Except if it is damaged during the removal/reinstall you have another problem. If it were me, I would just tell the guy he'd get paid in full when the work is completed in a satisfactory manner. That he is asking to get paid when it is obvious that he made a mistake regarding the hood height is cause for concern. If he "completely" disagrees with your email, then he disagrees that he did anything wrong.

Well, my thought would be to pay him for the hood and get someone else to remove the hood and reinstall it properly. He really doesn't deserve to get paid for his work since he did not follow instructions. If the homeowners don't pay him for the hood outlay, then he will be haunting their dreams....he might do that anyway but at least the homeowner can say they paid for the part that was correct. Without putting too fine a point on it, it might also be good to make sure he is aware of the fact that one of the homeowners is an attorney.

As a side, I put all attorneys on double secret probation as potential clients. If you're an engineer, forget it.

Good point, jerzeegirl. I'd be a bit leary of having him come back to "repair", too.

"As a side, I put all attorneys on double secret probation as potential clients. If you're an engineer, forget it."

Lol, not an engineer, but I've certainly been accused of thinking like one and I do have a degree from an engineering school.

For both the height of hood and sealant around the roof vent....Do you have a permit for this work? An inspector would require both to be to code. Did you discuss a permit? It isn't too late for you personally to get one. There may be other issues not considered which need to be covered.

For both the height of hood and sealant around the roof vent....Do you have a permit for this work? An inspector would require both to be to code. Did you discuss a permit? It isn't too late for you personally to get one. There may be other issues not considered which need to be covered.

The vent work on the roof is atrocious. You need a roofer to come in and fix that. If he cut the shingles inappropriately, you may need a few to properly patch that, together with the correct flashing. Otherwise you may get some leaking when you have the next rain.

Appreciate that this saga has drawn so much interest!

Here's the contractor's viewpoint:

1. Contractor insists that I specified a 12" duct cover and that the height issue is on me. I did not get the sense that he had even gone back and re-read my email, he seemed to just be going on his memory (e.g., he said that I had specified the length in a phone call, when my communication about hood model and installation height was via email, not voice).

2. He says our agreement was to remove the soffit only if necessary; he had no good explanation for why the 4" spacer came down. I'm willing to say that there was ambiguity on the soffit so that's partly on me; the side cabinet no.

3. On the wall damage and other finish issues, his argument is that I didn't specify they were to repair any wall damage, or fix plaster damage from the cabinet removal, etc. Therefore they did not fix any of it. He's not claiming that I explictly directed them to *not* do so, just that I didn't affirmatively say they should. Makes me wonder how bad things would have had to be before he did contact me and ask if they should fix something before proceeding. Just seems like a dumb business decision: had he called and described the problem when found, I would have happily paid a highway robbery price to fix right then and there rather than end up where I am now.

On the drywall slots specifically, he says a) they would be easy to mud and patch with hood in place so I'm worried about nothing, and b) I should have expected that when an old hood and cabinets are removed that there would be wall cutouts, and since that was 'obvious' the burden was on me to explicitly specify to repair/prep the wall to paint-ready condition.

Our agreement for resolution is that he will come out on Friday and reposition the hood and backsplash to 30" height. He says the cover can be slid up into the soffit to accomodate. I'm willing to live with the soffit staying in place, partly since that's where I didn't resolve an ambiguity in the proposal and partly since it clearly makes resolving the height easier -- I'm not impressed, but it's not a disaster aethestically (the same soffit exists above all the cabinets). Also having him repair the drywall (we'll pay). I'll be home on Friday and thus able to keep an eye on things.

Two lessons for me:

1. Be really, really explicit in work orders. That's actually my natural inclination, and one bit of irony is that my wife has been nudging me to tone down my control freak instincts -- we've had very good luck with contractors so far, so I made an effort to do a better job of 'trusting the professional' this time. Oops.

2. I'm more sensitive the the issue of not knowing what you're going to find behind things, and how that can complicate an 'easy' job. And likewise, how much easier it can be to having things repaired and prepped at the right stage of a project. Maybe we should have taken down the cabinet ourselves, had the walls repaired as needed and painted first, and then had someone come in to do the install.

