[molson]

The amount of effort it takes to get a home improvement project job done, even when the work is done entirely by someone else, always boggles my mind. I wish I was more handy. It's just not a skill set I've ever acquired. And I'm just not mechanically inclined.

My girlfriend's parents bought us a new exterior sliding door and screen door that goes out onto the deck for my birthday back in June. That was very nice, but I was just bracing for the headache it was going to be to actually get it installed. They said they'd take care of everything. But, they were only in town for a few weeks, and now, almost 3 months later, I'm still fighting with Lowe's about it.

Writing multiple emails up and down the corporate structure, trying to find the right person that could get this going. Confirming and re-confirming appointments - the contractor still not showing up, or showing up without the screen door, or installing a defective sliding door that could shatter at any moment. Lowe's told us that the door could shatter, but that didn't make them move any faster in getting it fixed. Calling in, and getting transferred around to various departments, including to plumbing at one point for some reason. Physically going into the store until we could find some kind of manager who could push all this forward. Meanwhile, this death trap of a defective sliding door, still absent the screen door.

It's just exhausting. I'm someone who gets the wrong meal and a restaurant and just goes with it because I just want to eat and get out of there. That approach actually works pretty well when it's a honest, innocent mistake. They feel really bad and I end up getting lots of free stuff. I'll never forget the lobster/steak combo I got at a nice restaurant in town when they fucked something up and I responded almost like it was my fault.

With Lowe's though, that approach doesn't work. You have to make a scene to move up the chain. They got really offended by my email today that said that they were all super-helpful before we signed the contract, and now they pretty much ignoring us after we paid. Lowe's and the contractor are just blaming each other and neither is trying to fix anything.

I know the initial mistake was going through Lowe's in the first place, but that wasn't my call. I wasn't supposed to have to have anything to do with this. I didn't want or need the door.