fecklessness, or, why do people suck?
Nov. 26th, 2006 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamajoanI've been itching, twitching, itching to write about this for many days now, but haven't had the chance. But I have to get it off my chest before tomorrow arrives and brings with it who knows what.
As you may recall, I was approved for the city's heating replacement program. The city inspector wrote up a work list and sent me three copies. I was supposed to get two contractors' estimates on the work, and submit the two estimates to the city by December 8th. At the time I received the work list and found out what the deadline was, I was like, "oh that's plenty of time!" (Do you sense any foreshadowing?)
So I called the guy who replaced Brian's furnace last year, and he came out, looked around, discussed the job with me, promised to get me a written estimate within a week, and did so. He was a bit gruff, but whatever, I'm looking for a contractor, not a new best friend.
Then, for the second estimate, I called my mom's guy. My mom has just recently contracted with this fairly large plumbing/contracting company to do a bunch of work in her house (including not just her unit but also some of the other 3 units in her condo building). So she hasn't been using them long, but she has been very happy with them, and recommended them to me. So I called and left a message saying that I needed an estimate on replacing a heating system. Several days went by; nothing. I called again and spoke to an actual person, who was sympathetic albeit somewhat clueless, but she promised to have the estimators call me asap. Several more days passed; nothing.
So then one evening I was at my mom's place bemoaning all of this and she said that her guy (the plumber who works for this company who has done the work on her place) had given her his cellphone number. His name is Andy. She called his cell, explained the situation briefly, then handed the phone to me. Andy and I arranged for him to come to my place the following Wednesday. (note: someone from his office did call me the next day, FINALLY, to arrange an appointment -- not knowing that I had already arranged things with Andy.)
He showed up on time. He was very nice, very professional, very personable (unlike the other guy). I explained about the city program, with which he wasn't familiar (also unlike the other guy). He looked over the worklist and said it looked quite standard and straightforward. We discussed the job at length. He seemed to be really trying to sell me on why his company is the best, despite my having explained that the city will choose, not me. I ended the conversation wishing that the decision really were mine, because I liked him a lot and would have chosen him in a heartbeat.
And then he left, telling me that he would write up the estimate and call me either the next day (Thursday) or Friday at the latest, and would arrange a time to bring me the estimate in person and go over it with me.
Thursday passed. Friday passed. Nothing.
The next week came. Days passed. Andy was over at my mom's place doing some more work on her stuff and mentioned to her that his research into the city's program had taken longer than expected (I don't know what this means; what research did he need to do? He had their worklist!) but that he was planning to go to my place on Monday at 5:30pm to bring me the estimate. Mind you, he didn't call me to tell me this; he just told my mom, and she passed it on. WTF?
That Friday, which was the day of my job interview, I ran into Andy at my mom's place when I arrived to drop off Ruthie. He told me basically the same as above: that his research had taken longer than expected (okay, but a courtesy phone call to let me know he wasn't just blowing me off would have been really nice; recall that by this time it had been a week since the day that he said was the latest he would call me), and that he was planning to come by on Monday at 5:30. I said that Monday at 5:30 was fine.
So Monday arrived. Around 5:10, I called Andy's cellphone and left a message telling him that I was just running out to pick up Isaac from preschool and should be back by 5:30, so if he arrived and I wasn't there, he could just wait and I'd be back momentarily. I went to pick up Isaac. I got back by 5:35. No Andy.
He never showed. He never called.
At 7:30, I left him another message saying basically, "I guess you're not coming, so please please please call me or at least drop the estimate in the mail to me because I really need it by December 8th."
Now, that was the Monday before Thanksgiving. So Tuesday and Wednesday passed; radio silence from Andy. Thursday and Friday and the weekend don't really count. Nevertheless, they passed, so I still say it has been one whole week and I have no idea what to be thinking or what to expect tomorrow.
I am (UNDERSTATEMENT ALERT) really angry about all this. Yesterday I had to call the oil company and order another 100 gallons of oil, to the tune of another $250 on my credit card, because the tank was almost empty. You may recall me posting a month or so ago that I had convinced the oil company to waive their usual 100-gallon minimum and deliver just 50 gallons to me, because I was so sure that I would get the furnace replacement / conversion to gas heat finished before it got so cold that I would need that much. I explained this to Andy as well, and stressed the fact that I DID NOT WANT TO BUY MORE OIL because I didn't want to waste my money or waste the oil. So now I'm out another $250 that wouldn't have been necessary if Andy had been on the ball.