That's not to excuse this contractor: the height issue is clearly on him, and I don't think a good professional would resolve every bit of ambiguity on the side of not doing the work and blaming the homeowner for not knowing better. Not one who wants repeat customers, at least.

live_wire: Thanks, someone else above noted concerns, and while I'm clueless about roofing, even I was surprised by the lack of metal flashing. At this point, I'm more inclined to find a good roofer to take a look and fix what's necessary than to ask this contractor to redo it. I'm guessing it should not be an expensive job, right? Anyway the previous seller actually did leave a pile of extra shingles -- roof is ~4 year old -- so we do have matching ones on hand

quahog, thanks for taking the time to come back and tell us how the problem was resolved. Hope you'll come back again after Friday and let us know the final result!

Regarding this: "On the drywall slots specifically, he says ... b) I should have expected that when an old hood and cabinets are removed that there would be wall cutouts, and since that was 'obvious' the burden was on me to explicitly specify to repair/prep the wall to paint-ready condition."

He is the "professional." If those slots were to be "expected" and "obvious," then why didn't he let you know ahead of time and include repairing them in the contract? Why would those things be expected and obvious to someone who isn't in the construction business?

"For both the height of hood and sealant around the roof vent....Do you have a permit for this work? An inspector would require both to be to code."

My inspector just stood on the ground, saw the outside roof vent was in place, and signed off. He did not "inspect" the vent, or the venting.

Allow me to clarify my previous comment. Roofing cement has it's place on an appliance vent installation, and that place is the bottom of the flashing as its slid under the upper shingles. Loose shingles should be re-adhered in place.

This doesn't mean that all installations with roof cement exposed are bad, but visible roof cement is a warning to check to see that the cement hasn't been used as a substitute for mechanical flashing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Instructions

The guy was a hack. You could have provided him with measured drawings and 3D animation of what you wanted, and he still would've screwed up and blamed you. Except he would have complained that you were too picky and controlling. Bad contractors always have lots of excuses.

Marcolo: probably true. But at least having more clarity gives you a better position if something isn't done per agreement.

I'm still surprised at how poorly this went. The guy has 30+ reviews on Angies' List, mostly for full bath or kitchen remodels, not handyman work. Zero complaints about the quality of work, and several people specifically complementing him for being very good at communicating, responding to requests, offering advice or noting potential issues that could come up with the homeowners' ideas, and dealing with unexpected issues once work began. I.e., exactly what did *not* happen in my case.

"I'm still surprised at how poorly this went. The guy has 30+ reviews on Angies' List, mostly for full bath or kitchen remodels, not handyman work. Zero complaints about the quality of work, and several people specifically complementing him for being very good at communicating, responding to requests, offering advice or noting potential issues that could come up with the homeowners' ideas, and dealing with unexpected issues once work began. I.e., exactly what did *not* happen in my case."

Hopefully, you will get involved and post your experience to Angie's list as well. No longer will he be able to claim zero complaint status. Personally, though, I don't give much credence to online review sites because many people don't know good work from bad an you have no idea who is doing the reviewing. I just don't think they give consumers a true picture.

Bingo, Marcolo.

Angies is better than nothing but laypeople providing reviews of work is inherently problematic because they are not technically qualified. I don't care about punctuality or how courteous they are, blah, blah, so to speak. The superficial stuff is just that.

Once I figured out (years ago) that a tradesman had all of his relatives sign up to Angie's List and give him good reviews, I stopped believing so much in the site.

Agreed that I do not take Angies or other sites as gospel. I figure if someone does work that is so obviously poor quality or incorrect that average homeowners notice, that is a *very* bad sign. But point taken that just because there are no workmanship complaints, that doesn't mean a contractor is doing things right -- just that the wall didn't fall down right away

And I know that superficial personality might not tell you much either. I'm fine with gruff and standoffish -- this is New ENgland after all -- if a guy is good at his trade.

Where I do I think reviews can be useful are things that are meaningful, yet noticable even to laypeople. Like, "didn't install it where we told him to". Or, "ran into a problem and didn't consult with us before choosing which way to solve it". Or, "would not cooperate in resolving dispute after work was done".

One note on punctuality, I may not care to the minute, but I do care if a contractor fails to show up on a day they scheduled. In choosing this particular contractor, for example, two others who were supposed to come over to give estimates both no-showed for their visits, with no warning -- and then they both no-showed *again* for their rescheduled estimates. That's happened on scheduled jobs too -- the number of hours I've sat here wondering if someone is going to show up or not is pretty annoying.

