Botched Repair

[JustGeorge]

A guy is replacing a few of our windows.

Its someone we know personally. My opinion on the fellow is mixed; I haven't always liked commissioning him for jobs in the past, because while he knows what he's doing, he doesn't always follow instructions. He also sometimes assumes that because we're eccentric, we don't care about quality. This isn't true.

He took out and partially put in a window today. Started working on the second. I walked by the window perhaps 4 times, noting something was very wrong. It wasn't centered in its frame. 1 inch between the window and the wall on one side, four inches on the other(if I had to guess). I realized I needed to say something.

I asked how he was going to complete the product. He told me some stuff I didn't really understand, so I just cut to the chase. "Is that window going to be centered when its done?" If looks could kill.. "Not really, no." I went on to tell him I didn't care for that at all, and that I'd like him to fix it." He very uncomfortably said he'd see what he could do.

What are some botched jobs you've had done that you hired out for? What happened?

 

[Revoltingest]

I once had a dealer service a transmission that had a bad synchro.
They fixed it. But never put in any oil.
I had to buy a used transmission from a better company.
I don't like dealer service.

 

[JustGeorge]

I once had a dealer service a transmission that had a bad synchro.
They fixed it. But never put in any oil.
I had to buy a used transmission from a better company.
I don't like dealer service.

I've heard a lot of bad things about dealer service. I've never had to use one myself.

I once had my heating 'fixed' at a garage... paid 400 bucks, and it still didn't work. I called to complain, and the guy kept asking "but is the repair reliable" until I shouted "no! That's what I'm trying to tell you!" They very angrily corrected their mistake.

 

[Father Heathen]

I botch my own repairs. Don't need anyone to do it for me.

 

[JustGeorge]

I botch my own repairs. Don't need anyone to do it for me.

I admit, self botched repair can be endearing.

My middle son once tore all the plaster off a living room wall in a matter of minutes. I had only a matter of a few hours to fix it(someone agreed to watch him for that window so he wouldn't tear it up while we were working). A friend came over who was mildly familiar with the task at hand; I didn't know a thing. But, we managed to get it done.

I refused to let anyone sand over our mistakes. I always wanted to remember the day the lad tore up the wall.

 

[John53]

This wasn't mine but I had a friend who had a house built a while back and they had a sliding glass door leading to the back yard and whoever did the guttering put a down pipe right in the middle of where the door was.

 

[Rival]

This wasn't mine but I had a friend who had a house built a while back and they had a sliding glass door leading to the back yard and whoever did the guttering put a down pipe right in the middle of where the door was.

This deserves some kind of award.

 

[JustGeorge]

This wasn't mine but I had a friend who had a house built a while back and they had a sliding glass door leading to the back yard and whoever did the guttering put a down pipe right in the middle of where the door was.

That's a pretty bad one. Did they manage to fix it?

What in the world was that person thinking?

 

[John53]

That's a pretty bad one. Did they manage to fix it?

Yep. The building contractor couldn't believe it when they sent the photos. He of course blamed the plumber he hired but you'd think he would be supervising the work or at least checking it.

What in the world was that person thinking?

Who knows. I can think of no logical excuse. Even stupidity doesn't cover it lol

 

[JustGeorge]

Yep. The building contractor couldn't believe it when they sent the photos. He of course blamed the plumber he hired but you'd think he would be supervising the work or at least checking it.



Who knows. I can think of no logical excuse. Even stupidity doesn't cover it lol

I would suspect being under the influence...

We had some of that 'thinking' going on here last year. The work was shoddy and some left undone.

They installed a sliding glass door here, too, and didn't bother finishing the wall around it. There was exposed... frame? House? Insulation? I don't know what its called, but it looked like a haunted house in here. Husband had to fix it eventually.

 

[Vinayaka]

I once had a dealer service a transmission that had a bad synchro.
They fixed it. But never put in any oil.
I had to buy a used transmission from a better company.
I don't like dealer service.

