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mj Quinn bt openreach engineers
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Old 29-12-2013, 10:36   #211
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

Quote:
Originally Posted by insulatorpotty View Post
looks like there will be more engineers leaving quinns in the new year , openreach are trialling customer fibre installs, as it only needs a hub now for BT infinity. .with the engineers just doing the cab work. great if the customer has only a master and or extns wired correctly but if not, thats a visit from another engineer to sort out the star wiring/backfeeding etc. ( will openreach charge for this?? i get the feeling they will :-)
It's not in trial anymore it is a proper product. And yes the visit to rectify the problems would be chargeable.
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Old 03-01-2014, 12:59   #212
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

I should have written this earlier, but I could not find time to do it.
In August 2013 I have signed up for MI training with MJ Quinn, the biggest mistake I have ever made!!! To be honest I was very happy I am going to start working for them, because what they were promising sounded very good. Long contract and good money, they were promising 6 jobs a day, that’s the only reason I have started, what more can I want!
But that was far from the reality! I was never to be given enough work, although I have called every day asking for extra work the answer was always the same “We don’t have any more work, unfortunately there is short spell!!!” That “short spell” continued for month and half, for that time my average complete jobs was below 4, which worked out below £80 a day, money before tax and fuel! Try surviving on this when you are the only person providing for a family, I have a wife and a baby at home!
I need to mention this, it’s not that I was not able to do the job, it’s that I was never given enough work!!!
So after month and half I have decided to leave. What they did after I have explained the reason for me leaving (the reason is “Not enough work and I was not able to support my family”) is to not pay my earnings for the last 2 weeks (£595), because I have signed training agreement, which states that if you leave earlier than 6 months you have to cover the expenses for the training! I have checked it with a legal adviser, does not matter the reason one has to pay for the training if leaves early!
So for two months with MJ Quinn I can say they are the worst company. Also I have wasted my time and pretty much I didn’t earn anything for 2 months.
I need to mention this as well: my mate completed the training with me, although they keep telling you that they will help you during your first week alone that was not the case with my mate! His first day alone he rings Controls to ask for assistance, they didn’t even know who his manager was! So he is out on the field until 8-9 p.m. that day and manages to complete 1or 2 jobs. The next day he quits, went back to Liverpool to return the van and he met one of the chaps we did the training with, that chaps is returning the van too and guess why same reason “ NO SUPPORT”. I had same sort of problems too, no support, tried to get through to Controls no one is answering!
STAY AWAY FROM MJ QUINN!!! THE WORST COMPANY!!!
Sorry for the long post!
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Old 04-01-2014, 10:44   #213
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

im in the same boat too and dont know how long i can continue working below the minimum wage. This contract has been a poorly run since it started but at least there was money to be earnt, but all the promises that if we worked hard we would get better rates, more work have been broken and we are now paying for more out of our own pockets, log books, hand wipes , paper towel, over shoes, filler, marker pens, batteries, rubbish sacks, vinyl gloves. Plus buying/ replacing our own tools/ test leads etc because its impossible to get anything out of quinns.My manager just tells me to sort it out myself. The job rates do not reflect these costs and i sense that this year they will try and drop the rates again. The rate for the sim provides is already a complete joke.
They treat the engineers like dirt , the majority of the staff in the head office have no experience of the job at all, but talk down to the engineers and then wonder why they have such a high turnover of staff.

Although, they have built a little empire in liverpool and created more levels of management up there , they have consistently spread the field support staff as thin as possible. when the contract started there was a supervisor to every 10-15 men, my former manager last year had 90 men and one coach. now managers in some areas are doing exch work , hoist drivers are also doing exch work and are spread over more and more areas and now the hubs are to close. My manager said that they are thinking of giving obass cards to some engineers so they can do their own e sides and those of any other engineers in the area, but for no extra money!!! complete and utter nonsense.
As for the hubs shutting, quinns senior management will do nothing, start screaming and shouting when it all goes wrong and then sack a few people to show who's boss. typical quinns style.
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Old 04-01-2014, 16:05   #214
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

Quote:
Originally Posted by insulatorpotty View Post
im in the same boat too and dont know how long i can continue working below the minimum wage. This contract has been a poorly run since it started but at least there was money to be earnt, but all the promises that if we worked hard we would get better rates, more work have been broken and we are now paying for more out of our own pockets, log books, hand wipes , paper towel, over shoes, filler, marker pens, batteries, rubbish sacks, vinyl gloves. Plus buying/ replacing our own tools/ test leads etc because its impossible to get anything out of quinns.My manager just tells me to sort it out myself. The job rates do not reflect these costs and i sense that this year they will try and drop the rates again. The rate for the sim provides is already a complete joke.
They treat the engineers like dirt , the majority of the staff in the head office have no experience of the job at all, but talk down to the engineers and then wonder why they have such a high turnover of staff.

