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Posted: April 14, 2013

What happened to honesty and respect?

Construction Questions

By Menno Dueck

Can honesty and respect be part of a kitchen reno?  Charlotte and Jim believe so and bet their renovation nest egg on it.

The Murdochs finally have enough for their kitchen reno. Jim’s brother’s wife’s uncle recommends Handy the Handyman. Charlotte, always the quiet skeptic, calls Handy to come over.

Handy arrives 45 minutes late in a rusted out, smoking truck.  Stepping out while holding back his dog, he takes the last drag of his cigarillo before stubbing it out on their sidewalk.

Jim and Charlotte look at each other with raised eyebrows before letting him in anyway. After a brief glance at the rudimentary drawings Jim had done and a quick walk through the kitchen, Handy confidently says “yup, I can do this for you, gimme a deposit and I can start at 8 a.m. sharp.” Charlotte writes the cheque and wonders if last night’s curry has suddenly given her a stomach issue.

About 10:20 the next morning Handy’s truck sputters to a stop and Charlotte watches in disbelief as his dog is let out to do his morning ‘business’ on their boulevard and another cigarillo is added to their sidewalk. When asked about his late start, Handy’s “I’m here now, aren’t I?” does nothing to ease Charlotte’s still queasy stomach.

Over the next two weeks Charlotte’s stomach issue intensifies and she no longer blames curry.  Handy is continually late, arrives for a couple of hours and then disappears for a day or two, always has some excuse… traffic, lousy suppliers, truck problems or sick kids.

After a month of living with a ripped apart kitchen now smelling of stale cigarillos, and putting up with constant lying and lame excuses, Jim and Charlotte fire Handy, who promptly bills them for additional materials and labour and then threatens to sue when they refuse to pay.

Jim spends hours calling contractors whose standard response is “we feel for your situation and what you’re up against, unfortunately we are servicing our existing clients and simply don’t have the time or resources to finish your handyman’s job.”

Is there honesty and respect in their answers?  Yes, but hardly comforting as the facts haven’t changed:  the kitchen is still unusable, the renovation nest egg is rapidly depleting, and now poor Charlotte has developed migraines to go with her stomach issues.

Jim does what any responsible husband would do and heads to Home Depot to open an account for Handyman Jim.

(Based on a true story, names changed to protect everyone, even Handy the Handyman.)

Submitted by:  Menno Dueck, Ask Menno Consulting, Dueck Enterprises Inc. 

250-426-5460 – www.dueckenterprises.com .


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