I have been in contractor hell for the past two weeks. Literally, figuratively, completely in hell. The nightmare floods my days from morning till night, and infiltrates my sleep. It has been a month of pure misery as we deal with the assholes that are contractors. Let me explain.......
In May of this year, we contacted Home Depot Installation Services to have a company install a retaining wall in our side yard. The wall was to level off the sloped (thus barely usable) side of our tiny yard and round off the back corner. This should have been done when we first purchased this brand new home with its unfinished backyard 9 years ago, but we didn't have the money nor the know-how. For the most part, we just dug all the big rocks out of the backyard, threw down grass seed, and had a fence installed to shield us from the prying eyes of our very close neighbors. Nevertheless, we took the plunge this year and decided to have the yard officially fixed so we can actually USE it.
Home Depot sent out one of their vendors to give us an estimate on the job. The man spent literally two hours at our house listening to what we wanted and giving me feedback on what it would entail, as well as sitting in his truck calculating cost estimates and drawing a diagram of the work to be done (which we never saw). I had asked him to give me two estimates: 1. Installation of only the first row of the retaining wall 2. Full installation of the entire wall from start to finish. Both requests included us demolitioning the existing fence and adding fill to bring the yard up to level.
The estimate and proposal for the job was presented to me by this man who proceeded to tell me, first thing, that he didn't even bother writing an estimate for the first row installation because the majority of the work and cost would be incurred with the first row, thus only saving us a few hundred dollars. His estimate included a very specific job proposal that detailed what they would do to install the entire wall. He also included an estimate for the cost of excavating the yard, adding fill, topsoil, and sod. Since I had already told him that we would be doing that portion of the project, we opted for the installation of the wall estimate only, and booked the project.
The next thing he tells me is that it will probably be September before they can do the work, unless they hire another crew, which was in the works. I wasn't happy with that timeline, but agreed to it since we were determined to have this project finally completed. They were able to start in August, earlier than stated, and we were happy to be on the path to finally getting the yard we wanted.
August finally arrives and the delivery of the wall stone to our driveway the week before the installation occurs. That was our first clue that something was amiss. The driver delivered three palettes of stone...totalling 140. My husband and I knew this was not nearly enough stone to complete the job, so we called the vendor and had the guy come out to discuss the issue. He arrives and remeasures, asking us if we had excavated any of the yard when we removed our fence. Since grass was still growing there, we told him the obvious answer was no. He agrees that they may be a few stones short and says he will take care of it. My husband goes round with him about the height of the wall, and the discrepancies really start to show.
This guy is off the actual dimensions by more than a foot. He is expecting the wall height to only be around 2.5 feet, when in actuality, it's more like 3.5 feet..almost 4 feet in a couple of places. He asserts that he's pretty sure it's only going to be around 3 feet, and says he will make sure there are enough stones to do the job, 12 or 14 should do it (ha!).
A few days later, the work starts. The workers make a point to tell us right away that there is not enough stone to complete the job, nor do they have the gravel and other equipment needed. They spent half the day waiting for the delivery of the stone and gravel, the other half digging the trench with pick axes through the dense, clay soil that is our backyard. The work seems to be going slow, but the material is delivered and the owner of the company drops by to check up on the work and deliver additional stone. By the end of the first day, there is a trench and a partial base of stone laid, with gravel and a drain pipe installed.
The second day arrives, and more digging, more stone laid, more gravel. The back trench is dug at the end of the day and things look right on track. Meanwhile, my husband has been phoned by the estimator guy and told that we would be responsible for paying for the additional stone to the tune of $175. He argued that this is not our error, since he is the one who measured incorrectly, and even had his boss re-measure (as was their standard operating procedure). The guy insisted that this cost needed to be paid for by us and since it was their fault, they are charging us the stone at cost. My husband said that he was not happy with that conclusion and would discuss it with him when the job is finished.
The final day of the wall installation arrives. The last layers of stone are placed and the owner and estimator guy arrive towards the end of the day to give instructions to the crew about the next day's job. The owner tells me that he didn't know how they estimated incorrectly, but assured me they had corrected the problem. No mention of additional cost. Then comes the estimator...Larey is his name. He approaches me and shows me all they have done. Right away I notice that the wall seems short by 18 bricks. Ia sk if those were going to be installed tomorrow and he tells me no. I tell him this looks unfinished since the top row stops in the middle of the yard. He tells me this is to elevation..blah blah blah. So I tell him that we would be buying additional stone to finish it because it doesn't look done to me. He then went on to give me a lesson about placing the stone and telling me to make sure I purchase a corner stone and apply adhesive to keep it in place. He went on and on about how I could easily do that with minimal effort...thus confirming to me that he doesn't think it looks finished either.
