We love supporting local businesses! Each issue, we have a yarn with a customer from one of our wholesale members.
Meet Zac Crowhurst from Crowy’s Electrical who is a customer at GCM Tamworth.
What do you like most about your local wholesaler?
Friendly and knowledgeable service. As well as their vast array of stock on hand.
Is there a standout moment they’ve helped you out?
There have been many late Friday afternoon saves that GCM has pulled off for me. Shout out to Tony. He loves taking those calls. The biggest standout was a huge quote that I was late on. I called at 2pm and they had numbers back to me within two hours. And a full quote done by the morning. I really appreciated how much they cared, to put that effort in and get that done for us.
What’s the most difficult job you’ve ever had?
One that comes to mind was my mate’s rental. The tenants reported hearing sparking and arching coming from inside the wall (the wall of the main switchboard). Whenever I was there, everything was fine. Running fine, testing perfect. It wasn’t until the third time back that I actually heard the sparking for myself. My mate and I went outside to find the overhead lines were swinging in heavier wind and with the old insulation around the cables having broken down, it was creating a massive arch and spark. A simple one in the end. But only if the wind blew right.
What has been your most memorable day at work?
When I was an electrician at Narrabri underground, I saw my first roof fall. The noise, the dust. Though it is routine on a working coal face, I’ll never forget that first one.
Who’s the worst apprentice/ colleague you’ve had?
I’ve been pretty lucky not to have had too many bad apprentices and only a few dud colleagues. The worst ones were some of the work experience kids. I’ve seen it all, from kids cutting conduit through the tape measure, to cutting green wall plugs longways. One young bloke even called his mum while on the job and just left. We didn’t even know he’d gone. And we were 50km out of town. Must not have been for him.
What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened on a job?
In my apprentice days, me and my mate were replacing a power point in a bedroom. The room was full of piles of old washing, my mate kicked the pile blocking the power point and the smell was sickening. My mate turned around to find I was gone. At the smell of it, I decided no power point was worth this. We still laugh about it today, that I left him there. But there’s no honour when there’s a smell as bad as that around.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever encountered?
One bloke expected us to fault-find his house, but would not let us in. Another woman who I can best describe as the crazy cat lady from The Simpsons, took a shining to one of our apprentices, much to his dismay. She even went as far as to ‘adjust’ his tool belt as he reached up for the light.
What’s the biggest %&$* up that someone else made that you’ve had to make right?
This one isn’t anyone’s fault. But the apprentice featured in the clothes pile story – well, it was the first week of his apprenticeship. The local school had called reporting they had no power (Monday morning). We’d had storms over the weekend so thinking it was a simple reset job or essential energy problem we sent the apprentice to check. Upon opening the door to the switchboard it became apparent that it was more than ‘just a reset’. The school had been struck by lightning with the issuing fault current so high that one of the boards was welded shut, the other was vaporised. The entire switchboard room had been burning. With nothing left. Oh %&$*. The school was down for three days, with weeks of work after to get all the systems online and working. What a first week for our mate it was.
What’s the best nickname you’ve heard a collleague get given?
We used to call one of the apprentices at the mine ‘Hang Back’. Let’s just say he erred on the side of caution and let others get in there first.
