Fear and Self-Loathing in Port Hueneme

Here's the letter:

Fred,

As we enter the last week (or so) of pre-move-in construction, we feel that we must communicate with you what we are feeling.

The house looks beautiful, there's no doubt about that. The colors, the materials, the workmanship, the lighting. All of these things are everything we could hope for.

Yet while our house is truly beautiful, it doesn't quite look like the house we've dreamed of, the house we spent six months designing on paper.

At the beginning of the construction process, when you presented your bid, it was in a lump sum. When we asked for a line-by-line breakout of the budget, you said that it wasn't necessary and that it would take time. Your statement to both of us when we signed the contract was that if it was in the plans, and as long as it was not one of the contract's explicitly stated owner opportunities (front doors, sinks, faucets, appliances, shower door, toilets, vanities, granite slabs, tile, exterior light fixtures, kitchen cabinet knobs, or closet shelves/hangers), then it was included in the contract and thus included in your budget. Lisa asked you at the time if the contracted amount included everything in the plan, asking specifically about the wood stair rail. You replied, "Is it in the plans?", implying that you stood by your statement that the contract bid was all-inclusive (excluding, of course, the contract's owner responsibilities).

And yet throughout this process, you have used your budget as the reason why items have been reduced in scope in the construction (for example, the kitchen island overhanging cabinetry), reduced in materials (the stair rail), or left out of the construction completely (windows, deck, breakfast nook booth). And when we have raised our concerns over these issues, you have repeatedly made light of our concerns or ignored them completely. Your bid was supposed to cover all of the design, and yet it has not (by your own admission). How this failure could be our fault, our responsibility, or our problem, is beyond our comprehension. We are confused as to why our home is less than designed when your bid was based on the designs and blueprints.

We took you at your word at the beginning of this process that you knew our designs well and that you would be able to realize them. Lisa asked you twice on that contract signing day to go over the plans, page by page. But you refused, saying you "knew the plans like the back of (your) hand." But this has not been the case, if the results are any indication. We have had to repeatedly remind you of items in the plan throughout this process. You have responded most often with casual responses of "Oh, was that in the plan?" and sometimes the items ended up resolved (like the front yard planter demolition and alarm box, but only after repeated discussions and reminders), and sometimes completely ignored (the deck between the master bedroom and the dining room as well as the kitchen island bar... if you review the plans, you will see that the bar was designed to be curved, not straight as it was built).

But with many of these issues, whether it was reducing of the job in materials or scope, or ignoring the plans to begin with, we have held our peace and bit our tongues, attempting to just get through this and get back into our home. And now as that day approaches, we find that we will be entering a house that, while beautiful, is NOT the home of our dreams and of our design.

This is very disappointing.

This was our first contractor experience (and we hope our last). Had we known, either from our own experience or from others who have since been shocked to learn about our payment schedule, we would have never agreed to a payment schedule that did not hold back the industry-standard TEN PERCENT of fees for the final payment. So we are now feeling not only disappointed and unsatisfied, but also as if you may have taken advantage of us and our lack of experience from the start.

You have said time and time again that you want our home to be a showcase for potential customers. I would hope, then, that you would want those customers to come away from any discussions with us with a good feeling about employing Coastline on their projects. So please tell us what you can do to bring this process to a conclusion that is satisfying, one that would allow us to give only a glowing review of you and Coastline, one that would not force us to attempt to achieve satisfaction through other avenues.

Thank you,

Bill and Lisa

Yep, that's the letter.

The letter we're NOT sending tonight.

Why, you, the gentle reader may ask?

The answer is simple: we're afraid. Afraid he'll pull whatever skeleton cleanup crew he has scheduled for this week. Afraid he'll drag his feet in installing the rails and skylight. Afraid he'll put off even getting the inspection (that I still personally feel will fail) until after the holidays.

In other words, I'm pussy-ing out. Until we get the go-ahead for the inspection. And I hate myself. Lisa says it's the smart thing to do. And I think cowards always pull that "discretion is the better part of valor" bullshit.

Jeez, I hate myself. And I hate this whole endeavor.

I'm just hoping I'll get the chance and the courage to send the letter later this week...

--------------------------

UPDATE:
watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition... and the joy on the family's faces as they enter their house... isn't this the way it supposed to be... Six months ago, I thought these moments would be filled with a euphoria and an ecstasy... instead, all I feel is fatigue.