Yesterday I worked from home so that I could meet up with some roofers who were coming to the house to give me a quote on my stupid roof. The first guy was supposed to show up at 10 so when he showed up at 9:45 I was pretty happy with that. "Nice." I said to myself and the cats, "He's early." Yeah, he was early but he didn't bring a ladder. Say what now? That's right. A roofer without a ladder.
He tried to see the roof from the street (even going so far as to get on the stairs of my neighbor's house) but I doubt that's as effective as say, getting a ladder and climbing the fuck up there. Yeah, probably not as good. Plus, the roof in question is flat so I'm guessing you can't see it from below. The whole laws of physics and all (and I should know, I took my high school physics class twice! Mr. Calson can suck it).
After realizing that maybe he should have brought the ladder, he asked if he could come back later. I asked "With a ladder?" He didn't seem to understand my sarcasm. "Of course with the ladder." he replied. Oh, of COURSE. Now I just feel silly. See, I'm not a professional so maybe I don't know about some kind of ladder etiquette where you don't mount the roof on the first meeting. Whatever. So, yes. Come back later Skippy.
I go back inside to stoke the fire (Got it up to 74° yesterday! Not that impressive really when I disclose that it was about 60° outside. But still, my house was toasty!) and get back to work. The next roofer is scheduled to show up at 4pm and I'm praying that he'll have his ladder with him. Plus, now I have no idea when the first guy is going to show up again or even if he will show up again. Frick.
About 1pm the first guys show up again with their ladders. There were 3 dudes and 2 of them climb up onto the roof and walk around for a bit poking and pulling and talking in Portuguese. Then they climb down and the guy who owns the company tells me what he thinks needs to be done and that he'll work up a proposal and stick it in the mailbox in a couple of days. Fine. Lovely. See how simple that was? Sheesh.
The second contractor showed up right on time and they had 2, count 'em TWO ladders (I know I'm harping on the ladder thing but I think it's bizarre). They do the same as the first guys (even right down to the speaking Portuguese) but the big difference for me anyway was the customer service aspect. Alex, the guy who owns the company, talked to me not only about what he thinks needs to be done but how they would go about it. He talked about keeping the job site clean and working to get it done quickly but safely. I was impressed. He also will be leaving a proposal in our mailbox. I'm guessing that this is going to be expensive.
Oh and bonus! I have a cold. Thanks, immune system!
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