I'm also feeling kind of frantic about whether, at this point, I'm even going to be able to get another estimate in time to meet the deadline. Last week I did call another plumbing/heating contractor (randomly pulled out of the phone book, which I hate to do but I was desperate) and they said they would have someone call me Monday (tomorrow) to schedule a visit so they can make an estimate. But I just don't know whether that can get done in time. And maybe it's possible that the city would give me an extension on the deadline if I asked for it, etc., but goddamn it, that's not the point. The point is that I wanted to have this fucking thing done before the really cold weather, and here it is about to be December and it's nowhere near being done. At this point I don't even know whether it'll get done before the end of the year (so I can get the tax break...although that's really low on my list of concerns, but it's there). The point, dammit, is that when you say you'll be there Monday at 5:30 you should fucking be there on Monday at 5:30!!!!
I'm so angry at Andy over this. I honestly can't think about it for too long at a time or I just start wanting to throw things. And people might say (people HAVE said) "oh well, you know, contractors," in that dismissive sort of way; and I'm sorry, but no. "Oh, well, contractors" covers situations like: they took longer to finish a job than they said they would; they added more work and thus more money onto the original estimate; they rescheduled the work several times; or similar. It doesn't cover making an appointment and not showing up and not calling. I refuse to accept this behavior. It is absolutely inexcusable in my opinion. As I said to my mom, at this point Andy had better either have fallen under a bus, or his mother dropped dead, because aside from that, there is no excuse. "Sorry" isn't going to cut it, no matter how many intensifiers he adds on to it.
I'm just anxious that he's going to call or whatever, tomorrow, and be all flippantly apologetic, and what I'll want to say is, "dude, that was absolutely 100% not okay and the only reason I'm even fucking speaking to you is that I want to get the estimate so I can finish jumping through the hoops and go with the other guy, and by the way you owe me $250 you asshole." But I'm worried that what will actually come out of my mouth is "that's okay." I don't want to be that wuss. But it's hard for me to prepare for that conversation without knowing what he's actually going to say.
OTOH, what if he doesn't call? Am I going to call the company? A big part of me says yes, I should call them and ask to speak to Andy's boss and then give that person an earful. I don't know whether I'll have the energy for that, though. Sigh.
Okay...if you waded through all of that, thanks, and sorry if it got a little overwrought. I truly have no words for how upset I am about all of this.
As you may recall, I was approved for the city's heating replacement program. The city inspector wrote up a work list and sent me three copies. I was supposed to get two contractors' estimates on the work, and submit the two estimates to the city by December 8th. At the time I received the work list and found out what the deadline was, I was like, "oh that's plenty of time!" (Do you sense any foreshadowing?)
So I called the guy who replaced Brian's furnace last year, and he came out, looked around, discussed the job with me, promised to get me a written estimate within a week, and did so. He was a bit gruff, but whatever, I'm looking for a contractor, not a new best friend.
Then, for the second estimate, I called my mom's guy. My mom has just recently contracted with this fairly large plumbing/contracting company to do a bunch of work in her house (including not just her unit but also some of the other 3 units in her condo building). So she hasn't been using them long, but she has been very happy with them, and recommended them to me. So I called and left a message saying that I needed an estimate on replacing a heating system. Several days went by; nothing. I called again and spoke to an actual person, who was sympathetic albeit somewhat clueless, but she promised to have the estimators call me asap. Several more days passed; nothing.
So then one evening I was at my mom's place bemoaning all of this and she said that her guy (the plumber who works for this company who has done the work on her place) had given her his cellphone number. His name is Andy. She called his cell, explained the situation briefly, then handed the phone to me. Andy and I arranged for him to come to my place the following Wednesday. (note: someone from his office did call me the next day, FINALLY, to arrange an appointment -- not knowing that I had already arranged things with Andy.)
He showed up on time. He was very nice, very professional, very personable (unlike the other guy). I explained about the city program, with which he wasn't familiar (also unlike the other guy). He looked over the worklist and said it looked quite standard and straightforward. We discussed the job at length. He seemed to be really trying to sell me on why his company is the best, despite my having explained that the city will choose, not me. I ended the conversation wishing that the decision really were mine, because I liked him a lot and would have chosen him in a heartbeat.
And then he left, telling me that he would write up the estimate and call me either the next day (Thursday) or Friday at the latest, and would arrange a time to bring me the estimate in person and go over it with me.
Thursday passed. Friday passed. Nothing.
