neverwas wrote:
But do you add them to the turnover so you (may) exceed the VAT
threshold or do you scam by making the customer buy the goods?

You are right about turnover if the materials are the handyman's and
he then sells them to the customer. But a perfectly legitimate way to
avoid crossing the threshold is to get the customer to buy the
materials (albeit possibly with the handyman acting as agent).

That would be ideal actualy, if the customer bought the materials from the
supplier & I got a commission on the deal. It would solve the VAT threshold
problem & I wouldn't have to tie up my money. Alas I don't know of any
supplier that operates such a scheme.

On a few occassions the client has bought the materials but is unable to
transport them, so I go & pick them up.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In article ,
EricP wrote:
I live in north Bristol and for £20 per hour or £100 for a day I can get
several people who are reputable jobbing builders who will undertake
anything. They come with vans, tools and equipment as necessary.

£40 sounds like inner London scams.

Either you live close to the work or have to travel there. Both have to be
paid for somehow. As has parking and CG for your van.

--
*The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
neverwas wrote:
Charging £40 ph (about £60k pa) and not being VAT registered like
someone said earlier in the thread sounds like a scam though.

How so when the VAT registration threshold is currently £68,000 (see eg
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/start/reg...register.htm)?

But that would be on turnover, surely, excluding wages?

--
*Sometimes I wake up grumpy; Other times I let him sleep.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
neverwas wrote:
Charging £40 ph (about £60k pa) and not being VAT registered like
someone said earlier in the thread sounds like a scam though.

How so when the VAT registration threshold is currently £68,000 (see eg
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/start/reg...register.htm)?

But that would be on turnover, surely, excluding wages?


Turnover including wages actually. BUT if the 'customer' buys all the
materials, labour is all there is..by and large.

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
neverwas wrote:
Charging £40 ph (about £60k pa) and not being VAT registered like
someone said earlier in the thread sounds like a scam though.

How so when the VAT registration threshold is currently £68,000 (see eg
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/start/reg...register.htm)?

But that would be on turnover, surely, excluding wages?


Turnover including wages actually. BUT if the 'customer' buys all the
materials, labour is all there is..by and large.

So if my income as a freelance exceeded 68k - very unlikely with TV as it
is at the moment ;-( - I'd *have* to become VAT registered? Some of my
colleagues are - but through choice. Mainly because they hire equipment.

--
*This message has been ROT-13 encrypted twice for extra security *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

So if my income as a freelance exceeded 68k - very unlikely with TV
as it is at the moment ;-( - I'd *have* to become VAT registered?
Some of my colleagues are - but through choice. Mainly because they
hire equipment.

Broadly, yes.

It'd be pretty well painless for you if you were basically just selling
yourself (so as to speak) and even more so if you opted for a flat rate
scheme. But as usual if the day comes it'd be a good idea to talk to
others in your line of work who are registered (or of course a *good*
accountant, or even believe-it-or-not HMRC).

--
R

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
neverwas wrote:
Charging £40 ph (about £60k pa) and not being VAT registered like
someone said earlier in the thread sounds like a scam though.
How so when the VAT registration threshold is currently £68,000 (see eg
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/start/reg...register.htm)?
But that would be on turnover, surely, excluding wages?


Turnover including wages actually. BUT if the 'customer' buys all the
materials, labour is all there is..by and large.

So if my income as a freelance exceeded 68k - very unlikely with TV as it
is at the moment ;-( - I'd *have* to become VAT registered? Some of my
colleagues are - but through choice. Mainly because they hire equipment.

I'm not sure that as a sole trader/self employed you aren't VAT exempt
at whatever level you trade at..its only when you seek the shelter
offered by a limited company... I think.

The Natural Philosopher gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying:

I'm not sure that as a sole trader/self employed you aren't VAT exempt
at whatever level you trade at..its only when you seek the shelter
offered by a limited company... I think.

