Home Depot

I contracted with a home improvement store to refurbish my kitchen: new sink and countertops, new cabinets, new floor covering. The store made me pay in advance, but I decided that since they were a national chain, it would be okay. Two installers — a cabinet installer and a plumber — came and ripped out the old stuff. Then they left. “We have another job today,” they said, “but we’ll be back.” A couple of weeks went by and they didn’t return. I had to go to the store and complain before they would come back. When they did come back, they worked an hour and left again. Once again, about two weeks passed and they didn’t show. I went to the store and complained. Each time I complained, the installers would return and work an hour. A job that should have taken half a day, or maybe a day, took about two months to complete. And there were problems.

They installed the kitchen sink crooked, with the left side noticeably higher than the right side. They said the sink was as level as they could get it. Then they left for lunch. When they returned, I said to one of the installers — the plumber — “Try to get the sink so it’s not crooked. It looks half-assed right now.” The plumber picked up his tools and told me, “I refuse to be cursed at,” and walked out leaving his job half done. A plumber who can’t stand to hear the word ass? No way. He was looking for an excuse to quit the job. After all, he had his money.

I went to the store to discuss the situation, and I discovered that he had told the store manager that I had cursed at him. I told the store manager exactly what happened. That’s when I found out that the store had a list of approved contractors, and the plumber wasn’t on the list. The plumber and the cabinet installer were pals and the cabinet installer had subcontracted the plumbing work to his unapproved buddy.

The new floor covering, which was installed by a third-party subcontractor, was installed incorrectly and bubbles formed under the vinyl. I asked the store to fix it. They didn’t want to, but they eventually agreed to replace the vinyl if I paid for the labor. So that is what happened.

It seems to me that everyone has stories like this. You contract people to do a job, they demand payment upfront, they do half the job and disappear, and the half they actually do turns out to be done wrong. You really can’t trust anyone. More accurately, you can trust some people, but it’s hard to know who those people are.