Re: Contractors
 

Absolutely no way is 10 installs a day remotely doable. Half that. The use of contractors within BT is disgraceful and I hope it stops soon.

Re: Contractors
 

Well if its not VM perhaps its BT but whatever it is you'll be working for Kelly! Be very carefull what they've hold you at the interview because it'll be a hugh pile of BS! Kelly are an absolute shockingly bad employer! they will [Mod Edit - inappropriate obfuscated language removed] whoever the installations for and will no doubt be kicked off the contract, as they will eventually be kicked into touch by BT because the way they are running Openreach! Don't give up your day job to work for Kelly because you WILL regret it!!

Re: Contractors
 

Its for vodafone, a new contract from within the BT contract. You will be replacing phone socket faceplates with Vodafone ones and then setting up modems.

Re: Contractors
 

What on earth are you talking about?

Re: Contractors
 

Hi cable guy, I have been with Kellys for a while now, apart from a short stint at Fujitsu, (where I heard more lies than anywhere else I ever worked), And as far as I am concerned everyone on the BT work is very happy. Dont get me wrong, you will find the odd lazy soandso that will always find something to complain about, but on the whole its a great job compared to my old life on VM. Afriend of mine in VM who I keep in touch with just told me that Fugitsu have lost sooooo much money on the contract that they "bought" from Map and Kellys that they have already been back to the table to get an increase, (dont know if they got it!) and to make matters worse, the Japs back home have edcided that they no longer want to do this! they are goign to revert to business they understand, which is making teles. Apartently they have had to admit ti VM that they got it all wrong with their prices

dont know whats going on with the modems in Manchester, I'll ask my friend

---------- Post added at 15:46 ---------- Previous post was at 15:44 ----------

Mr Ica, why do you think the use of contractors on BT is disgraceful? and why do you think it should stop? thats my job you are talking about! I love my job!!!!

Re: Contractors
 

hi all just wondering what mcniks are like to work for will be one manning in kent what sort of wages are they getting paid? or like every other contractor i have worked for im going to be ripped off???????

Re: Contractors
 

The wages are good if u work Ur nads off for it. But there almost as bad as the rest. Make u loads of promises to get u to join then when it's too late u find yourself bein lied too. Mcnichs also like to send u working away all the time.

Re: Contractors
 

I've been offered a job with kellys, modem installs 10 per day £8 a job (manchester area). They said a 6 months contract, permanent after the 6 months. Any 1 know anything about this work as I'm thinking of taking it and handing my notice in the morning.

Re: Contractors
 

---------- Post added at 19:42 ---------- Previous post was at 19:41 ----------

I think its for vodafone, a new contract from within the BT contract. You will be replacing phone socket faceplates with Vodafone ones and then setting up modems.

Re: Contractors
 

spoke to my m8 in VM about the modems in manchester and Kellys, he recons there is some discussions taking place around this is not sure of the detail, yet!

Re: Contractors
 

Because in a few years it's likely my job will be under threat because of it. I can see the day when they get rid of all in-house engineers and go the all contractor route which scares the crap out of me!

Plus I feel the present contractors have been rushed out (possibly with not enough training) and themselves are being pressured from their management. The result of this is a LOT of faults created in the network and many mistakes being made.

---------- Post added at 14:43 ---------- Previous post was at 14:41 ----------

Can you explain what you mean by replacing faceplates with Vodafone ones that makes no sense to me. Thanks.

Re: Contractors
 

the problem in my experience is that about 95% of engineers that are working on out sourced contracts like kellys for VM or BT do not give a toss about the product or the customer, its all about cutting corners to get home a decent time. After 4 years of Avonline doing the VM contract this is all I and most of my colleagues were doing cutting corners to complete the work and get home a decent time, so now BT is on the out source wagon they are recording 'a LOT of faults' so back to the start of my reply........
Again in my opinion until the likes of VM and BT take an interest in how the contract company engineers operate out on filed not just on paper then they should be prepared for (in my experience) years of high faults..

