Thinking out loud

My company has engaged in the practice of hiring sub-contractors to do a significant portion of the service installations. A significant portion of my job is going around and fixing things those things that they 'screwed up.' Over the past couple days I have had a few calls where the work order comments specifically have read 'do NOT send a contractor.' This is a 'flag' to me that the customer had a less-than-pleasant experience with whoever they sent out there before. I am always curious; and ask what happened.

Yesterday afternoon I showed up at one of these 'badly-contractored' homes. The house was a common Cape Cod on a quiet residential street. When I walked in I thought, 'wow....how cool.' They had done a great job of remodeling inside and it was very nicely decorated. I mentioned to the guy that I hoped it was not out-of-place for me to mention how cool his house was. He said, 'No, a lot of hard work went into it that I did all by myself.' He thanked me, too. He seemed like a cool guy.

I asked him what had happened when the contractor had come out to his house. He laughed lightly, smiled and said, 'Well, I guess the guy told my wife I was 'anal' because I asked that the job be done a certain way. He told me he asked the guy to wait until he got there (1/2 hour) and that he would help him do it the way he wanted. The guy told his wife he was 'anal,' did it his own way and left before the guy got home. I would say that is good reason to be pissed. Now I have to fix that, too.

I'd like to think I relate well with people and do my best to engage the people I meet on some level. I want them to be comfortable with me being in their homes; I want to talk and laugh with them, too. I guess my last entry provides evidence of that. I am paid by the hour. Contractors are paid by-the-job. I went through a multi-tiered hiring process; seems some of them were pulled off-the-street. I might think someone is being 'anal' but would never tell them. I would share it for the guys back at the shop; or if outrageous enough, put it up here. wink

This guy was cool. His house was very nice; I could see why it was so important to him to have it done the way he wanted. I apologized to him; told him even the Company makes some mistakes, ya know? I made sure everything was how he wanted and that it worked. I told stories with him; it was all good. He shook my hand when I left.

This morning I had another such call. It clearly stated in the work order comments do not send a contractor. In a sense, the same story as above. Nice home on a quiet residential cul-de-sac; a nice woman answered the door. I smiled and said, 'Good morning, ma'am, I'm here for the cable.' She smiled and invited me into the foyer as it was beginning to precipitate outside. I looked at her and said, 'Ma'am, I have to ask. What happened with the contractor.' She closed the door and her jaw almost dropped. She said it was 'horrible.' I said, 'What happened?'

This particular contractor went into the home they had just bought and when he saw the room where the one TV was to be he commented on how awful the room was; the decor. This as they were just moving in; guess he didn't think they might change it. Apparently another one that 'thinks out loud.' She went on to detail that he yelled at her about how the set was hooked up. She obviously felt very uncomfortable with him being in her home. She told me when they cancelled their digital service he showed up at the door to pick up the company's equipment. She told me when she recognized him she slammed the door on him after saying, 'wait, I'll go get it.' She did not want him in her home again. She was very happy to see by my workvan that I worked directly for the company.

I had a very nice time talking to her as she, too, was the product of a transient culture so unlike the culture here. She had lived in northern California near where my family had; we talked about Texas, too. I knew I liked her when I read the bumper sticker on her car that read, 'Life is to be LIVED.' I told her so when I went back into the house and joked with her I knew she wasn't 'from around here' as she had the furniture all moved out where I needed to work BEFORE I got there. We both laughed as she 'got it!'

Just like on Saturday, it was refreshing to meet some one of 'like-mind.' Usually, I only find them in the city.

Hope you all had a good day, too.

Spring is still on the way.