Tuesday, floor guy says he'll be back Thursday between 12:30 and 1:00 to finish the floor repairs he started and to start another set. Thursday comes and goes: he never showed up, and never called to reschedule.
There are still three or four major issues that need fixing (and countless minor ones that we would like fixed). And the four or five fixes that he started still need sanding and finishing. And he needs to replace a whole bunch of toe molding that he took off. But he's apparently uninterested.
He used all the wood on his first set of fixes, after letting it acclimate for a week. But, he never brought new wood in to acclimate for the fixes he has yet to start.
This guy is seriously pissing us off.
It amazes me how normal this experience is. Everybody who works with contractors has had this happen.
It’s one more thing that tells me that people who believe in The Market don’t live in the real world. If the world worked the way Libertarians claim it does, a contractor who behaves this way would go out of business because frustrated people would just go with his competitors (and there is certainly ample competition in this particular field). But it doesn’t work that way at all.
and this fucker has us in a position where we have no options – he’s the builder’s guy, working to do warranty repairs. we can’t just pick someone else.
i’d go at the builder with the old “we’ll get a lawyer…” gambit, but he’s a former county DA. so i’m sure he’d just laugh at me if i tried.
When he does finish with everything I would be willing to bet that he will have the balls to ask you for a reference.
Ex DA or not you might want to get some legal advice just in case. Isn’t the builder obliged to fix major snags by law?
The USA needs a NHBC.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_House_Building_Council
called the foreman this AM to see WTF was up with the floor guy. before i could say it, he said “… and he never showed up, right?”
right.
“Yeah, he does good work” (i did not argue this very arguable statement) “but he can be unreliable about appointments. We’ll get it fixed.”