Nope. The VAT threshold is exactly the same for all traders, regardless
of legal status.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I'm not sure that as a sole trader/self employed you aren't VAT exempt
at whatever level you trade at..its only when you seek the shelter
offered by a limited company... I think.

Nope, either as an individual, partnership, company or club, you have to
register when you exceed, or expect to exceed £67K

On Jun 10, 8:45*am, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
On a few occassions the client has bought the materials but is unable to
transport them, so I go & pick them up.

And presumably you charge for the time spent doing so. (Not really a
question. Just an observation.)

On Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:47:19 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

I'd disagree. I'm fully booked until the 16 July at the moment and have
new jobs coming in every day. At prices more than double what he is
charging.

Marketing is the key.

And working in the still relatively prosperous South-East rather than
Murkeyside isn't?



--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

"I used to think correlation implied causation.
Then I took a statistics course and now I don't."
"Sounds as if the statistics course helped."
"Well, maybe."

On Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:47:19 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Colin Wilson wrote:
Too right. He would be better off working at McDonalds. Does he
have insurance & pay tax?

AFAIK he's completely legit - and even at his prices he's having
problems finding work at the moment.

He gets a lot of repeat trade and word of mouth recommendations, but
with money being tight everywhere, it's not an easy way to make a
living right now...

I'd disagree. I'm fully booked until the 16 July at the moment and have new
jobs coming in every day. At prices more than double what he is charging.

Marketing is the key.

Maybe location is the key. I think he is in Liverpool which doesn't
really seem to have recovered from the 80s recession and is probably
suffering from this one rather more than the (relatively) wealthy
south east.

Bill

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:10:07 +0000, neverwas wrote:

So if my income as a freelance exceeded 68k - very unlikely with TV as
it is at the moment ;-( - I'd *have* to become VAT registered? Some of
my colleagues are - but through choice. Mainly because they hire
equipment.

Broadly, yes.

It'd be pretty well painless for you if you were basically just selling
yourself (so as to speak) and even more so if you opted for a flat rate
scheme. But as usual if the day comes it'd be a good idea to talk to
others in your line of work who are registered (or of course a *good*
accountant, or even believe-it-or-not HMRC).

When I was self employed I looked at it - but because I was basically
selling a service (my knowledge and troubleshooting skills) not physical
goods, it didn't seem to be worth it. Was I wrong?

"PCPaul" wrote in message
m...
On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:10:07 +0000, neverwas wrote:

So if my income as a freelance exceeded 68k - very unlikely with TV as
it is at the moment ;-( - I'd *have* to become VAT registered? Some of
my colleagues are - but through choice. Mainly because they hire
equipment.

Broadly, yes.

It'd be pretty well painless for you if you were basically just selling
yourself (so as to speak) and even more so if you opted for a flat rate
scheme. But as usual if the day comes it'd be a good idea to talk to
others in your line of work who are registered (or of course a *good*
accountant, or even believe-it-or-not HMRC).

When I was self employed I looked at it - but because I was basically
selling a service (my knowledge and troubleshooting skills) not physical
goods, it didn't seem to be worth it. Was I wrong?

If you're buying lots of stuff (eg computers to do your work on), it can be
worth it because that stuff effectively becomes 15% cheaper to you.

If you're selling to the general public or to certain organisations (housing
associations are one, possibly universities, stuff like that), there's an
advantage to not being registered, since your prices are effectively 15%
lower (or you have the same price but take home more, works either way :-) )

I'd guess you were probably right not to bother.

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:38:30 +0100, Clive George wrote:

"PCPaul" wrote in message

When I was self employed I looked at it - but because I was basically
selling a service (my knowledge and troubleshooting skills) not
physical goods, it didn't seem to be worth it. Was I wrong?

If you're buying lots of stuff (eg computers to do your work on), it can
be worth it because that stuff effectively becomes 15% cheaper to you.