Bristol had or still has huge fault figurers for telco, VM naturally wanted these numbers much lower so we started having meetings about it and stickers for the telco cabs with the techs number on and a small money incentive. These steps were supposed to cut down the fault numbers but instead the faults went higher!! why was this you ask well it quite simple the engineers working for the out sourced contractor (Avonline) didnt give a shoot about the figure's just about getting home at a decent time.
I am still in contact with some old engineer frineds who now work for Kellys and they say its all exactually the same as when Avonline had the contract but they earn about 40 quid a week more but still have the same amount of work as before so although the engineer is on more money the attitude towards the job has not changed infact it maybe slightly worse cus Kellys said when they won the VM contract that the work would be less but in fact is exactly the same

Re: Contractors
 

Yes, and the contractors generally only pick up install jobs so they don't necessarily know that they are causing faults. That all depends on their training and of course past experience. So generally I wouldn't blame the guys doing the work. It is the in-house guys that have to deal with the faults.

Re: Contractors
 

yes i guess the training or lack of obviously does have an impact, but there is a underlying attitude with the majority of out sourced engineers weather they are fully trained or not and that is they don't really care for the job or its product....its just a job its been the same for years and will continue and this is because the out sorced contract company doesn't give a hoot about the tech and will load up the engineer with jobs regardless and then expect him or her to complete everything to the standard VM sets. now I maybe wrong here but in house techs including service are able to not do jobs once they have reached daily hours limit or there abouts, I guess thanks to a union which contract companies are just not interested in. This was never an option for me (contractor) you were out till you were done. My minimum day was 10 hours! and this was 5 days and then 6 with forced overtime. When quite often I used to work out the hours I worked against the weekly pay my hourly rate was comparable to someone on a minimum wage and that is no bs. so cutting corners had become part of my tech skills... laughable until you realise that most other techs do the same on every job.

When will someone from these large companies take on board that continually giving an engineer lots/too much work will result in major corner cutting to a level where the engineer incorporates this attitude with every job he completes. This is a result of overworked and undervalued engineers and the fact that this is how the industry has operated for years and I don't think it will change soon.

Re: Contractors
 

I totally agree with beller, when I was on VM we were permanently laoded with work and long hours. Since I have been with Kellys on BT I am never over loaded, so I get plenty of time to do everything right. I was speaking to my manager about our fault rate and ELFs on BT compared to VM and he told me that we are doing a great job, our faults %s are tiny. he said that there is a misconseption amongst Openreach engineers that the faults are high because we do not have access to the complete network, for example we dont enter into UG joints, only OR engineers are allowed in there, so we refer those jobs back. Some OR guys think that they are our faults, but they are not, its just the rules that we have been asked to follow!! If openreach want us to access the the ug joints we are already accredited to do it!! dont understand why we are not allowed to finish some of the jobs! but thats the rules

Re: Contractors
 

I second everything beller has said. Cutting corners is the only way to get the job done and get home. VM need to take note and bring it back in house, look after the guys etc.

Re: Contractors
 

Someone posted earlier about modem installs etc. I have just heard for my manager that Kellys have won a huge contract with BT to upgrade old modems to faster ones in readiness for fibre to the home. he said they are in the process of hireing and training an additional 300 techs to carry out the project over the next 12 months. He said average salary for 5 day will be 20k. I cant see that any of the installers on kellys BT install will be interested in moving over to do the modem work as we are all on more than 25k now for 5 days, but it might suit the guy in the earlier post above who is still on cable tv work, hope this helps

Re: Contractors
 

Hi can anyone tell me me if Kellys are recruiting in Scotland for the BT Openreach contract? I used to work for Mcnicholas on Virgin Media and ive heard kellys contract is a good one. Also can anyone tell me whats involved with the BT contract? and would I be suitable as I only worked with Mcnicholas for 8 months

Re: Contractors
 

I work for fujitsu just now and I wish mc nicks still had the contract to be fair! I am thinking about moving to Kelly's I no 12 people left to go to them in a week

Re: Contractors
 

I wasnt too keen on mcnicholas I worked in glasgow on the old cabletel network which I liked compared to the telewest one money wasnt to bad but long hrs just didnt stack up and working every saturday starts to grind tou down. I would like get a start with Kellys as soon as , so any info would be greatly appriciated!!;)

Re: Contractors
 

am wanting to get a start with Kelly's aswell you get 4 jobs a day on 21k do any more ur on like 24 to 28k, it can't be as hard is working virgin, the health and safty is high with Kelly's

Re: Contractors
 

well the job i just started is turning out to be a bit of a nightmare doing sky with lots of weekend work leaves me no family or social life. Kellys defo seems to be the way to go so if you here anythin let me no or vice-versa mate! do u stay in scotland

