Tuesday proved an especially difficult day. Although the siding project is nearing the point of creating a punch list of issues (capping installed that was mangled, not installing a j-block for a flood light, siding overlaps that have large gaps due to bending, no new kitchen wall cap, bathroom vent instead of dryer vent, etc.), it was especially tough because of the installers reconnecting the porch light incorrectly. In the end, I don’t know what they did wrong, but switching on the light resulted in the circuit breaker tripping – immediately and every time. Because the same circuit controls smoke detection, security, phone, etc, and our family had to leave town immediately for a funeral, we had to contact Adams Home Exteriors and Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores for an immediate fix.
Unfortunately, contacting the installers and Lowe’s for an emergency due to installer negligence is not something they seem to plan for. I absolutely did not want to touch anything myself and remove any liability from Lowe’s and Adams Home Exteriors. Here is the order of attempted communications:
- Could not call the 3rd installation team (the one currently working through the last leg of the project)because they never gave phone numbers or even names to me.
- I had to leave a voicemail with the COO and foreman, Shawn Adams.
- I called Lowe’s Home Improvement Central Project Office telling them the whole problem. They said they couldn’t do anything so I asked to speak with a supervisor. I was placed on hold for 20 minutes.
- I called and left voice mails and texts with the Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores salesperson/coordinator, Stacey Skelton (she has not returned anything as of a day later).
- Once the supervisor joined the call from #3 above, he repeated the point that they can’t do anything saying that they have no ability to dispatch or even find a licensed electrician that could help – the best they could possibly do would be to reimburse us. However, he thought he could try calling the store manager for our Lowe’s store and see what they could do. So he put me on hold again for 10-15 minutes.
- I tried texting the lead installer from the 2nd installation team so I could get the mobile number for Shawn’s father and COO for the company, Jack Adams who should be able to solve the problem but no joy.
- After more than an hour from first trying to reach out to anyone, Shawn Adams returned my call and said he could stop by the house to take a look.
- While on the phone with Shawn in #7 above, the supervisor came back to tell me the local store could not do anything.
Shawn stopped by the house but began looking at the lights for about 5 minutes before we noticed so we do not know what may have been done but after reconnecting the wiring, the lights worked appropriately. He then reassembled and tested the light fixtures again, and they worked.
Bottom-line, we appreciate Shawn coming out and fixing the problem at the time he did; however, we are disappointed that Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores does not have a procedure in place for this kind of problem (this is one of the things that should be one of the few advantages of working with a national chain), and more importantly, the installer should have tested everything (perhaps even with a multimeter) before leaving for the night.