I had been told that I'd be informed of the time of the inspector's arrival in the morning and at 8:30 a.m., the call came from the furnace company. The inspector will arrive between 10:00 a.m. and noon. I asked if a technician will also be present, as I had been told when the visit was scheduled, and was told that a company representative will be arriving "soon" (he arrived at 9:30 a.m., which was fine).
I asked when they would do the plastering, presuming the inspection passes. The person at the other end of the phone reacted as if it was news to her that the services of a plasterer will be required! "I will have to look up your contract to see if plastering was included." Um, according to what the company's rep who sold me the furnace had told me - they will install, have it inspected, and plaster the openings in the wall. "Oh, we will have to check your written contract and call you back." I assured her that it was in the contract.
But, after I got off the phone with her, I rechecked the written contract and, oh, no! It made no mention of the plastering! It was only in the verbal contract! I had been so overwhelmed by decision making or distracted by other things such as negotiating down the price that day, that I had overlooked checking the written contract to make sure that the plastering was also written down, along with the installation, inspection, etc.! Oh, how could I have been so remiss?
While I was fretting about that, the company's rep. arrived, introduced himself, took photos of the furnace, and told me that he will wait out in his truck for the inspector to arrive. I brought up the matter of the plastering with him and he said that, if the sales rep. had told me they will plaster and it is in the written contract, then, they will do that. At that point, I thought it was prudent not to say anything about the lack of mention of plastering in the written contract.
The inspector arrived around 10:30 a.m., spent less than five minutes inspecting, said something to the rep about something should be 1 inch and that it looked like it was about 1 inch, and I guess that was that! The rep confirmed that the inspector will sign off on things at his end before he left and I signed off on the statement that the rep had been here and he left, too. Before he left, I reminded him about the plastering, emphasizing the fact that I was a repeat customer of many years.
A short time later, the furnace company called to schedule the plastering! YAY! The plasterer will be here on Monday morning! Yes! I guess they realized that I will not pay that last $500 due on the furnace installation until the plastering was done! Last time, when they put in the furnace, the plastering was done without any fuss, even though there was no mention of it in the contract, then, either!
I guess the moral of the story is to scrutinize the written contracts to make sure that everything is spelled out!
Of course, it's rather ironic that the furnace was inspected on a day when we reached 90F as our daytime high! I had all the windows opened to warm up the house (which remained at least 10 degrees cooler than what it was outside) and sat outside for sometime while I enjoyed the other part of the watermelon I had cut, yesterday (daughter didn't think much of our homegrown watermelon, but, I thought it was quite good).
Today, I chatted with two of my cousins and friend A. I will chat with friend R, later in the evening.
Brunch had been a chicken sandwich (me; daughter had a salad); watermelon and mango for snacks; dinner will be leftover sausages with a baked potato (for me) or rice (daughter), and some of the second Korean dish that daughter had made, earlier. Dessert will be the rest of the pastries neighbor S had given.
Today, I am grateful that:
- The furnace was inspected and passed inspection
- The plastering has been included and scheduled
- I now have a working furnace that can be switched on when it gets cold
- The sunny, warm day
- Chats with family and friends
Today's joyful activity was having the furnace pass inspection and having the plastering scheduled!
Plans for tomorrow include having M tend to the garden and doing some laundry.
How was your Thursday? What are your plans for Friday?
I am so glad you are getting the plastering done! When I read it was not in the contract my first thought was "us oh". Nice that you are dealing with a company who cares about customers and the company reputation.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne; me, too! Especially since all I had was the sales rep's words to go by! My daughter had already told me that I was too trusting!
DeleteI'm glad the plastering will get done too. We all need to have a nice warm home, it's hard to fathom that it's warmer outside than in. All's well that ends well as the saying goes.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen; I'm glad it will get done! My house tends to be on the cool side when it is hot outside. Which is nice during the heat of the summer, but, not as nice in the winter! Especially since I feel cold most of the time!
DeleteYay! A new, working furnace and soon a pretty wall surrounding it.
ReplyDeleteYes! Thank goodness for a working furnace and the plastering to follow! Sealing off the openings will probably help with retaining the heat, as well. I am looking forward to cozy evenings and warmer mornings! :)
DeleteWell I'm glad it all worked out with the plastering. That was worrisome for a bit - but they are coming Monday thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteSo you are good to go then, right? With the plastering being a cosmetic issue, if you would get a cold snap over the weekend you are able to turn the furnace on, correct?
Yes, all is well, again! :) I have a working heater that can be turned on if it gets cold this weekend!
DeleteI was a bit worried about the plastering because it was what the sales rep said would be included (they did it without any issues, last time), but, if they don't do it now, because it wasn't spelled out on the contract, then, I'd have to find someone to do it. Even more than the extra costs, it is the finding someone, that is difficult for me. I've a hundred little things around the house that are waiting until I find someone to tend to it for me!
Hello! :)
ReplyDeleteI am so glad they did the plastering. I have been in situations where I am so overwhelmed of whats happening around me I forget to tell them to write it down! I am glad this company didn't give you a problem and it probably didn't hurt than you had a $500 balance either..LOL.....And all that food? It sounds delicious!
Thank you, Robyn; the plastering will be done on Monday morning, but, I am glad that it will take place! I have learned, the hard way, to always hold off on the last payment until the job has been completed!
DeleteI'm so pleased your boiler inspection is done and it can now be used. Well done for persisting and getting them to confirm that the plastering will be sorted out as promised. Monday isn't too long to wait, thankfully. Will you tackle the decorating yourself or get someone in to do it for you?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen. I haven't thought about the decorating, yet! I have a wall paper border up along the ceiling line in the hallway, which they had to cut off when they broke the wall. I have to decide if I want to keep the border up (and see if I kept a remnant of it to patch), or take the border off. It would drive you crazy, probably, but, I never painted the wall after the last furnace was installed! For 14 years, I have lived with a white stripe on my otherwise lilac painted hallway! It just didn't bother me! LOL!
DeleteThat must be a relief that the furnace checked out and the plastering will be done. You are smart to withhold a part of the payment until work is complete, though!
ReplyDeleteWe had frost last night, but it is sunny and the temperature came up a lot later on. I've had coffee with my friend and done a load of grocery shopping.
It is a relief, Bushlady. I suppose I could have simply written that the furnace passed inspection and the plastering will be done on Monday and that would have been that, but, that would have omitted all the uncertainty I experienced about the plastering! The point I wanted to make was to make sure that every last detail was included in your written contract to avoid future problems! As for withholding the last portion of the payment, believe me, it was something I learned from experience!
DeleteOoh, frost! Well, I suppose the end of October is not too early for frost in your part of the world. But, I'm glad it turned sunny with warmer temperatures, today, and you were able to have coffee with your friend and got your grocery shopping done. :) Hope you have a lovely rest of the day.
So good 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you, Regine. :)
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