"Angies is better than nothing but laypeople providing reviews of work is inherently problematic because they are not technically qualified."

This is the logical fallacy of relevance, ad hominem circumstantial, to be specific. For instance, a layperson does not need journeyman status to see if an installation meets the manufacturer's requirements. This switches the argument from between the homeowner and the contractor to between the manufacturer and the contractor, an excellent tactic for a dissatisfied homeowner.

One must answer the premises, not bring up the status of the arguer.

If you've taken a day off work to meet me at your home, my punctuality is a very very big deal, trust me.

I don't think you have to be a chicken to identify a good egg. Most people can see whether a job is good or not, with or without the assistance of Angie's List. They might not be able to name exactly what the problem is, but they will have a suspicion that something isn't quite right (like, for example, the roof vent in the photo above). The homeowner suspects something isn't quite right which is why we are seeing the photo. Right, quahog?

Trebruchet, I have been in the position of taking time off work for a no show, a number of times, so that isn't really what I meant, more at nit-picking punctuality. I am more concerned with what they do when they get there, not that they showed up right on time.

I have no idea what the rest of your post means. But most laypeople can not judge the technicalities of an installation and frequently aren't even around to see what or all of what the workers are doing. A good bit of work gets covered up, so while it might superficially look alright, what's underneath can still be problematic and not to industry or manufacturer standards. Manufacturers are quite aware of this when there are failures.

Punctuality is a huge deal for me and I'm retired and don't have to take time off work. I'm not talking about 5-10 minutes. I understand when people are running late or unexpected issues arise. But I do expect to be notified of delays and have the opportunity to reschedule. I'm sorry to those I offend who are a bit more lax about punctuality, but I think tardiness is incredibly inconsiderate and rude. To me it suggests potential problems elsewhere, even if that's an unfair assumption.

My bathroom GC was a man of few words. He's a busy guy and runs a tight schedule. First bid received and the highest. I received most excellent work from him and his subs. Due to a minor floor tile snafu (that was ultimately corrected to my satisfaction), we ran into his vacation time, creating a one-week delay. It was no biggie, but he took a few hundred $$ off my final payment as a gesture of good will.

Well, after some of the stuff that's gone on in my house, I'm not sure I care when they show up as long as they deliver a sound job, lol. But not the excuses, truck broke, relative died, blah blah, we've heard a hundred times before. You can only hear that stuff so many times from before it loses credibility. There's a difference between lateness or rescheduling because they are hard working and the lazy, unreliable kind. And I don't want workers scrambling to finish something, my house or anyone else's, to meet some deadline. Nothing but trouble. Could be the field I come from. It never works and only creates problems, stress and costly re-work.

I'd like to see more technical reviews and ratings, but am not sure that's possible. You've got unknowing consumers on one end and the old boy's network, politics, who's friends with who on the other. Politics at play is another disqualifying piece of information, imo, to beware of.

There ought to be educational requirements and certifications with ongoing educational requirements. The current system does not work is my point.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Tue, Dec 23, 14 at 13:26

"There ought to be educational requirements and certifications with ongoing educational requirements."

There are. I had to complete continuing education requirements to renew my Michigan builder's license and Florida requires the same.

My Florida Building Contractor license took about 100 hours and cost about $4,000.00.

I realize there are things in place, but it doesn't seem like much. Obviously inadequate.

Some of these credentials for the trades seem to be not much more than membersip fees, like the tile associations. It would not seem contractor licensing amounts to any more than registering and paying a fee. Anyone can put on their contractor hat and set to work. This is what I am referring to.

So... the update!

Bottom line: I like the installation much better now, and the contractor even less.

Contractor shows up this am. Concludes that sliding the excess cover into the soffit won't work -- it'll leave a bulge in the soffit. Option 1 is remove the soffit entirely and move everything up. Contractor and his assistant point out a number of potential issues with that, and I have the clear sense from earlier conversations that he doesn't consider finishing that area to be part of the original estimate. Option 2 is leave the soffit, move the hood up 6", and buy a new 6" duct cover (leaving it uncovered until that gets shipped). Option 2 sounds simpler, not the least because Option 1 of removing the soffit would have meant this hack tearing up even more parts of my house, and more to fight about in terms of who pays for what, so I say fine just move it up and install a new cover later.

