I would love to be able to make this a “reveal” post, but it’s just not in the cards. There is still painting to be done along with landscaping. And then there is a little never ending issue with the Bermuda shutters (more on that later). So its going to be an ongoing project, and I’m ok with that 🙂 For now, I’m movin’ on in!
So, by far, the most frustrating part of this project has been the Bermuda / Bahama shutters. (You say Bermuda, I say Bahama…) You would think I was trying to build an upside down house or something. First, I couldn’t get the hardware delivered. I had ordered it from an online store that worked with a manufacturer, and the site said it was to ship in 5 to 7 business days from the manufacturer. Well, it didn’t. A couple of weeks later, and no hardware, I had to call back to ask them when it would be arriving. Guess what? They told me it was scheduled to ship on x date, which ironically was in 5 business days. It was obvious they had never placed the order to begin with considering I would still have to wait for it.
I should have known better, but I just accepted it and waited. And then, after the 5 business day period was up, I called again to get a tracking number. Lo and behold, they told me it was scheduled to ship in 5 business days. I asked if the order had even been placed with the manufacturer at all, and they said it had. At this point in the building process, we were at a standstill waiting on this hardware. It was delaying everything as the weather kept getting colder. But the thing that got me the most was that they were essentially lying to me, saying the order had been placed and passing the buck off on the manufacturer.
I had to speak to the rep’s manager, who claimed to be the owner of the company. I said that after I had waited so long, he should be able to call the manufacturer and have it shipped ASAP. He said he just couldn’t do that. At the very least, I did get him to admit that the order had never been placed to begin with. Now, this isn’t something that would have taken a ton of work to be specially made. The hinges just needed to be cut to length and put in the mail to me. With the garage sitting vacant, and with the hardware still not in the mail, and very little assurance that it would indeed be shipped this time, I cancelled my order. I called another vendor, and spoke to the sweetest lady. When asked how long it would take for them to be able to get it to me, she said she would just need to walk out into the shop and ask them to cut it for me and they could mail it out the next day. WHAT??!! I had it in my hands 2 days after I placed my call. Thank you Sunbelt Shutters!! I so wished I had just called you from the beginning.
After all of this, I thought the Bermuda shutter frustration was behind me. Boy was I wrong. I had shopped the shutters online, and had a good idea of pricing. But by this point, I needed them quickly, so I paid a little extra to order from the site who said they would be shipped in, guess what, 5 to 7 business days. The next fastest sites quoted 12 to 18 business days. My order confirmation gave me an arrival date of the last week of November.
And then along comes the last week of November, and I get an email from them stating a new shipment date of close to Christmas. In the end, it took me 6 contacts with the company (and lots of failed promises from various reps) to get the shutter delivery date moved up. They finally arrived December 12th.
And then along comes the last week of November, and I get an email from them stating a new shipment date of close to Christmas. In the end, it took me 6 contacts with the company (and lots of failed promises from various reps) to get the shutter delivery date moved up. They finally arrived December 12th.
I was so excited when they arrived. They were the right size, the right color… finally the shutter saga of 2018 was over. My husband congratulated me, laughed a bit, and said he was sure something would be wrong with them. I just shrugged him off.
They were hung on a Friday. On the following Monday morning, they looked like this…
Now, I’ve painted a lot of bare wood. I just don’t know how this is even physically possible. I still don’t. I was in pure shock. I really didn’t want to have to call customer service again. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to ask for: a new set of shutters or just a complete refund. Considering all of the grief they had given me, I opted for the refund. (news flash, bermuda shutters are NOT cheap!) So, in the long run, my foils and frustration saved us a bit of money. But at the same time, I now have shutters to paint. 🙁 I just wish I’d snapped pictures of them hung before they flaked to pieces.
The good news is, it’s snowing today, and my car is in the garage 🙂 My bay was previously taken up by wood and woodworking tools, but I’ve started to move that to the new garage and I squeaked my car in just in time for our first snowfall.
Next up, I hope to have a landscaping plan in place and a landscaper hired for as soon as the weather allows this spring. Fingers crossed!
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