part two

Finally.  The second part of the story about how our contractor walked off the job.  It's all rambl-y and messy because even though I have tried to edit it, I just keep rewriting it because I am trying to type it up the same way it would come out of my mouth if you were sitting here with me over a cup of coffee. Or a beer. Or two.

Here's Part 1 if you missed it ;-)

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Okay. So, as previously described, TheTurkey of a contractor had indeed proven himself to be A WorldClassTurkey, but none of the prior offenses were big enough pieces of straw to break the proverbial camel's back.

Here is what finally ended the sick and twisted relationship.

The cabinet order was going to be delayed by 3 weeks.  TheTurkey came to me and said, "You know, there is going to come a point where I will have done all of the work that I can do here until the cabinets arrive, and I cannot afford to have days with no work.  I have several smaller one week jobs lined up for after your kitchen, but the people are flexible with the start date. I can arrange to do one, two, or three of them while we wait for the cabinets to arrive, and then come back to finish."

Fair enough.  I ask TheTurkey if he can give me two weeks notice, he says no, but he can give me one and we agree to that.  The following Wednesday he declares that he is hereby giving a one week's notice. As of that following Wednesday, he will have done all that can be done and he will be at a stopping point until the cabinets arrive.

Ok, cool.

That next Monday, the Monday before the Wednesday that is to be his last day for awhile, TheTurkey texts me says:

It appears we will be working here through the week and gone next week. 

(except he misspelled "through" and "week", but hey....)

Now, being that this guy is billing or job as time and materials, it seems fair enough to be that I should asking myself, "Hmmm!!  So, did TheTurkey really find two more days worth of stuff for he and his guy/crew to do?? Like really?  Another 32 hours with of labor?? Really?? After he was so sure he'd be out of things to do by Wednesday??  Or is the problem really that his 'other flexible job' was really not that flexible and he really could not start working there in the middle of the week?  Is it possible that he is just killing time on our job so that he isn't off the clock for two days?"

Doesn't that question seem legit??  I sure think it does.   I mean, he really could have things to do on our job, but how do I know if I don't ask, right??
But I sit with myself for a moment, and I realize that as legit of a question as it is to be asked,  I am not the one to ask it.
I am punchy.  I am overwhelmed, crabby, worried about appliances and fixtures, worried about my dad and his health stuff, I have had a week or so of being manipulated by my teenager, I was busy thinking about and preparing for performance stuff, I wasn't sleeping well....I mean, I could see where this train was gonna go, and I wanted off.  I KNEW that if I asked this seemingly legit question it had the potential to go wrong.

So I called TheMostImportanGuy and related to him the text message I had received and my concerns (and he joined me in my concern), and told him that I did not think I was the best person to follow up with TheTurky and why, and he said he would do it. And he did.  Well, he tried to.  He texted TheTurkey and asked him to call.  TheMIG did not get a call back from TheTurkey that afternoon or evening.  So the next morning, TheMIG left a written message for TheTurkey on the jobsite that asked him to call first thing.

Well.  TheTurkey did not call TheMIG.  Instead, he texted me:

Goodmorning. Call or stop by. Thanks.

 

Now, I don't know why I did what the text said to do.  I have ran this over and over in my mind, because it was my biggest mistake.  But I went.

I got to the house and TheTurkey started to apologize that he wasn't giving me the one week's notice on what day he was going to start or stop. He has said Wednesday, and now he was changing it Friday, and he hoped that wouldn't be a problem.  I told him that the concern with the change was that we were concerned about how Thursday and Friday were going to be spent, since he had told me he would be out of things to do by Wednesday.  I told him that TheMIG had left messages for him to call to discuss that, and that he should call TheMIG and be prepared to itemize how the time would be spent.

This is where the conversation declined rapidly. First TheTurkey told me that he'd never said that.  He insists that he never told me that he'd have run out of things to do.  I might have believed him had he not told me that more than once, and if he had not already proven himself a highly poor communicator.  But I knew he had said it.  I could bet my life on it.  Then TheTurkey proceeds to tell me that of course there was more work to do and that I just didn't understand how things were working because (and I kid you not, this is verbatim):
"all of these details are inside my head, and there is no way you can seeeee into my head, and well....projects just ebb and flow."
(when he said this, he sort of waved his arm around like making undulating waves in the ocean, like a surfer dude).

Now, I do not doubt for one minute that projects ebb and flow duuuude (I know that on a remodel there are always unforseen items), but Turkey, you told me you were out of things to do and now suddenly you have 32 hours with worth of things to do and you are charging me by the hours, so uhhhh.....NO, that aint workin' for me.

