Rants, Rages, and general stress b****ing

OK guys let it out here. It seems there is a lot of anger and such out here. How about we put it here instead of on one of our own. Let it rip.

PS sorry admin I guess it's probably not the right place but...

I'll start:



I can't stand when some genius moves my barricades, Then complains that the elevator's not working and when the hell am I gonna finally fix it.

Aquadag

My all time favorite is when they tell you that they have had to walk the stairs all day...

WTF!

I started to tell them every building we go to we have to use the stairs too!

Whats is there too complain about? I don't have to sit behind a desk all day, I get paid for what I know, my brain gets a daily workout on complex problems the tougher the better, I get to work with live electricity, I get to ride the best roller coaster in the world (cartop at 1400fpm), and everyday I learn something new.

Yeah there is some stuff in this trade that gets on my nerves but there isn't anything else in the world I rather be doing. I fix problems only a few people in this city can. 2-3 hours troubleshooting racking my brain and then I fix it...most satisfying feeling in the world to me.

What pisses me off is a fellow mechanic leaving a job worst then they found it. Someone who takes no pride in what we do, someone who throws in a crap job and is willing to put their name on it. We make damn good money so do you job right, fix it right the first time, don't half ass Crap, and clean up behind yourself.

I actually had to pull an arrogant asshole out of an escalator pit once. And the whole time was screaming about how he was going to sue me, the store and everyone else within eyesight. After reviewing the security tapes, this jackass actually ripped the stores do not enter/caution tape, slid two velvet rope stands out of the way, kicked down my barricade and then proceeded to fall head first into the pit. He said he was in a rush and was going walk up the escalator instead of walking seven more steps and waiting for the elevator. He deserved every stitch he got. Its hard to feel sorry for stupidity.

I was told 'Your an effing c***' on the first day on the job at a shopping centre when we had cordoned off a travelator, which had a step out and we were running it and I told a rather large lady she had to walk another 15m's to the lifts. Suffice it to say I kept my mouth shut, but my boss politely told this lady the direction where to go.

Brett
What's a travelator? Is that the Brand name or a local term down under!

cleaning pits one day, was taking an old corn broom to the trash when the building maintenance supervisor asked me if i was riding that home???? bit my tongue!! not the first time he has made a smart ass remark.

"bet your job has a lot of ups and downs" good one, never heard that one before
"is this safe to ride?" you and 3 other people are in the car
"this elevator is broken again" havent been to the building in months
"im not going to hurt you if i push this button, right?" push before answer

Ha sorry mate, a Trav-O-lator is the brand name for an Otis moving walkway however this wasn't the brand I was working on. I've just used it as a generic name for a moving walkway.

Trav-o-lator IS an OTIS trademark...seems to be a common term for this type of equipment...others call it "moving walks" etc!!!
Just like Kone when they bought out the Monospace...then all MRLs seemed to be refered to them as that.
Oh just to add my 2 cents worth...why do they have such silly names for models/ companies.....schindler has the "smart" which isnt (especially the early ones) and Brilliant elevators dont seem to be...LOL

Otis calls the J with glass a J-aire....instead of a escalator its a escalaire....

I officially hate MRLS again. Lost a brake coil on a Torin machine today. Tomorrow ill be hanging the car removing the ropes, Guess great job security for the future I guess.

hhhhmm...lemme see, all of the above are awesome! I was in a truss, inside the step band with four steps removed one day at a department store, barricades up, signs up,locked and tagged. It was a big ol Westinghouse "N". I hear this thump, thump coming up the stairs. I peak out of the truss and a woman is cussing at me. "don't you stop me, I have my rights!" she hollers. I'm so surprised I just stared at her, not knowing what to say. She jumps over me and continues up the steps. When I was much younger, my Mechanic and I were cleaning a hydro pit. The doors were open and a barricade was up. The hall doors were closed on a screw driver with about four inches of an opening. Next thing I know the hall doors fly open and my Mechanic is holding a woman in his arms

Thanks Brett & Kiwi

I was all theory and absolutely no practical for walk ways or escalators. Strangely I've only ever helped other mechanic when they need a pair of hands and no one else was available.

Greenpants, I get those comments too! They are not as funny as they seem to think they are. But I politely acknowledge their attempt at humor. I've certainly fell short on many attempts. What I would like would be an arsenal of witty responses!

Most of these stories back the saying you cant fix stupid. I was out in some small town on a 3 stop hydro. Didn't have a barricade so I grabbed a chair taped a out of order sign and placed it inside the car. Walked out to my truck grabbed a couple things and met the building owner who gave me access to the machine room. Put the car on door disconnect and hit the main line to swap a relay. I get a call on my cell of a entrapment. Took me a second to put two and two together it was on the car I was working on. I ran up to the second floor popped the door open and there was a lady inside the cab. I had the lights turned off and that chair inside the car. She told me that she thought the sign on the chair meant the lights in the elevator were out of order or the chair was out of order. I got a good laugh out of that one.

