Annoyances

[voyager]

Haven't found any brand marks.    I would guess that it's nothing top of the line as most of the stuff in the house and construction itself was mediocre.

[mongo_jones]

so, we had a hailstorm a month and change ago. we finally had a roofing contractor come to evaluate if we need a replacement. the guy went up, took pictures and said we do. no estimate at this point. i contacted the insurance company; the adjustor said he's doing things virtually as far as possible and got the contractor's number from me to check with him. the contractor sent him the pictures he'd taken and the insurance adjustor agreed replacement was needed. he then called me and said "this is our estimate of the cost--this minus your deductible will be deposited into your bank account; use it to pay whoever you choose; if their estimate is higher than mine call me back".

so i call the contractor back and say, "okay, insurance is fine with replacing the roof, what's your estimate?" he says, "that's not how it works; i'll go over the insurance company's estimate with you and we'll bring it in at that number without any further out of pocket cost to you".  i say, "hmm, i'd still like to see an estimate though before deciding". my thinking being that in the unlikely scenario that his number is actually lower than the insurance adjustor's i'd rather apply it to recoup some of the deductible* than line his pocket further (though i don't of course say so)--my thinking is that if i show him the estimate, that will magically become his price (unless the insurance company has lowballed). he implies that the process is already far enough along that he should be the de facto contractor and that the insurance company is assuming he is. i point out that the insurance company is making no such assumption and has specifically told me that they pay us directly and then we select and pay a contractor (keeping records of repairs and payment).  he says it's standard operating procedure for a contractor to work off an insurance company's estimate and condescends mightily to me about my lack of understanding of how the world works. there's a bit of back and forth which ends only after i raise my voice** and raise the possibility of getting other estimates.

a couple of hours later he drops off an estimate. lo and behold, it is indeed lower than the insurance company's estimate. i call the contractor and verify that the estimate is for a comprehensive replacement and he says it is. so we're going to move forward. they have a good local reputation and my assumption is we'll go through the same scammy rigmarole with anyone else we might call.

*this as far as i can make out is completely legal. the insurance company has evaluated the damage and estimated a loss and paid us for it. we're not actually required to spend that exact amount and as long as we have evidence that the work was done we are fine if we need to file another claim some years down the road.

**this seems to have led to my being addressed as "sir" in subsequent text messages.

[Sneakeater]

Sir, when are you posting your next Bollywood essay?

[joethefoodie]

I hate contractors, sir.

[voyager]

3 hours ago, joethefoodie said:

I hate contractors, sir.

Some years back we had our house reshingled and reroofed, the fireplace and chimney redone.    We chose our contractor carefully after personally interviewing his many references.   Midstream we nicknamed him Boom-boom because his methods all involved crash and bang.    We checked on progress daily because many facets needed to be readdressed   

Moral;  never trust a charming contractor, or their previous female clients.      

[Orik]

13 hours ago, mongo_jones said:

he says it's standard operating procedure for a contractor to work off an insurance company's estimate and condescends mightily to me about my lack of understanding of how the world works.

Contractor offers silly man a quote he knows to be lower than the insurance estimate, but will run over by 30% as permitted by terms of quote. 

[mongo_jones]

better that than a quote identical to the insurance estimate, but will run over by 30% as permitted by terms of quote--then necessitating more headache for me as i deal with the insurance for a supplemental claim.

[bloviatrix]

On 10/7/2020 at 1:46 PM, bloviatrix said:

Oven repair guy showed up several hours early. Let's see whether this takes.

It didn't take. Turned the oven on and lo and behold, it reached temperature (425F), held it for about 10 minutes and then then shut off with an error code. Call has already been made. I keep asking the spouse why we haven't demanded that they replace the oven already but it seems that voids the warranty and he's afraid we'll have problems with the next one. So I'm still without a working oven.

[voyager]

23 minutes ago, bloviatrix said:

It didn't take. Turned the oven on and lo and behold, it reached temperature (425F), held it for about 10 minutes and then then shut off with an error code. Call has already been made. I keep asking the spouse why we haven't demanded that they replace the oven already but it seems that voids the warranty and he's afraid we'll have problems with the next one. So I'm still without a working oven.

Is there a "lemon law" for appliances?

[bloviatrix]

I don't believe there's a lemon law for these things. I just think it's a poorly made stove. And I'm wondering about the repairman - it's been the same guy who has come every time. Maybe he's incompetent. It's just frustrating.

[voyager]

Or maybe he thinks your stove's an annuity. 

[Wilfrid]

Surgical shoes aren't rain proof (minor ligament damage).

[prasantrin]

If you send an email or a letter to samsung usa ceo etc., you might be able to get some compensation or an extended warranty or something like that. I did that regarding a samsung cell phone which was determined to be non-repairable (code for "the repair would have cost more than the phone was worth" even though it was only 15 months old), and I promptly got a reply saying they would repair it as a courtesy. 

[theclash]

Fucking bears

[voyager]

Our basement freezer died, apparently while we were in the country for 5 days.     Of course, lost everything.    Meat, we can replace.   Lucca gravy, no.    They closed a year ago.