Friday, December 30, 2005
It's so predictable. Contractors string you along for months as they sneak off to other jobs and then lie to your face about it. Then towards the end of the job they start grumbling that it is taking longer than they had wanted (translation: I'm not making as much money on this as I wanted). They always blame the other guy (plumber, electrician, carpenter, even the owner) when something gets delayed or goes wrong. That's fine. I can get through all that. We smile and diplomatically tell them to get the damn work done thank you very much.
But a plumber who balks at his own English is pushing it....i.e. I deducted $250 from his bill based on his original proposal that said "There is no labor charge for carpenter or plumber: Carpenter to install roof flange, build wall to accommodate piping and drill holes and patch as needed." I matched up this language to the carpenter's language and voila: $250. The plumber now says that this isn't what he meant and that I have mis-construed the language in the proposal. OK well I might not know what a roof flange is exactly but I don't think the language could be any more clear. So now will come the nit-picking. He is an idiot of course from a marketing and PR perspective. I had just written him a letter that I was pleased that we were able to resolve the problem that got this whole project started in the first place. A smarter plumber would have considered the $250 he wasn't too happy about (mind you I've given this guy about $7000 total) money well invested in a customer who would have said good things about his company. Guess that's why he's a plumber...
But a plumber who balks at his own English is pushing it....i.e. I deducted $250 from his bill based on his original proposal that said "There is no labor charge for carpenter or plumber: Carpenter to install roof flange, build wall to accommodate piping and drill holes and patch as needed." I matched up this language to the carpenter's language and voila: $250. The plumber now says that this isn't what he meant and that I have mis-construed the language in the proposal. OK well I might not know what a roof flange is exactly but I don't think the language could be any more clear. So now will come the nit-picking. He is an idiot of course from a marketing and PR perspective. I had just written him a letter that I was pleased that we were able to resolve the problem that got this whole project started in the first place. A smarter plumber would have considered the $250 he wasn't too happy about (mind you I've given this guy about $7000 total) money well invested in a customer who would have said good things about his company. Guess that's why he's a plumber...
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