What is it with people having sex in an elevator?.

I just fixed the last problem in the group controller in a 4 bank of neglected dovers. I was on my way out for the day checking the cars one last time and the number 1 car stops about 2 foot or so above the first floor. I heard the arrival ding but no doors? So in a panic I open the door to the elevator to see if anyone was trapped and there was a very old and I mean old, nurse and a porter just banging away. I knew these two from around the hospital. Let's just say we were all embarrassed. But none more than the 60 year old nurse pulling here panties up in a shameful rush. And the porter running down the hallway trying to put away and hide a boner. It was 4:00 on a Friday so the 4 bank lobby was full of people. Glad it wasn't my grandparents. EWWW was most definitely the words that came to my mind. Oh yeah and they were both married, just not to each other. Neither of them could look me in the eyes for a while. I so wanted to just "bark like a dog" every time I saw one of them

I love it when you have an elevator down in a bank and someone (almost always a women) runs up hits the button looks at their watch and then snarls at you thanks now I will be late to work. Now that is cutting it close.. Had a buddy that had all his barricades up and the steps removed on an escalator. He is bent over working and hears a noise and looks up and here comes a guys with his suitcase.(this was at the airport)balancing from step axel to axel down the unit!!!!

Greenpants awesome you nailed that. Generic public comments are so awesome

"bet your job has a lot of ups and downs" good one, never heard that one before
"is this safe to ride?" you and 3 other people are in the car
"this elevator is broken again" havent been to the building in months
"im not going to hurt you if i push this button, right?" push before answer

Cant forget about the people who have been in an elevator or saw one that "free fell"
and also
"cant you guys do this at night?" sign here please

I do get this one retired engineer a few times a year that watches me oil my escalators and is still waiting for me to start lubricating them with water. yep, he once kept a whole factory running on water instead of oil. Has done many experiments and published some papers at the University. Hes not the usual escalator loiterer tho, he would have definitely fooled me had it not been for the obvious.

i forgot the "cant you do this at night?" comments. i always reply to those with the standard "can't you walk the stairs?" or "sorry for the inconvenience. ill just leave this elevator down until the night guy shows up" and start to put my tool away.

...My two favorites call for emergency entrapment..while you are rushing to get there ..fifeteen minutes later they cancel the call got the people out ..no service needed till am..or better yet they call and all the elevators are not working..unless there is a power problem or fire service issue..you know this is only a ploy to get you there faster..how many times do you fall for this one...definitely not worth risking your life racing to a call..

Lets not forget the 3AM wake up call from the answering service telling you about the broken elevator that they don't want worked on till the next morning!!!!!!

ooo-good one Dan-"They just want first thing, am service" That call made use to make me so angry I could'nt get back to sleep!

When the answering service calls and says the customer says my eta is unsatisfactory.

When I was at the big K-I got a call one night, about 2am. I live in the DFW area and the call was in Washington state-they wanted an ETA, I told the Lady "well, its probably about two days" She didnt like that "I'll have to call your supervisor, thats just unacceptable"

Haha this happened to me. Got a call to a job, went and had a look but it was ok on arrival. Then had another call a hour later that said the lift is still out, which I said was ok when I checked it so again I went and it was still running. I rang back and the call centre called the client, which she said she was standing in front of the lift which was still down. I then twigged that they have got the address wrong and said are you sure its the Melbourne address? silence then ah no actually Dandenong hence the confusion!! Same address wrong suburb!

Getting a little tired of the classic; How come the other guy didn't fix it?

I just want to say, how the f should I know, and throw in the disclaimer that it might break again. I find the customers who usually use this line, have the oldest, most run down equipment yet expect flawless operation from it.

Or they want your personal guarantee that it is fixed. I tell them Midas is the only one I know that guarantee.

haha I agree. We have a tool company here, Sidchrome, who used to offer a lifetime guarantee on its socket sets, so I used to say unfortunately if want a guarantee buy a sidchrome socket set!! They didn't get the joke most of the time!

A new one I'm getting lately is when I lose a relay or module the building owner wants to know why no preventive maintenance was performed to prevent this shut down.

I pointed a light bulb and said can you tell me when that bulb will quit working, his answer was no. Any electrical component can go out any time. We do perform controller maintenance and tighten all connections, ohm out all contacts on relays and check the resistance on the coils of the contactors but that only tells me so much. He was not amused by my explanation.

