The Garage Saga: Part 1

Preface: If you know what kind of degree I have, you'll know that I value good communication skills with proper grammar as a plus. If you know what kind of person I am, you'll know I am very thorough and think through multiple perspectives when possible.

Let the saga begin....

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On July 21, I sent a text message to one of our neighbors who is a handyman in the area. I asked if he could install a new outlet for us in the garage. He came over a few days later to look at our project and told me he could do it in his spare time because he was busy with projects during the week. We weren't in a rush, so we agreed to have him do this for us.

On August 5, I sent him a text message seeing if he was available between the 13th and the 27th of the month to add the outlet for us because we needed to schedule with the installation company. No response. On the 19th of the month, we had another handyman over to work on a separate project for us. Just before the handyman finished, I heard a knock at the door. Turns out, it was our neighbor handyman. I went outside to speak with him, and he asked me if I still needed his help with our project. I told him we did. He lifted his arm to show me that his arm was in a sling. He had hurt his shoulder and would need time to recover. I told him that was fine, we had scheduled our project install date for late September so he had time. He told me that would work and would get back with me.

On September 7, I texted him again and said, "Our installation is September 22, so there's two more weekends before that install. Let me know if you haven't fully recovered yet so we have time to find someone else if needed. Thank you."

His reply: I will get im [sic] out of town until Saturday.

some punctuation would help...

I specifically worded my text to give him an out if he needed one without feeling guilty. And he didn't take it! So....I trusted him to get back with me. 

On September 16, I texted him again and said very directly, "let me know when you're going to install the outlet this weekend so we can plan around that time. Thanks." He sent me a reply two hours later, the fastest reply I'd received from him in the last nearly two months of choppy communication.

"Hay [sic] I just had my arm worked on and cant [sic] lift it above my head fo 2 weeks. So if you need to get someone else it's ok im [sic] sorry I didn't tell you before.

...hay is what cows eat...🙄

Anyone else infuriated? This is supposed to be a professional. And this was what I got. Absolutely ridiculous. This was Friday September 16th. We had 6 days to find someone else to do this for us.

I texted another electrician (Electrician #1) I found online. He told me his quote and said he could rearrange his jobs the following week to accommodate if needed. My husband called an electrician (Electrician #2) he had found online. We told him we needed the job done by Wednesday. He told my husband he would get back with him about his availability.

At 4:30 pm that day, I told Electrician #1 that we wanted to choose him for our job and asked him to tell me his earliest availability for the next week. All day he had been great about responding to my texts in a timely manner. But after I sent this one to him, I got nothing.

I waited nearly 24 hours and then....(to be continued)