OT RANT...

[Hillbilly]

Does anyone in this nation still do what they say they will?

I have been waiting on a roofer to show up for months. And have been waiting on a septic tank -drain feild guy forever. Had to move a fence for him... and did that weeks ago.

The only appliance repair that will show up here has been so long "getting parts" we finally told him to "forget it" when he got em... 12 weeks later. It's the nylon shim that goes in a refrigerator hinge... the dryer he was also waiting on finally gave up the ghost anyway.

Now I have a contract for some other services and it looks like that service will not be done in two weeks. I have made numerous attempts to contact the person who refuses to answer calls.

I showed up at their home/business today. They sent their Aunt out.

Let's break the agreement and call it even... or let me know if this will be done by the set date. If we cant do it....let me know so I can make other arangements.

How do you get the "kick me" placard off of your back? My arm cant reach it.

Thanks for the ear (eye) ... you know what I mean.

~Jeff

[gunslinger598]

Must be a regional thing.

I go through it down here in the SE corner to.

[jnyork]

Working with contractors of any type has always been a frustrating and aggravating process. They seem to think the sun rises and sets in the crack of their butts. If they tell you they will be there at 8:00 AM, you will be lucky if they show up at 2:00 PM three days later, and then they act like nothing is wrong, and heaven forbid they pick up the phone and call to tell you they'll be late. Then they get the job half finished and pick up their tools and go work on someone elses job for a while, or conveniently have to "wait on parts" for two weeks while your job is all torn up. A job NEVER comes out on time and ALWAYS costs more than bid because of some "unforseen circumstance". Sure is a motivation to learn to do stuff yourself.

[mikld]

Generally speaking; I go with established businesses, not Bubba's brother-in-law, or the guy that advertises at the laundrymat. I have found that if they have something to lose, like reputation, business from word-of-mouth, or to a lawsuit, I'll wind up dealing with honorable businessmen.

[Rusty]

Maybe that's another point in favor of Hobie's question about the Sears shop vac a few days ago. With Sear repair when I call them and set up an appointment to have something fixed they're pretty good about being here when they say they will.

It kind of goes along with the old saying that good service is the only thing we can sell. Bad service can be purchased anywhere.

If I had paid someone for a service agreement and they weren't living up to it I'd be seeing them in court.

[Thunder50]

My in-laws in OK just had their roof done. some boards on the roof were broken and they were supposed to replace them. The MIL was outside and watched them roof over the broken boards. Called the company, who called the crew. Crewchief told the home office that boards were replaced. MIL informed them that she watched them roof over the broken boards and if they thought payment was going to be forthcoming for a FU'd job, they were mistaken.
They came out yesterday and tore part of the roof off to replace the boards.

Luckily, I have a few people here that I can depend on doing a decent job, on time, on schedule and on budget.

[Cliff]

Sounds like those contractors are the same ones we use in Florida for road work. You see plenty of places they are doing widening, new roads, interchanges, etc.. Only the machinery, no workers and nobody working it. Usually takes years for some work. Only two bidders for the entire state have the necessary equipment. They use the sites to store stuff until they can move it around a bit.

[El Chivo]

if you ever need to hide a dead body, dress it in blaze orange, put a hardhat on it and leave it at a road construction site.

[Hillbilly]

hate to sound bitter... but I have worked in trades/service and done the odd job or two in the other situation I noted.

Phone calls go a long way. I dont think my dad or I ever lost a job, got sued or never showed up on time or failed to finish anything.

The only reason I hired this stuff out is because I just cannot do some of it anymore. This kind of service really has me looking forward to moving into a "home" in 30 years... I will probably die from ammonia overload after days of wearing the same adult diaper.

Rant over and thank you for your attention. Back to normal programing.

~Jeff

[kimwcook]

Hillbilly, don't feel like you're the only one getting crappy service. The wife and I bought a GE side by side, freezer/fridge a couple of years ago. A hair over a year the ice maker gave it up. Service guy comes out and says it's a circuit board and he'll order it. Should take a week or so to come in. We wait and wait and finally after about a month I call. The boss man tells me the part isn't available and we're screwed. I asked him if they were ever going to call us and he mumbled something. I think that's crazy, but I didn't do anything for a couple of months. Then I got mad and got another service guy to come out and take a look. He confirmed the circuit board was the culprit and said the company has a recall on it, plus they'll replace the compressor on the same recall. He gets the board and compressor, replaces both and off we go. Took him about a week to get the parts and install'em. About a year later the fridge died. We paid about $1,200 for that fridge. Talk about fry my taters.

