Carpen-Ter-Rible?

[oncebitten 0]

I will try to keep my post as factual as possible and avoid any personal attacks. You decide if you would want to engage this person.

Wanted to do built-in shelves, with a stand alone rack on the floor to utilize an alcove kind of space at my home. Had to do a rack at the bottom part as an electrical box was blocking the wall on one side. So couldn't drill that wall.

Found the contact of Jim*y Ch*n (*4861878) on the net advertising "Quality budget renovation". Gave me a qoute of $350. Felt it was quite pricey but went ahead anyway since I thought it not easy to get people to do small jobs.

He came to my place to make measurements. The rack needed to be "inserted" into the space which had a door frame surrouding it, so the rack had to be smaller that the actual width of the space, otheriwse the frame will block it. I highlighted this to him and he reassured me.

So he came a few days later to do the installation. He could not fit the rack in.

Started re-measuring the space and the rack, repeatedly. Told me he had to remove the door temporarily to get more space. So he did that. The I saw him getting and electric saw. I asked what happened. He said the rack is still to wide so he had to dismantle it and cut it there and then. I said he should make a new one as free-hand cutting with his hand held electrical saw will not give as nice a finish as a machine cut finish. He disagreed. After dismantaling the rack I noticed the wood was damaged from what looked like attempts at prying it apart. The laminate was also damaged and exposed part of the underlying wood.

I told him that he cannot expect me to accept such a finish. He said he will cover it with putty and anyway it will be against the wall and hidden from sight, and that we was going to seal the edges with silicon anyway. I told him that that wasn't the point. I should expect to get a new rack in good condition. He asked for me to excuse him as his "men" did not cut it to the proper width. I gave in and he proceeded. Cutting the the rack in my kithen left the floor covered with saw dust which also dispersed into my living room. Sigh.

So in the end he managed to fit the rack in though not as precise as would be desired. Next came the shelves that would go across the space above the rack. He wanted to confirm with me on how much space I would like to have between the shelves....only to discover that the rack was not only too wide but also too high. Then he retreive the drawing I gave him. True enough he did not follow it precisely. About 3 inched too high...meaning the top most space will be squeezed. He offered to cut it somemore but I said no more cutting. I'll just accept the narrowed space on the top.

After everything was completed he asked me to check it. I noticed the top two shelves were both slanted which was very apparent as there was another electrical box just underneath it. He said he measured the height so it should be correct and the electrical box might be slanted. Then he pointed out the space on the side of the box was not even....as proof that the box was off, not the shelves. I took another look at the shelves....even without reference to the box, the eyes could tell it was slanted..which he later admitted. Then he took reference from the door frame. He said the door frame has to be correct, he knows as he also does door frames. I agreed the door frames are correct, but the shelves are not. I didn't really get his point. Seemed like he shot himself on the foot. To illustrate to him again that they were slanted, I place a pen on the shelf, which rolled to the same direction everytime.

I asked why he didn't use an instrument to check that it was level (I don't know what it's called but it's the thing that has liquid in a glass tube). He said he did but sometimes the drilling is not accurate. Which was interesting since the the shelf above it was parallel to this one and they were slanted only in one direction. How precise his inaccuracy was. So he offered to prop up one side with silicon or remove and drill again. I said no to both. I had enough.

I asked for a discount. He gave me $25 off.

Edited February 3, 2012 by oncebitten

[rickoveron 0]

I would have asked him to A) pay me for damages, or B)FO without paying a him single cent.