Re: Contractors
 

yeah i stay in scotland mate, you? kellys have the contract for edinbugh and gl;asgow and m j quinn have fife and dundee but they are self employed. Only probs with kellys is they only have year contracts with bt as thats all they do

Re: Contractors
 

Aye a stay on the outskirts of Glasgow the most a know just now is ma mate who worked way me at virgin had his master socket installed by kellys a few months ago and he reckons they are gonig to ramp up recruitment after christmas fingers crossed! he said the fibre thing way bt is goig to take off big time apperently but if a find out any more i'll let u know

Re: Contractors
 

i have a number for kellys to get a job if you say u work for virgin you will get a start, the training is in coventry and you have to get your own way down but they give you a van for traveling home in and pay for your hotel and stuff

Re: Contractors
 

how do people go about getting a job as a BT installer or engineer tech?

Re: Contractors
 

you really need a bit of experience behind you if you have go to contractor web sites and apply

Re: Contractors
 

yeah that would be great mate have you tried them already? like a said a worked for virgin a few years ago so using 9083 meters and butt fones muxs and cabinets is still quite fresh also i think my nrswa unit 2 is in date a dont think i can take much more of the company i work for just now!

---------- Post added at 20:06 ---------- Previous post was at 19:54 ----------

ment to say install tech if you have that number fo kellys recruitment that would be great but could you send it pm and i'll poss get it thr mora off to bed jst done a 12 hr shift.cheeers mate

Re: Contractors
 

Hi install tech got that number cheers! gave it afone but just rang out but i will try again tomorrow thats ma day off i work for avc the monet good but u really got to work 4 it!

Re: Contractors
 

i have seen alot of avc vans about fife, when i spoke to one of them they said it was rubbish money and travel alot, cant be as bad as fujitsu

Re: Contractors
 

hi all long time since i posted anything,for those of you that have had enough of the FTel promises ,MAP are back on the scene installing TiVO boxes for Virgin, i hear they are on the look out for people dont know rates or hours,

Re: Contractors
 

All seems to be a bit of a mess with these contractors flying around doesnt it!

Re: Contractors
 

ftel promises alot but never delivered nothing, a don't think they know what it involved and how hard it would be as they have never done install side of virgin

Re: Contractors
 

McNic and all the sites I have been to is, at the moment, awful. Moral is drastically low, staff going sick with stress, quality of work down so low. The amount of tivo work is crazy and alot of guys dont bother with talk through's because they dont have the time. Dare I say it, im not enjoying my job anymore.

Re: Contractors
 

jayjay are u from England or Scotland? mcnic only have London contract as far as I no and av never heard nothing about map, we are doing 5 to 6 tivos a day and the work load we get is far to much its always late nights start at 8 and don't get home till about 8 or 9. I am doing 2mans myself and that includes pulling in the drops but managers don't care because they are in there house looking at all the jobs from there

Re: Contractors
 

England mate. McNic's have the whole South of England. Wales across to london and down!

Tivo's id say its around 6/7 a day, mainly migrate relocates or tivo quads, so time consuming.

Doing 2 mans on your own? Seriously? Not a chance on my watch mate! How are they getting away with you doing that? I agree with the manager situation, it happens down this end of the country to.

Re: Contractors
 

yup I get paid the two man rate but do it myself and of the digs are big I might get a help but it's hard grafting, I was working in London for 5 weeks birmingham for 3 weeks and got agued when they kept asking me to work away all the time. jayjay how come u never moved to Kelly's when they went to bt?

Re: Contractors
 

I never worked for Kellys, I worked for Avonline before. If I did, I would of gone right to BT.

At least you get paid 2 man rate but you must work like a train!

Re: Contractors
 

install tech tried that number again today twice just rang out, have you spoke to penny yet or know of any start dates?

also whats the working week like on kellys,any idea?

Re: Contractors
 

a no a lot of ppl that's went to them 12 from uddinston one of them gave me penny's number I will get a email address for u, they work mon to fri n work from 8 till abt 6

Re: Contractors
 

I can confirm that MAP are doing installs and its not just tivo migrates as they were promised its now full install work and pre pulling there own cables the week before. As far as im aware they are in the Manchester area,teeside and Glasgow. Its all there lads from the ccu project so that looks like its been stopped

Re: Contractors
 

that sounds good to me mate! a would really like a crack at kellys

Re: Contractors
 

Does anyone work for mjquinns? Or kellys in north east England? What are Quinn like to work? Any advice would be greatly appreciated... also I'm hearing kellys are being dropped by bt openreach and Quinns are getting majority of the work?? Few lads i know were working for kellys in north east but said conditions were terrible...
Thanx in advance!!

