A story of shoddy workmanship.

@barehugs (8973)
Canada
August 15, 2008 3:29am CST
Sometime ago I had 2 stainless steel storage tanks constructed to store liquid honey for sale in my Honey-house Sales room. These shiny steel tanks which hold up to 2400 lbs of liquid honey are a work of art and very expensive. They are steel cylinders standing 4 feet tall and are 3 feet in Diameter. Each Tank has a matching steel lid, and a Honey Gate which is an opening at the bottom which can be opened to measure out the honey into smaller salable quantities. This summer I ordered 2 more matching tanks from the same Company. I gave instructions for the tanks to be made and received a reply that the job would be accomplished within 2 months. When the 2 months were up I called the company and was told that there had been a problem, and that because the welder who constructed the first 2 tanks was no longer available, the job had been sent out to be done. When the Tanks were finally finished I went to get them and received quite a shock. The 2 stainless steel tanks were sitting outside on a couple of pallets. Upon checking them out I was sickened by the shoddy workmanship. Obviously the welder had been working outside of his field of expertise. The welding was rough and had been ground off leaving a wide black margin. There was no steel band around the top to give stability to the vessel. The bottoms had been cut incorrectly and been patched to fit. I told the Company Owner right away that I doubted I could use these poorly made Tanks, and he acknowledged the poor quality of the welding. We talked for a time without mentioning the cost, but I told him these poorly made articles would look quite out of place in my sales room, He was quite disappointed and said, "Well leave them then," as he turned on his heel and walked away. No wonder he was disappointed as he had just lost $4000.00, plus his time and trouble. Do you think I was justified in refusing to use these poorly constructed Tanks? What would you have done differently?
3 people like this
5 responses
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
16 Aug 08
Of course you had ever right to not accept such shotty work.I think you did the right thing ..That man knew he had made a mistake by hiring that so called welder,he was disappointed alright but not with you,he was disgusted that the welder did such a bad job...He thought you might accidently accept them (he was hoping that is ) but had the shoe been on the other foot he would not have accepted them either...He lost because he made the mistake....Its not your fault...
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
17 Aug 08
Well its his own fault he has only hisself to blame.I am glad you stuck by your feelings about these things.We would all be better off if we refused shotty work...
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
17 Aug 08
I like the way you have it all summed up, slickcut! I believe you have it in a nutshell. This guy is no slob, you can be sure of that. He just got careless and got caught. I doubt he will ever get careless with me again. He has learned an expensive Lesson.
@glamgrl (384)
• Ireland
15 Aug 08
hi barehugs bit of a sad story of course you did the right thing you had no choice maybe he could have offered them to you at cost price i am worrying at the moment about all this global warming we are definitely suffering from the effects weatherwise best regards to you glam
2 people like this
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
16 Aug 08
Yes it is a sad story, because the welder who messed up obviously took no pride in his work. I know this because both tanks were identical. (The guy learned nothing from his mistakes on the first tank, and then went on to blotch up the second.) The work looked like a Grade 9 welding lesson gone wrong.
1 person likes this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
27 Aug 08
It's your money mate. The onus was on the guy to supply you with goods to the standard you nominated. If he was silly enough to send the work out to someone who he was either unfamiliar with or whom he knew did shoddy workmanship then it's his loss. He knows that. He's just taking it out on you because he knows he stuffed up. Unfortunately that doesn't help you get your new vats. I'd try and track down the guy who did the original work. Good luck.
@zandi458 (28102)
• Malaysia
15 Aug 08
As a customer we have every right to refuse paying a poor quality goods and we have our consumer right to refuse payment and receiving the goods even though we have ordered a custom made item like what you ordered. Lucky that the owner is not fussy and acknowledge his mistakes of poor quality workmanship. I would do the same and refuse to take my ordered item. It didn't fit to my requirement so why I should I take something that I can't make use of.
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
16 Aug 08
I trusted this company to make steel tanks comparable with the last two I purchased from them. When they turned out to be so poorly built, I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Anyway the problem is past, and I have no bad feelings about it now.
1 person likes this
• Canada
19 Aug 08
Well, I guess it all comes down to if you contracted them to do the job in a precise way for a precise purpose and it sounds as if you did. I'm surprized they didn't ask you for a deposit on a large custom job like that, to be sure that you wouldn't back out at the last moment. But, I guess, it was good that you did not, as they were not to your specifications after all and you shouldn't lose a deposit when they didn't live up to your expectations.... If he knew that they weren't up to specs, why did he not offer them to you cheaper, to see if you could use them at all, or maybe modify them to suit you? I guess that he didn't have a qualified welder capable any longer of making the taks correctly for your purpose.