Classic corporate people that dont say hello or good morning when they pass by you, but come cry on our knees as soon as you put the out of order sign. Nothing amuses more

oh i got a good one for preventive maintenance..... old otis ucl 1960ish, the wires from the controller to the generator insulation got so old and brittle that it broke off and ground out on the inside of the splice box. emails went flying.....customer wanted to know why we don't check this on our visits? after getting my ear chewed off for about 10 min. about how i didn't catch this i "nicely" ask the customer why his expert elevator consultant didn't check this??? no answer, and more emails went flying!!!!

On this note, the building was passing out wax highlighters for some sort of fund raiser going on downtown. I was sitting behind the security desk filling out my work log that I carry with me. A CEO of a multi-billion oil and gas company came up the console and told the guard that he loves this lip balm they are handing out. She replied that's awesome where are they handing out that out. I looked up from what I was doing and this 7 figure salary genius has been putting highlighter on his lips. Made my day.......

My pet peeves besides the usual public idiot or property manager without a clue .(usually a women I hate to say) ANYHOW... is being finally called out to fix something three other people have worked on and screwed up way beyond the original problem. I call it fighting your way back to the original problem.
The other is dealing with mod crews that mark all wiring cables as BR JR SR.... Bill remembers, John remembers, Sam remembers. lol
I mean for God's sake.. you go to the car top or MR with strippers, wiring screwdrivers, electrical tape... can you remember wiring tags or at least white tape to write on ?
I don't know how many times I have seen guys cross two identical travel cables because they " thought" they remembered which one was which.

Your just simply standing in the lobby of a bank of three, in uniform, and some guy or gal asks, "Are they all out?" Sometimes I wanna just say (with a straight face), "Yes they are, ALL OVEM".

I don't want to ride that one you are always working on it. Just point at the car next to it and say I never work on that one.

My favorite is when we are riding the elevator. Every once in a while someone will turn to me and say "I feel better knowing you riding with me". Well I was having a bad day! I turned to the person and said "do you have a cell phone?". The person asked why? I then informed her "if we're stuck she is SH T out of luck" ...

Oops!

Lucky for me she laughed....

lol, when they say that to me I reply with "We can all yell for help together!"

Some people laugh, some just get akward

When they say " oh, I'm glad I'm riding with the right person" i always tell them that we are trained to scream real loud.

I get that all the time, " if we get stuck we're with the right person". I always say,"no because I don't have any food or drink". Nervous laughter all around.

we can fight over who presses the call button!!

"Why don't the elevators stay running?"
All things made by mankind break, busses, trains, planes, your car...

"Your service technician just left, and now the elevator is broken again"
Do you know exactly what is broken? No? Then let's take a look at it first, maybe it's something completely unrelated. We'll let you know exactly what it is.

"You guys just serviced my elevator last month, and now it's broken"
If I changed a flat tire on your car last month, and this month your engine blows up, that doesn't mean I did something wrong, does it? (The automotive analogy goes a long way to dissuade mypoic, distrustful building managers [I didn't say female!] who know nothing about mechanics and electrical issues from vaguely connecting unrelated events. Everyone knows at least a little smidgeon about cars)

"Why are these elevators so slow?"
All these elevators are actually running at design speed. The problem started when the architect intentionally under-elevated the building, to maximize the leasable floor space, and return on investment for the owner. This duplex should be a tri-plex. This four car group should be a six-car group. Etc.

"I have a maintenance contract, why do we have these problems?"
Some things can be prevented with lubrication, adjustment, checking vital metrics of performance, parts replacement, etc. But spontaneous component failures such as the failure of an intergrated circuit chip aren't within anyones control.

"Why are the elevators always broken?"
How old is your car? What would you expect if your car was 20 years old? (30? 40? etc)

"Why doesn't somebody fix them?"
All it takes is money. (Would they care to contribute?)

"Your tech doesn't seem like he knows what he is doing"
I have reviewed the issues, and the actions taken, and find that he acted properly in every case. It is more a matter of how he presents himself, and relates the issues verbally, rather than the course he took. (Then I go give the mechanic a "tune-up" of my own!)

"Seems like we're always having problems"
If they don't run too bad, you could say they are running at or better than national averages.
If below average, you might point out that this equipment was the low bid winner, and was not even top-of-the-line "back then", and now they are aging.

(OF course, all these comebacks are only to be said if you are DOING YOUR JOB, DOING YOUR BEST. Never use any of these comebacks to cover a lack of performance. They are just offered here for help in dealing with the public, and unreasonably critical people.

"Why are my elevators having so many problems?"
We will continue to do our best under the contract, but in time all things need replacement. No contract can stop the march of time. 2nd law of thermo dynamics, all things that have form, degrade into chaos. I'll have the office send you a modernization proposal.

