So this morning, I headed out to the house to check out the new cabinets that were supposed to be finished over the weekend. At 6:10 AM, just as I'm putting my car in Park in front of the house, my cell phone rings. It's Joe. I told him I was just arriving at the house and he said "Just turn around, you'll be disappointed." He claims he couldn't get anyone to work on Father's Day, so nothing was done. But he said he hired some new people and would be there within an hour to install everything. He also said the plumber was scheduled to arrive between 3 and 4 this afternoon to re-connect all the pipes.
And on Friday, when I called my handyman to ask what I owed him for replacing the toilets and flooring, he told me he forgot that he had to finish putting flooring in one closet. He ran out of tiles, so he's got to buy some, then go back and put them in the hall closet. He'll send me the receipts and an invoice when he's done.
I'm just letting all this wash over me now. I am glad that Joe called before I went into the house. If he hadn't, I think my head would have exploded when I saw nothing was done. And I'm not freaking out about this now because I spoke with my real estate agent last week and learned she will be vacationing in Mexico until this Friday, so it's not like I'm gonna get the place listed before then anyway.
I did have some warning that the job wasn't finished when I pulled up this morning - the trailer full of old cabinets and toilets was still sitting in the driveway. Once again, I am amazed at the stuff people want. There was a business card stuck in the door asking if I was going to throw out all the stuff on the trailer and, if so, could I call this guy and give it to him. I left the card in the door in case Joe wants to give the stuff away.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Nothing Fazes Me Anymore
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4 comments:
Why wait! I don't think you owe Joe any favors at this point. The person who left you the card is a better friend to you! I have to say I'm amazed at how well you're handling everything. I'm afraid I'd be threatening Joe's well-being by now. My hat's off to you!
Well, it's not my trailer and I don't know when it will eventually be hauled away (supposedly that will happen today). And for all I know, Joe is going to recycle the old cabinets himself somehow. Plus, I'd rather not get yet another party involved in this fiasco.
I've already been through the yelling at Joe phase. The reality is, because I already paid him in full, the only leverage I have is to threaten a lawsuit, which I have already done. Plus, my handyman still isn't done and I can't get the house listed before Friday anyway, so waiting another day or two isn't going to hurt me. My options are limited and stewing about it is only going to raise my blood pressure. I tend to take a Zen-like approach to a lot of stuff (although it doesn't always work out - see my Sears entry for proof of that). Truthfully, if Joe hadn't called me this morning, I would have exploded. His pre-emptive phone call did a lot to diffuse my anger. I value communication and I know it was hard for him to call and tell me he didn't do what he said he would and risk angering me. But making the call was the right thing to do and so I give him some credit for that. I have a sense that Joe is really trying to live up to his word, but he's being let down by the help he has. Now that could mean Joe is poor at job estimating and scheduling and therefore overpromises or that he's not a good judge of character when it comes to choosing work associates, but I feel he is honestly trying to keep his word.
Well, Shaun, after you put it like that, I can see you're right in your approach. Do you have any good suggestions for adopting a more Zen-like approach? Of course, I'm a redhead, so it may do me no good. ;-) But, I've got to do something about my Type A tendencies before I have health issues as a result!
That sucks bricks. Kind of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. I'd definately get the word out on this guy (not that he'll be hurting right now).
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