The next week came. Days passed. Andy was over at my mom's place doing some more work on her stuff and mentioned to her that his research into the city's program had taken longer than expected (I don't know what this means; what research did he need to do? He had their worklist!) but that he was planning to go to my place on Monday at 5:30pm to bring me the estimate. Mind you, he didn't call me to tell me this; he just told my mom, and she passed it on. WTF?
That Friday, which was the day of my job interview, I ran into Andy at my mom's place when I arrived to drop off Ruthie. He told me basically the same as above: that his research had taken longer than expected (okay, but a courtesy phone call to let me know he wasn't just blowing me off would have been really nice; recall that by this time it had been a week since the day that he said was the latest he would call me), and that he was planning to come by on Monday at 5:30. I said that Monday at 5:30 was fine.
So Monday arrived. Around 5:10, I called Andy's cellphone and left a message telling him that I was just running out to pick up Isaac from preschool and should be back by 5:30, so if he arrived and I wasn't there, he could just wait and I'd be back momentarily. I went to pick up Isaac. I got back by 5:35. No Andy.
He never showed. He never called.
At 7:30, I left him another message saying basically, "I guess you're not coming, so please please please call me or at least drop the estimate in the mail to me because I really need it by December 8th."
Now, that was the Monday before Thanksgiving. So Tuesday and Wednesday passed; radio silence from Andy. Thursday and Friday and the weekend don't really count. Nevertheless, they passed, so I still say it has been one whole week and I have no idea what to be thinking or what to expect tomorrow.
I am (UNDERSTATEMENT ALERT) really angry about all this. Yesterday I had to call the oil company and order another 100 gallons of oil, to the tune of another $250 on my credit card, because the tank was almost empty. You may recall me posting a month or so ago that I had convinced the oil company to waive their usual 100-gallon minimum and deliver just 50 gallons to me, because I was so sure that I would get the furnace replacement / conversion to gas heat finished before it got so cold that I would need that much. I explained this to Andy as well, and stressed the fact that I DID NOT WANT TO BUY MORE OIL because I didn't want to waste my money or waste the oil. So now I'm out another $250 that wouldn't have been necessary if Andy had been on the ball.
I'm also feeling kind of frantic about whether, at this point, I'm even going to be able to get another estimate in time to meet the deadline. Last week I did call another plumbing/heating contractor (randomly pulled out of the phone book, which I hate to do but I was desperate) and they said they would have someone call me Monday (tomorrow) to schedule a visit so they can make an estimate. But I just don't know whether that can get done in time. And maybe it's possible that the city would give me an extension on the deadline if I asked for it, etc., but goddamn it, that's not the point. The point is that I wanted to have this fucking thing done before the really cold weather, and here it is about to be December and it's nowhere near being done. At this point I don't even know whether it'll get done before the end of the year (so I can get the tax break...although that's really low on my list of concerns, but it's there). The point, dammit, is that when you say you'll be there Monday at 5:30 you should fucking be there on Monday at 5:30!!!!
I'm so angry at Andy over this. I honestly can't think about it for too long at a time or I just start wanting to throw things. And people might say (people HAVE said) "oh well, you know, contractors," in that dismissive sort of way; and I'm sorry, but no. "Oh, well, contractors" covers situations like: they took longer to finish a job than they said they would; they added more work and thus more money onto the original estimate; they rescheduled the work several times; or similar. It doesn't cover making an appointment and not showing up and not calling. I refuse to accept this behavior. It is absolutely inexcusable in my opinion. As I said to my mom, at this point Andy had better either have fallen under a bus, or his mother dropped dead, because aside from that, there is no excuse. "Sorry" isn't going to cut it, no matter how many intensifiers he adds on to it.
I'm just anxious that he's going to call or whatever, tomorrow, and be all flippantly apologetic, and what I'll want to say is, "dude, that was absolutely 100% not okay and the only reason I'm even fucking speaking to you is that I want to get the estimate so I can finish jumping through the hoops and go with the other guy, and by the way you owe me $250 you asshole." But I'm worried that what will actually come out of my mouth is "that's okay." I don't want to be that wuss. But it's hard for me to prepare for that conversation without knowing what he's actually going to say.
OTOH, what if he doesn't call? Am I going to call the company? A big part of me says yes, I should call them and ask to speak to Andy's boss and then give that person an earful. I don't know whether I'll have the energy for that, though. Sigh.
Okay...if you waded through all of that, thanks, and sorry if it got a little overwrought. I truly have no words for how upset I am about all of this.
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