Floors
My earlier trepidation was warranted: the flooring people did not show up. I called, left a message, called other flooring people, went home. They called back, a bit later:
“This is whatever-it-is flooring, you called?”
“Yes. You were supposed to come by between 9 and 9.30, but no one did.”
“Well, they were finishing another job.”
“But you said they would be there. I was waiting.”
“They have to finish another job first.”
“Then why did you say they would be there?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Will you be there later today?”
“No, I have to work.”
“You didn’t say that you weren’t there all day.”
“No, I said I hadn’t moved in yet, and you said they would be there between 9 and 9.30.”
“You should have made it clear you weren’t going to be there all day.”
“You said they would be there.”
“Well, I didn’t know you weren’t going to be there all day.”
some discussion about when I could be back there. 11.30? No. They said no to the evening.
“Well, what do you want me to do? They were busy this morning.”
“Then they should have called to tell me.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Nevermind, I will find someone else to do this.”
Argh.
Update: New people were very nice. They will be doing it tomorrow, and will be done in two or three days, depending on how long things take to dry.
October 31st, 2005 at 12:36 pm
Again, a contractor who actually does what he says he’s going to could make money hand over fist. It’s just not that hard.
October 31st, 2005 at 2:27 pm
I think there must be a sort of life-cycle of contractors of that sort, Sheepish. A fresh-faced idealistic contractor appears, does what she says she will, shows up on time, and gains a reputation. Soon her calendar is full of jobs, and the inevitable minor delays start to pile up. But she’s still making money, and it hurts to back off on booking density. So she keeps on booking full schedules, and occasionally has to blow off jobs….
October 31st, 2005 at 2:39 pm
Man, that sucks. There would have been some swearing on my part too, if this had happened to me. Your restraint is admirable (unless you edited out the four-letter words).
October 31st, 2005 at 8:46 pm
Well, the new guys pointed out that in fact lots of people cancel on them at the last minute. Which is, frankly, crappy. And probably crappier, really.
ACW, I think it works that way with doctors also. I quit seeing my old eye doctor because I would need to wait HOURS for my appointment.
Zh, I swore a lot to other people.
November 1st, 2005 at 12:20 am
Well, with some doctors, they have to take care of emergencies that come in sometimes. Even if work begins to build with a contractor, they could just tell people that up front.