Thrown in at the deep end bo support services

If the support industries to the hotel trade were as helpful as they promised, then my life as a general manager would be far less stressful. I would also be free to deal solely with customers' problems rather than those concerning broken-down equipment.

My unenthusiastic approach for the so-called hotel "support services" follows a number of recent and frustrating problems that cropped up at my hotel, Fairfield House in Ayr, Scotland.

At worst, they went completely unsolved by engineers or, at best, were resolved at a snail's pace.

Our first problem occurred last New Year's Eve when our dishwasher broke down in the morning. We immediately put out an emergency call to the engineer and when he finally arrived at 3pm he said we needed a new on/off switch.

Apology

My immediate reaction was: "So, we need a new switch - go ahead and fit one." He apologised and explained that the switch in question was not normally stocked for emergencies as it did not usually go wrong.

He said he would need to order one and, with the depot closed until 3 January, it would be 24 hours after that before he would receive it.

My staff had to handwash dishes for the whole period - including that night's Hogmanay ball. I was amazed.

If the on/off switch does not work, surely all the other spare parts which the engineer stocks are obsolete? It's like having a horse-drawn carriage without a horse.

However, I'm pleased to say that since our experience, the company has told engineers to carry spare on/off switches as part of their emergency service.

My second experience relates to our swimming pool, which is part of our private leisure club. I was concerned to find the water level had dropped by four inches one night. There was no visible leak - it was somewhere underground.

Dig it man

We contacted our pool engineer who said the only solution was to dig until we found the leak. That was a really helpful suggestion!

We called several major organisations, including a national plumbing company, and our usual emergency plumber. No one could come up with a solution.

After 10 days of total frustration I donned a pair of swimming trunks and went underwater equipped with goggles, a snorkel and a bottle of food colouring. My aim was to release a small amount of food colouring close to all the underwater light units and water return points to try to pin-point the leak.

After 30 minutes of playing Jacques Cousteau, I released a small amount of colouring near the last water return point and it disappeared out of the pool. Eureka! I had found the leak.

Armed with a screwdriver, and with the help of one member of my staff and a long-handled broom, I managed to stay under water at the depth required. I unscrewed the outer plate of the faulty pool return valve and then cut a circular piece of plastic big enough to employ as a blank, drilled a centre hole and installed this inside the outer plate. This immediately stopped the leakage.

I had been willing to pay the so-called experts virtually anything to get the pool fixed and in the end it cost me just 50p.

However, I still hadn't been able to locate the underground leak. I knew it was obviously between the plant room and pool return valve, but precisely where was anyone's guess.

The national plumbing firm rang and said it could supply us with an underground camera that could fit inside a 2in pipe. I felt a lot happier - at last I was going to be able to pin-point the faulty pipe or joint and then dig down at that point and repair it.

Round the bend

But to my horror, when this marvellous piece of technology arrived it would only fit inside a pipe with no bends. Of course, within 2ft of the entry point of my pipe there was a 90 degree bend. Bloody marvellous!

It is several weeks since my little underwater escapade and I am still trying to solve the underground leak. But I hope those of you with swimming pools have taken note of the remedy - a pair of trunks, goggles, snorkel and a bottle of food colouring.

It seems ridiculous that the so-called pool and water experts are able only to talk a good story and are unwilling to take the plunge, so to speak.

They - and the other companies attempting to maintain our dishwashers and other equipment - need to give our industry a full and proper service.

After all, we are the people who pay their wages.