Travelling salesmen/Engineers - Are you still visiting sites
Travelling salesmen/Engineers - Are you still visiting sites
Author
Discussion

FreeLitres

Original Poster:

6,121 posts

200 months

Tuesday 17th March 2020
quotequote all
With Coronavirus advice changing daily, are those people that usually travel to customers for meetings still doing your regular trips out?

Our employer is suggesting business as usual but I'm finding that many customer sites are closed or not accepting visitors.

How are other employers handling this?

Spare tyre

12,032 posts

153 months

Tuesday 17th March 2020
quotequote all
I work from home but I do a few site visits looking at IT stuff a month

Had one booked for next week, they rang up and cancelled

We are not being forced into going if we don’t want to

SpamDisco

386 posts

147 months

Tuesday 17th March 2020
quotequote all
We are running completely as normal, our customers are banks, retailers, pharmacies and network/server OEMs.

Our only advise given is to keep our hands clean, we're very busy and no access issues yet...

Happy Jim

1,070 posts

262 months

Tuesday 17th March 2020
quotequote all
Nope,
Big FTSE100 company, no visitors, no visits = simples

T1547

1,216 posts

157 months

Wednesday 18th March 2020
quotequote all
No, instructed to work from home and cancel all meetings for the foreseeable. All our external staff (about 60) are advised not to go to into UK head office and internal staff moving to wfh where possible. Co. is multi national Construction chemicals manufacturer - global head offices are in Northern Italy in and around Milan so will have viewed the Italian outbreak first hand.

On the client side finding many Architect and Civil Engineering practices are moving to working from home. Unsure what the construction sites will be doing, particularly the larger ones - will be interesting to see how they manage things.

mini95

242 posts

268 months

Wednesday 18th March 2020
quotequote all
Last week was my last travel for a while (I am in sales) and currently working from home. Customers don’t want visitors at the moment plus I think it is best to reduce risk. I also travel outside of the uk and it was clear last week I would not be seeing an airport for some time.

We have been advised no travel for the foreseeable future, so now using webex etc instead.

spikeyhead

19,688 posts

220 months

Wednesday 18th March 2020
quotequote all
Visitors only allowed on site if essential, so unless you're coming to fix a broken machine then you're not allowed in.

The Li-ion King

3,777 posts

87 months

Wednesday 18th March 2020
quotequote all
Yes, though HP are asking users if they have Coronavirus rolleyes the less honest home users who come to the door having lied to the call handlers so they get a device fixed, who are visibly sweating like a pig, will just get the call closed...

Had a close call at a school today where a kid tested positive for COVID-19, thankfully he was in a different room. Most are staying home ahead of the London Shutdown on Monday. South Mimms was deserted today, went there for a printer but work will tail offfor a while now.

megaphone

11,472 posts

274 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
quotequote all
I'm still making service visits, was in London on the tube on Tuesday, made 6 calls. South London and Surrey yesterday and made 4 calls. Back to London today on the tube.

Good time to get essential work done, some off my customers are going ahead with disruptive projects now whilst their sites are quiet. We also carry out work in schools, usually during the hols, we're going to try and push some bigger projects forward now they are closing the schools to kids.

Keep calm and make the most of it.

A205GTI

750 posts

189 months

Friday 20th March 2020
quotequote all
Been home since Wednesday, given phone on isdn line linked to company system, been told to use this rather than mobile,

Customers in the main since Tuesday refused site visits unless necessary,

dreaded letter today ref may have to switch to shortened hours, unpaid leave or redundancy, or all 3 potentially in the future

only been there 4 weeks!!

So a bit worried but just trying to do all i can to show and add value.

FreeLitres

Original Poster:

6,121 posts

200 months

Friday 20th March 2020
quotequote all
A205GTI said:
Been home since Wednesday, given phone on isdn line linked to company system, been told to use this rather than mobile,

Customers in the main since Tuesday refused site visits unless necessary,

dreaded letter today ref may have to switch to shortened hours, unpaid leave or redundancy, or all 3 potentially in the future

only been there 4 weeks!!

So a bit worried but just trying to do all i can to show and add value.
Damn!

Please review the information just released by the government about them paying wages to minimise redundancies. Hopefully it helps your situation.

A205GTI

750 posts

189 months

Friday 20th March 2020
quotequote all
FreeLitres said:
A205GTI said:
Been home since Wednesday, given phone on isdn line linked to company system, been told to use this rather than mobile,

Customers in the main since Tuesday refused site visits unless necessary,

dreaded letter today ref may have to switch to shortened hours, unpaid leave or redundancy, or all 3 potentially in the future

only been there 4 weeks!!

So a bit worried but just trying to do all i can to show and add value.
Damn!

Please review the information just released by the government about them paying wages to minimise redundancies. Hopefully it helps your situation.
Yes been watching the news at 5.00pm daily bit of relief

TBH Boris is really rocking this he is obviously desperate to get reelected (Thanks to Dominic Cummings on these measures!).

Cant imagine Theresa May running the show like this.


The Li-ion King

3,777 posts

87 months

Monday 23rd March 2020
quotequote all
A205GTI said:
FreeLitres said:
A205GTI said:
Been home since Wednesday, given phone on isdn line linked to company system, been told to use this rather than mobile,

Customers in the main since Tuesday refused site visits unless necessary,

dreaded letter today ref may have to switch to shortened hours, unpaid leave or redundancy, or all 3 potentially in the future

only been there 4 weeks!!

So a bit worried but just trying to do all i can to show and add value.
Damn!

Please review the information just released by the government about them paying wages to minimise redundancies. Hopefully it helps your situation.
Yes been watching the news at 5.00pm daily bit of relief

TBH Boris is really rocking this he is obviously desperate to get reelected (Thanks to Dominic Cummings on these measures!).

Cant imagine Theresa May running the show like this.
Theresa May's voice would have gone by now, making everyone jumpy thinking it's Coronavirus biggrin

Boris Johnson is doing well with the daily updates, but we need to move to Stage 3... a lockdown with only key workers (infrastructure providers) being allowed to travel about. I am getting increasingly worried, I think home visits have to stop soon. Alcohol gel at the ready, but it's hard to read printer part numbers with the gas mask on wobble

schmalex

13,616 posts

229 months

Monday 23rd March 2020
quotequote all
I sell weapon systems to clients in Asia. We haven’t been able to travel since January. I’ve had a couple of clients visit me here but the meetings have had to be very strictly controlled.

I can’t see it changing until August at the earliest.