If you're selling to the general public or to certain organisations
(housing associations are one, possibly universities, stuff like that),
there's an advantage to not being registered, since your prices are
effectively 15% lower (or you have the same price but take home more,
works either way :-) )

I'd guess you were probably right not to bother.

It was 95% domestic customers, and 95% service-only, not goods.

And turnover was way, way under the VAT threshold - which is why I went
back to having a 'proper job'.

Too conscientious to do half a job, and too soft to charge a rate I could
live on. That's me.

Martin Bonner wrote:
On Jun 10, 8:45 am, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
On a few occassions the client has bought the materials but is
unable to transport them, so I go & pick them up.

And presumably you charge for the time spent doing so. (Not really a
question. Just an observation.)

Depends where it is TBH. If I can do it when passing, which I often can
then I don't charge. If I have to make a special trip say to IKEA then I do
charge.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Andy Burns wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I'm not sure that as a sole trader/self employed you aren't VAT
exempt at whatever level you trade at..its only when you seek the
shelter offered by a limited company... I think.

Nope, either as an individual, partnership, company or club, you have
to register when you exceed, or expect to exceed £67K

Which is a dis incentive to expand. I have a semi retired mate, very
competant DIYer, great with people, looking for 3 or 4 days work a week. I
could easily increase the advertising & find enough work for both of us, but
I'd hit the VAT threshold.

Then I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge 15% more
& lose business.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

as an individual, partnership, company or club, you have
to register when you exceed, or expect to exceed £67K

Which is a dis incentive to expand.

I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge 15% more
& lose business.

How much of your business is individuals and how much for companies?
(you seem to have mentioned several company jobs here) the VAT would not
be seen as price hike to the companies as they would claim it back.

Bill Taylor wrote:
On Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:47:19 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Colin Wilson wrote:
Too right. He would be better off working at McDonalds. Does he
have insurance & pay tax?

AFAIK he's completely legit - and even at his prices he's having
problems finding work at the moment.

He gets a lot of repeat trade and word of mouth recommendations, but
with money being tight everywhere, it's not an easy way to make a
living right now...

I'd disagree. I'm fully booked until the 16 July at the moment and
have new jobs coming in every day. At prices more than double what
he is charging.

Marketing is the key.

Maybe location is the key. I think he is in Liverpool which doesn't
really seem to have recovered from the 80s recession and is probably
suffering from this one rather more than the (relatively) wealthy
south east.

....With higher property prices, higher council tax, food prices etc.

There are plenty of poor areas in the south east.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Then I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge 15% more
& lose business.

You would be able to claim back your VAT on materials (admittedly that
is likely to be much lower that your output VAT)

Alternatively you can choose one of the "flat rate schemes" where you
charge VAT on all sales at 15% to your customers, but only pay e.g. 12%
VAT to the tax man instead of claiming back VAT on your purchases).

Which is a dis incentive to expand. I have a semi retired mate, very
competant DIYer, great with people, looking for 3 or 4 days work a
week. I could easily increase the advertising & find enough work for
both of us, but I'd hit the VAT threshold.

Then I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge
15% more & lose business.

This is getting a wee bit complicated but I don't think the VAT
disincentive is that big - and is certainly not one of the first handful
of issues I'd have suggested you think about. And you can, after all,
DIY the VAT - IMHO it'd easy compared with some of the jobs you do.

ISTM to ought first to consider, if you have not already:

a. would he be your employee? If so PAYE & NICs involves rather more
than VAT - but they are equally not a showstopper since you are patently
able to use a PC and these days you can do it online. Of course there's
also employer's liability insurance, working time directive, grievance
procedures....
b. would he be your partner? If so, I'd recommend heading for
paid-for advice: you have too much invested in your business to risk it
on a badly drafted partnership agreement;
c. would he be your sub-contractor? If so, are you clear about how
to set it up so he does not end up as an employee? And about the way
you get your vigorish on the jobs you pass to him? And stop
(discourage?) him from stealing your trade?