So, later this morning, hood is 6" higher, duct is shortned appropriately, and both the drywall slots and the plaster damage have all been patched up, looks ok to the extent I know about wall patching. Much better than what we were left with at first. The missing cover doesn't look good, but also makes it easier to paint some exposed edges on the soffit while waiting for the part is shipped. Total extra cost of the patching was $30, by the way. For that little money, I'm still flabbergasted that he didn't just ask me about it during the install, or just do it and present me with a tiny cost increase, or say earlier, "Are you _sure_ you want us to leave holes in your drywall? Because the current estimate doesn't include patching them". Assuming of course, that patching them wasn't just part of what any professional would do....

While not happy, I was less unhappy at what was in our kitchen.

Until the guy opened his mouth. Demanded payment on the spot for the work done to that point. And said the cost of a new cover would be on me, since he still claims I directed him to buy a 12" cover. Indeed, he then goes on about what a favor he is doing me by repositioning, since the mistake was 100% mine, not his. When I reference my email, he acknowledged that after all of our back and forth about this, he _has not bothered to go back and and read it_!

He then went on to say that he didn't understand why I went with "option 2", leaving the soffit and replacing the duct cover, when "option 1", would have meant keeping the existing duct cover, and would not have have cost me any more labor -- he would have done all that entailed for free, he said. I asked him about the issues he had brought up with removing it a few hours earlier, and was told, "Sure, that would have meant more work for us, but it would have ended up just fine and would have saved you the extra cost you're complaining about now". Pretty amazing skill to take a customer who is about to give you some slack on a mistake, and in 3 minutes make them feel disrespected and lied to!

I let my emotions get the better of me, and basically in a huff of "cut my losses - get the hell out of my house", wrote out a check, slammed it down in front of him, and escorted them straight out.

The contractor was getting caught up in his own deceit and didn't know which of his BS stories to go with. He couldn't stand the thought of being wrong and so he had to make you wrong.

You did the right thing. It's a wonder you had the patience to last this long.

He deserves a nice little love letter on Angie's list. :-7

It just gets better and better!

I was too mad on Friday to notice that the guy sealed the duct to the fan box with... duct tape! Plain old cloth-backed grey tape like a clueless DIY job. Hell, even I know that much -- and in fact I have a roll of UL181 foil tape in my basement that I would happily have handed to them.

Not to mention that I don't think any provision is planned to air seal the duct - soffit gap, which I confess I did not think about, but of course I'm not the pro.

With cold air now pouring in, I am thinking about it -- and figure that even when the sheet metal chimney arrives and is in place, that won't exactly have a great 'R'-value. Stuff some fiberglass batt up there? Another approach?

quahog:

Like a skirt in a windstorm, I'm seeing something I shouldn't be seeing in your picture. Those 3 little yellow things are called "Scotch Locks" and should be inside an electrical box, not visible to the naked eye.

Are you in horrific danger of dying from an electrical fire? Probably not, but this is the kind of thing that screams "cluelessness". The entire job should be inspected by someone who knows what they're doing.

This post was edited by Trebruchet on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 7:20

sealed the duct to the fan box

In fairness, that's what the manufacturer's instructions, linked upstream, show.

The wiring connections should be in a box; usually within the fan somewhere, though I'm not familiar with the brand.

I'm used to new construction. This a typical hack job. The teardown I'm in now is replete with the work of such "renovators", much of it shoddy.

Take a gander at this stove duct installation.

Quahog,
I am sorry you are in this position. Take Trebruchet's advice, get it inspected and find out the right way to handle the issues. I have been dealing with a botched hood install that has taken too long to resolve. I think our contractors went to the same school and excel at denying responsibility. Good luck.

Holy Cow, Worthy!! Whoever install that ductwork must have been all of six years old!

"I was too mad on Friday to notice that the guy sealed the duct to the fan box with... duct tape! Plain old cloth-backed grey tape ..."

What about the joints in the rest of the venting leading out to the roof? Are they sealed with the same?

jelly: To the extent I can see (which is not much), yes, also plain old cloth tape.

That won't last long in the attic space. No wonder he wanted his check right then and there.

jelly: indeed, in fact I can already see an end peeling up on the next joint up (still within arms reach) -- looks like he didn't even bother to smooth and press down the end of the tape.

