What gives?
By rosegardens
@rosegardens (3032)
United States
December 3, 2010 12:03pm CST
Hello fellow mylotters. I have a bit of a drama going on. I have a steam boiler, and had someone take it apart in the summer to re-pipe it because it was done wrong. The guy did finally remove the pipes, but never did finish the job, so I have been without heat. I have called several people to do it, but they either do not show, or they want to 'straight pipe' the boiler, meaning it will be done the same way it was--WRONG. A wrong piped steam boiler can cause many a headache. Banging pipes and very inefficient on gas, plus the thing could end up blowing up. Not likely with the new ones though, and mine was made in 2000.
Today I am waiting on a gentleman who was to come out and fix it. I called this one Monday. Well, this morning his phone had been turned off by the company. After a few frantic calls to my friends, whining about how cold it is, etc. I called back and found his phone is turned back on, but he of course is not answering my calls.
Meanwhile I have been using my oven and space heaters to keep the place warm, but it is not working so good in the living room/dining room area that ranges from 52F to 59F, depending on the weather outside. It's only got to the 20's F so far, but you know colder weather is approaching. I am so fed up with these guys.
A neighbor of mine had been researching how to pipe a steam boiler, and probably even though he is not licensed and has never done this before, I am going to have to get him to do this. I do have a grant to get it done, but I can't find anyone reliable who qualifies to get the grant. So I will have to work out a payment plan for him or something. And, I have no clue where to get the parts. Lowes and HomeDepot just will not have what is needed.
You have no idea how many people I have called on to do this job. Yet, here it is December 3 and it is still not done. What gives with this thing?
4 responses
@rosegardens (3032)
• United States
5 Dec 10
NOw, why on Earth did I not think of that? You are absolutely BRILLIANT! 
I did as you said, and found two companies on the Burnham website who actually want to see this fixed, plus they understand steam boilers. I had one out this afternoon, and there is a guy on Monday I really want to meet. His family worked on steam boilers for 3 generations before him, and he learned a lot. They tried to fit him in for the weekend but he is awful busy and Monday is the earliest, unless there is a cancellation.
The guy that came out today wanted to know everything about the rooms the radiators were in and wanted to see them. He asked a lot of questions about how they heat. I like his knowledge. He even said the radiators were measured for the rooms way back when. How many in the field now even know that?
I really do want to meet Pete before I make a move. Pete is the guy that grew up around steam. I would feel honored to have someone with so much knowledge look at my boiler. A guy like this is a gift from God. Hopefully there are a couple of little Petey's running about learning the trade from their dad/granddad so this science is not lost in the little corner of the world I live in.
I did as you said, and found two companies on the Burnham website who actually want to see this fixed, plus they understand steam boilers. I had one out this afternoon, and there is a guy on Monday I really want to meet. His family worked on steam boilers for 3 generations before him, and he learned a lot. They tried to fit him in for the weekend but he is awful busy and Monday is the earliest, unless there is a cancellation.
The guy that came out today wanted to know everything about the rooms the radiators were in and wanted to see them. He asked a lot of questions about how they heat. I like his knowledge. He even said the radiators were measured for the rooms way back when. How many in the field now even know that?
I really do want to meet Pete before I make a move. Pete is the guy that grew up around steam. I would feel honored to have someone with so much knowledge look at my boiler. A guy like this is a gift from God. Hopefully there are a couple of little Petey's running about learning the trade from their dad/granddad so this science is not lost in the little corner of the world I live in.
@Avetre (26)
• United States
4 Dec 10
Assuming that you had a contract written out for the job you can easily take the contractor to small claims court, and he can be forced to finish the job or pay for someone else to. Technically you can still bring a verbal contract to court, but the burden is on you to prove that the agreement happened in the first place- gather witnesses.
@rosegardens (3032)
• United States
5 Dec 10
hmmm.... not a bad idea. Though I do plan on writing reviews on the internet when I have time. Also the place I got the grant from will give him heck and perhaps he will lose his account with them. The owner of another boiler company pleaded with me to do the job after the guys told me I didn't need a hartford loop, etc. He was worried he was going to lose his license with the grant place. I'm thinking, how is this MY problem? I told him he better clean house then, meaning he needs to show a few so called installers the door. He was not happy with my response.
@AJ1952Chats (2332)
• Anderson, Indiana
4 Dec 10
That just demonstrates the dumbing down of the work ethic to me.
Some people must be sleeping on the job or something.
Aunt Kate could be a real drama queen when given service like this.
One time, there was something wrong with her refrigerator, and this guy came out to tell her that he found nothing wrong with her refrigerator--before telling her how much the service charge would be.
Her response?
She belted out the chorus to the song "Make The World Go Away."
The Mickey Mouse Club story is REALLY funny, but I think I'm going to save that for the book I'm writing.
@rosegardens (3032)
• United States
5 Dec 10
Nice of him to NOT waive the fee for not finding anything wrong. Geesh.
Similar thing happened with the boiler. I called a company and told the dispatch it was an install. Much simpler to explain it that way, and it is basically the same thing. They sent out this guy who had no clue what I was talking about. He only fixes the internal parts of the actual boiler, not the pipes. He proceeds to write me up a bill for $69.00!!! Maybe I should have belted out a song. 
@frontvisions101 (16043)
• Philippines
3 Dec 10
Maybe it doesn't wanna be fixed. Lol. Had the same thing with my phone. Thought the electrician could fix but when came to fetch it he said there's nothing they can do about it. Something to do with the LCD. They said I had to buy a new one which costs almost as much as the phone itself. I thought I'd just buy myself a new one.
@rosegardens (3032)
• United States
5 Dec 10
Wow. If it cost almost as much as new, I would do the same thing.
