We all do it especially men!  We buy a new electrical gizmo, we assemble it then we plug it in and hey-presto it doesn’t work!  What do we do next? Look in the instruction manual? Not a chance.  We try plugging it in, in another socket!  No still doesn’t work,  You think to yourself I know I’ll press every button on the control panel until it makes a noise!  No still doesn’t work, I’ll phone Geoff who I work with he knows loads about electrics!  Your laughing but we all do it.

The “Instruction Manual” is still in the plastic wrapper inside the box next to the foam wrapping!  I’m trying to work out this pathological distain that we have for instruction Manuals?  It reminds me of the time I spent working at “Warranty Holdings”  This insurance company sold and administered aftermarket Warranties for all makes and models of second hand cars.

I had a referral from one of the call centre agents, requesting I phone back a garage in London that had a weird electrical fault on a Volkswagen, and it was way beyond the call centre agents technical knowledge.  My job was as “Technical Support” I would have to make the final decision if a claim was to be agreed and paid for, by the insurance company.

I called the independent local garage back and spoke to the mechanic involved in the repair.  He said the V.W. Golf had a weird electrical problem that is, when the driver selected the driver’s switch for the side door mirror, with the intent to adjust the angle of the glass, both the passenger side mirror glass moved in time with the drivers side (I.e. they worked together off of the same switch I.e. left and right together).

V.W. Golf MK IV

The mechanic said he was sure the “Toggle Switch” had shorted out inside and he wanted to replace the switch, the new switch was £34.00 and the labour was £40.00.  This sounded reasonable and I agreed the claim and issued an “Authority to repair number”  Two hours later I took a call from the same garage and the same mechanic who said  “ I’ve replaced the switch and it still does it,  both the mirrors move together its so weird, I’m calling in an electrical specialist, and I’ll call you back”