Re: Contractors
 

BT Openreach have just booted out a lot of the night team agency guys. They were completing the llu broadband work. Most areas will be changing to days in the new year. BT have done this because of the new agency rules coming in soon and were going to see a 50% cost increase.
From my own experience anything to do with Kelly's is risky!

Re: Contractors
 

anyone done any work for fujitsu on the virgin media contract? i have an interview on friday and would be leaving quite a good job.

Re: Contractors
 

i have worked on the business side of VM contract for over 10 years,having worked for as a sub contractor for Enterprise,Map FTel 1st time,these have to be the worst by far, bullsh1t and lies DO NOT LEAVE A DECENT JOB TO WORK FOR FTEL

Re: Contractors
 

Does anyone know the latest on McNicholas in the Bristol area?
Ive heard that they are on a warning or two from VM for poor performance and that Avonline have picked up some of the work again.
Is there any truth in this? would be interesting to find out if anyone knew

Re: Contractors
 

Whrere is your interview being held?

Re: Contractors
 

in liverpool mate

Re: Contractors
 

Good luck getting hamered with with quads and triples all day with a site manager who just laughs at you in the morning as he gives you the work

Re: Contractors
 

Yeah they have got till the April to sort it out. If they don't vm will probably kick them into touch and get another contractor. And it will just keep going on like this forever. I think there is one common denominator for all these contractor?????

Re: Contractors
 

To much work in to little time, and that is the bottom line in my opinion

Re: Contractors
 

can i earn good money doing this type of work?

Re: Contractors
 

i dont know what the fujitsu contract pays the older contracts are where the real money is. But as long as your ready to put the work in i cant see why £80-90 a day isnt achievable

---------- Post added at 22:38 ---------- Previous post was at 22:28 ----------

I heard fujitsu are in the same boat they were on a pip that they failed big time. But as long as these contractors keep the same management in charge of the sites things will never change.

Re: Contractors
 

I work for Fujitsu and u really need to work hard and long how's to make any money! if it was me I wouldn't join a contractor again! the management are hopeless and don't care about anything they are only interested in how many job have been completed in a day, and as redone says the management laugh at you coz there sitting in a office or there house

Re: Contractors
 

Wisdom would say, stay where you are at present with your good job ;)

Re: Contractors
 

i work in manchester for fujitsu on the new price per job my last two monthly wages have been over 2500 pounds .fujitsu seem to be gettiin better its just taking time .if your new to installing you will find it hard ive done this job for fifteen years and woudnt like to start now having never done it before.but i still enjoy it

Re: Contractors
 

is there any reviews on m j Quinn on the bt contact? I want away from Fujitsu ASAP as there thiefs [mod edit] and the pay is crap, they treat you like crap because they no I will not leave

Re: Contractors
 

I've read this thread with interest for a while now. I have had the displeasure of working for a few contractors and also in house at virgin.

My advice to anybody thinking of getting a job in the cabling industry would be DO NOT DO IT. To the contractors you are just seen as a disposable number. They treat you like excrement. The money can be good but sometimes by the time you've worked out the actual hours you've worked for the pay it can be no better than a minimum wage. For that reason it would probably be better to work in McDonald's as you would probably get more job satisfaction! I noticed that a lot of the older guys in the cabling industry seemed like bitter angry men. I did not want to end up like that.

I left a contractor at the end of last year to start a new job this year. It's my dream job and it's a refreshing change to be treated as an individual and with respect. I would never go back into the industry.

It's a shame because certain parts of the job are good but the bad far outweigh them.

So good luck to anybody wanting to get a job in the industry but my advice would be that if you value your health, sanity and quality time with your family, steer well clear!!!

Re: Contractors
 

I would think 90% of sub contracted engineers feel the same.....I did!

Re: Contractors
 

daryls I would agree 100% you don't have a social life, long hours, stressful and bad for your health! if I didn't have a morgage and kid I would walk out any day I am only 22 and this is house I feel about this, it doesn't matter would sub u work for there all the same

Re: Contractors
 

just out of interest.. how do people get a job working for networks? just going around swapping out amps, and line taps etc.

Is it something you move over to after starting off on installs or service tech? or are special qualifications required?

