KEN'S RESTORATIONS

KEN BYRNE CAME TO THE HOUSE EXACTLY ON SCHEDULE, TO GIVE AN ESTIMATE FOR A JOB HE KNEW WOULD BE RELATIVELY SMALL, AS WE'D DISCUSSED IT ALREADY ON THE PHONE. HE SEEMED KNOWLEDGEABLE AND PLEASANT. I AGREED TO HIS VERBAL ESTIMATE AND WANTED TO SCHEDULE THE WORK BEFORE HE LEFT, BUT HE INSISTED ON SENDING A WRITTEN ESTIMATE, WHICH HE SAID HE'D MAIL ''LATER THAT DAY.'' DESPITE THE PASSAGE OF SEVERAL WEEKS AND A FEW PHONE CALLS AND AN E-MAIL FROM ME, NO ESTIMATE EVER APPEARED. WITH EACH CONTACT THAT I MADE, HE HAD A NEW EXCUSE, INCLUDING THE HACKNEYED ''I PUT IT IN THE MAIL.'' VERY UNPROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR, FROM A CONTRACTOR WHO HELD HIMSELF UP AS ONE WHO VALUED ALL JOBS, LARGE AND SMALL.