Strange, strange things that happen. Why does everything have to be so hard? Can't anybody do it right the first time?

I think products no longer carried in stores has to do with the pandemic and supply chain problems. I also suspect that some manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers are manipulating the situation to their benefit and using the pandemic as an excuse.

As for employees, a lot of people have walked away from underpaid and often demeaning jobs. Those kind of employers always blame the workers when their own policies are to blame. The difference now is that there are better jobs out there and workers aren't willing to put up with it. Understaffed businesses will now hire anyone, so that might be what's you are experiencing.

Opps, that should have read 900$ I was tired in my defence! For the toilet

ITRR, I know what you mean! My folks many years ago needed a new toilet, something Dad could have easily done before he got "slippy",, they didn;t ask us and paid several thousands for a new basic toilet! We were so angry but what can you do,,, they did it. Hubs replaced all of ours for about 70$ each and a few hours of work. Some people suck!

It is really twice in three years since it was not used the year of the install. 2018!

Glad, we have the same issue recently.

No customer service anymore.

Good luck getting that lemon replaced.

It is a great recommendation to get quotes, ITRR. In rural America we are lucky if one contractor will show up for a job. Now i.have another job.

AC is out again, second time in four years. It is a lemon, still under warranty. Just when I need it to work!

As a general contractor, I want to encourage everyone to get at least 3 written quotes before any work begins.

We have found that companies are trying to hit a home run with every job, meaning they have covered their weekly/monthly nut with the profit from 1 job..

Many times trying to upsell through fear. Truly, knowledge is power and YouTube can help you understand what some of the things are. It is a buyer BEWARE climate right now.

We had a plumber quote 17k for a job that my husband and a buddy did in 4 hours and 1,100.00 in materials. Oh and my husband would have had to use our tractor to dig the trenches either way. He watched youtube videos to figure it out and the city inspector said it was the best work he had seen in a long time.

GardenArtist, I highly recommend doing some youtube research for anything you want to do. We learned how to do a complete remodel, steel contractors here, from the studs out. We did everything from drywall to texture, electric plugs to countertops and cabinets and we laid a faux wood floor with everything in between as well. Not bragging, just saying YouTube is a great resource for DIY.

Glad,  I wonder as well if the owner couldn't find qualified and skilled workers and gambled on amateurs?   

We're in such an odd situation here in the US.  From what I've read and been told by contractors, they're overwhelmed with work, short on skilled help, and we clients can't do much about it.  I've seriously been thinking of taking some kind of construction course, or more specifically electrical or plumbing, at the local community college, just for my own needs.


JoAnn, I think the folks trying to sell you on various systems were in fact scammers.  It's good that you recognized this; not everyone would.  I've run into a few scammers too.   

One was with an electrical or HVAC (can't remember) firm that was top notch.   Then it was acquired, and things changed.  The service rep sent out to fill the A/C unit with fluid walked around the unit, "hmmmmming" while doing so, then eventually concluded that the entire unit had to be replaced.   I offered thanks for coming out but that I wouldn't be replacing it.

That same company pulled a similar stunt when I had to fix my sister's furnace.   I think they practice walking around pretending they're studying the fixture.   After doing so, he advised that a furnace I knew my sister had bought within a short number of years now needed to be totally replaced.  I said thanks for coming out and goodbye.  

I called another service; the problem was a dead bird in one of the furnace pathways.  Remove the bird and heat returned.

In addition to being so frustrating for homeowners, I'm appalled at the scam attempts and loss of honesty of these kinds of people.  Whatever happened to being truthful about a situation instead of trying to exploit it??

I agree with Glad here. We have had some work done here the last few months. A guy comes out. We tell them what we want. They send a crew and they have no idea about the conversation we had with the first guy.

A couple of weeks ago we paid lots to have just a water heater installed. We were told we were out of code and sold us a fan that is suppose to help prolong our new water heater. After the guy installed the fan he asked where he should plug it in, really, you didn't think of that before u installed? So now we needed an outlet installed. So the company electrician came out and started to tell us our circuit breaker box needed replacement as did the jacket that cracked on the main lines going into the meter box, which my DH had seen a few days before. And again, we were out of code. They wanted over 7k to do the job. I called around but no one answered my calls so we were going to go with this company. My DH was talking about it at the club and one of the golfers was an electrician. He came and looked at the work and gave us a cost of $775. He said our circuit breaker looked brand new. No need to replace if we had no problems with it, we didn't. Put in the outlet, fixed the jacket and fixed the code stuff. Inspector was here and ok'd the work.

So be very careful. This is a company that has been around for years. I liked them because they had a person answering the phone and they at least came that day to see what needed to be done. Always a little higher. But now we think we may have been gouged on the first job.