Re: Contractors
 

I worked my way up installs install supervisor,Service ,Networks ,It would be nice if thats all we do .But i do transmission faults ,look after SDH ,HFC faults laser faults .Help service out when they give them to much work or assign work to a tech who is not in .Look after the power supplys in the cab change batteries over etc .
When i started in 1995 we did everything here and were taught how to use the kit .Some of the service techs here come in on there days off to learn and when its not busy they are given downtime to come out with us .But as you know downtime is a dirty word and the techs are always busy .But it looks good when a network job comes up and you have more of a understanding of what we do :)

Hi thanks for clarifying that.

Lol just wondered because although I have no inside knowledge doing network maintenance like amps, batteries, laser faults and installation etc on network side doesnt sound so bad, even with the other stuff you mentioned lol. Compared to the complaints you hear of install techs being over worked.. So I just wondered how people got a job on networks.. Assumed that people applied directly for those jobs and had some kinda qualifications.

Id imagine now it's harder to get a job in networks than years gone by.. Remember when bell cable came here.

Even remember them digging up all the roads round here putting in the ducting and infrastructure then men with clipboards following door to door signing people up onto the new cable network.

We signed up, and a van load of guys turned up, some were digging the garden and pulling the cable while 2 others were inside cabling everything up lol was about 3 or 4 guys and everything was done in 1 sweep.

Now seems to be a case of 1 team comes out and pulls the cable, another team comes out a few days later to connect it. Or if new install
2nd person on their own does the in house install.


So probably loads more overworked leaving less time for those days off where they can learn about the networks, and when gaps do appear probably really competitive I'd imagine with people desperate to get off installs onto networks lol.

But seems to be possible though to get up the chain quickly guess it depends on the person... When I had who I'm guessing was a principle tech out he barely looked 20 lol.

No idea how he got promoted to that role so quickly. Or is it just pot luck you get the job to begin with instead of a normal service tech.

But does seem to be getting worse.. We left vm for a few years then returned 6 years ago..

Even then person came out to do the install, found damaged drop cable, then came back later on in the afternoon with another guy to help him pull a replacement cable.. And we was online same day, pulled, dug in and connected

But now 6 years later if cable was damaged then installer would go, wait a week got cable to get pulled then another week for somebody to come back to dig it in and connect

Re: Contractors
 

Heard today from an ex colleague of mine who is still working on the Kelly bt contract that they are changing their pay from salary to price work.

How they can get away with this I do not know. He said a lot of guys are unhappy and trying to get out. I'm just glad I left when I did.

But it just goes to show that when contracting with the cable firms, the grass is never greener on the other side!

Re: Contractors
 

hearing sounds on the grapevine that Bt openreach are getting shut of Kellys with MJ Quinns getting all BT work

Re: Contractors
 

What a suprise! Fujitsu, however are still working for VM and doing well by all accounts.

Re: Contractors
 

Depends on who you listen to,in Yorkshire they are getting rid of there 150k a year warehouse to move to somewhere much cheaper as they are not making it pay,managers getting roasted for missing dates.the lads on the ground really pi**ed off.

Re: Contractors
 

Not surprised about Kellys. The quality just hasn't been there with them. With Quinns, not nearly the same level of problems.

Re: Contractors
 

hi all new to this , i have just landed a job with vm as a field tech anyone wanna shed some light on the sort of thing i aught to expect, i,ve been in the coms industry for nearly 20 years but have allways been in the commercial sector,i,m useed to doing fibre teminations cat5 cat 6 and av installs

Re: Contractors
 

just started myself, knew the hours were gonna be long but not that long

Re: Contractors
 

looks like nobody is happy working for virgin media , i,ve got a start on 6 feb and have to go to brum for training ,but will bwe working in the sheffield area; at my interview i wastold long hours hard work and fast paced from the off, i heard that contractors are the lowest of the low , at the interview i was made aware of what seemed to be the bad points but also that there are plenty of opertunaties for advacement, i have been in the coms industrie for almost 20 years but have only worked for 2 companies for probably 15, reat being on contractor basis ,for the last year and a half i,ve been at bt as a frames tech working on bau and bulk migration ,bt dont seem to have theire act together as all the sheffield and links staff have all been laid off ,so it looks as tho i,m going from bad to worst , or is the genaral state of the comms industry that bad at the moment and not going to get out of the slump its been in for the lasst few years , any comments would be greatfull

Re: Contractors
 

less than 12 months ago when Kellys won the Bristol contract for installs they told the techs that they would be working less hours for more money.
Sounds win win but as it turns out they work exactly the same hours as before (50/60+) but get about £30 a week more. They say its not the money its the hours they have to work day in and day out that kills it

Re: Contractors
 

Are you going to be working in-house or for a contractor? I presume the later.

