By Yehudis Samet
For those people who have complaints about contractors, I can offer plenty of excuses. This is not to say they are always in the right, but there are reasons why they might “never call back,” or promise to come and then don’t show up, or don’t have the work finished when promised.
As the wife of a former general contractor, let me tell you his side of the story. People would call all day. When my husband would get home he’d have to be in touch with his suppliers and contractors, the architect, hired help, etc.
By the time he got off the phone, the hour was too late to call people back. Or he was too exhausted (and that was when he’d finally sit down to eat his cold supper). I haven’t even mentioned spending a few moments with the children or helping his wife.
If His Workers Don’t Show Up, He’s the One Who Looks Bad
Why hasn’t he come to fix the thing he promised to fix ages ago? He’s a contractor, which means his hired help does the work – whether it’s the painting, plumbing, carpentry or electrical work. If they don’t show up when they promise, then he’s the one who looks bad.
He’s only as dependable as his sub-contracted laborers, and unfortunately, responsible and dependable workers are hard to come by (they can offer their own excuses).
Many times, a job isn’t finished on time as promised because the homeowner changed his mind several times in the middle of the job, or added extra items to what was originally agreed upon. I’d also like to point out that people shouldn’t leave complaints with the wife.
It causes her a tremendous amount of stress to receive phone calls such as, “Tell your husband I’m annoyed...” or, “Just let your husband know how angry I am that...”
The wife didn’t do it, she can’t fix it, and she can’t defend her husband because she doesn’t know the details of this particular situation. When my husband first went into this business, I would get very upset when these gripes were unloaded on me. From the way people presented their complaints, it sounded like my husband hadn’t acted responsibly. As time went on, I learned more about how this business works. It certainly sounded different when he’d tell me his side of the story. (The Other Side of the Story)
Reprinted from the Succos 2020 email of The Weekly Vort.