In short, there are IMHO bloody great barriers to anyone who wants to go
beyond the one-person-band; but there are also a lot of people who try
to help them do so, and we need them to do so now more than ever. So
you might start by seeing if your local Business Link advisor or the
like can give you a free hour. They might also be able to point you to
part-time bookkeepers willing to do the VAT, PAYE etc cheaply if you
don't fancy throwing £1,000+ a year at an accountant. After all, there
are quite a lot of ex-HMRC staff in your area.
--
R

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:16:36 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

...With higher property prices, higher council tax, food prices etc.

There are plenty of poor areas in the south east.

Sure, but as long as there are well-off areas withing your working range
(as there are here in Reading - I don't know about your patch Dave) then
there's still a good living to be made. And as you say marketing's a big
part of that. But if the money just isn't there over a wide enough area
you're basically stuffed.

--
John Stumbles

A backstreet vasectomy left me sterile

Andy Burns wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

as an individual, partnership, company or club, you have
to register when you exceed, or expect to exceed £67K

Which is a dis incentive to expand.

I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge 15%
more & lose business.

How much of your business is individuals and how much for companies?
(you seem to have mentioned several company jobs here) the VAT would
not be seen as price hike to the companies as they would claim it
back.

80/20 public/company. I intend to move more into places like dental
surgeries, community centres etc though, easier work, little or no price
pressure.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Andy Burns wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Then I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge
15% more & lose business.

You would be able to claim back your VAT on materials (admittedly that
is likely to be much lower that your output VAT)

That would be handy on advertising, fuel etc, but I don't use that much in
the way of materials. The added paperwork would be a burden.


Alternatively you can choose one of the "flat rate schemes" where you
charge VAT on all sales at 15% to your customers, but only pay e.g.
12% VAT to the tax man instead of claiming back VAT on your
purchases).

Wasn't aware of those, I'll check it out - thanks.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

ARWadsworth wrote:
"Lobster" wrote in message
How about on SWMBO's Lamborghini then?
I do not have a SWHBO or a Lamborghini.

She Who Has Body Odour?

Owain

The Medway Handyman wrote:
You can earn a good living doing this, if you do it properly, but you aint
ever gonna drive a roller.

About £5k for a 20 year old Silver Spirit, £15k would get you a 15 year
old Silver Spur.

Admittedly *driving* it at 12mpg would be a bit pricey... but you could
offer a wedding car service then do the couple's decking while they're
on honeymoon.

Owain

Owain gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying:

You can earn a good living doing this, if you do it properly, but you
aint ever gonna drive a roller.

About £5k for a 20 year old Silver Spirit

Actually, about a third of that if you're in the right place at the right
time, going by the fairly tidy early Spirit a friend-of-a-friend was
driving a few weeks back.

In article ,
Adrian wrote:
Owain gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying:

You can earn a good living doing this, if you do it properly, but you
aint ever gonna drive a roller.

About £5k for a 20 year old Silver Spirit

Actually, about a third of that if you're in the right place at the
right time, going by the fairly tidy early Spirit a friend-of-a-friend
was driving a few weeks back.

A mate has a Turbo R which he has serviced at Jack Barclays as it isn't
used much. At 70,000 miles (approx) a hydraulic service is due. 6000 quid
to you, sir. ;-)

--
*Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
om...
Andy Burns wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I'm not sure that as a sole trader/self employed you aren't VAT
exempt at whatever level you trade at..its only when you seek the
shelter offered by a limited company... I think.

Nope, either as an individual, partnership, company or club, you have
to register when you exceed, or expect to exceed £67K

Which is a dis incentive to expand. I have a semi retired mate, very
competant DIYer, great with people, looking for 3 or 4 days work a week.
I could easily increase the advertising & find enough work for both of us,
but I'd hit the VAT threshold.

Then I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge 15%
more & lose business.

