Recently we had an issue at my home. Our basement flooded and it was to say the least quite messy. Since I have two trade certificates I was not overly worried as I have several friends in the trades field.
Mistake number 1.
I made a few phone calls to some friends and decided on the company that I was going to work with,
I would truly love to tell all of you who it was but that would not be fair as it was not the companies fault per say, it was their employees.
Mistake number 2.
The company was incredibly busy so we, my fiancee and I, decided to be thoughtful and let them come in to do the work when they were not overly swamped.
Mistake number 3.
After almost two months, we literally had to call them and find out what was what. They replied with "Oh we are still busy, busy"
Okay, granted we said to come in when you were less busy, but come on....two months? I asked if they were serious. Finally they sent a crew of three. One hard worker and several slacker's throughout the ordeal. My fiancee was moving stuff around whilst one employee was smoking.
Mistake number 4.
Since most of my income is generated working from home I was a little more at ease since I could be home to watch the work and more importantly the house. Seemed like a good idea to me, however, every time I had a cigarette or a coffee the guys working figured they were entitled to also. So in an eight hour shift there was only about five hours worth of work done...maybe less.
Mistake number 5.
The last day these guys were at my home I had to leave for the afternoon and thought all would be well and good. Was I ever wrong. When I got back, there were tools left everywhere and there was literally a paint roller still in a paint tray just drying up.
Switches were upside down, floor boards were not cut evenly which is a nasty tripping hazard and to top it all off the door to my home was left open and unlocked. Not impressive.
The phone call.....
I immediately called the company the following Monday (they are closed on weekends) and asked what was going on. I was told, to my disbelief that the crew was finished.
Finished? They left tools everywhere, your tools, they left have work done and you are telling me they are done? Unbelievable!
Fast forward to today which is less than one month later and we have damages again from in correctly installed items. I called and was told that they would get here when they could, again unbelievable.
So what is the point of this story:
Always check a contractor's history.
Never hire a company based on a friendship, it can ruin one.
Make sure you pay close attention to the work, you are the one paying for it.
Make sure you get more than one quote.
Offline and online if you are going to stay in business always take pride in your work.
One of the best motto's I have ever heard is from J.M. Schneider (the meat company;)) he always said if it wasn't good enough for his family then it wasn't good for yours.
That's a powerful statement isn't it.
A final thought is this, if a company doesn't offer a guarantee of some kind then run, don't walk...run. If they aren't willing to guarantee their work then they aren't worth hiring.
I hope no one else ever goes through what we went through, sadly, some of you might or already have.
