I had almost started to believe that it was possible to have a project completed without glitches. Excellent contractor. Decent budget. Workable timeframe. Decisive and reasonable client.

I spoke too soon. The carpet subcon did not deliver the carpet to site the night before it was supposed to be installed. When I followed up I was told that the shipment had arrived at the pier last week, but as the boxes were shipped as "loose cargo" the entire lot had gone missing. There was supposedly no point in presenting the bills of lading as they were all in Chinese characters.

Yeah right. Smelled fishy to me. And I said so.

At 10pm that night the supplier called and said he had found that the carpet was actually not shipped, but had been shipped that day with ETA at the port on 20 July. Shit. With the 3 days needed to clear Customs that would translate to a 10 day delay.

I must be getting a bit used to these sort of fuckups because all I really did was present scenarios (1) carpet arrives 20 July, (2) carpet arrives later than 20 July (3) carpet never arrives because supplier is a fucking liar who lied once before about having shipped the carpet -- and present options (1) delay the furniture installation until carpet arrives (2) install temporary carpet, install furniture on sliding supports, soft wire electrical and IT, start office operations, replace carpet in batches when it arrives, or (3) select alternate carpet tile from available stock.

The client chose to delay the installation and wait for the carpet. Good. That's easiest for everyone involved.
________________________

Next comes the blinds.

The blinds supplier was recommended by the Building Property Management as he had installed in the building previously. The client awarded the contract to him because he presented the lowest cost (there isn't much design input here because the building requires a standard type and color of blinds) and was accredited by the building.

Well Mr. Smart Blinds Guy apparently assumed we would be building a low wall to cover the glass curtain wall, so he makes the blinds 2 feet shorter than they should be.

Duh.

What irked me was that he started blaming us (the "designer") because he had supposedly asked Aeroin (who was in charge of the design) about this and Aeroin had said yes we would build a wall to cover the glass.

** To us in Corporate Interiors, such an idea is a major no-no. Buildings never allow the glass and mullions tampered with, or even touched.

It also turns out the guy did not do an actual measurement of the floor below (as reference for installed blinds sizes), despite being instructed to do so, and signing that he had done so.

After much too-ing and fro-ing I sort of lost my patience and told him that he had quoted for all items required to complete the blinds, had signed that he read and understood the building guidelines (this was part of the conforme) and that sorry, no, he could not bill the client (who wasn't willing to pay anyway). So tough titty, kagatin mo pare.

The guy then started to whine about how it was his own money he invested and that the 15,000 cost differential would hurt him, and that we should pity him because his was a small business. Paano naman daw sya. Boo hoo hoo. Whine whine whine.

I said "You fucking loser, you are whining about 15,000 bucks and walking around with a droopy lip and here I am trying to fix this stupid problem because of course your fucking installation will be delayed and I can't think too straight because I am worrying about my cancer-stricken mother, the fucking state of our economy, my spouse visa, my goddam stomach has a fucking scar because the doctor took my gallbladder out, and the scar is itching like crazy, and I just really really want to get out of here now and have a fucking cup of coffee and some lunch because its 4pm and I am still listening to your skinny ass boohoohoo ing!"
________________________


Ha ha ha. Just kidding :)

I actually told him (1) that it was really unprofessional of him to start whining and begging, and (2) I didn't care about the fact that he was making money off the contract, so why should I care that he was losing some money out of his own omissions. Charge it to experience bud. I've lost 20 times more money than that and I didn't utter a peep in front of the client.
________________________

I'm still a bit appalled at his whinyness and fingerpointing. I've always been of the idea that you need to discuss all work related business professionally.

Maybe if he explained better and was less accusatory I would have been less unbending. Then again, work's work -- so maybe not.

That's one supplier I will never work with again.
________________________

The excitement of project management. You gotta love it.

This entry was posted on 7/15/2005 at 7/15/2005 11:31:00 pm. You can skip to the end and leave a response.