Ketchup Day

When I was in 6th Grade, my Language Arts teacher used to have days where you could complete all the assignments you'd run out of time for previously. It was a day to catch up, but since he was a Language Arts teacher and loved a play on words, it was always "Ketchup Day". So here is MY Ketchup Day!

In the Basement, a large portion of the To Do List has been completed, with more to come today (I hope!). We still need the paint on the main floor redone, our closet organizer installed, the defective cabinets replaced, our upper cabinets installed (more on that in a bit), the molding at the top of the cabinets fixed (again, more on that in a bit), the laundry room paint touched up and the backsplash caulked, the trim for the tap box needs to be replaced, the electrical outlet covers need to be installed, and the random wire in the laundry room needs to be removed (or moved, or whatever). So that's not bad.

As well, we now have extra parking in front of our house again....the bin was removed at the end of last week! I am happy to say that we didn't get any tickets, despite having the bin parked on the street in front of the house. City of Calgary, you can kiss my butt! We couldn't get a permit to put the bin on the street, for some unknown reason (seriously, no one would tell us why, just that we couldn't get the permit), and we didn't want our grass to die on our front lawn, so we took our chances and put the bin on the street, figuring the 8 and 12 foot bins that are ALSO parked on the street in our neighborhood would get ticketed first. What can I say, we like to live on the edge here at the Homeowner abode.

Our streetscape....free of bin!
The bare spot where the bin was!

Now what DIDN'T get done (surprise!) was the cabinetry. The installer showed up with the doors, but DIDN'T BRING HINGES. When I asked him if he'd be back later in the day, he said "No, I have to go all the way back to the shop, so I won't have time" Um.....so going back and forth to the shop is too far for YOU, but it's fine for ME to have to to repeat trips! Riiiiiiight. So then I explain what I want to do with the molding on the top of the cabinets, to fix their massive installation fail. He looks at it and says "No, that's how we install them. The gap at the end is the same size as the thickness of the cabinet doors, so then you have an even gap all the way around" Um....except that WE DON'T, because the board was mounted right into the corner on the other end of the bar. So, I looked at him and said "Well, I think it looks stupid, I want it fixed. Had you told us that was how it was going to be installed, I would have instructed you to do it differently. So can we have our finishing carpenter come out and fix it??" and the installer said "Yup, sure, we're done with it" WOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!! And, I even had a witness from Eiffel. And, when I asked if the wood would be hard to match, the installer said "Nope, it's just natural maple". Yesssssssss! And then I asked when we'd be getting our replacement drawer and door fronts....and he said that the shop should have them in about 3 weeks "Assuming they were ordered last week", and that the ladies would call to book a service call. I asked if there was a rush option, and was told "All our jobs are rush jobs". Um....you SURE don't have any sense of urgency on our job, so I think that's total BS. Anyway.

So, I got right on the phone to the Project Manager and complained. We're already a month behind on this job BECAUSE OF THE CABINETS, and showing up to an install without hinges is just retarded. He phoned them and lost it, only to be told that "there were no hinges listed on the paperwork". Um.......yeah. They're CABINETS. Of COURSE they need hinges.

I also sent an email to our Customer Service rep, to keep her in the loop. She was just as livid, and is now involving both the owner of Eiffel and the owner of the cabinet supplier. While I'm not a big fan of making a fuss and creating trouble, I am absolutely appalled at how our job (and by extension, WE) have been treated. There is a total lack of customer service, using the excuse "Oh, that's the industry". Um, no, that WAS the industry. Things have ground to a halt. And, the only thing that travels faster than good word of mouth, is BAD word of mouth. I'm not big on wishing bad things on people, because I do tend to believe in karma....but I do hope this slowdown is hard on their bottom line. VERY HARD. Like, bankruptcy hard. And, like I've stated before, all it would have taken for me to calm down is an apology- "Sorry, we screwed up, how can we reach a solution?" The flooring supplier did this with our carpet- they had two service people come out to check it, they resteamed it, and assured us that if the line was still there in a month, they would replace the offending pieces (as a side note, the lines are almost completely gone, so it was clearly just a mark where the carpet was rolled). The plumbing supplier rebooked an appointment with me right after my atrocious time there, and made sure I got the fixtures that I wanted, and that were in my price range. But, the cabinet guys? Nothing. So, SCREW EM (after I get my cabinets, of course!).

So, that's what's happening here. We are dangerously close to being finished, but just far enough that I anticipate it won't be completed this week. After this week, both Mr. Homeowner and I are back at work (I took this week off, Mr. Homeowner had been off since December 24)...and the Pup will be spending her time in her kennel. We don't want strangers walking through and getting her riled up (or, worse, walking up to her kennel and getting her worked up), so we're taking the key out of the lockbox....and after Friday, all service calls will be done according to our schedule. So, for simplicity's sake, I hope that lots gets accomplished this week!

There will be Pup photos tomorrow, I promise!