GA, I think the problem was the company owner gave instructions that his two guys, probably high school kids, did not understand. Comes down to failure to communicate!

As far as I am concerned, a boss ought to be on a job at the beginning and the end to check the work. Obviously neither occurred or the drain would be in the correct location and I would not have received a bill. The owner is not going to charge me for the unnecessary work.

Alva, interesting observations about this not being "your world" anymore.   I've given a lot about that concept, and think it's true in many ways, but not only of our world today but those of our parents and grandparents.   It's part of "progress", although I'm not sure how positive that really is.

I think the pace has taken a different direction though with the development of computerized equipment, and the heavy, heavy reliance on communication through devices instead of in person.

With the latter, facial expressions help guide us in conversations and interaction.  That can be true with computerized facial interactions, but the opposite can allow people to be as rude, nasty and disagreeable as they want, and get away with it.

I've been thinking a lot about the mass shootings, the increased friction between people, especially of different political persuasions, and the effect of those being raised with technology that's light years beyond what we experienced.   We were excited when we got a tv!   Now, some children have their own tvs as well as their own smart phones.  I really think this can break the parent/child barrier, as well as friends' barriers.     Think of some of the snide and cruel remarks that people some people post here, and get away with it.

We used to cuddle up next to Dad on Sunday mornings and he'd read the comics to us while Mom made pancakes.   Then we'd help her make "animal pancakes", pouring out shapes which to us represented animals, or houses.    I wonder if families do that any more?  

We were so excited to go for a ride, especially to the beach.  Those activities bonded us more to each other.   I think that lack, or loss of bonding is a negative phenomenon these days.

I also think that working with others in employment situations benefits from close interaction, not only meeting and learning to work with others of different persuasions, but positively in expanding our friendship circles.   In fact, interacting with humans (as well as animals) is I think crucial to adaptation and co-existence.   

For someone with your background, I'm sure you have some thoughts about interactions with patients, their friends and family, other nurses, and doctors.   Each have different perspectives, so positive interaction can expand the visions of the others.  I think that benefits everyone, but I also know that some people don't know how to or aren't interested in that kind of interaction, and prefer to just satisfy and/or please themselves.   I can't help wonder how much successful interaction with others might have affected the numerous mass shootings.

Glad, I'm sorry to read about the experience with the alleged French drain installers.   Did you have a written contract with them?   Do you have grounds for withholding funds if the contract wasn't followed?

My understanding of French drains isn't that they're holes in the ground, but are actual drains installed in the affected areas to rechannel the water.    I used to visit a male dominated home forum years ago, and read about the drains as well as the distance sometimes required to rechannel the water.

I think your contractor didn't know what he was doing, didn't understand the purpose of a French drain, or...whatever.   

I hired a contractor sometime ago to refill the exterior unit of the A/C.   I didn't stand over him and watch, but when the a/c went on and still wasn't fixed, I called another contractor who said the unit hadn't been refilled at all.  I refused to pay the first guy, he threatened to come over the drain the exterior unit, I called the police and then told the contractor that he would be dealing with them.    He backed off.

I think it's so sad that people are so dishonest.   And it's even harder to get someone who is competent and reliable these days.

I honestly look on this as just my "getting old" and this not being "my world " anymore. Things progress and pass me by, but it does seem that no one even has time to look you in the eye anymore.
Usually I find my Kaiser to be a great system, but day before yesterday I needed a medication per my MID "right away" and it was ordered online. I could get overnight delivery for an extra 8.00. Great, as I didn't care to battle the buses to go into a hospital facility and wait in line an hour for the medication. When It didn't arrive yesterday I tried to call. One and one half hour waiting time and it was close to 4 pm already. So I went online and a note there said "Your medication is filled and ready for pickup and gave the address of lobby pharmacy. I get onto the busy buses, go to the lobby pharmacy, finally get to the front and she said "Oh, if you arranged for delivery it is probably out to deliver. We send the pickup notice anyway." "Oh, really," said I. "How is that working for you, because it sure did throw ME". They checked. It hadn't been picked up for delivery, so I got it and battled the buses home.
The problem is that this sort of thing isn't unusual anymore. I honestly don't react much to it and just say "I'm getting old". I mean, you almost HAVE to have grandkids today. How else will I keep the computer going???

Glad, my son owns a specialty masonry business. He can't even find men who know how to use a shovel and dig a hole. I'm not exaggerating.

Landscaper was to come and install a french drain by the basement window to, hopefully, stop the water that is getting in the basement.

They came, they dug, they poured in rock at the south end of the backyard. Not the north side by the window and the window well. Were they looking for a place that they could pull the truck up to and just dump rock? If they had put it where it was supposed to go, they would not have been able to drive to it. So, a french drain, I really do not need.