I find customer service, as a whole, is generally a dying philosophy in this day and age. But, every now and then I find someone that restores my faith. That second service guy gets all of my calls now. He's been out twice and he's been good to his word every time.

[Hobie]

One plumber got mad at me because I asked a question. I went to another guy. He wondered why I kept coming back to him, sent him business, etc. I told him. As long as you answer the calls, make me think you're trying to get my job done and answer my ignorant questions you'll get my money. Some folks don't get it. SERVICE is everything. Maybe when the tradesmen are 20% unemployed they'll get it.

[Kansas Ed]

Boy, you aint tellin me nothin...I've been so disgusted by customer service the last couple of years that I don't even bother to complain any more. It gets you nowhere.

Called a guy last year to replace 15 windows in our house. Asked him for the bid, and we'd done a lot of business with him before so he knew we weren't pulling his leg. He finally came out and measured after a couple of months. A couple of more months went by and we called asking if he was going to quote the job. He said he'd lost the measurements and would have to come back and re measure. So a month later he's back and remeasures. Couple of months go by and no response. Called again, and he says he'll get right to it. Never heard back. Have someone else prepping a quote now.

Called a contractor about doing some drainage work at the house. He comes out takes some measurements, and says he'll research it and get back to us....that was 8 months ago and still haven't heard back.

Called a contractor once to redo our ONLY bathroom in WY. Comes out and measures. Says for me to order the fixtures I want, and call him when they come in. Doesn't want to tear out, just put back, so we agree I'll tear it all out and he can remodel the empty space. We agree and set the date. I tear out the whole bathroom, have the fixtures there, and call him to reaffirm the appointment that week. He says he doesn't think he has time to do my job anymore, I'll have to find someone else. Good thing we had an outhouse.

Friend of mine needed siding on his house and new garage. Called and left two messages with companies which never bothered to call him back for a bid. The third company measured, but never called back with the bid.

I could go on for hours. If I knew anything about construction I could make a fortune with just good customer service and a willingness to try.

Ed

[2571]

I live in Detroit. Economy bad here. Unemployment >15%.

Needed new roof. Guy came out, measured, gave appraisal and started work same day. Next day, somebody I had never heard of came and asked if he could do new gutters roofer recommended. 4 days later, mason comes out & says he heard I need tuck pointing work; he's cheaper than anybody else. 3 more contractors call and/ or show up at my front door wanting the masonry work. Gave the first guy the tuckpointing & he did it in 2 days.

I don't understand why you guys have problems.

[Lastmohecken]

I live in Detroit. Economy bad here. Unemployment >15%.

Needed new roof. Guy came out, measured, gave appraisal and started work same day. Next day, somebody I had never heard of came and asked if he could do new gutters roofer recommended. 4 days later, mason comes out & says he heard I need tuck pointing work; he's cheaper than anybody else. 3 more contractors call and/ or show up at my front door wanting the masonry work. Gave the first guy the tuckpointing & he did it in 2 days.

I don't understand why you guys have problems.

You just answered your own question, with Unemployment at 15% or greater, people are not spending money, those types of contractors are hungry and trying to scrape up jobs to do in a down economy. Turn that around, and if you were in an area where people are spending money, quite often contractors are over loaded, with a backlog of jobs they are trying to get finished.

[66GTO]

Sounds like those contractors are the same ones we use in Florida for road work. You see plenty of places they are doing widening, new roads, interchanges, etc.. Only the machinery, no workers and nobody working it. Usually takes years for some work. Only two bidders for the entire state have the necessary equipment. They use the sites to store stuff until they can move it around a bit.

Amen, brother, amen!

When I retired in 2003 the five mile stretch of I-110 that connects downtown Pensacola with I-10 was under construction to widen it and make other improvements. SIX YEARS LATER it has just been completed. I never saw more than 5-6 guys or 2-3 pieces of equipment at a time working on it. Sometimes you would go weeks and not see any activity. The same thing happened a few years earlier on the repaving of three miles of I-10 that took years to complete. I strongly believe the road contractors have paid off the state DOT to allow this to happen. And I also believe there is collusion among the road contractors. Ever notice how they take turns submitting the low bids on projects?

Now contrast that with the I-10 bridge over Escambia Bay that was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. When that contract was let they gave the contractor incentives for finishing on time or early (and penalties for being late). Almost four miles of old bridge was demolished, hauled off, and a new bridge built in one year. They worked nights and weekends with men and equipment crawling around like ants. This was an out of state contractor that was brought in, not the same good old boys who always get the contracts around here.

