I saw a funny thread on social media the other day, and it all started with this tweet:
Things fitters don't want to hear on a Mon. 1 Do you have to come inside 2 I've just had new carpets put down 3 what time will u be finished
— The Window Company (@TheWindowCo) February 8, 2016
Wow did that tweet unleash a wave of replies, full of some of the biggest and most annoying gripes that installers and installation companies have to deal with on a regular basis. So, for your amusement and frustration, here are some of the things installers really don’t want to hear.
Can you fit on a weekend?
One of the replies to the original tweet was this one from @HomeGuardDG:
@TheWindowCo I've had can you fit on Sunday...we're at work all week.
— Home Guard D/G (@HomeGuardDG) February 8, 2016
Many installers work damn hard during the working week, getting up just as oxygen starts to return to the atmosphere. Working in all types of weather. Grafting hard on hands, knees, elbows, backs and in all manner of ways to leave home owners proud of their new window and door purchase.
The thought of fitting on a Saturday or Sunday, the only days of the week left to physically recover and unwind, just isn’t that appealing to most fitters.
What are you going to do about my tiles?
Er, nothing? This is a common question. I say question, more of a sly statement to say that the home owner is going to hold you responsible should any tiles, that you didn’t lay in the first place, are your responsibility. Check this tweet out:
@HomeGuardDG @TheWindowCo will you be careful with the tiles ,we only had them done yesterday 🙃
— Neil washington (@WashyEfc) February 8, 2016
I make it clear to clients that as we didn’t fit your kitchen or bathroom, or install the tiles in the room in the first place, that we won’t be held responsible for them. Although we will always do our best to cause minimal disruption.
Don’t cause a mess
When you replace windows and doors, expect mess. Expect dust. Expect smells. Yet, some home owners think this can be prevented.
@HomeGuardDG @TheWindowCo or when u turn up to box sash rip outs and they say "the salesman said there won't be any dust "😳🌚
— Neil washington (@WashyEfc) February 8, 2016
When you drill into bricks, dust will be created. A professional installation team will clean up as best as they can before they leave. They can’t spend six hours cleaning, but a good scrub around is only good manners.
Sometimes however I think home owners believe that once the installation is done, fitters are then their personal cleaners. There’s a limit, and home owners have to be realistic when they’re having home improvement work done.
Use of the loo
We had a customer ring to tell us the other day that they weren’t to use their loo while we were there. Not a phone call we get often. So we best give our lads some advice and to evacuate their bowls before they get on site.
It irritates me a little when we get calls like this. Installers are working in a person’s home, doing a hard job in quite often inclement weather. The least someone can do is to let them use their bathroom facilities…as long as the fitters flush!
What are you going to do about the blinds?
Very much like the kitchen tiles, blinds are products that window companies haven’t installed. Yet, so many home owners ask window companies to take them down and put them up.
Understandably, many companies don’t want to touch them. What if they take them down and a bracket breaks? It’s not their product, but some home owners would hold them responsible for putting it right, at the cost of the company and not them of course. So many companies, including ours, will ask customers to take things like blinds, ornaments and anything else in the path of the window to be removed prior to us coming.
Those sorts of items are their possessions and not ours, it’s not up to us to look after their things.
These are just a few things that I know from personal experience will irritate installation companies. They seem relatively small gripes on the scale of things, but they’re regular. And it’s these day in day out gripes which we could probably all do without.
Please feel free to add any more of your own via the comments section below!