My Basement Leak IV

Just a quick little update.

It's Monday, December 22nd and, since there is nothing on the calendar, we decide to go to Barnes & Nobles to look for some books for the kids for Christmas.

Yeah, us and everyone else in Northern New Jersey. The place was packed which I suppose is too be expected three days before Christmas.

We succeeded in our quest and then stopped off for a leisurely lunch.

When we got home we found a message from the flooring guys which indicated that they wanted to schedule the installation.

Hey, cool. So I called them back and they asked if they could install the flooring and carpeting for the short flight of stairs the next day, December 23rd. We had nothing planned so I said, "why not" and they indicated they would be there the next afternoon. That word "afternoon" should have set off alarm bells.

Anyway, we moved the loose stuff into the other half of the basement and took apart the cabinet. But when I took a closer look at the cabinet I realized that flooring might cause the fittings to no longer line up. My wife agreed so we decided to tell them to end the flooring where the cabinet started but to put a thin piece in the space between the cabinet and the fireplace.

Around noon the next day, two guys showed up carrying what looked to me like a really big piece of carpet with our name on it. I wondered about that but started in on my speech about what to do near the cabinet.

That's when they stopped me and explained that they were only there to do the steps. I suppose everybody is a specialist these days.

It took them about two hours to finish and yes, there was a lot of carpet left over. 

But now it's after 2 PM and the next day was Christmas Eve. I wondered how long this installation was going to take?

Around 3:45 PM it became pretty obvious that no one was coming but I figured I'd call and ask just in case. I was assured they had been delayed but would be there within a half hour.

The half hour came and went and, unsurprisingly, no one showed up. The place had closed at four so I got no answer when I called to verify that we would have to reschedule.

So, I had a $1,000 deposit floating in the wind. This was different from the Old Basement Guys though because the stairs were done and the estimate for that was $1,119 so I figured that I was $119 ahead.

They were closed Christmas Eve and Christmas so I gave them a call on Friday, December 26th. I got lots of apologies and a promise that they would call me back once they checked the schedule.

Nope, no call back. So I called again on Saturday, December 27th. We went over possible dates and, again, I got a promise of a call back. But, this time they called back and we agreed on January 2nd, in the morning this time.

So I suppose that we shall see.

In the meantime the check from the Old Basement Guys appears to have cleared so, hopefully, I'm done with them forever.

<<To Be Continued>>