The AA to say that I did not require the cover anymore as the new car I was purchasing would have breakdown cover as part of the agreement.

Well seemingly I did not cancel my AA cover I only suspended it for 3 years. Years on I am supposed to remember this, so much to my surprise I have just received a letter and full membership pack with new membership card etc saying that my cover has been reactivated.

So without warning and checking with me first they have reactivated my old membership cover, so not only is the membership pack addressed to my old home and registered to a car I no longer have, the annoying part is they say money will be debited from my bank account within the next two weeks.

How can they justify reactivating a membership, even if I did only ask for it to be suspended as this is what they are saying to me now that I have complained to them, without getting in touch to see if a) I still lived at the address they have on file, b) do I still have the vehicle the membership is set to cover and c) is my payment method still valid.

If ever there were a waste of money, paper and other costs then this must rank up there.

Obviously when I telephoned up to complain and make sure they cancel the newly re-activated membership and make sure no payment is debited, I get told its all my fault for only suspending membership for a number of years and that I am supposed to keep them up to date with change of address and change of vehicle etc.

Yes like I am going to remember to do that when I know I don't have AA cover for any of my current vehicles.

So remember if you no longer require AA cover and you don't want to be surprised in a few years time, make sure you cancel the membership and not just suspend it, or further down the line in a number of years, you can look forward to receiving a shiny new membership pack with probably out of date details and an unexpected expense about to be debited from your bank account. And thats not taking into account the time you will have to spend getting in touch with them, which took me two phone calls for nearly 30 minutes to eventually cancel this reactivated membership.

Friday 21 November 2008

Apprentice Story in the Press - cont...

Our press release regarding one of our apprentices Murray Smith receiving the Apprentice Of The Year Award for Clackmannan College has been printed in Stirling's biggest newspaper.

The article which appeared in the Stirling Observer Newspaper is below.

Saturday 15 November 2008

Hospice Dinner

I attended a very enjoyable Sportsman's Dinner on Friday evening at Glenbervie House Hotel, which is situated in the outskirts of Larbert, Stirlingshire.

The evening of dinner and laughter had a very serious note to the event as it was a fundraising event for Strathcarron Hospice - The hospice gives free specialist care to patients with active progressive illness and also provides support for patients families.

Annual running costs total £4.3 million and although partially funded by local NHS boards the hospice has to raise the remainder of its costs through fundraising and donations. This means the hospice has to raise £45,000 every week of every year to maintain the level of service it currently provides to patients and families from all over Forth Valley.

Sportman's dinners are one way the hospice can raise funds and in doing so it involves local businesses and celebrities in as a i say a night of "dinner and laughter", but there are many other way's people and businesses can become involved in fundraising events and even donating without talking part in an event.

Further details of this hospice and the excellent services it provides as well as details in how you can help by fundraising and donations can be found on the Strathcarron Hospice Website.

Monday 10 November 2008

Apprentice Story in the Press

Our press release last week about one of our apprentices Murray Smith being awarded Aprentice of the Year for second stage electrical work at Clackmannan College has been printed in various local newspapers. Below are some of the articles in the press.

Wee County News
Alloa Advertiser




Contact Details for Stirling Electrical Services Ltd.


Stirling Electrical Services Ltd
12 Queen Street
Fallin
Stirlingshire, FK7 7JG

Tel: 01786 813916, Fax:01786 811447
Web: www.stirlingelectrical.co.uk
Email: info@stirlingelectrical.co.uk