I'm beginning to think that "Mountain Time" is not just our time zone, but also way of life... you know, like "island time." Businesses will take days to return phone calls or just wait for you to call again, deliveries show up 3 days late and contractors/repair people show up late w/o calling. Our piano mover guy was 2 hours late. I called at half an hour late & one hour and 15 late and he returned my call and 1 hour 30, said he'd be here in 15 minutes and took 30 because apparently he can't bother to look at a map or use the internet or his phone or have GPS and was confounded that the house numbers would get smaller as you went further up the hill. The appliance guy that the home warranty company hired didn't contact me, so I left a message on his voice mail which announced that they check messages frequently and will get back to me right away and can usually make an appointment for within 2 days. I called Friday; nothing. No word on Monday. I called Tuesday and got a person who set up for Thursday with a window of 1-3p. It's 3:20 as I type this. No phone call. I have been with out a dishwasher for almost 3 weeks which is hardly a real hardship, but we were told this would be taken care of before we took possession.
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| Two dishwashers and yet not at all fancy. |
So at 3:25 I call to ask what's up annnnnnd I get an automated message telling me his mailbox is full and I should try again later. It's not like we can't install a damn dishwasher ourselves, either, but the warranty covers it (and they make a big show of telling you repeatedly that the cost includes delivery and installation) and damn it we shouldn't have to do it. I bet they won't warranty it if we do and they sure aren't going to pay us. By the way, they didn't really deliver the dishwasher, either. Eric had to drive down the the highway to pick it up because they sent it in a semi. American Home Shield can suck it is what they can do.
</rant>
UPDATE: I called back at 3:45, got a person who apologized, etc. and the guy came out around 5p and got 'er installed. Of course, everyone was very nice, like everyone here is, but... calling is a nice, courteous thing and good service.
So did you say, "you know, I'm new to the area and I'm wondering...should I just expect that service people around here don't return phone calls and show up three hours late? Is that just the way it's done here? I'm only asking so I can adjust my own expectations because it's not what I'm used to."
ReplyDeleteAnd at least with island time your on an island! With cocktails!
I may have to write that down on a 3x5 card to keep handy for next time! Maybe I'll be sure to have a cocktail stashed away for just such occasions, too. We've had 2 other contractor-types show up on-the-dot or within their window, so we'll see how it shakes out. What I don't get is the waiting to call back or when I call back they don't even pretend like they didn't get my message.
DeleteNow that I think about it islands are just the tops of mountains sticking out of the water. Hmmmmmm.