We have pretty much resigned ourselves to needing to hire someone else to redo half of this job. It is pretty clear that asking the original contractor to fix things is pointless -- we can't trust him to tie his own shoes without us double checking every tiny step.

If we are ruling out letting him repair the work even if he were willing to, that leaves not paying in full as a recourse. While I'm of half a mind to stop payment on my check after finding the duct tape and reopening that whole fight, my wife the lawyer is often in the business of advising angry people when to cut their losses and accept an imperfect outcome as better than continuing to fight. With a few hundred dollars at stake, we're fortunately in the position that swallowing that is an annoyance rather than a disaster, so she figures we just leave awful reviews everywhere we can, and just move on rather than take on the aggrevation of fighting for a reduced bill. It's already clear that neither logic nor appealing to "don't let your Angie's List customer walk away angry" are going to get a penny out of the guy, so it could easily be a lot of aggravation to escalate.

I agree wholeheartedly with your wife...cut your losses and make sure this clown never darkens your door again! For a couple of hundred bucks it's just not worth it, especially since this guy seems to be hellbent on doing the worst job possible because you had the temerity to challenge his work.

jerzee:

Agreed! We are having the contractor do one and only one more thing: order the new duct cover, to his specifications. If he brings the new one to our house and it doesn't fit, it's on him, we sure as heck won't pay -- let him try to put a lien against our house.

As for the guy's attitude, I'll note that he resisted this -- he really wanted *me* to place the order for the new cover.

I would fill that gap with Roxul rock wool bat insulation, not fiberglass. Roxul is acceptable as fire-stopping in my locale, but fiberglass isn't. IMO you want firestop there. A carefully-cut piece of sheetmetal would work code-wise, but could also be a source of vibration noise.
Casey

Just thought I'd add the final installment of this excellent adventure, sigh.

Where we left it, contractor was going to get a 6" duct cover to fill the space between soffit and hood, and we'd call it a day.

So I heard from the contractor on Monday. Turns out that for this specific hood, Imperial recommends a minimum 12" space above hood and will not make a 6" cover. (head hitting desk). This specific issue isn't exactly the contractor's fault, but a general cluster: Imperial's mfg installation instructions _do not_ include that 12" requirement, they just won't sell a cover smaller than 12; the retailer web site says "6 to 60 inch covers available" for all Imperial hoods, it's only after you try to order that they call and tell you not possible for this hood; the retailer and Imperial were both closed the day after Christmas so I just relied on the website when I made the call to go with a 6" spacing rather than have this idiot remove the soffit, etc.

I could have lived with that, but again, the guy opened his mouth (via email): "You were wrong. They do not sell 6" covers. Why didn't you check that? I told you it would have been better to remove the soffit and use the existing 12" duct cover, but you made a bad decision." In fact on Friday, he had shrugged and told me "this is your choice, I'll do what you tell me to do" when I asked point blank which option would be better.

His Monday tone seemed beyond simply defensive, into mocking -- like he thought it served me right for questioning his work. Before she even knew my reaction, my 'cut your losses' wife was enraged enough to download the state contracting board complaint forms.

So, I sent an email telling him no further work was required and to please drop off the existing cover at his convenience and -- yet again -- send us the receipt for warranty purposes. I ended up having to go get the cover at his locale, he wouldn't drop off, and he ignored my repeated questions about a receipt, until told him I was going to stop payment on our check (that did the trick). Joy.

At this point, we do intend to document all the non-code work and file a complaint with the contracting board.

So our plan is this: in the medium term, find a new contractor, remove the stupid soffit, fix the electrical and duct tape and whatever. Either order a new 16" cover or move the hood again, a few inches up. With work and travel demands, that probably gets postponed to late February. For now, we're having a basic 6" sheet metal piece fabricated that will fit in the current gap.

Are you also going to stop the check, so you can cover some of the added costs? That's what we did when the first sprinkler contractor a) didn't get the permit he was supposed to get (per contract), b) did the job badly (not to code, and c) "yes ma'am'ed us repeatedly after the fact, promising to fix it every three days, until we finally blew them off, hired our open reputable guy, got it fixed, got the permit, and withheld what it cost to fix from our GC retainer. In this case, our GC had admitted it was his fault, so he didn't dispute it at all. in fact, he'll be very happy when he gets the balance of the retainer - I'm sure he expects zero at this point. He was otherwise very solid, so I have no intention of withholding a dime more than we spent on the corrective work.

