A hero and a line in the sand

The concrete turned out great after all of the work put in by the concrete guys and despite the lack of work by Region Pool and Spa. Our pool was filled with green water, algae, and various dead animals, but the patio surrounding it was fantastic. (Poor Dallas was tasked with looking for and removing said animals on a daily basis. He's a good kid.) The second concrete guy also measured 40 square feet less than the original number Bob had given us. Huzzah! With the concrete done, I anxiously awaited word about the installation of the automatic pool cover and the return of a fully functional fence. I feel like you know, dear reader, what is coming next. 

Bob had basically forgotten about fixing the fence, so I called the fence company myself. When I told them that he had cut through the fence, there was complete silence at that end of the phone. They were stunned, as was everyone who heard the story, that anyone would go to such an extreme when all someone had to do was call the fence company to find out how to safely remove the fence panels without totally wrecking them. Because of that snafu, I had to order new posts and panels that took eight weeks to arrive. We went from the fence only being down for "a few days" to a few months, plus the additional expense of materials and labor. Luckily, my fantastic brother came over one afternoon and with the help of him, my scary dad, my kids, Trevor, and Ace Hardware, we were able to rig the fence up enough so that the dogs could be outside without having to be leashed until the new panels were installed. I spent every day worried that they would escape, and I was beyond relieved when the fence was finally fixed in September. The day we put the fugazi fence up, Bob was hanging around waiting for money. He didn't want to talk to my dad, so I spent time going between the two of them. He even asked my brother if he should help with the fence project. My brother shot that down with a terse comment about how Bob had done enough. The money he wanted was an extra $2K because he said they had to dig a longer trench and get more PVC pipe than he expected because the equipment pad was so far from the pool. I reminded him that the contract stated that everything that needed to go to the pad was included, and he backed down quickly. I assume that he thought we would just pony up an additional check without checking to see what was on the contract. He never seemed to understand that he was dealing with an attorney/teacher couple: we follow the rules and proofread everything. 

By the time the concrete was poured, no clean up had been done to the yard. At one point, Bob had agreed to re-seed or sod the yard for us at an additional cost. At that time, I thought it was a great idea to have one person in charge of basically finishing the whole project, but to be fair, I didn't know him very well yet. As the days went on and nothing was happening, my parents decided to call in some true experts: Vega's Landscaping. If there is a hero to this story, it's Vega's. 

When Vega's representatives came out to see what was what, their mouths dropped open with shock, and it wasn't the good kind. They did a lot of measuring, a lot of discussing amongst themselves, a lot of head shaking, and a lot of question asking. What I ended up getting out of it was that Bob had never done a topographical survey of the yard to account for any discrepancies in elevation. You may be asking yourself why that's a big deal, as I did myself. Well, our yard all slopes down and catches a lot of rainwater, so that was all about to flow right into the pool. Absolutely nothing was level, and we were in danger of having the pool completely ruined. So, in the middle of a very busy summer, Vega's created a design to save our pool, our yard, and my sanity. Although it was another additional expense that we hadn't counted on, it was beyond worth it. Not only did they do amazing work and clean up after themselves every day, they figured out a way to temporarily re-install the cut fence panels at the end of each work day so the dogs could have the yard back. Vega's bent over backwards to help us, and everyone I have ever worked with there is a consummate professional. I would trust them with any project I ever wanted to do for the rest of my life. 

When the decision was made to have someone else do the work in the yard, I texted Bob and told him that Vega's would take care of the clean up. Mind you, he left rocks and concrete pieces and trash everywhere, and cleaning up was part of his job. We just knew that he was never going to do it, and if her ever did get to it, it wouldn't be done well. When I told him that we would have someone else deal with it, I expected an apology or something similar. Instead, he texted back that he would "hug me" if he could. Um, no. He promised to contact Vega's and pay for part of the cleanup. (Spoiler alert: that didn't happen.) One thing that DID happen is that while on speakerphone with two of the Vega's employees, Bob told them that we, as in me and my parents, were "unreasonable people." Oh, Bob. Big mistake. He didn't know that my parents had been working with Vega's for years, and unreasonable people aren't generally repeat clients. 

 I still had to keep texting Bob to find out when different parts of the job were going to be finished, like the cover, the electricity, the lessons on how to balance the pool water and keep it clean, and when someone was going to clean the concrete out of the bottom of the pool. Crickets. RED FLAG #11 was that it took me too long to realize that when I would text him, he insisted on calling me and never left voicemails. In hindsight, I realize he probably didn't want to leave any proof of what he was telling me because he knew that we were unhappy. He rarely updated me; I was always texting him. 

One thing that he definitely never told us about was the automatic pool cover. I knew we had to wait until the concrete was done to install it, but I didn't know that it! couldn't! even! be! ordered! until the concrete was done. After measuring for it, it would take two to four weeks to come in. RED FLAG #12 was that Bobby never mentioned that to me. Starting on August 5, I texted him about the cover a minimum of once a week. When he failed to give me any information that didn't include the phrase "global supply chain issue," I told him that I would only communicate with him via writing from then on: no more phone calls or personal visits. 

That's when things really started to go downhill. 

And if you live in the Region and have any landscaping needs, please call Vega's Landscaping. I promise that you won't be disappointed. They have no idea that I'm promoting them; I just feel like good work and kind people should be celebrated and appreciated.