Fridge Update

by Matt | Sep 5, 2008 | Aggravation, Personal

Since he stormed off in a huff after our last encounter, we haven’t heard anything from the guy who ruined our fridge. So, giving him the benefit of the doubt, I had given him until the end of this week to “make things right” as he said he would. Since it’s Friday and I hadn’t heard from him, I decided to give him a ring.

I was pleasent, I didn’t yell. Actually our phone conversation was very brief.

“Hello, Keith?” I said. “uhhh huh” was the reply.

“Hey Keith, it’s Matt, I was calling to talk to you about the fridge…”

“uhhh huh, yeah, well, I’m pursuing different avenues for that…” he says.

“huh? different avenues? did you get the message about what the Kenmore guy said?”

“yeah, and that’s like only getting an opinion from one doctor. I’m pursuing different avenues, I’ll get back to you next week”, and he hangs up the phone.

It’s abudently clear that he had no intention of paying for what he did. What’s even more aggrivating is that he still doesn’t seem to understand what he did.

I’m not really angry about it any more. I just want it fixed. I want a new fridge, one that’s capable of holding food without fear of contamination or poisoning us.

I don’t really think that’s too much to ask.

The Kenmore repair technitian came out on Tuesday. He thinks the fridge is totaled. He was concerned about the fumes getting up inside the frame of the fridge itself and not just the doors. He gave us a damage estimate of $1700. That’s nearly $500 more than the cost of fridge new.

We’ve called and left a couple of messages this week saying basically “you caused $1700 worth of damage, but give us enough for a new fridge and we’ll call it even, and you can even have the old fridge if you want”. We never got a call back. I’m actually surprised I got him on the phone. He must not have recognized the number.

That’s ok, *67 did what it was supposed to do, lol.

To round out the complete catastrophy of this fridge, while doing my research I found out that here in Texas you actually can’t sue unlicensed workers. Apparently the local contractors union or some bullshit got that added to the law books a while back. If you use an unlicensed worker, you’re on your own. A nice little penalty for not using union workers.

Isn’t that awesome! So, now I’ve got nothing left as far as options. I’ve got to get something out of him. And that’ll be like getting blood from a stone.

So, I’ve got a Sears bill for $1200 that I haven’t even started paying on yet, no fridge, and a douchebag who owes me a new fridge, money or both.

I think I’m getting an ulser. I can’t deal with this shit any more.

My grandfather always said that all a man really has in life is his handshake and his word. It would be nice if we still lived in an age when that meant something. It bothers me that it doesn’t.

Acid: Day 2

by Matt | Aug 27, 2008 | Aggravation, Personal

So the douchebag calls me. “Hey buddy” he says, “We’re all finished up here, I cleaned up the floor and I think that fridge will be ok, I wiped most of it up, I think it just needs a good cleaning. Maybe I’ll go get you guys some stainless steel polish.”

I didn’t think I could be floored twice in 24 hours. I was. His level of retardation is so high, there’s really little doubt that he’s done this before because obviously the fumes have eaten HIS BRAIN.

I asked him “so you guys are completely done, you’re leaving right?”. I want him as far away from me as possible when I go over there, or else I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions.

“Yeah Buddy, where would you like me to leave the key?”

“On the counter, next to the lock box (which holds the key for the contractors). You can lock the handle of the back door from the inside and go out that way.”

“Ok, will do” and he hangs up.

An hour later I go over to check on it. The house is completely wide open. Front door, open to the world. Not just unlocked, but OPEN. Back door, same thing. Windows, open too. Key? Nowhere to be found.

So, they’re either not done and he’s coming back, which might be the case because there are still tools EVERYWHERE. Or, he’s the biggest fucking idiot alive. I’m figuring it’s a 50/50 split between the two.

This time I brought both the professional video camera from work as well as my little Powershot so I could document it even more. You can see the latest photos here. They include such gems as “the rust he tried to wipe off and obviously couldn’t” and more damage to my freezer as well, which I’m becoming increasingly concerned with.

We’ve contacted the Kenmore rep and they’re sending someone out on Tuesday to inspect the damage and tell us if the door can be replaced or if the entire unit needs to go. I’ll get them to look at the freezer as well.

I’ll also see if I can’t encode that video and put it up as well. It’s, umm, “educational” as to the level of stupidity I’m dealing with.

Thanks for the links and the concerns. He says he wants to “make things right”, so I’m going to give him that chance, but I’m also not stupid. I’ve got the PDFs to file in small claims court already printed out.

He has until the weekend.