Although, they have built a little empire in liverpool and created more levels of management up there , they have consistently spread the field support staff as thin as possible. when the contract started there was a supervisor to every 10-15 men, my former manager last year had 90 men and one coach. now managers in some areas are doing exch work , hoist drivers are also doing exch work and are spread over more and more areas and now the hubs are to close. My manager said that they are thinking of giving obass cards to some engineers so they can do their own e sides and those of any other engineers in the area, but for no extra money!!! complete and utter nonsense.
As for the hubs shutting, quinns senior management will do nothing, start screaming and shouting when it all goes wrong and then sack a few people to show who's boss. typical quinns style.
Why don't you quit? To be honest, in my opinion, any job is better than to work for MJ Quinn!!! What I have written is half of the story!
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Old 04-01-2014, 16:26   #215
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

i like the work and need the money, but believe me ive just spent the last few hours trawling the net for jobs, not a lot out there but will keep looking until i find something as cant carry on jumping to the tune of these fools.
. i know what your saying, ive been on the contract a fair while and could fill this site with stories about quinns poor treatment of its contractors but while i still need the work ill keep quiet.
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Old 04-01-2014, 16:33   #216
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

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Originally Posted by insulatorpotty View Post
i like the work and need the money, but believe me ive just spent the last few hours trawling the net for jobs, not a lot out there but will keep looking until i find something as cant carry on jumping to the tune of these fools.
. i know what your saying, ive been on the contract a fair while and could fill this site with stories about quinns poor treatment of its contractors but while i still need the work ill keep quiet.
I know what you are saying, it's hard to find a job now and especially around this time of the year! Hope you do soon! Good Luck!
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Old 04-01-2014, 17:43   #217
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

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Originally Posted by davidd_ma View Post
I know what you are saying, it's hard to find a job now and especially around this time of the year! Hope you do soon! Good Luck!
yes, you too. cheers.
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Old 04-01-2014, 19:28   #218
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

Quote:
Originally Posted by insulatorpotty View Post
im in the same boat too and dont know how long i can continue working below the minimum wage. This contract has been a poorly run since it started but at least there was money to be earnt, but all the promises that if we worked hard we would get better rates, more work have been broken and we are now paying for more out of our own pockets, log books, hand wipes , paper towel, over shoes, filler, marker pens, batteries, rubbish sacks, vinyl gloves. Plus buying/ replacing our own tools/ test leads etc because its impossible to get anything out of quinns.My manager just tells me to sort it out myself. The job rates do not reflect these costs and i sense that this year they will try and drop the rates again. The rate for the sim provides is already a complete joke.
They treat the engineers like dirt , the majority of the staff in the head office have no experience of the job at all, but talk down to the engineers and then wonder why they have such a high turnover of staff.

Although, they have built a little empire in liverpool and created more levels of management up there , they have consistently spread the field support staff as thin as possible. when the contract started there was a supervisor to every 10-15 men, my former manager last year had 90 men and one coach. now managers in some areas are doing exch work , hoist drivers are also doing exch work and are spread over more and more areas and now the hubs are to close. My manager said that they are thinking of giving obass cards to some engineers so they can do their own e sides and those of any other engineers in the area, but for no extra money!!! complete and utter nonsense.
As for the hubs shutting, quinns senior management will do nothing, start screaming and shouting when it all goes wrong and then sack a few people to show who's boss. typical quinns style.
Giving Obass cards to engineers hey? Oh it's as simple as that, let's just let anyone into BT's sensitive buildings. I'm sure BT should be aware of who holds Obass cards for their buildings rather than them just being passed around. Disgraceful.
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Old 15-01-2014, 18:37   #219
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

MjQuinn should be banned by BT! Worst company ever. I left last year and since then I'm a different man, It was so stressfull that everyday was a long day! Don't even like to remember it. Good luck you all!

---------- Post added at 17:37 ---------- Previous post was at 17:34 ----------

Ah just to remind that anyone planning to leave MjQuinn be carefull! They very dodgy! Make sure they pay you before you hand over anything back (tools etc), they found a lot of things on my Van that I've been charge for, thing is that I returned the Van better than when it was given to me! Just be carefull.
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Old 29-01-2014, 21:37   #220
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

Re the obass cards lots of other contractors have access via them. TBH a contractor can do similar damage with just a set of cab keys!! Most of the big exchanges or level 5 exchanges (something like that..my memory is getting worse) will only allow you into the frame area only and have obass readers on security sensitive areas which won't allow you in depending on your security level. Whilst I was a contractor on frames my BT background allowed me access to higher areas but this was only after a level 3 manager had authorised it. Most high level areas require a call to BT Security to allow you in even after your access had been granted,just to log you in and out. The HDF areas were a good example of this.
TBH most of the fault lies with BT. They want to save money so feel the contractor option is better. On a non-customer facing area his is fine. The LLU work was a good example of this but even then all teams had a BT staff person working and (sometimes) supervising. The training was all done by BT staff and you were treated pretty much equal. Farming out work to McQuinns or Kellys just creates hostility as the BT guys feel they are clearing up the mess whilst the contractors just feel the BT lot are lazy. McQuinss/Kellys don't give a monkeys about the Network just getting the most out of the contract before BT realise what a mistake it was.
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Old 29-01-2014, 22:02   #221
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

