The house saga continues... OR, is legal action justified?

**jacksonpt** · 09-20-2004, 06:20 AM

Well, the house saga continues. First some background... then let me know if a call from our lawyer is justified.

As many of you probably know, my house is in the process of being built... and has been for what seems like forever. They are 98% of the way done, and one of the big things NOT finished is the installation of our thermostat - as it is, we have no way to heat the house.

Last week, we saw the extended weather forcast and saw that they were calling for some pretty cool temperatures for the weekend. We called our builder and asked if the thermostat could be installed before the weekend. Builder called the plumbing/heating guy... guy came out next day, no problem. Guy gets to the house and realizes he has the wrong thermostat. He does some other work for us that needed to be done, says he'll have to come back with the correct thermostat. We assumed that meant he'd be back before the weekend, but we naievely (sp?) didn't specifically ask or push for a day/time when he'd be back.

That was this past Thursday. Friday afternoon rolls around and we haven't heard anything... we call the guy, leave a message, he never calls us back. Friday night wasn't too cold, so it wasn't a big deal. Saturday night was very cold... house was 59degrees. Sunday morning we call (they have a weekend "emergency" line) the heating guy. We get the standard answering service who tells us they will leave a message with our guy. That was at 8:00am. At 10am we haven't heard from the guy, so we call back. Answering service tells us they are supposed to respond to calls within 15 minutes - says they'll leave another message for us. Noon rolls around, still no word. We call again, this time we are pretty firm with the answering service. They call our guy, then call us right back. Apparently the guy had no intention of calling us as, in his opinion, it was not an emergency and we'd have to call back Monday morn during regular hours.

Sunday night was freezing - literally. We has frost on the ground, and it was 41degrees on the way into work. Sunday afternoon we borrowed a few electric space heaters from my in-laws... mainly to keep our 2-year old daugther reasonably warm. We ran 2 heaters all day/night... kept the rooms they were in at 66degrees.

Our daugther woke up sick last night... we were up all night with her, and my wife had to cancel a vacation to Las Vegas to take care of our daughter. We were able to get all of her money back, including airfare...so money isn't the issue. The issue is that we still have no heat and the heating/plumbing guy doesn't seem to care.

I don't really have any intention of sueing... but would I be justified to have my attourney call and put some heat (no pun intended) on them to get the damn work done?

**Instigator** · 09-20-2004, 06:33 AM

2 things I would do.

1. Call the better business bureau and lodge a complant.
2. Fire him and get another HVAC guy. I would not let him in the house again no matter what.

BTW thermostats are nothing to install.

**jacksonpt** · 09-20-2004, 06:39 AM

We thought about writing a letter to the editor for the local paper and calling the BBB to log a complaint. I'm going to talk to our builder today about dumping the guy... not sure what kind of contractual issues there might be.

We almost installed a thermostat ourselves, but with my luck... something wouldn't have been right with the furnace and I would have fried something, or burned the house down (that's the kind of luck I have with these things).

**Brian HCM#1** · 09-20-2004, 06:41 AM

How did they finalize the house without working heat? All that should have been hooked up.

**MtnBikerChk** · 09-20-2004, 07:04 AM

Originally Posted by Instigator

2 things I would do.

1. Call the better business bureau and lodge a complant.
2. Fire him and get another HVAC guy. I would not let him in the house again no matter what.

BTW thermostats are nothing to install.

is the wiring there? then go to home depot and buy a thermostat - I just installed on in our house - very very easy.

**Brian HCM#1** · 09-20-2004, 07:12 AM

Originally Posted by MtnBikerChk

is the wiring there? then go to home depot and buy a thermostat - I just installed on in our house - very very easy.

Thats what Phil told me last night, he told me you've become quite the Mrs. Fix It

**Tenchiro** · 09-20-2004, 07:14 AM

The BBB isn't gonna do squat, they are just a membership service. Even if the guy is a member, they legally can't do anything but give him a warning. If he isn't a member, there hands are tied.

**MtnBikerChk** · 09-20-2004, 07:18 AM

Originally Posted by Brian HCM#1

Thats what Phil told me last night, he told me you've become quite the Mrs. Fix It

and proud of it!

***Echo*** · 09-20-2004, 07:27 AM

Definitely talk to your lawyer. That's BS.

**golgiaparatus** · 09-20-2004, 07:50 AM

Fire him.

**Zaskar Rider** · 09-20-2004, 07:54 AM

Personally I don't think a call from your lawyer is justified. The guy sounds like he for all intensive purposes was going to do the work for you just had a little mix up in the parts he was supposed to put in. It happens to all of us at some point or another. You don't know how busy he is. He may not be able to respond to his emergency line because he's got too many people backed up all ready. I've worked in the plumbing/heating industry I know. Especially if it's a small operation the guy probably has more work than he knows what to do with. Even if he wasn't responding to any calls last weekend maybe he needed a weekend off. I know the plumber I used to work with would word 7 days a week for weeks and weeks straight without getting a break. Because he was a one man operation and would take calls whenever.

I am sorry that your daughter got sick because of lack of heat that sucks but plumbing/heating guys just can't be everywhere at one time.

Just my $0.02

**MtnBikerChk** · 09-20-2004, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by Zaskar Rider

Personally I don't think a call from your lawyer is justified. The guy sounds like he for all intensive purposes......

its INTENTS and purposes.

several calls with no response - especially on the so called "emergency" line is unacceptable.

sorry ZR, if he's too busy, he should hire some help or he shouldn't take on more work than he can handle.

**JSB** · 09-20-2004, 08:23 AM

I love how it's never anyone's fault in this day and age. If he's got too much work it's his own fault for taking it. Not some one elses.

Personally, I don't know if a Lawyer could do much, but I'd probably refuse his services from this point on. He might know a little something to scare him, or put him in a difficult position. The way I see it, he put you out, so he should be put out too. That sucks about your daughter. I'd be freakin out if it was 41 in my house. That's just not good with kids in the mix. Out of curiosity how did you manage to move in or close on the house with out it being completed and inspected? Our the regulations a little different there or something? Keep us up to date...and try to stay warm.