THE AWNING FACTORY

The salesman was ebullient, jovial, and ostensibly knowledgeable. He is the owner's son-in-law. A deposit of half the charges as made using a credit card and seemingly by the end of the day it had been processed by my bank. The workmen who came were extremely talented, had a great attitude, and were very hard working. The awnings were replaced on schedule. The the work began on the carport installation and Murphy's Law saw a totally new lease on life as problems arose with connections of carport to the roof, non-closure of space between roof and house, etc. There was a missing middle support beam that, while specified in the engineering print, was absent when the framing structure was attached to the house.The holes for the support posts were dug about half of what was specified, no re-bar was installed, and after four visits by the city inspector, the holes were dug to the specified length and breadth with re-bar attached as specified. Today the footers were finally poured,ostensibly to spec, but the surrounding area was not kept clear to allow the inspector to visually determine that they were installed to spec. Meanwhile the drainpipe along the top of the carport pours water down onto the driveway beneath rather than carry it to the ground nearby. With anticipation I await the arrival of the City inspectors to see if the job gets a pass or...we will see. Remaining, if it does finally pass will be significant re-landscaping of the areas around the posts holding up the carport. In summary...the workmen are great and they work their butts off! The are directed, however, by supervisors who, at least until earlier last week, had not bothered to come out to scope out the progress of the installation. Clearly there appears to be a major disconnect between top management and the workers doing the job. That is sad because the guys at the end of the shovels, wrench, drill, and screwdrivers really know what they are doing and, had the supervisors bothered to come out with regularity, all of these issues could have been avoided. Oh yes, I asked them not to send in the charge on my credit card until the job was done...guess what...that charge went through last week! I called my bank and told them the story; they said to tell the folks at the Awning Factory to reverse the charge or they would put the transaction in the hold-and-investigate category. We will see what happens next as we await the final inspection by the City of Casselberry. I really want the Awning Factory to succeed, in every way, but, if their performance on my house is typical, they need new management, for sure, startng at the top!