At the end of his lesson, he asks me if I had spoken to my husband about the additional charges. I told him that I had, but wanted him to deal with that issue and he would be home in an hour. Larey said he'd come back. And come back he did...at 8:00 pm. My husband was ready for him. He went back and forth with this man about how this wall is not what we wanted, a row too short, and the back corner was off. Larey proceeded to get hotheaded with my husband, who dished it right back, and said that we chose the lower estimate on the proposal and this is what we get for that amount of money. Again...bullshit bullshit bullshit.
They ended their tirade with Larey telling my husband that he could pay him the additional money or not, but it would be on his conscience if he didn't! WTF?? THEY underestimate the amount of stone TWICE and WE have to pay for it? I don't think so!
The next day, we call Home Depot about the whole debacle and they send a Regional Supervisor out. This man calls the vendor before he comes to see us and proceeds to tell us that we still owe the vendor money! He is completely biased as to the whole thing until I bring out the actual job proposal. It stated exactly what they were going to do and he changes his tune a tiny bit and says he will call the vendor and ask them why they didn't complete the job. Within half an hour, he phones me to tell me that the vendor said that proposal included the additional work on the yard (excavating, adding fill, topsoil and sod). More bullshit! He then tells me the vendor will be bringing the final 18 stones to finish off the job and we will be receiving a $100 gift card from Home Depot for our trouble. I tell him that wasn't necessary, but thanks for getting them to bring more stone. Whatever.
Fast forward a week. The stone has been placed and my husband has hauled 10 yards of fill and topsoil into the yard to level it off. We wanted our yard back ASAP. He also installs new fence posts in concrete in front of the wall so we can replace the fence that has been down for nearly a month now. As I check on the progress of the fence, I realize that the back corner is completely wrong. It wasn't as obvious before, with all the dirt piles everywhere and not having the visual of the fence to show the property line. What I now see is that they redug the back corner trench to bring the property line in more than a foot. The back corner stones were placed further into our yard, thus causing us to lose approximately 5o square feet of yard! I was pissed!
The following morning I called Home Depot and lodged another formal complaint with them regarding this shortening of the wall. I explain to them that this is not what we paid for, nor wanted in the first place. I made it very clear to them that I was not willing to work with this vendor again because of their gross errors and want another vendor to come and complete the job as requested. That was yesterday, and I'm supposed to hear back from them about how they are going to resolve this. I'm not holding my breath and fully expect that I will need to file a small claims court suit to get this job completed.
Grand total to the vendor? $5279! For a 60 foot long wall that is less than 4 feet high in only a small area! Most of the wall is 2 feet maximum. Lesson learned? Ask to see the actual drawing of the work to be done with complete specifications and list of supplies. Mark my words....I will NEVER, EVER, EVER have work done by this vendor in my lifetime! Nor will I go through Home Depot for the installation....NEVER!
In May of this year, we contacted Home Depot Installation Services to have a company install a retaining wall in our side yard. The wall was to level off the sloped (thus barely usable) side of our tiny yard and round off the back corner. This should have been done when we first purchased this brand new home with its unfinished backyard 9 years ago, but we didn't have the money nor the know-how. For the most part, we just dug all the big rocks out of the backyard, threw down grass seed, and had a fence installed to shield us from the prying eyes of our very close neighbors. Nevertheless, we took the plunge this year and decided to have the yard officially fixed so we can actually USE it.
Home Depot sent out one of their vendors to give us an estimate on the job. The man spent literally two hours at our house listening to what we wanted and giving me feedback on what it would entail, as well as sitting in his truck calculating cost estimates and drawing a diagram of the work to be done (which we never saw). I had asked him to give me two estimates: 1. Installation of only the first row of the retaining wall 2. Full installation of the entire wall from start to finish. Both requests included us demolitioning the existing fence and adding fill to bring the yard up to level.
The estimate and proposal for the job was presented to me by this man who proceeded to tell me, first thing, that he didn't even bother writing an estimate for the first row installation because the majority of the work and cost would be incurred with the first row, thus only saving us a few hundred dollars. His estimate included a very specific job proposal that detailed what they would do to install the entire wall. He also included an estimate for the cost of excavating the yard, adding fill, topsoil, and sod. Since I had already told him that we would be doing that portion of the project, we opted for the installation of the wall estimate only, and booked the project.
The next thing he tells me is that it will probably be September before they can do the work, unless they hire another crew, which was in the works. I wasn't happy with that timeline, but agreed to it since we were determined to have this project finally completed. They were able to start in August, earlier than stated, and we were happy to be on the path to finally getting the yard we wanted.
August finally arrives and the delivery of the wall stone to our driveway the week before the installation occurs. That was our first clue that something was amiss. The driver delivered three palettes of stone...totalling 140. My husband and I knew this was not nearly enough stone to complete the job, so we called the vendor and had the guy come out to discuss the issue. He arrives and remeasures, asking us if we had excavated any of the yard when we removed our fence. Since grass was still growing there, we told him the obvious answer was no. He agrees that they may be a few stones short and says he will take care of it. My husband goes round with him about the height of the wall, and the discrepancies really start to show.