If in-house, you can expect 16 service calls for a 10 hour day, and travel time between calls is not taken into account.

If working for a contractor, well lets say something like 7-9 installs a day with a mix of singles, duals and triples in there and you'll work until you are done for that day, and probably get paid per job, so no complete, no pay :dozey:

Re: Contractors
 

loevelly sounds as tho its gonna be hard going , its for fujitsu ,as they are the only ones involved ,

---------- Post added at 12:37 ---------- Previous post was at 12:36 ----------

my install skills are better than my spelling

Re: Contractors
 

How does that work then? Have Fujitsu thrown the National Minimum Wage laws out the window then? That makes no sense.

When you say you worked for BT, did you actually or were you a contractor?

Re: Contractors
 

Worked as a contractor thru hays

Re: Contractors
 

Me too, got the boot just before Christmas because of the new agency regulations and BT were panicking about the cost. They asked me to go back in early Jan but the contract is only going to last a few months at the most. The contractors are treated like dirt. Most of the work being done by us whilst the BT staff watched films on their laptops! Done it on and off since 2006 and fed up with the dreaded visit from the manager when you were being stood down from the contract and being told "we might need you back soon..." The Oxford and Wales patch has all transferred to days but being sent 30 or 40 miles away from home and expected to travel in their own time. The job sucks now. After taking the dollar from BT in early 2000 the exchanges are a disgrace, with quality gone out of the window.:shocked:

Re: Contractors
 

Why did you leave BT in 2000?

Re: Contractors
 

ye just found out all agency frames staff have gone aswell so not looking good for new year ,all in all a perfect example of managment no tlistening to the ones that matter,
saw a mate who,s been with bt 30 odd years and he is going ape about the amount of work he has to do on migration,96 circiuts a shift ,anywhoo damage done will be in liverpool monday for my training with vm , happy days

Re: Contractors
 

Voluntary Redundancy . Saw the £££ signs and fed up with climbing poles,pulling out lead cable that according to BT didn't exist, **** managers, sneaky coaches, constant changing of patches and being so accident prone I decided to leave before my wife became a widow!!!:angel: But saying that a nice little exchange job would have suited me but for internal BT politics at the time...:td:

Re: Contractors
 

I disagree. They seem fine to me, in my area anyway.

Re: Contractors
 

as fujitsu meant to say they are the only contractor all others in north have gone apparantly

Re: Contractors
 

Go to High Wycombe or Slough and you'll see what I mean.;)

Re: Contractors
 

Evening all, Sorry to jump onto this thread but dont know where else I could really ask this question. I am possibly going to be working for comex 2000 based in Essex and wondered if anyone had any info on this company? Cant really find much on them on internet. From the sounds of it on this thread other contractors are a bit iffy and I just want to avoid walking into a nightmare, any advice would be greatfully recieved. Thanks :)

Re: Contractors
 

trying to find a contact number for quinns can anyone please help

Re: Contractors
 

Virgin Media and Fujitsu and further subcontracting......mmmmm

Just completed training for a sub contractor to Fujitsu for the VM Tivo upgrades.
I would agree with what others have said about the job as described bearing no resemblance to reality. Original job offer was for 6-8 Virgin Tivo upgrades per day in customer homes local to depot. £10.00 per job, tools ? , clothing , van and fuel card , payment through the usual umbrella company scenario.
Turns out the job will be Tivo, re-locating V+ boxes, Broadband upgrades and installs in bedrooms if required , hence ladder use etc etc etc......
Additionally the Fujitsu points scheme for payment is to be adopted next week meaning a broadband upgrade will be paid less (£5.00 approx) but will still involve travelling contacting customer etc.
I spent a day with a tech and between 8am and 6pm we achieved 8 jobs of which I went off and did 3 myself. We didn't stop for a break and all the jobs were between 20 and 30 miles from the depot. Add to this stock ordering and acquisition and pre-planning of the work load all in your own time, plus job sheets, time sheets, mileage sheets, it really is taking the ****...but then when a company sub contracts to a company that then sub contracts and then insists on paying an umbrella company what do you expect....

