Today we had a customer interested in a 16m pump we have for sale and the following came out in conversation...

The guy had been to a major manufacturer (whose products are suppose to be the best???!!!) and purchased a brand new small truck mounted line pump which was supposed to be for the starter end of the market. The guy had no previous experience. The pump cost him over 60k (sterling) and came with 60m of line to which he added another 40m. He was given less than a days instruction which didnt include any concrete! then waved on his way.

Through "phone a friend" and "suck it and see" he managed to get pumping, managing up to the full 100m on his own! .The pump was returned on 11 seperate occasions to have warranty work done, twice because of no brakes on the truck, eventually throwing in the towel and returning the pump.

Whilst watching our pump at work, he asked if we blew the line out  (16m boom +rubber- no we suck back) and added that when he did it he put the catcher on the end, then a wheelbarrow, then got the guy on site to stand on the hose /barrow to stop it moving about!!!

After listening to this and more we then went thru paperwork and drew a blank look at the mention of timesheets/advice notes, terms and conditions, risk assements etc etc.

If you go out and buy a new fireblade or a bobtail or whatever over here you have to have your licence and insurance in place before you can ride off, so how can this happen in the 21century with a guy trying to get started ?????????

i dont know

Don't be ashamed.  There are 2 kinds of people: informed and uninformed.

The manufacture is going to sell machinery.  If they looked at this guy and said: Hey, you really don't know what you're doing...this might not be the industry for you until you get experience-- he'll go to the next manufacture because he's looking to buy.

He's lucky he got 1 day's training from them.

My sister-in-law's living proof of your motorcycle example.  The dealer sold her a bike, even though she has no motorcycle license - or any business being on a bike period.  ...and they knew it too - They just said she couldn't ride it off their lot...

What pays the bills?  ethics...or the bottom line?

The moral of the story:  be informed

if this guy has got no experiance,in concrete pumping he should not even think about buy a concrete pump, until he has got at least 12 month experiance working for somebody, if there are people being sold pumps with no experiance at all, who is to blame when somebody gets killed,and what is the point of all us experienced operator taking our cpcs card and nvq if ther getting away with it, something has got to be done ,because if it is a line pump or a 63m boom they are both just as dangerous .