I would send him a trackable letter detailing every flaw and error in his work. Attach copies of your previous communicatons and cite the specifics in those, in the new letter. nclude documentation (for example, why duct tape is not adequate, from some authoritative source). Detail your costs for fixing the not to code, shoddy work. Let him know that you are sending this to the licensing board and to Angie's List. Also use yelp, google+, whatever other consumer review site you have in your area. I am angry for you at his belittling, bullying behavior and he shouldn't be allowed to get away with it!

I would have stopped payment on the check immediately and told him why. That horse is gone, but you can protect someone else from this jerk. Do you owe him anything else? I would withhold my added expenses for corrective work from any further payment, and maybe even file in small claims for recovery! I would bet he would/will try to come after you for $$, which is why I suggest document, document, document and make it clear that "no further work is required" because of his incompetence, not because you are satisfied!

sj and raee:

Thanks. We did indeed send a detailed letter initially, have documented with photographs, etc. and it became clear that we were going to make zero progress appealing to reason, customer satisifcation, or threats of bad reviews. And that even if we did, he'd be insisting on just fixing it himself, which would require us double checking every single step -- and thus him passive-aggressively making me specify every single step and blaming me if not done right.

So we made a calculated decision to simply pay him off and move on. We are very busy professionals and do not have the time to babysit the work, and the amount of money it stake isn't enough that we wanted to have to deal with liens, small claims court, the emotional annoyance, etc.

So, we will leave appropriately bad reviews wherever we can, get the work remediated, document all of that, and file a complaint with the licensing board over the negligent work. If that leads to getting some money out of the guy towards repairs, great, if not, like I said, we decided that a write-off made more sense for us at this point.

That makes perfect sense, quahog. I just grind my teeth at the thought that he is going to be left content with his actions. But one can only do so much. Realistically, no matter what action you take, he most likely will be convinced that he is the victim not the victimizer.

He will not be left content with his actions if he gets a bad review on Angie's List. A bad review will cause him to lose potential clients. I belong to AL and my rule is that I never hire anyone who has a C or lower for work they did.

Agreed that it takes very few credible AL bad reviews for me to avoid someone. Sometimes a bad review isn't credible, and if it's a contractor with hundreds of reviews I'll spot them a handful of bad ones (it's rare that you have a the option of choosing someone with literally zero bad reviews unless they only have a tiny number in total).

One thing I will emphasize in my AL post is the stuff done contrary to code. I'll certainly describe the failure to follow my instructions, but there's a I said / he said element if he replies. Exposed electrical and duct tape on a stove ductwork? Even if I asked him to do that a licensed contractor is supposed to say "no", unambiguous.

My sympathies for this whole, horrid process you've gone through.

One takeaway, that no one has yet mentioned, is not to pay until the job is 100% done. I don't mean to Monday-morning-quarterback you, as I'm sure you wish you hadn't paid. But many contractors resort to bullying, whining ("I've got to pay my guys"), empty promising, and other tactics (taught in the Trebuchet School of Contractors? ;-p) to get money out of customers before the work is properly done.

As humans, we all too often succumb to the bullying, feel bad for his cash flow problems, believe his empty promises, etc. and pony up before the job is complete. And too many times, that results in never getting the job finished to our satisfaction.

I completely understand the "better rich than right" of picking which battles to fight. Fighting can often cost way more than the amount in dispute. But paying him still eliminated what leverage you had left.

weedy: No, actually, we don't regret paying. We regret _hiring_, but are comfortable with our decision to cut our losses. Like I said, we made a very calculated decision that:

a) we would rather leave the job unfinished and pay someone else to re-do it than to allow this contractor to try to repair what he'd done wrong. That is, we had no interest in using the leverage of non-payment to get him to fix anything; we did not want him to touch anything else, period

b) since we were not going to let him try to make good, that left the issue of whether could we reduce our final bill. Our discussions to that point we were getting nowhere, and between the amount at stake relative to the value of our time and energy, and gaming out how things would play out, we were OK liquidating rather than fighting. Had it been 3 or 4 times as much at stake, we'd have fought. Maybe we're too inclined to cut losses since so much of my wife's day consists of explaining to clients, "You should just take this deal and move on".

quahog: remember you can always upload photos with your review! You definitely can prove that what you say is true!