Another friend has just started with Fujitsu on cable installation and wants to leave (£60 a day) but has been told to read his contract. Apparently he owes them £1000 for the training if he leaves within 12 months !!! anyone else heard of this ?

Thankfully it looks like the BT LLU contracting is back on the cards. Seemed a bit naff at the time but compared to what is available now it was pretty good.

Re: Contractors
 

Yes mate this is in the contract, ive just finished my training at Fujitsu which was not very good at all.

what i dont get is how can they take it if you dont have it there :) or if you want to leave, best to get sacked imo then save 1000 pounds

im gonna give it a try and see what i think.

and the 60 a day is whilst training.

Re: Contractors
 

If the training has not cost Ftel £1000 then surely this is thinly veiled blackmail, and 'sharp practice' ?

As you say the best option is probably to get sacked.
Another problem with these positions and the VM customer installs is the personal liability for all the equipment 'issued' to you for the installations.
I could not get an answer as to who was liable for the kit if it was stolen from my van ?

Re: Contractors
 

Good point i never fought to ask that.
i had half a day to do a triple install. without being shown as i have never worked for VM before lol.
We did streetworks, ladder test, cable pull, and thenrest was pc based doing Ignite.
I could have done with more help on the Telco side of things. but hey hoe.
Start this week shadowing an engineer , so i should learn more.

Re: Contractors
 

I met with a private contractor on Friday in Ealing and he was telling me that he comes from Birmingham, as London contractors could not be trusted.

He says that there have been so many complaints regarding a certain company that VM have pulled a plug on them, BUT he didn't work for the companies that have been on this thread.

And they only do Five instals per day.

Re: Contractors
 

yes Fujitsu took the contract from Kelly's

and now MAP have the contract to tidy up the DP's {Green Cabinets}

Re: Contractors
 

been workin on the vm contract for a month now, think the job is good but just cant see how you can make money without getting home at 10 at night some nights.i done 1 week in birmingham and then shadowed someone for a week, think the actual job is good but not the hours for the pay

Re: Contractors
 

so are you on a 2 man van doin cable pulls ?

ive done 2 weeks training, and will now shadow an engineer, as im goin single van man.

Re: Contractors
 

You have hit the nail on the head there. This type of work has always been interesting but at what price ?

Too many companies subbying means those at the bottom of the pile actually doing the work will not get enough pay, or have to work ridiculous hours.

Re: Contractors
 

two man mate, shadowed an engineer doin the insides then got shafted to be a 2 man gang, so dont get your hopes up mate, it seems like all the new starters are being 2 man gangs to do the worst jobs.

---------- Post added at 17:47 ---------- Previous post was at 17:44 ----------

thats it mate, promised i was gonna be workin on my own but been put with some kid, so even less money, great.

Re: Contractors
 

im on installs doing between 6-9 1man jobs and if im not in my house by 2 im not happy saw some new guy doing an install at the bottom of my road last week and he was there for about 5hrs (normal 3 bed terrace) i dont know what some people do. As for the money i heard fujitsu was paying well a few mates doing exceptionally well on the new terms

---------- Post added at 20:23 ---------- Previous post was at 20:22 ----------

even on 2man with 4-5 i would expect to be home by 4 at the latest

Re: Contractors
 

I feel sorry for VM installers, if they are working long hours for peanuts.

Major companies expect too much from therefore workforce, its the same old story from managers ' if l can do it, so can you'

Re: Contractors
 

i guess it would depend on what the installs were, triples, quads etc, then waiting for the Tivo box to download, even if this is hooked up first :)

Re: Contractors
 

Any news on what MJ Quinns are like;FTel are killing me slowly ive been here over 10yrs doing business/network and can no longer work with incompitant halfwits who could not oraganise a **** up in a brewery,they have no idea of how to run a bath never mind a multi million pound contract,they are without doubt the worst contractor,they should stick to being a managment company like before when they ran the business contract before Map,then they had 1 comms manager and 1 civils manager and they talked unlike now when there is an office full with not 1 person taking charge each doing little bits of the job then ****in on the lads that have done this job for years,VM get rid of all the old Map and NMC managers give FTel the contract but and let them be a managment company only leave the work on the ground to people who have done this for years and are excellent at it,if not everyone will leave and with that take vast knowledge of the network with them SOMEONE PLEASE LISTEN