Easiest way round that is for him to set up as self employed too, you find
the work and when you're too busy to take something on you tell the customer
you'll put them in touch with your associate. He does the job, charges the
customer and you bill him a commission fee. That way you both stay under the
VAT limit. You have to have a code of honour that he won't poach your
customers for additional works without giving you your slice but he has more
to lose than you do so that should be easy enough to arrange. You can also
work together on jobs up to the point at which you come too close to the VAT
limit.
--
Dave Baker

Dave Baker wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message om...
Andy Burns wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I'm not sure that as a sole trader/self employed you aren't VAT
exempt at whatever level you trade at..its only when you seek the
shelter offered by a limited company... I think.

Nope, either as an individual, partnership, company or club, you
have to register when you exceed, or expect to exceed £67K

Which is a dis incentive to expand. I have a semi retired mate, very
competant DIYer, great with people, looking for 3 or 4 days work a
week. I could easily increase the advertising & find enough work for
both of us, but I'd hit the VAT threshold.

Then I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge
15% more & lose business.

Easiest way round that is for him to set up as self employed too, you
find the work and when you're too busy to take something on you tell
the customer you'll put them in touch with your associate. He does
the job, charges the customer and you bill him a commission fee. That
way you both stay under the VAT limit. You have to have a code of
honour that he won't poach your customers for additional works
without giving you your slice but he has more to lose than you do so
that should be easy enough to arrange. You can also work together on
jobs up to the point at which you come too close to the VAT limit.

That could well work - thanks.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In article , Dave Baker
scribeth thus

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. com...
Andy Burns wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I'm not sure that as a sole trader/self employed you aren't VAT
exempt at whatever level you trade at..its only when you seek the
shelter offered by a limited company... I think.

Nope, either as an individual, partnership, company or club, you have
to register when you exceed, or expect to exceed £67K

Which is a dis incentive to expand. I have a semi retired mate, very
competant DIYer, great with people, looking for 3 or 4 days work a week.
I could easily increase the advertising & find enough work for both of us,
but I'd hit the VAT threshold.

Then I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge 15%
more & lose business.

Easiest way round that is for him to set up as self employed too, you find
the work and when you're too busy to take something on you tell the customer
you'll put them in touch with your associate. He does the job, charges the
customer and you bill him a commission fee. That way you both stay under the
VAT limit. You have to have a code of honour that he won't poach your
customers for additional works without giving you your slice but he has more
to lose than you do so that should be easy enough to arrange. You can also
work together on jobs up to the point at which you come too close to the VAT
limit.

Also means you can go away on a holiday for a while without losing
customers. We find that if anyone wants anything done they want it done
NOW not next week or when you can but NOW!!!

So having a stand in )
--
Tony Sayer

In article ,
Huge wrote:
On 2009-06-10, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

A mate has a Turbo R which he has serviced at Jack Barclays as it
isn't used much. At 70,000 miles (approx) a hydraulic service is due.
6000 quid to you, sir. ;-)

Serves him right for going to Jack Barclays.

True. But they are a customer of his business. Which makes it more tricky
to go elsewhere. And the nearest specialist - which would do the job for
about half the cost - are miles away.

But he says he's not going to bother - it's one of R-R's protective
maintenance quirks. Most would not expect to have to replace calipers etc
at that sort of mileage. Dunno about the spheres.

I used to use JB many many years ago for spares - first for my old Bentley
and then my P6 Rover. They had a quite superb storeman who seemed to know
every part number by heart. Don't find that sort of thing much these days.

--
*(on a baby-size shirt) "Party -- my crib -- two a.m

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...


I used to use JB many many years ago for spares - first for my old Bentley
and then my P6 Rover. They had a quite superb storeman who seemed to know
every part number by heart. Don't find that sort of thing much these days.