I had the local guy do an oil change but forget to put the cap back on. I had extra oil all over the engine. I never went back.

 

[Vinayaka]

This wasn't mine but I had a friend who had a house built a while back and they had a sliding glass door leading to the back yard and whoever did the guttering put a down pipe right in the middle of where the door was.

That's kind of 'Three Stooges' funny.

 

[JustGeorge]

That's kind of 'Three Stooges' funny.

For that kind of screw up, I think he was at least owed the show...

 

[Quagmire]

I was working as a groundskeeper for a therapist in Central cal. While I was there she hired two "contractors" --- lets call them Burt and Ernie -- to remodel the back section of the house, and they needed a third guy so I pitched in.

One day, Burt, the foreman, told me we needed to sand and re-paint all the windows in the back wall, which I thought was strange since one of the things we were getting ready to do as part of the remodel was to completely demolish the back wall in order to put in an extension.

I brought this up to him and he told me, "Well, there really isn't anything else to do until the lumber gets here, and don't worry, she'll pay for it and probably wont even notice ".

So he was going to charge Erin a full days work x 3 guys to sand and paint windows that were just going to wind up in broken heaps on the scrap pile in a cpl days.

I think this guy was under the impression that we were buddies or something and that I liked him more than I liked Erin.
Truth was I didn't like any of them very much but I felt obligated to let Erin know what was going on.

She refused to hear it. Erin had this weird, "I'm a Magical Fairy Princess" complex and Burt and Ernie picked up on that and played it too the hilt. They would refer to her as M'lady, flatter her non-stop, and even bow a little when they jumped up to get the door for her. as long as all that was going on they could pretty much get away with whatever they wanted.

In the end Erin probably payed 4 or 5 times as much as she should have for really shoddy work along with multiple building code violations.

I wrote a song about it called The Fall of Eryndale.

 

[JustGeorge]

I was working as a groundskeeper for a therapist in Central cal. While I was there she hired two "contractors" --- lets call them Burt and Ernie -- to remodel the back section of the house, and they needed a third guy so I pitched in.

One day, Burt, the foreman, told me we needed to sand and re-paint all the windows in the back wall, which I thought was strange since one of the things we were getting ready to do as part of the remodel was to completely demolish the back wall in order to put in an extension.

I brought this up to him and he told me, "Well, there really isn't anything else to do until the lumber gets here, and don't worry, she'll pay for it and probably wont even notice ".

So he was going to charge Erin a full days work x 3 guys to sand and paint windows that were just going to wind up in broken heaps on the scrap pile in a cpl days.

I think this guy was under the impression that we were buddies or something and that I liked him more than I liked Erin.
Truth was I didn't like any of them very much but I felt obligated to let Erin know what was going on.

She refused to hear it. Erin had this weird, "I'm a Magical Fairy Princess" complex and Burt and Ernie picked up on that and played it too the hilt. They would refer to her as M'lady, flatter her non-stop, and even bow a little when they jumped up to get the door for her. as long as all that was going on they could pretty much get away with whatever they wanted.

In the end Erin probably payed 4 or 5 times as much as she should have for really shoddy work along with multiple building code violations.

I wrote a song about it called The Fall of Eryndale.

Sounds like she got what she deserved.

 

[Quagmire]

Sounds like she got what she deserved.

That's actually part of the song.

This is the tale,
Of the fall of Eryndale,
And a queen who found herself without a throne.

Her cries and pleas,
Were all to no avail,
For the time had come to reap what she had sown . . .

Think I'll post the rest of it in Poetry latter.

 

[Quagmire]

That's actually part of the song.

This is the tale,
Of the fall of Eryndale,
And a queen who found herself without a throne.

Her cries and pleas,
Were all to no avail,
For the time had come to reap what she had sown . . .

Think I'll post the rest of it in Poetry latter.

The Fall of Eryndale