"These elevators shouldn't break, if the preventive maintenance is being done"
This is an old school relay-logic controller. The relays are obsolete, and there are no direct replacements. Once the silver-cadmium plating is gone from the relay contacts, they go copper-to-copper, and pit quite easily. No amount of Preventive Maintenance can stop this, nor improve it. They are beyond their expected service life. They are soldered in, and subsitution of an equivalent is not covered by the contract, and extremely labor intensive, and expensive. Better to modernize.

"I got stuck in that one, I was so scared!" (also, "almost died, almost fell, fell to the bottom", etc)
Did you live?

"Oh my God, it's the elevator man! Is something really terribly wrong with the elevators?"
When you see a doctor, you don't automatically think someone died, do you? (Smile) Just keeping them running right!

"I'm scared of elevators, so I'm taking the stairs" (Said with as much drama as the speaker can muster)
Did you know there are ten times an many fatalities on stairs, than there are on elevators? Statistically, elevators are safer then stairs, and safer than walking.

"Is it safe to ride? I'm pertified of elevators"
Do you worry when you drive home? There are something close to 37,000 traffic fatalities annually in the USA, compared to just a few on elevators. You should really worry when you drive home. Of all forms of transportation, an elevator is the last one you need to worry about riding on.

"The elevator got stuck, and I'm scared of falling"
Elevators have like "100" brake pedals, or safety redundancies, but only one "go" pedal. If anything is the slightest bit amiss, it is built to STOP, more than it is built to run, to protect human life. Most of the time when an elevator gets stuck, it is only a slight anomally in a safety device, such a speck of dust on a contact. Compare this to your car, which is designed dimetrically opposite. Your car will let you drive forward over 100 mph, even if you have NO BRAKES! But do you worry when you drive your car? The elevator is infinitely safer than your car. If you don't worry about grabbing your keys and driving home, then you REALLY shouldn't worry about riding the elevator.

Standing in the elevator, a passenger comes in and says "Is it safe?"
Lady, if you see me taking the stairs, then it's time to worry!

Someone in the cab sees your uniform, says "Glad you're hear, in case we get stuck"
Uhm-hum, I can shriek like a bitch. (Help you scream, etc)

Looking around the cab, there are a few people, and one of them has food.
"Well, if we get stuck, at least we'll have something to eat!" Nervous awkward laughter...

Woman- "Hold the elevator, I'm coming, I'm coming!"
Oh, I thought you were just breathing heavy!

Pretty, fun-loving woman THAT YOU KNOW approaches, so hold the door for her-
Are you going down? We could go down together!

"Can this elevator fall?"

Nothing's impossible, but it has six hoist ropes, and only two are enough to hold this car. The factor of safety is tremendous. Only Hollywood elevators have that typical single, fraying cable.

Once a plane hit the Empire State Building, and a wing cut through all the hoist ropes of one of the elevators, and the governor rope. The elevator fell, but the operator actually lived, albeit injured.

I like to tell people when they start with any of the before mentioned comments...These elevators were installed in the 60s or 70s or whatever is appropriate. How many 1960 Peter Built trucks did you see on your way to work today?? How about any cars?? These elevators have well over a million miles on them and run every day 24 seven. Try leaving your keys in your car and let everyone in the neighborhood drive it and see how long it lasts.

Good one Dan, I use the 1960s or whatever age City bus analogy.

Once you compare it with something they understand like the bus you can see the light go on.

It Still remains a credit in favor of the people who service, repair, modernize and install such devices and keep them running safely. Something to be proud of and yet another reason to hold our heads high.

I would guess once the public accepts the concept of "Statue of Repose", the owners of such equipment will alert to the importance of getting full service and or modernization of legacy equipment.

Respectfully,

Robert L Krieger Jr.

Anyone that has every worked in the San Fransisco Bay area or downtown Oakland.. Lordie do I feel for you. Especially that Bart system.conveyances were horrible. smell was worse!

My favorite when when you walk in the door....How Long Is It Going To Take?

Construction guys get it from knowledgable general contractors too. If I had a dime for every time a GC asked me when his door frames were going to be installed...on freaking day one of a multi car building... God bless it, my one true peeve of our trade is time. How much time does it take to do a job right, after it is done right, that's how long it took me!

I always tried to train my apprentices and helped our younger mechanics with the same analogy. If you are known for cutting corners, being a hack, or lazy, I cannot fix your reputation. Time might, but chances are, you earned it, and will live with it. Do the job right, controllers are detailed, car tops are cleaned, etc., I can help you find flaws in procedure to save time, and get it done faster.

I agree with Silly. If you can put your name on it, you will be around a long time.

Some yahoo - "Hey mister elevator man. Can I press this button."
My reply in a serious voice - " only if you want to ride the elevator".
It's like a trick answer to them. They just look at you. Lmao.