This guy is off the actual dimensions by more than a foot. He is expecting the wall height to only be around 2.5 feet, when in actuality, it's more like 3.5 feet..almost 4 feet in a couple of places. He asserts that he's pretty sure it's only going to be around 3 feet, and says he will make sure there are enough stones to do the job, 12 or 14 should do it (ha!).
A few days later, the work starts. The workers make a point to tell us right away that there is not enough stone to complete the job, nor do they have the gravel and other equipment needed. They spent half the day waiting for the delivery of the stone and gravel, the other half digging the trench with pick axes through the dense, clay soil that is our backyard. The work seems to be going slow, but the material is delivered and the owner of the company drops by to check up on the work and deliver additional stone. By the end of the first day, there is a trench and a partial base of stone laid, with gravel and a drain pipe installed.
The second day arrives, and more digging, more stone laid, more gravel. The back trench is dug at the end of the day and things look right on track. Meanwhile, my husband has been phoned by the estimator guy and told that we would be responsible for paying for the additional stone to the tune of $175. He argued that this is not our error, since he is the one who measured incorrectly, and even had his boss re-measure (as was their standard operating procedure). The guy insisted that this cost needed to be paid for by us and since it was their fault, they are charging us the stone at cost. My husband said that he was not happy with that conclusion and would discuss it with him when the job is finished.
The final day of the wall installation arrives. The last layers of stone are placed and the owner and estimator guy arrive towards the end of the day to give instructions to the crew about the next day's job. The owner tells me that he didn't know how they estimated incorrectly, but assured me they had corrected the problem. No mention of additional cost. Then comes the estimator...Larey is his name. He approaches me and shows me all they have done. Right away I notice that the wall seems short by 18 bricks. Ia sk if those were going to be installed tomorrow and he tells me no. I tell him this looks unfinished since the top row stops in the middle of the yard. He tells me this is to elevation..blah blah blah. So I tell him that we would be buying additional stone to finish it because it doesn't look done to me. He then went on to give me a lesson about placing the stone and telling me to make sure I purchase a corner stone and apply adhesive to keep it in place. He went on and on about how I could easily do that with minimal effort...thus confirming to me that he doesn't think it looks finished either.
At the end of his lesson, he asks me if I had spoken to my husband about the additional charges. I told him that I had, but wanted him to deal with that issue and he would be home in an hour. Larey said he'd come back. And come back he did...at 8:00 pm. My husband was ready for him. He went back and forth with this man about how this wall is not what we wanted, a row too short, and the back corner was off. Larey proceeded to get hotheaded with my husband, who dished it right back, and said that we chose the lower estimate on the proposal and this is what we get for that amount of money. Again...bullshit bullshit bullshit.
They ended their tirade with Larey telling my husband that he could pay him the additional money or not, but it would be on his conscience if he didn't! WTF?? THEY underestimate the amount of stone TWICE and WE have to pay for it? I don't think so!
The next day, we call Home Depot about the whole debacle and they send a Regional Supervisor out. This man calls the vendor before he comes to see us and proceeds to tell us that we still owe the vendor money! He is completely biased as to the whole thing until I bring out the actual job proposal. It stated exactly what they were going to do and he changes his tune a tiny bit and says he will call the vendor and ask them why they didn't complete the job. Within half an hour, he phones me to tell me that the vendor said that proposal included the additional work on the yard (excavating, adding fill, topsoil and sod). More bullshit! He then tells me the vendor will be bringing the final 18 stones to finish off the job and we will be receiving a $100 gift card from Home Depot for our trouble. I tell him that wasn't necessary, but thanks for getting them to bring more stone. Whatever.
Fast forward a week. The stone has been placed and my husband has hauled 10 yards of fill and topsoil into the yard to level it off. We wanted our yard back ASAP. He also installs new fence posts in concrete in front of the wall so we can replace the fence that has been down for nearly a month now. As I check on the progress of the fence, I realize that the back corner is completely wrong. It wasn't as obvious before, with all the dirt piles everywhere and not having the visual of the fence to show the property line. What I now see is that they redug the back corner trench to bring the property line in more than a foot. The back corner stones were placed further into our yard, thus causing us to lose approximately 5o square feet of yard! I was pissed!
The following morning I called Home Depot and lodged another formal complaint with them regarding this shortening of the wall. I explain to them that this is not what we paid for, nor wanted in the first place. I made it very clear to them that I was not willing to work with this vendor again because of their gross errors and want another vendor to come and complete the job as requested. That was yesterday, and I'm supposed to hear back from them about how they are going to resolve this. I'm not holding my breath and fully expect that I will need to file a small claims court suit to get this job completed.
Grand total to the vendor? $5279! For a 60 foot long wall that is less than 4 feet high in only a small area! Most of the wall is 2 feet maximum. Lesson learned? Ask to see the actual drawing of the work to be done with complete specifications and list of supplies. Mark my words....I will NEVER, EVER, EVER have work done by this vendor in my lifetime! Nor will I go through Home Depot for the installation....NEVER!
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