You've got to give it to Juan. He showed up this morning at 8.15am, like he said he would.
There were certainly some communications issues…like when he took my $300 down payment check and then promptly left. I was worried for a moment (Tamar thought ‘scam’) but I had his card, his number, his proof of insurance, and some leverage. Besides...when you go discount, you've got to expect some bumps in the road, right? :-)
I called him…he was off to Home Depot.
By noon…a nice portion of the structure was built and I have to say, it looks pretty good. Not too shabby.
The other company called me and left an answering machine message. I decided to call back. I just said…I got the estimate and it was higher than I wanted to pay. They said, “Ok, thanks for the call.” That was it.
I have to say, I like Juan’s attitude, punctuality, and his hunger. I was saying to Tamar last night that I need to find a young guy who’s willing to prove himself. Up until now, we’ve been using my mom’s contractor, but the thing is, I think we’re too small for him. We’re not doing the $50k-$100k remodeling jobs. He’s more established and charges higher rates. We’re the small fish.
It makes me uncomfortable to rely on him (he’s also been very sloppy about returning my calls/emails in a timely manner.)
So far, Juan is proving his value. It’s still early, of course.