Didn't an airliner lose a window because the fitter knew the part number off
by heart?
The bolts even looked the same but were a few thou too small IIRC.
I prefer storemen that check.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Maybe location is the key. I think he is in Liverpool which doesn't
really seem to have recovered from the 80s recession and is probably
suffering from this one rather more than the (relatively) wealthy
south east.

...With higher property prices, higher council tax, food prices etc.

There are plenty of poor areas in the south east.

But still plenty of money around. Population density will ensure there
are enough customers to keep you going.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "dennis@home"
saying something like:

Didn't an airliner lose a window because the fitter knew the part number off
by heart?
The bolts even looked the same but were a few thou too small IIRC.
I prefer storemen that check.

That's the one where the co-pilot ended up half out of the window?
Nippy.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Nope, either as an individual, partnership, company or club, you have
to register when you exceed, or expect to exceed £67K

Which is a dis incentive to expand. I have a semi retired mate, very
competant DIYer, great with people, looking for 3 or 4 days work a week. I
could easily increase the advertising & find enough work for both of us, but
I'd hit the VAT threshold.

Then I'd either have to reduce prices to absorb the VAT, or charge 15% more
& lose business.

Both of you turn up to do the job and present the customer with a
unified bill, which you then split with your mate (cash is easier). Both
of you are self employed, but NOT partners, subbies, or any other thing
but associates.
He is responsible for his own tax affairs, etc.

"Grimly Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "dennis@home"
saying something like:

Didn't an airliner lose a window because the fitter knew the part number
off
by heart?
The bolts even looked the same but were a few thou too small IIRC.
I prefer storemen that check.

That's the one where the co-pilot ended up half out of the window?

Almost correct.. it was the pilot.

In article ,
dennis@home wrote:
I used to use JB many many years ago for spares - first for my old
Bentley and then my P6 Rover. They had a quite superb storeman who
seemed to know every part number by heart. Don't find that sort of
thing much these days.

Didn't an airliner lose a window because the fitter knew the part number
off by heart? The bolts even looked the same but were a few thou too
small IIRC. I prefer storemen that check.

You're one of those who thinks a computer is always right, then?

My last experience of that was at a BMW dealer - I wanted a new grommet,
damaged when fitting a new door handle. It covers the access to the fixing
mechanism and is plainly visible when you open the door. The storeman
couldn't find it on the computer so doubted it existed. Took him out to
the car and showed it to him - and he still couldn't fine it. Luckily the
workshop foreman came in and I asked him. He gave the storeman the part
number and surprise, surprise, the computer found something that didn't
exist...

--
*Sorry, I don't date outside my species.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
Both of you turn up to do the job and present the customer with a
unified bill, which you then split with your mate (cash is easier). Both
of you are self employed, but NOT partners, subbies, or any other thing
but associates.
He is responsible for his own tax affairs, etc.

Might be fun proving that to the IR if they decided to investigate. ;-)

--
*Upon the advice of my attorney, my shirt bears no message at this time

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
dennis@home wrote:
I used to use JB many many years ago for spares - first for my old
Bentley and then my P6 Rover. They had a quite superb storeman who
seemed to know every part number by heart. Don't find that sort of
thing much these days.

Didn't an airliner lose a window because the fitter knew the part number
off by heart? The bolts even looked the same but were a few thou too
small IIRC. I prefer storemen that check.

You're one of those who thinks a computer is always right, then?

Having been a computer hardware and software designer for 30 years you
wouldn't want to hear my opinion of computers in a public newsgroup.


My last experience of that was at a BMW dealer - I wanted a new grommet,
damaged when fitting a new door handle. It covers the access to the fixing
mechanism and is plainly visible when you open the door. The storeman
couldn't find it on the computer so doubted it existed. Took him out to
the car and showed it to him - and he still couldn't fine it. Luckily the
workshop foreman came in and I asked him. He gave the storeman the part
number and surprise, surprise, the computer found something that didn't
exist...

I bet he was useless at other things too.