Must…Stay…Focused

May 5, 2008

posted by Shelley

For this post — I am the customer. Last year, I received bids for a home improvement project. The company that I chose had completed work for me previously at another location — twice — and I was basically satisfied at completion. The owner and workers were never prompt. Often times they wouldn’t show up when they were supposed to, and the owner always had a dramatic story to explain why they simply couldn’t make it. At the end of the day, the work was such that I chose to hire them again.

From the beginning of this project that started May 2007, things just haven’t seemed to flow as they should have. The project wasn’t small (at least not to me), and consisted of painting, drywall, laying ceramic tile and such. Here we are, almost a year later, and after much pleading and complaining the owner of the firm I hired promised to be here on the morning of April 15th. They have yet to show up. I called this morning and it got ugly. The owner raised his voice at me for cursing him (and I surely did that.) When did I curse him? After he screamed, “I DEMAND RESPECT FROM YOU.” No way! You had that; you lost it; and now you must earn it back from me.

I must be one dumb gullible chick — I let him talk me into buying Sherwin Williams LIFE TIME paint. Sure it was more expensive, but I figured it was better and would last at least as long as the Porter paint that was used some 10 years ago. Now remember, this paint was applied less than 1 year ago…

It’s easy to see that I have a problem, and we know that customers don’t want you to ‘make it right’, they want you to ‘get it right’. I may post more later about all the other things that weren’t fixed — no splash guard on the installed bathroom vanity, the 1″ gap between the ceiling and the new wall they added, the paint spray that is still on the outside of the windows, and the electrical problem I’ve had since they installed 2 ceiling fans — but there’s so much…

On the phone with the man in charge today, he explained that the reason his phone’s voicemail was full was because he was so busy. It was filled with people wanting to hire him. He said my attorney was ‘washed up’ and I was more than welcome to call him. He said that he didn’t need my business, as he had large jobs that were important to him. He also said his “guys” would be here today. I am torn between wanting the work done, and not even wanting him here at this point. I don’t think I have EVER been on the receiving end of such a poor customer experience in my life. EVER.