Sunday Morning Blog

June 30, 2005

Trying to Keep it Local

[mood| surprised]

Some of you may realize my feelings about WalMart and the big chain stores. WalMart, specifically, sucks up 7% of all retail spending, and I think that is just too much of a piece of the pie for anyone. It is for this reason that I try to give my shopping money to locally owned stores when I can. Unfortunately, this philosophy does not always prove the easiest to follow.

After work last night, I headed to Crane Appliance to see if I could pick up a dehumidifier for the new homestead. I was pleased when I walked in the front door and found several models right there next to the a.c. Units. I was standing there comparing them for several minutes, when I decided that I might have to approach one of the several sales people sitting at their desks ignoring me. I turned, caught one of the salesperson's eye, and he asked if he could help me (without rising from his seat). I asked about the dehumidifiers, and I was told that they would be receiving a shipment tomorrow, but they only had one particular 60qt model left on the shelf. I inquired about the price of the units they had left on the shelf, and the salesperson had to ask another desk bound associate if he had “ever found the price” of these units earlier. I stood there for five more minutes (no exaggeration) waiting for an answer from these two “salespeople,” but never received one. I left, telling them I would be back tomorrow when they received their shipment. This should have been understood as code for: “I am going to WalMart, see you poor excuses for salespeople later!”

At WalMart, I found the dehumidifiers exactly where I would expect to find them and I purchased TWO! Three hundred and forty-two dollars that could have stayed local. So much for the anti-big box store philosophy. I tried... I really did.

Posted by capecodcyclist at 06:31 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

June 29, 2005

No Spinning Time

[mood| depressed]

So, for a web about cycling, this blog sure has a lot about everything but bicycles. Yes, I am afraid that lately the bicycles have taken the backseat to everything else going on in my world. I hope I can at least get back to the bicycle commutes soon, but late nights working on the house leave little time for sleep. Sleep time is critical at this point, so the bicycle commutes will have to wait until we are caught up on the home projects.

Lets hope that time comes soon. I am ready for a break (and a bike ride).

Posted by capecodcyclist at 06:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 28, 2005

Cape Cod Home Improvement Network?

[mood| slightly perturbed]

I know you may have read a similar rant here recently, but what gives with home improvement contractors? We have not been in our new home long, but already we have witnessed the dearth of poor customer service, broken promises, outright lies and sales bandits that plague the home improvement workforce here. We have been jarred awake by unannounced Sunday morning laborers (early... twice!). We waited a week for someone to return to install the last of our windows. Nobody shows on time, nobody calls, but everyone takes your money. So far, Carpet Barn and the Just Doors guy have been the only exceptions. Door guy didn't take any of our money until he finished the work, and Carpet Barn showed up promptly at the time and day scheduled and provided everything as advertised.

Yesterday, I had to call Bathfitters to ask what was going on with our order. Apparently the RUSH the salesperson wrote on the work order meant something different to us. After taking a substantial deposit several weeks ago, we hadn't heard a thing from them. This was the conversation after they searched for and located our work order:

Me: “I was wondering about the status of our order. It has been several weeks and we haven't heard from anyone.”

Bathfitter: “Some of the parts for your job are on backorder and we are still waiting to hear from Canada as to when they will be in. The tray for your shower is not in yet, but we have the rest of the materials for your other bathroom.”

Me: “Well, we don't want to disable both bathrooms at the same time anyway.”

Bathfitter: “We could do your other bathroom anytime.”

Me: “ Well, I'm glad I called then! When can we do it?”

When were these people planning on calling us? It is not as though this is one job and they were trying to do them both on the same day. The shower install is performed by one installer and another who does tubs. Now that I called, we will be getting the upstairs bathroom finished by next Friday. YAY!

This whole experience has been very eye opening for me. Who wants to join me in starting a clearing house for home improvement jobs? If you can't show up on time, as scheduled... you lose the contract and we start handing the jobs to companies who can. Cape Cod needs some kind of reliable contractor network like this.