Quote:
Originally Posted by sweaty View Post
Re the obass cards lots of other contractors have access via them. TBH a contractor can do similar damage with just a set of cab keys!! Most of the big exchanges or level 5 exchanges (something like that..my memory is getting worse) will only allow you into the frame area only and have obass readers on security sensitive areas which won't allow you in depending on your security level. Whilst I was a contractor on frames my BT background allowed me access to higher areas but this was only after a level 3 manager had authorised it. Most high level areas require a call to BT Security to allow you in even after your access had been granted,just to log you in and out. The HDF areas were a good example of this.
TBH most of the fault lies with BT. They want to save money so feel the contractor option is better. On a non-customer facing area his is fine. The LLU work was a good example of this but even then all teams had a BT staff person working and (sometimes) supervising. The training was all done by BT staff and you were treated pretty much equal. Farming out work to McQuinns or Kellys just creates hostility as the BT guys feel they are clearing up the mess whilst the contractors just feel the BT lot are lazy. McQuinss/Kellys don't give a monkeys about the Network just getting the most out of the contract before BT realise what a mistake it was.
Hi Mate
I totally agree with you, Kelly and MJQuinn will end up destroying the Network! I know, I used to work for Quinns. Hopefully BT will realise what big mistake they doing before it is too late!
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Old 30-01-2014, 16:57   #222
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

Quote:
Originally Posted by sweaty View Post
Re the obass cards lots of other contractors have access via them. TBH a contractor can do similar damage with just a set of cab keys!! Most of the big exchanges or level 5 exchanges (something like that..my memory is getting worse) will only allow you into the frame area only and have obass readers on security sensitive areas which won't allow you in depending on your security level. Whilst I was a contractor on frames my BT background allowed me access to higher areas but this was only after a level 3 manager had authorised it. Most high level areas require a call to BT Security to allow you in even after your access had been granted,just to log you in and out. The HDF areas were a good example of this.
TBH most of the fault lies with BT. They want to save money so feel the contractor option is better. On a non-customer facing area his is fine. The LLU work was a good example of this but even then all teams had a BT staff person working and (sometimes) supervising. The training was all done by BT staff and you were treated pretty much equal. Farming out work to McQuinns or Kellys just creates hostility as the BT guys feel they are clearing up the mess whilst the contractors just feel the BT lot are lazy. McQuinss/Kellys don't give a monkeys about the Network just getting the most out of the contract before BT realise what a mistake it was.
Just make sure every fault caused by Quinn's/Kelly's is reported on the system. Hopefully then they'll get rid of them. Trouble is if no one reports the problems, the company doesn't know which faults are caused by contractors and which aren't.

The other day I saw a Kelly's guy steal a pair going up a pole and another Kelly's guy just go in and fit a microfilter to an extension that was star wired and call it a Managed Install. Absolute joke.

As for some of the things you see in cabinets now, you know it hasn't been done by an Openreach guy as they could well end up fixing it the next day and their colleagues would have it in for them.

Back to Obass, the trouble is a lot of the time the HDFs are in the same room as the MDF so access rights are irrelevant. I'm sorry but Quinn's and Kelly's just should not be in the exchanges. Most of them that I've seen in there haven't got a clue what they are doing.
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Old 30-01-2014, 17:30   #223
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

Quote:
Originally Posted by MrIca View Post
Just make sure every fault caused by Quinn's/Kelly's is reported on the system. Hopefully then they'll get rid of them. Trouble is if no one reports the problems, the company doesn't know which faults are caused by contractors and which aren't.

The other day I saw a Kelly's guy steal a pair going up a pole and another Kelly's guy just go in and fit a microfilter to an extension that was star wired and call it a Managed Install. Absolute joke.

As for some of the things you see in cabinets now, you know it hasn't been done by an Openreach guy as they could well end up fixing it the next day and their colleagues would have it in for them.

Back to Obass, the trouble is a lot of the time the HDFs are in the same room as the MDF so access rights are irrelevant. I'm sorry but Quinn's and Kelly's just should not be in the exchanges. Most of them that I've seen in there haven't got a clue what they are doing.
They shouldn't be working on the network, let alone the exchanges. There will be 'washing lines' between bar pairs and god knows what else before long. Pole teams are ok as they (imho) are generally experienced but leave the rest to bt or don't pay the contractors per job.
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Old 20-05-2014, 11:45   #224
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

How hard is it going from the Virgin network to working on the bt network, as i am thinking of applying to Mj Quinns. ?
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Old 20-05-2014, 12:30   #225
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Re: mj Quinn bt openreach engineers

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How hard is it going from the Virgin network to working on the bt network, as i am thinking of applying to Mj Quinns. ?
I suggest you read this, that is my story with them http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/65...pany-ever.html
Also have a look in this thread there are a few good ones too!
My advice is stay away from MJ Quinn!
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