One sided party it turned out to be for I got a call early yesterday morning saying ah yes, the porch was designed to be leaky and so we wont be a-fixing it. Unless you dig deep (again) and cough up two thousand big ones.
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| Reserve; subject to flooding. Ducks, be warned. |
Now I think I'm a reasonable and fair person. The solar panel guy who installed panels on our roof without us asking for them, could have been sued and told to bugger off. Rather than penalise someone for a honest mistake, we paid his costs and let him off the hook. Karma and all that jazz.
By the same token I expect others to play fair. Do what you are expected to, and I wont ask for more. And sometimes I will let you off the hook too. Like when we realised that the basic house plan we chose came with a porch and yet we had to pay the same builders $1,900 or so to actually get one, we paid without a ruckus. But now being asked to pay once again to stop the raindrops from drenching us, the brats boys, visitors and my brand new merbau deck is a bit much.
The buck stops here. A porch is by definition a covered area meant to shelter one from the elements. Unsusupecting visitors dash under its cover for refuge from the chilly rain only to find they are still drenched from above. One timber slat is coming away already, in less than three months. Kind of defies the purpose of having a porch, you reckon?
Well, Consumer Affairs agrees. I had a chat with them soon after our SS put the phone down, and it is as simple as being "not fit for purpose". Its not like I expect the porch to do the washing, cleaning and laundry for us (that would be nice!) but all we really want is for it to be a functional porch, and protect us from the elements. Which it doesnt.
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| The Grumpy Old Tree. Its just like me. |
A stubborn Scorpion I will admit to being, especially if I feel someone isnt playing fair. In this case, I'm ready to go the whole hog, Consumer Affairs and VCAT too. I'd rather not, but sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do.
In that sense, I'm a teeny tiny bit like my battle-axe Aunt Ivy. She who has the rickshaw-wallah's and cops too, quaking in fear. They dare not diddle her out of a single naya paise. I'm not paying again for something that we have paid for i.e. a porch that is fit for purpose.
I'd really like to meet the guy who designed a leaky porch and get him to stay under it for just a little while. He'd change his master plans quick smart after a short shivery bout in the rain. Architect of the Year? I think not. Pure genius? That's quite unlikely too. You can tell, I'm not the least bit impressed. And that my friends, is just that.