If the contractors are pushed by the government they will speed the completion of the project.

Regarding private contractors, I had better luck after my house was damaged by Hurricane Ivan. A friend who is a contractor let me use his subcontractors to rebuild my house. There were occasional delays, but considering that labor and supplies were in extreme demand after the hurricane, I was well served. I did most of the demolition myself while waiting on the insurance settlement. I was back in my house within four months of the hurricane. Others on my street took a year to get rebuilt.

[Grizz]

You make 'em sign a performance clause contract. Late or non-performance, they pay you. Early, satisfactory performance, you pay an xx% bonus. Just barely making it performance, you pay half until you're sure you're getting what you paid for.

ANY HONEST CONTRACTOR WOULD JUMP AT THAT DEAL.

And any that won't sign onto those terms isn't worth hiring, and they proved it!

but that's just me I suppose.

oddly enough the commie state of wa is letting those kind of contracts and it's paying off for everyone. latest example is the new hood canal bridge. before that the washed out Chico Creek bridge. under budget and under deadline. proves that financial incentives, both positive and negative, are what gets the job done

those type of contracts would just about ELIMINATE the fly-by-nights by starving them out, and the honest players would all benefit.

Grizz

[AJMD429]

One reason I built my own house is that I didn't want to have to deal with a bunch of idiots who called themselves 'builders' who would short-cut and do things poorly. Even not knowing anything other than the stuff you learn growing up poor and in a rural area (i.e. how to fix basic stuff, and build some things like tool sheds, out of necessity), I managed to learn by reading, observing how my friends' houses were badly built by 'professionals', and went ahead and did it myself. Even if I had to re-do something twice to get it right, I saved money and wound up using better materials than the hired ones would use.

Fortunately, I did find a roofer/framer to raise the second floor four feet and re-roof it once we were in the building to live; couldn't have done that one myself! He built like I do - if 'spec' says 2x8 is good enough, use 2x10, etc. A good man, and I've referred him dozens of customers since. (He builds the 'tornado-proof' poured-concrete-in-styrofoam-forms homes and commercial buildings.)

I won't have central air for the same reason; no way I'm spending four times what I make per hour to be held hostage to some brand and 'dealer-only' parts device I don't know how to work on myself. If I ever learn that stuff, I'll install one myself, but not until then. My wood furnace is our ONLY means of heat except a 500 watt heater by the well-pipe, and I did the installation and ductwork and all myself. I even built a better damper for use with a programmable thermostat, to combine the best of electronic technology with good old fashioned reliability of wood.

[crs]

Hilbilly,
The problem you report may be even worse in the country (out of the city and larger towns) at least that is what I have observed. It is much worse when the fish are biting or deer season opens.
The worst problem I had was in diagnosing and correcting problems with a septic system that was 30+ years old. After much trial and error, I designed and installed my own new drain field and it has worked fine since. It was not cheap, but was much less paying someone to install one of the aerobic sprayer septic systems at a cost of $10,000 + annual fees. (d**n government meddling in folks lives!)

[rafter-7]

Thats why I do all the jobs myself for I am not very patient I buy and pay for the tools I need for the job and the one job will pay for the tools....and I still have my sanity.. put a price on sanity and whats that worth to ya???

^
7

[Grizz]

He builds the 'tornado-proof' poured-concrete-in-styrofoam-forms homes and commercial buildings

this sounds interesting. have any web sites to pass on?

thanks

[Hillbilly]

about the only redeming facet to the roof and septic tank is they are part of a leased property. Wait wait wait... other than waiting to flush a toilet on a rainy day "life is good"

I went out Monday PM and removed my asset from the person who contracted my job. That's the person who sent their Aunt out Sunday.

Today ... they send a text message to my phone. I didnt have to pull out... and I have to give 7 days notice to break the contract. They didnt do much ( or anything at all)... I paid half up front... and in my opinion, they could not make their obligation in the 2 weeks remaining.

A text message.... thats some weak poo-poo.

The way I see it... they made $250 bucks for what would be a months storage fee... in 2 weeks. I hope they sue me in small claims for the other half that was to be paid on completion. I never saw any progress of work done on my project.

Last night at dusk we, were out front with our Yorkie.. we live on a dirt road way out from town. Sopie was in and out of the road and wandered out 40 yards down from us... and some nit wit ran her over. Didnt even slow down. I dont reconize the truck and didnt catch the plate.

She didnt suffer... broke her neck and I dont think she knew what hit her.
It's a darned sad world when someone runs a dog over right in front of you... and drives right on by.

What's next?