So far, I have had triple pane windows demonstrated and sold to me and had double pane windows delivered and installed. The same company did the siding and the windows. Each and every concern we expressed about both jobs were met with: “No problem, we will take care of that” by the salesperson. Each and every one of these concerns was either never passed on to the contractors doing the work, or was ignored by them. We had to monitor their every move, just to ensure that half of our concerns were addressed. The rest of the issues we just settled for so we could get the job done because we were sick of waiting. How frustrating. The bait and switch tactics and “no problem, we will take care of that” comments used by the salesperson will be addressed later. We just wanted new windows first... address the underhanded salesperson later.

Lesson Number One: Investigating a company online is a great means of research, but try to find other people who have used the same company. The Better Business Bureau will now have their second complaint on the books regarding these people.

Lesson Two: Get it in writing! The salesperson may say “No problem” to everything, but if it isn't written into the contract, it probably isn't going to happen.

Lesson Three: This is an old one. If it sounds too good to be true... it is!

Lesson Four: Check the work performed before you sign off and pay for the work. Don't let them pressure you here. Part of the work the electrical workers were supposed to be doing as part of the fuse to circuit breaker upgrade was to check the polarity of all the outlets in the house and fix any that were incorrectly wired. I tested a few this week, and several had the hot and neutral wires reversed. Yes, easy fix, but I intentionally asked that it be done as part of the project and it was written into the contract. I didn't have the means to check this right away, but I should have done more to make sure it was done properly at the time. My siding and windows contract included gutters. This was supposed to include gutters along the entire backside of my house and the partially refinished garage. The front of the house had brand new gutters (two months old) and these weren't to be replaced. Instead, I got gutters along the back of the house, none on the back of the garage and the new front gutters were taken down and replaced with new ones! I didn't notice this until the day after I paid for the work ( I was a little overwhelmed).

Lesson Five: Don't let them bully you. You paid for the work. You have the contract. Make them do the work as promised.

I will be happy when this is over and we only have to deal with the occasional oil burner cleaning.

Posted by capecodcyclist at 06:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 24, 2005

Turn Off your TV!

[mood| happy]

With all of the work involved with establishing our new home, I have lost track of most of the current events of the outside world. We have had a down period with no DSL and no TV for about a month. I would have thought that I would be missing the Red Sox games, my morning dose of NECN or at least HGTV, but I am not missing them. In fact, I think I feel better without the clutter of television in my life. Last night, we moved my TV and entertainment center over. It might be nice to kick back and do some DVD viewing, but for now I think we will keep the TV turned off. You don't notice how much time baseball games, NASCAR races and HGTV marathons suck out of your life. The progress that can be witnessed in our house from one day to the next may be attributed to this new found time.

Just say NO to television!

Posted by capecodcyclist at 06:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 21, 2005

Old House - New House

I wish I had many images to share of the before and after of our new home, but we decided the before was bad enough that we didn't really want to remember it in photos or otherwise. I do have before and after shots of the exterior that I have posted in my photo blog. Tonight, I worked on both the downstairs bathroom sink (now functional), assembled the upstairs bathroom sink and vanity (also completed successfully) and laid a few floor tiles upstairs. Getting a little something done each day makes such a difference.

Sleep now has an entirely new meaning. With that thought... GOOD NIGHT!

Posted by capecodcyclist at 10:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 18, 2005

Making Progress

[mood| ecstatic]

Top Ten Reasons Things Are Looking Up

1. We have DSL!!!
2. We have wireless!!!
3. The painting is almost done.
4. Almost all of the new windows are installed (just one more).
5. The new siding has been installed (less one gable and vent).
6. It feels more like home each day.
7. We are another day closer to wrapping up the renovation.
8. It is hard to picture what this house looked like a few weeks ago (and that is a wonderful thing).
9. Bathfitter, Lowes and Home Depot
10.We are now the authors of our future here and we can always call Cape Cod home.

Posted by capecodcyclist at 10:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack