Today I was witness to what I consider an unethical corruption of the inspection process.

A new resturaunt has had some trouble getting water hot enough for washing dishes. One of the folks working there had a "friend" look at the commercial dishwasher.
As it happens, this "friend" is in the business of selling...you guessed it, commercial dishwashers. He judged the brand-new machine "unsuitable" for commercial use, and told them they had to buy a new one from him.

The vendor of the machine examined the machine, and found that the incoming "hot" water was not very hot- hence, the problem!
The customer then called the plumber who installed the water heaters...and, in other ways, went about getting this problem fixed ASAP.

So far- so good. Then, by an amazing co-incidence, in comes the health department to check the dishwasher!

It sure looks like that machine salesman "dropped a dime" as soon as the resturaunt declined his generous offer to sell them another machine that wouldn't work!

The health department is being quite reasonable....both I and the general contractor happened to be there at the time, and lessen the language barrier....and I am sure that they have seen this sort of "concerned citizen" act before.

Reno
The sad part of this tale is MONEY. As long as money is in the mix, there will be CREEPS. The restuarant owner can thank his lucky stars you were present - timing is everything. Too bad you could not be present for all of the situations like this

So are you saying the machine salesman is the one abusing the inspection process? It seems to me the system has worked. For all he knew the problem was not going to get fixed. So in the interest and wellfare of the general public, if he wasn't going to fix the problem, he wanted to make sure someone else did. I have seen many posters to this site express the same sentiment and many people agree that the phone call was his duty.

I find it hard to believe he is expecting a call, "yeah, you were right, we may need your services afterall. You know, funny thing happened after you left..... a suprise health inspection, and they agree with you."

That leaves his only other motive to be vengence, enlisting our civil servants to do his dirty work. If that's the case, then yes, abuse.

Does this make things awkward for the guy who works there that recommended this "friend" to "help out"?

Who needs "f(r)iends" like that?

On the same note I know a certain EC I used to work for that used to call on un-permited jobs that HE didn't get, that HE wouldn't have gotten a permit for either...

I don't think it was abuse. It was an issue that could have negative affects on the restaurant patrons. He should have been reported. Good for him. (His motive may have been suspect, but the fact is a health violation did exist)

I don't see the problem here. I certainly don't see an "unethical corruption of the inspection process".

I think the salesman is cheesy for trying to sell equipment instead of fixing the problem but that is where it ends, in my opinion.

I've made a couple calls to the local building department and ComEd on jobs I didn't get. I just wanted to be sure it got fixed so I didn't read about the kids in the obituaries.

Dave

That salesman was definitely unethical. There is no reason to install new dw & new hot water heater! As far as calling Health Department to make sure problem is taken care of, fine. However, to try and sell someone something they have no use for is a low down cheap way of doing things.

Normal temperature from a commercial hot water heater is maxxed at 140 F.

Commercial dishwashers need a minimum of 180 F to absolutely guarantee sterilization within the cycle time of the equipment.

Hand washing is prohibited because no one can stand the temperatures required to guarantee sterilization.

Today's commercial dishwashers normally have a booster water heater built into them; but I believe that is an add on to the base price.

From what I understand, this unit was shipped without a booster and should be failed by the inspector.

The ability of a restaurant to spread disease is immense. Remember the fiasco up in Seattle where undercooked burgers sent hundreds to the hospital.

I suspect that the owner ordered the base unit not realizing that it is absolutely necessary to pay up for the booster heater.

He may yet have to get a tech from the manufacturer out to his restaurant to field install one.

It may be entirely for his self interest but the nasty salesman is doing a public good.

140 F is plenty hot for ordinary use. It is not deemed hot enough to sterilize the plates and utensils that we eat from. And that is that.

Just a little follow-up on this issue.

This morning, first person through the doors of the place was the salesman, "following up" on his earlier offer. Another amazing co-incidence.

What made me question the man's ethics was his written assessment that the obviously commercial equipment was "not suitable for commercial use."

As for water tems...that subject seem to be a little more involved. Everyone -except this salesman- seems to agree that the water need only be 120 degrees, due to the various chemicals used.

As things stand, the plumber is currently working with the utility...it appears that the water heaters are not operating properly, due to inadequate gas flow through the new meter.

This salesman was invited by the customer, as the customer realised something was wrong, and was attempting to get the problem fixed. Even the salesman should have realised that this customer would want to confront whoever sold, or installed, a faulty piece of equipment- before paying for someone else to make the same mistake all over again.

The person who invited the salesman in has had things explained to her in terms that cross over the language barrier. I strongly suspect that this clown will be "shut out" of any further business with a number of other businesses- all as a result of his "cleverness."