Category Archives: mishaps

When good service turns out to be bad service!

We finally have the gas connected today, which was expected to be the thing that held us up, but wait……. there’s more. The re-powder coating of our pressed metal splash backs has gone awry again. The colour recommended to us by Period Details can’t be done. Why was it recommended if it couldn’t be done?! And why has it taken so long to tell us?! The turn around time to re-powder coat was supposed to be 1 week – 3 weeks ago! I am PISSED OFF! That is NOT good customer service, and Period Details won’t be getting any more of my business!

I’m away from home at the moment, so hubby has had to choose a new colour. This colour is also from a range of Dulux colours recommended by Period Details, so let’s hope they can get this one right!

Kitchen, Pantry and Laundry Splashback Colour (3rd choice)
Kitchen, Pantry and Laundry Splashback Colour (3rd choice)

The roller coaster ride!

If I had written this post on Thursday night it would have been mostly ranting; but the passing of a few days has been more positive.  We weren’t supposed to do “house stuff” last weekend; we were supposed to be having a few child free days away at a vineyard.  Unfortunately our baby sitters for Oscar were sick so we had to cancel, but we had the time off work so we thought we’d make the best of it and go out for a nice lunch together. It didn’t turn out that way, but perhaps cancelling our weekend was a blessing in disguise as we didn’t have to deal with all this stuff today.

Hubby stopped by the house Thursday and Period Details were there to install the pressed metal sheets, he just happened to notice that the splash back sheets were the wrong colour.  After some frantic checking on what we had asked for we told the builder it was wrong .  These sheets have a six week lead time, so we weren’t happy.  But then it got worse; the colour we had chosen was no longer available!  It hadn’t been available at the time it was ordered either but was when we chose it several months earlier.  (This is the third time we have missed out on our selections because they didn’t get ordered when we chose them.)  So our relaxing day off was spent trying to choose a new colour.  Kath and Dave from Period Details were very helpful with suggestions as was Dulux Powder Coatings in sending us sample paint chips overnight. The biggest issue was that we wanted a metal look and it had to match the colouring in the stone bench top.  Friday afternoon we made our decision:

New Kitchen Splashback Colour
New Kitchen Splashback Colour

Dave from Period Details has cut the sheets to the correct size and they will be re-powder coated, so the delay should only be one week, not six.

The next issue we discovered was the paint in the ensuite.  It was supposed to be the Dulux “Off White” but looked brown.  Hubby thought it was the Hog’s Bristle for the main areas, used in the wrong spot.  It turned out the paint was tinted incorrectly. The rep from ecolour came out pretty quickly, acknowledged the mistake and replaced the paint today.

These things always come in threes! The stained glass has been installed, and looks gorgeous! The only problem is the glass around the front door was supposed to be obscured glass so no-one could see in, but it’s clear.  We called Harkaway and they agreed to organise the replacements straight away and have someone coming out to do the swap over. 

Stained glass on front door - clear not obscured
Stained glass on front door – clear not obscured

 

Update on kitchen splash back: things did not go so well with the recommended selection.

 

A few minor disasters

The day before the water damage occurred, hubby asked me to come and look at the limestone flooring. The sealant had been applied and it looked terrible. Our builder was experimenting with other sealants, but the one that was used was recommended by the tiling company. After a bit of research the two options were for what caused it were chemical residue rising to the surface or grout being spread over the tiles with the sealant.  The later seemed more likely, and the tiling company agreed.  The other option was that it was too cold when applied.  So our builder now has some tile cleaner to remove it all before the tiles are resealed.

Tiles before sealing
Tiles before sealing

 

Tiles after Sealing
Tiles after Sealing
Tiles after Sealing
Tiles after Sealing

The other mishap was discovered today.  Our builder needed to order some more of the main skirting boards.  When they were delivered they didn’t match the skirtings already installed.  The supplier came on site to investigate and it turns out they supplied the wrong one the first time.  They have offered to provide the labour to fix the problem, so now I need to go and have a look tomorrow and see whether the ones fitted are OK, or if we take the extra time to have them replaced with the correct boards.

And finally, we arranged for the gas connection this week.  It turns out we should have done it about 6 weeks ago.  It takes 4 – 6 weeks to connect, and then the meter can be ordered.