Al,

You're the reason for ****ing 4 hour windows for service appointments.

To those that say it would be OK for the contractor to wait patiently, and then bill the client for the down time. Or to leave and then send a bill for the service call. Would you pay that invoice? Now be honest, in the LFS new kitchen thread, the consensus was to hammer the contractor over any shenanigans over even the smallest add-on.

I was just thinking if they thought "uh what the ****?" and left we'd be discussing itt how rude these contractors were to send a bill for service unrendered. Asking them to wait outside is ridiculous. Tell them to leave or come in and get to work. Pick one.

I bet most of their clients aren't actually home, blow them off anyway, and are total asshats about the whole situation (excepting, as I said earlier, the coming in the second time, which was not cool -- they should have left their bill taped to the door and never come back.) That 1% of clients, they can afford to lose.

The guys who forget about the appointment, or get unavoidably delayed, and say "hey, sorry, can we reschedule"? The ones who treat them like, you know, people? I'm pretty sure they would have been accommodating.

And NO eye contact, under any circumstances.

I've had numerous work people at my place recently, and everybody charges a fee to even show up. If they arrived and I wasn't there they'd go to their next job and I'd owe them $90. They would never just enter the home, that's just crazy.

BUT they would call the phone number they'd been given, which would be my cell, so if I was running 10 minutes late I'd say "On my way!" and all would be well.

Just this Monday I needed my garbage disposal fixed, their window was 11AM - 1PM, I obviously couldn't do that, so my wife handled it.

did she get raped by a mexican?

OK - now we're getting somewhere (at least to the point of somewhat agreeing).

-Al

LFS, was it the problem where you flick the disposal switch and hear a low whirring sound as if the motor is trying to run but is stuck?

$90, please.

No, flicked the switch and then absolutely nothing happened. I don't know what the problem ended up being, but it's fixed now.

obviously the 60-70 year old guy is just reminiscing about the old days when it'd be okay to waltz in and fix what needs fixin'. the times they are-a-changin'.

I would have asked, "Did my wife ask you to wait outside?" and gone from there.

I'd have thought you would have purchased one of those prepaid cell phones so the contractors wouldn't have access to your real number!

Oh dude, we're not amateurs. I have a bunch of prepaid cell phones I use for communicating with the help. I've color coded by the ethnicity of the day laborer - helps keep me organized.

-Al

i dont really think you overreacted. but i dont understand why u apid him twice as much as it was? so you tipped him $50 for walking into your house without any notice?

And then you issue each laborer one, the hidden rfid chip keeps tabs on them.

My "favorite" part of this whole thing is how so many people are being Internet-rude to doc. From calling him an idiot to joking about his wife cheating to all sorts of other things. I mean, the very first words of his OP were:
And after all the warm OOT fuzzies that were going around lately in the divorce thread and the van down by the river thread, I had begun to think that we'd all gone soft or something.

But then this thread has re-affirmed my faith in the immaturity of the OOT community. Granted, I am all for immaturity in the right time or place. I love immaturity.

But, good grief, Leo Doc is just about THE coolest 2p2 member there is. Even if he is wrong, can't we honor his request to be a little more civil when we tell him that? Geez.

FWIW, I agree with Clark Nasty's take, and I voted "no".

those of you saying leo is telling a bad story or half a story or w/e obviously have never read his TRs

Yeah, cussing out the people who are badmouthing your wife.

I don't think you'd be overreacting if you did that to a few posters in this thread.

the internet is a lot better if you don't take it too seriously
lol

If you were my friend, and I came in to your house, it's a bit different in that you know the person and it's not some random stranger. But even then I'd be pretty pissed.

Sure, it's a dick move to not be home when they come. But that doesn't excuse an even worse move.

fixed!

Before I respond to some of the quoted posts below, I'd like to appreciatively acknowledge those that have given sincere and non-flippant, non-caustic replies.

My question, "Did I overreact?", was posed so that I might gain some sense of what the "reasonably prudent man" might do in a similar situation. (Altho some may rightfully question why I'd ask this of OOT. )

I've endeavored to provide the unvarnished facts and tried to further provide detail that I initially missed in the OP. I'm not looking for justification for my behavior, nor am I "slanting" some fact or omitting some detail that would reduce my credibility.

I discussed making this thread with wife before having done so. I explained that this situation posed a bit of a moral dilemma- not in the grand scheme of things- and that I'd like to hear what some uninvolved folks would have to say about it. Nothing itt is gonna be life-altering for me or the HVAC dude. That said, if I can be convinced that "the reasonably prudent man" deems my (re)actions inappropriate, then I owe that guy an apology and I fully intend to make one. (I understand the meaning of, "man-up.") I'm gonna make a decision on the matter about noon tomorrow.

At the risk of being redundant, I'm gonna synopsize what happened.

1) Wife makes 9AM appointment with duct cleaning guys. I forgot about it and wasn't home when they arrived.

2) They knocked at the door and called the house to no avail. They then entered the premises, despite not having been asked to do so.

3) Wife then awakens to voices in the living room. She calls out and service guys ID themselves. She also realizes that I'm not home at the time. She's a bit freaked that they entered the house w/o permission, so she called me.

4) I fully realized that I should have been at the house when they arrived. Despite that, I'm not happy that the guys came in w/o permission and think it prudent that they should wait outside the house until I get there and told her to tell them so. She does so and they complied with her/my request. (FWIW, they had a heated van in which to wait, or they could have just completed the part of the job that required them to be outside. Any suggestion that I was treating them like vermin is silly.)

5) I ain't happy on my drive back to the house. Dude's came in w/o my or my wife's expressed permission. I don't know these guys and they don't me. In retrospect, I wished I had handled the initial discourse differently. I also wished the old guy had handled it differently, too.

6) At no time was I profane, nor did I make any personally insulting or threatening remark. After going inside, I confirmed events with my wife, then went back to speak with the guy. He was on the porch and the first thing he said was, "We're going to pack up and leave."

I said, "How much do I owe you for the work you've done?" He said $50. I went back inside to get my wallet. I didn't a $50, nor bills that would have made $50. It wouldn't have mattered anyway 'cause I was gonna give him $100.

I could tell he felt bad. So did I.

see above

I got no excuse for not having done so. My bad entirely.

She's still miffed that the dudes came in. She's a lottttt more miffed that they came in the second time.

In the interest of full disclosure, my initial reaction to them was not predicated on the second entry. I'd forgotten that she'd told them to wait outside until I got there.

In retrospect, they were. They had removed grates from three rooms. I did not realize this when I initially came home.

You'd be correct.

I'm willing to concede this. Perhaps it's even another reason that I should man-up?

They aren't going to do work until they confirm that they do have permission and should start.


Primarily, this was YOUR fault for leaving the door unlocked and arriving late.... plus, why wanted your wife more prepared for the visit, that SHE scheduled? Did you tell her you'd be there to take care of it?



As for the situation as it played out... tough to tell how I would have reacted. I certainly would make it clear that they should be careful about entering someone's home unannounced; the rest would depend on their demeanor and my read, most likely.

I can't vote yet- will have to read more of the thread.

Leo Doc, what was the temperature outside that morning your wife told the guys to wait outside well after the appointment she scheduled?

Why did she need you to be there? Did she think she made an appointment with rapists?