BELFOR-INRECON

About a week later, a crew supervisor and a laborer came out to do a "pre-job walk-through." The supervisor was young-ish, but seemed experienced enough to spec out the job -- but I did have to provide him with a hard-copy of the actual estimate itself because he didn't have it in hand. He said it would be no problem for his laborer to do the work and be careful of the sprinkler head. However, it proved difficult to get the job scheduled. There was lots of telephone tag involved, along with various excuses about trying to fit my "smaller" job into their busy schedule. Finally, the work was scheduled for October 5th. The same crew supervisor shows up but with a different laborer -- 90 minutes late. Then the supervisor tells me that the laborer (who doesn't speak English very well) has to run to the nearby Home Depot (5 minutes away) for materials but will be back soon. [I'm thinking, why show up without the materials -- or tools -- to do the job? Surely, this is not a good sign. But I try to give them the benefit of the doubt.] Two hours later, I call the supervisor to find out where the laborer is. He tells me the laborer had to go pick up another guy because he felt he needed help doing the job. I'm told he'll be back at my job soon. It is not clear whether the laborer made the run to Home Depot or not. Another two-and-a-half hours later -- I was ready give up and leave, after waiting a total of SIX (6) hours with no work done yet -- the laborer finally showed up again. Alone. He was very apologetic. However, he refuted everything the supervisor had said. I asked the laborer if he was ready to work, but he said he still needed additional help and drywall. When I asked what was going on, he explained that his car was too small to carry drywall. I saw his vehicle in the parking lot, and it was indeed a small car. No room for drywall. It was unclear whether he was waiting for the drywall to be delivered, or if he was waiting for someone with a bigger vehicle to pick him up so he could go get it. Furthermore, he was completely alone. He said he was waiting for help -- which I took to mean that he was waiting for someone to arrive at the job to help him -- not that he had been sent to pick anyone up. I told the laborer I was leaving and that I would call Belfor to cancel the job. My last call on my way out was to let the building superintendent know that the sprinklers could be turned back on because my repair job wasn't happening after all. He asked me, "Why not?" Then he said, "...the guy just came down here and [borrowed my] ladder." Incredibly, the laborer had borrowed a ladder from the superintendent because he didn't even have one! Belfor's idea of a competent crew and my idea of a competent crew are polar opposites. Clearly, Belfor does not have experienced work crews available who can get work done quickly. Not even close! I wasted an entire month and ended up with absolutely NOTHING to show for it. Not to mention my tenant was inconvenienced by my constant running back and forth meeting with Belfor's people, waiting for an available crew, and then finally scheduling the job -- only to end up with a gaping hole in the ceiling STILL THERE!!! A word to the wise: You've been warned.