And, I could see where this was going.  I was gonna rip this guy a new asshole, because if it isn't coming across clear enough in my retelling of this story, what has also been going on here between TheTurkey and I was that he was treating me like the stupid chick that shows up at the autoshop and doesn't know where her dipstick is and is about to get screwed royally by her mechanic.
Except that I know where the dipstick is, muthah fuckahhhh.

So I was standing there, listening to him ramble on about what it is that he was going to do for the other 2 days, and most of it were things I was not real clear would take that amount of time.  And I was tired.  And emotionally rubbed raw from the whole host of other things going on in my life.  And so I come to my senses quite quickly and realize that I should not have even come to the jobsite, and I tell TheTurkey, "Look. I did not want to have this conversation with you. I am stressed.  TheMIG texted you to discuss this with you, and you did not return his call. He also left you a note. I am leaving now.  I will call TheMIG and have him go over this with you."

I said it with a level of civility that I was so impressed with that, I shit you not, I practically pat myself on the back and gave myself a gold star.  Yay me! I left!  I did not escalate!  I did not start an argument! I recognized my limits! I took care of myself by asking for help!  I am walking away from drama!! Yay me!!!!!

Until TheTurkey followed me out to my car.  So I reiterated, "I do not want to discuss this with you. I am stressed. I will have TheMIG call you."    Assertively, I said that!  Not yelling!  Just holding my boundaries! Yay me!!! I rock!!!!   And so I get in my car and shut the door.   I call TheMIG to relay the situation and to have him call TheTurkey.  TheTurkey comes back to my car, and pulls open my car door and starts shoving his phone in my face to show me that he did not see a text from TheMIG to call him.  I respond by telling him that I was not going to look at his phone, but even if he didn't get a text, he was left a note to call TheMIG, and all of this was done because I did not want to have this discussion with him in the first place, and that once again, I was stressed, and that I was leaving, and that TheMIG would call him in a few minutes.

Irritated, I was. Clearly. But not enraged.  And quite proud of myself for holding my ground but not blowing my top. And I pulled shut my car door and wrapped up my call with TheMIG.

But as I was driving off to leave, TheTurkey was circling my car and preventing me from leaving.  He finally walked towards the front of the car again waving his arms around the whole time, but because he was out of my way, I was able to back out and leave.

Oy.

So TheMIG tries to get a hold of him, and cannot get an answer for quite some time.  They finally have a brief chat and they agree to have a discussion later that evening.  That night they end up having an hour long discussion about the day and what happened.  They talk about how the two mystery work days in question are going to be spent (and every time TheTurkey lists what he is going tor work on for those two days, the list changes...odd, that).  It is during this time that TheTurkey is saying things like, "You guys shot me today!" over and over,  and TheTurkey is also telling TheMIG that I attacked him (?!!).    (yah, that's what I was doing...attacking him...as I was fleeing the scene and trying to get him to let go of my car door. hmm!)

 It as at about 45 minutes into this phone conversation where TheMIG is trying to resolve things, that TheTurkey says, "...so whoever does your cabinet install should..."   and TheMIG says, "What?!?!"  and TheTurkey says, "Oh I guess I haven't make myself clear. I am no longer going to work on this job,"  and mind you the whole 45 minutes worth of conversation prior to that comment, he has never said a thing about walking off the job.

Clearly TheTurkey had made his mind up about quitting much earlier in the day. In fact, at some point (probably immediately after blocking my car in),  we have learned that he was down at the city offices trying to get himself taken off of the building permits.  He was also clearing out everything he had onsite as far as tools and equipment, and it was gone by the time TheMIG had even had a chance to phone him to discuss anything!

Yah, well.  Goodbye.  Good riddance.

Except that you Turkey you, you have left us with a huge hot mess to deal with, and we have been cleaning it up for weeks.  
 And that is another part of the story, and I dont know if it is one I will ever tell or not, because a) you all know how I am about finishing posts that I promise, and b) I might just choose to forget the last two weeks in an effort to move forward.


So for now, I am signing off. This is your ContractorAttacker "shooting you" a good night ;-)


(and  PS, yes...you can bet your bippy I will be rating him poorly on Angie's List where we found him. I'll be filing complaints in a few other places, too.  I'm just waiting until the kitchen is done, because at the very least, TheTurkey has agreed to speak with the incoming contractor to explain where things were left off, and I don't want to screw that up as it might be useful. But when we're done?  Watch the frack out!)