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What's the worst customer, job or house you've ever walked into as a tradesperson?

Pete and Keiran are back with a Halloween special of Off The Job Overtime, and this week they're getting into some proper trade horror stories sent in by the audience.

From nightmare customers and dangerous boilers to strange things found on jobs, there are some stories in this one that every plumber, gas engineer, electrician, builder or self-employed tradesperson will relate to.

One of the biggest comes from a carpenter who says a customer locked him inside her house after a disagreement over the job. After delivering bespoke cabinets and under-stairs storage, the customer complained about the finish and refused to pay anything until the work was completed.

When he started removing the units, he says she locked the door and told him he wasn't leaving until he finished the job.

He eventually had to call 999, at which point the door was opened and he was able to leave.

They also get into:

• The strangest things tradespeople have found in customers' homes
• Finding a dead cat while digging for a condensate soakaway
• A petrol saw accidentally filled with urine instead of fuel
• A dangerous boiler discovered after a previous service
• Engineers becoming complacent on the job
• The customers who stand over your shoulder while you work
• Customers who agree to a quote and then try to negotiate afterwards
• The "YouTube expert" who thinks they know more than the tradesperson
• Customers disappearing when the invoice arrives
• The customer who always finds "one more little job"
• Late-night customer phone calls
• Why you can't always trust a customer's description of the problem
• Creepy houses and jobs that just don't feel right
• Trade partners picking up plumbing and electrical lingo
• The fear of getting a callback after finishing a big job
• Plumbing leaks and mistakes that every experienced tradesperson eventually deals with

Pete also shares one of his own customer nightmare stories, involving a boiler replacement, a late-night phone call and a customer demanding that the old boiler be put back after the new one had already been installed.

And then there's the fear every plumber knows.

You've finished a heating install, left the job and everything seems fine.

Then a week later, the customer's name appears on your phone.

Pete explains why even experienced tradespeople immediately assume the worst when that happens, especially when you're dealing with water, fittings and pipework where problems can sometimes appear days after you've left.

If you're a plumber, gas engineer, heating engineer, electrician, carpenter, builder or self-employed tradesperson, there's a good chance you'll recognise at least one of these customers or situations.

👇 Let us know in the comments:

What's the worst customer horror story you've ever had?

And what's the strangest thing you've ever found while working in someone's house?

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⚠️ Warning: Contains adult humour and strong language. Tradesmen banter ahead.

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