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Dec. 4th, 2019 09:51 amReality check on the cost of installing a water heater: The plumber that the building super recommended said that he can't beat the price quoted by Home Depot. He thinks that's way, way on the low side. !!!
Meanwhile the Home Depot subcontractor is failing to call me back. I talked to someone in New Jersey on Saturday morning to order the water heater and installation, but the local guy was supposed to call me back to schedule a date. He was supposed to call Saturday or Monday. It's now Wednesday. I called New Jersey again, asked for a call back, and got called back from a Massachusetts number. It was someone with the company, someone who could look into the status of the order, but not the person who could do the scheduling. He talked to whoever does the scheduling, then got back on the phone and said well he will call again, but he talked to someone at the residence on Saturday. !!!
What? I sputter. They didn't talk to someone here on Saturday. I'm the only adult in the home and they didn't talk to me. This is my cell phone; there is nobody else at this number. How could they think they talked to someone at the residence when I am quite sure they didn't talk to me? I tried to explain... I talked to someone in New Jersey, whoever fields the phone calls, on Saturday, but not the guy who can actually schedule the visit.
Well, shrugs this guy on the phone, I've put in the message and he will call you back right away. But no, he hasn't called back yet. I think the Home Depot subcontractor now thinks I'm a bitch. I'm not a bitch, I'm just frustrated, but I'm not going to transition from sputtering to yelling. But now I'm probably at the bottom of their priority list because I'm bitchy.
So as I was on hold, I scrolled through the list of Rheem-recommended plumbers to find all the ones close by who have websites with a contact form I can fill out, and send messages to a few of them. Got a call back right away from one-- just to tell me that he's dealing with stuff and not scheduling jobs until the spring. OMG, I cannot go until spring without a new water heater. The old one is leaking so surely it will fail and either stop giving me hot water, or burst and flood that storage room and have to be shut off and no hot water. I cannot live without hot water until spring. I could join a gym and shower there, but I have a teenager who will be a social pariah if they don't ever shower. Maybe I should interrogate Vic about their standard showering habits? Maybe they could get away with once a week at Grandma's? Somehow they get away with surprisingly infrequent showers. I don't get it. I feel smelly if I don't shower for 2 days, and they are a full-on hormonal teenager.
So now I want to talk to Joe, the plumber that the super recommended again, even though he's telling me he will be more expensive. If Home Depot's subcontractor doesn't want to call me back... Also, the Home Depot people have never seen this building. The quote is standard sight unseen, and says pointedly that if they find any "extra" work that needs to be done, they will charge extra. So Joe is probably already factoring into his idea of what the job will cost things that the Home Depot will charge extra for; so we don't know for a fact that he would be more expensive at the end of the day. How to explain this to Joe, though...
Meanwhile the Home Depot subcontractor is failing to call me back. I talked to someone in New Jersey on Saturday morning to order the water heater and installation, but the local guy was supposed to call me back to schedule a date. He was supposed to call Saturday or Monday. It's now Wednesday. I called New Jersey again, asked for a call back, and got called back from a Massachusetts number. It was someone with the company, someone who could look into the status of the order, but not the person who could do the scheduling. He talked to whoever does the scheduling, then got back on the phone and said well he will call again, but he talked to someone at the residence on Saturday. !!!
What? I sputter. They didn't talk to someone here on Saturday. I'm the only adult in the home and they didn't talk to me. This is my cell phone; there is nobody else at this number. How could they think they talked to someone at the residence when I am quite sure they didn't talk to me? I tried to explain... I talked to someone in New Jersey, whoever fields the phone calls, on Saturday, but not the guy who can actually schedule the visit.
Well, shrugs this guy on the phone, I've put in the message and he will call you back right away. But no, he hasn't called back yet. I think the Home Depot subcontractor now thinks I'm a bitch. I'm not a bitch, I'm just frustrated, but I'm not going to transition from sputtering to yelling. But now I'm probably at the bottom of their priority list because I'm bitchy.
So as I was on hold, I scrolled through the list of Rheem-recommended plumbers to find all the ones close by who have websites with a contact form I can fill out, and send messages to a few of them. Got a call back right away from one-- just to tell me that he's dealing with stuff and not scheduling jobs until the spring. OMG, I cannot go until spring without a new water heater. The old one is leaking so surely it will fail and either stop giving me hot water, or burst and flood that storage room and have to be shut off and no hot water. I cannot live without hot water until spring. I could join a gym and shower there, but I have a teenager who will be a social pariah if they don't ever shower. Maybe I should interrogate Vic about their standard showering habits? Maybe they could get away with once a week at Grandma's? Somehow they get away with surprisingly infrequent showers. I don't get it. I feel smelly if I don't shower for 2 days, and they are a full-on hormonal teenager.
So now I want to talk to Joe, the plumber that the super recommended again, even though he's telling me he will be more expensive. If Home Depot's subcontractor doesn't want to call me back... Also, the Home Depot people have never seen this building. The quote is standard sight unseen, and says pointedly that if they find any "extra" work that needs to be done, they will charge extra. So Joe is probably already factoring into his idea of what the job will cost things that the Home Depot will charge extra for; so we don't know for a fact that he would be more expensive at the end of the day. How to explain this to Joe, though...
