DC plumbing company, HD Johnson, really disappointed me. To be sure, they were patient with me as our job took longer than everyone expected. Last year, when I had them do some work outside of the contract, they did their best to define the term “price gouging.” One charge, as I recall, was about $200 for 15 feet of pvc pipe–nice little profit there, eh?
In any case, I always paid them promptly. We should have been treated with a little respect due a $30,000 customer. Since they so desperately wanted done with the contract, I thought they would’ve jumped through hoops last June when I called them to schedule the final tasks: install the master bath fixtures and toekick radiator.
Unfortunately, as you see below, four months passed before they finally finished. Luckily, we had other construction work to do, and didn’t yet need the heat source. Still, the fact that I had to threaten breach of contract really left a sour taste in my mouth. I won’t use HD Johnson again.
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This is my FINAL REQUEST FOR PERFORMANCE.
For the last four months, I have nicely requested and patiently waited for HD Johnson to provide and install a toekick radiator in my home’s 2nd floor master bathroom. A summary of my requests follows:
June 29, 2010–I emailed my initial request for your company to complete work under the contract (Rhonda’s June 30th response: “I spoke with Dave and we can get this scheduled after July 4th. I will get back to you and let you know exactly what date we can have you scheduled on.”)
July 21, 2010–hearing nothing, I again inquired about the schedule (Rhonda’s July 21st response: “I know it’s going to be the later part of August first part of September, we are really busy. I will get with you on a definite date as the time get’s closer.”)
Aug. 30, 2010–hearing nothing, I again inquired about the schedule (crew arrived Sept. 1 to install fixtures but not toekick heater.)
Sept. 23, 2010–Rhonda did not call back with an installation time as she had promised in an earlier phone call, so I again wrote to request the toekick heater installation (Rhonda’s Sept. 24th response: “I will get with Dave to see when we can get you back on the schedule, I do apologize it has been so busy.”)
Oct. 1, 2010–hearing nothing, I again inquired about the schedule (Rhonda’s response: “I will definitely get it in this Month, I was just looking over the schedule and it looks like it will be the later part of this Month. I will get back to you with a exact date toward the middle of the month.”)
It is now the end of October. No one called me “toward the middle of the month” to schedule; it is clear that you will not “definitely get it in this Month.”
Our March 8, 2008 contract does not have performance deadlines. Without specific dates, performance must be on a “reasonable” schedule. Here, it is not reasonable for a professional contractor to continually postpone a small project for four months, especially as we enter heating season.
HD JOHNSON IS hereby notified that the FINAL Deadline for performance shall BE 6 p.m., November 5, 2010. Should HD Johnson not perform, it shall be in BREACH OF CONTRACT.
In a breach of contract, the non-breaching party may mitigate. Should HD Johnson breach the contract on November 5, I will hire an alternative contractor on November 6, 2010, to provide and install a “K-8400 toe kick hydronic fan coil unit” or equivalent. The $1000 I still owe HD Johnson under the contract shall be used to pay for mitigation. If a balance remains, I will send that to you in full and complete satisfaction of the contract.
To avoid the costs of mitigation, I encourage you to contact me immediately and schedule a time to install the toekick radiator.
[Update: the above letter prompted them to set an appointment and finish the job last week. Jeez, how hard does this have to be?]
Steve and Emily's DC Renovation 