Do your job and nobody gets hurt

Our tenants moved out a couple of weeks ago, and I had to coordinate getting the house ready for our new tenants who moved in this weekend. The plan was to have the house cleaned and then have some minor repairs and touch-up painting done.

I got the contacts for a cleaning service and a handyman from our realtor who also has rental properties.

The cleaning service had no easy task. Our former tenants, bless their hearts, were wonderful tenants *in general* but thorough cleaning and neatness were never a strong suit. The master bathroom shower? NASTITUDE. That thing had more mold spores than a 5-ton block of blue cheese. Honestly? I would not take a shower in there without a pair of hip waders on. It also smelled of mildew funk, causing one strange pair of Russian mafia Craiglister-viewers to ask whether we had a problem with mold. Great.

But, I figured a professional cleaning service surely could handle it.

When I checked the house the night after it was "cleaned," THE SHOWER FLOOR WAS STILL GREY. I mean, it looked marginally better, but not to basic public health standards. I called the cleaning dispatcher who said he'd meet the crew out there the next day to see if it needed to be re-done. He called me later to say that yes- they did not complete the job correctly and would work on it that day.

Checked that night: shower floor now white. Surrounding tile grout still Mildew Madness. Grrrr.

Called dispatcher again. Can you please work on the grout? Looks disgusto-nast. Why do I have to keep calling? What's up with not doing things right the first time?

Then, the handyman.

Dude was supposed to fill in large nail holes and re-paint. When I looked at his work the next day, there were still crater holes in the walls, they were just now painted over. Um, no. It looked horrible. I had to get him back in the next day to re-do (i.e. do the job he was originally supposed to do). Grrrr. And he was totally overpriced. When I finally told him I was satisfied with his job (because now the holes were actually filled), the guy sends me an email saying he's glad I was satisfied and he hopes I'll think of him in the future for any of my handyman needs. Right. I'll be right back on the phone with you. Already put you on speed dial. Not.

What is up with people not doing their jobs?

Where is my dislike button for life?

Comments

[AJU5's Mom]

I think so many people have been getting away with mediocre work because so many people don't complain and get them to come back and fix it. Complaining and getting them to come back can sometimes be more work than doing the job yourself!

Now the real question is how did we as a nation get so lazy that this is now the norm...

[KC]

aju5's mom - I call people out. I always call people out. Husband and I always joke they picked the wrong person to mess with!

[Kyla]

Gaaaah! I guess most people don't call them on it, so they try to do the bare minimum.