On 2012-Oct-09 around 4PM I refused to sign a "mandatory" completion (maybe acceptance?) form for some work done by a Rusco contractor (Mike) that I believed was both incomplete and unsatisfactory. I told him that I would sign it when he finished the work and I considered it to be done properly. He told me that he was finished and there was nothing else that he was supposed to do. I attempted to explain to him the reason for my opinion, but his response was that he takes orders from Rusco, not me and he had already done everything that Rusco told him to do.
Mike told me that I must sign the form, I had no choice and that if I didn't sign it he would not get paid ... so he would not leave my home until I signed it.
My refusal caused a significant confrontation with Mike, when he began to demonstrate a beligerent attitude I asked him to leave my property.
Mike went to get Dave Kerr, Rusco Sales & Service Manager to "make me to sign" the form.
A short time later Dave Kerr called me and told me that he would be coming over to my home to 'Referee' my dispute with Mike. Dave listened to my reason for refusing to sign the form over the phone and then told me he would speak with Mike and that he would like to come to my home with Mike ... and promised me that Mike will be much more reasonable when he comes back.
I agreed to Dave's request to visit with Mike.
Dave and Mike arrived a little over an hour later. Mike had purchased a small aerosol can of expanding foam from Home Depot, he then emptied that can into the gap between the frame of door 3 and the wall and told me "Now I'm finished, sign the form." I told him that all the door frames needed to be removed and installed properly, including adequate caulking under the sills. He told me (paraphrased) "I'm done with this job, I'm not f***ing doing anything more ... just sign the *#%* form" I refused again, and once again asked him to leave the property. He and Dave had a few words that I did not hear and he left.
After Mike left Dave stated the following status to me and asked me if he had it right:
I did not want Mike back
Mike did not want to come back
The door installation was unsatisfactory to me
The door installation could be considered complete though, both Mike and Dave believe it is
Rusco was willing to pay Mike and send someone else to complete the installation to my satisfaction, ONLY if I signed the completion form first
I disagreed with Dave's status statement, and again refused to sign the form. Dave's response was (paraphrased) well, OK ... if you want to be a prick by not signing the form, you can. But you should know that all you will accomplish is denying Mike his pay for this days work and cause both you and me a lot of trouble. Trouble because if Mike doesn't get paid, nobody else will be willing to come here to do any work, and I (Dave) will lose another installer when I already don't have enough to do the work already on the books. Losing anymore people only makes it harder for me to find anyone to do the work and it is already nearly impossible.
My response to Dave's reasoning to get me to sign the form was initially disbelief. I asked him when and by who Rusco intended to satisfactorily complete the door instllation without Mike.
Dave told me that Rusco considered the installation complete, unless I signed the form Rusco would send someone over to remove all of the doors and I would lose my deposit. But, if I signed the form he would schedule a father / son installer team that he felt certain would do a much better job than Mike had done ... ASAP. It is important to note that this was the time I discovered that Mike and his helper had discarded the installation hardware from my temporary doors as well as destroying a substantial portion of the parts needed to re-install them.
I asked when, he said I'll schedule your install next for them ... it may take a week or two for them to get here.
I signed. Then Dave and I went to look at the doors to make a list of the things that Mike did not complete. Dave took that list with him.
A few weeks later after nobody came, I called Dave several times before being able to speak with him. Dave told me that the father in the father / son team had fallen ill and was not able to do the work at my home. Dave told me he was looking for someone else and would schedule these as soon as possible. The next time I called, Dave explained to me that because it was now Winter it was too late to do anything this year.
I started calling Dave Kerr in the following spring to find out when somebody was going to come to finish the installation, and found out that he still did not have anybody committed. I told him that damage was being done to both the doors and the house because of the impressive leaks from the un-caulked doors ... and that some of the doors were actually starting to fall out of their frames because they were never screwed in properly ... and that I couldn't wait and would start fixing the problems myself.
Dave told me NOT to do anything to the doors myself otherwise I would be jeopardizing the warranty ... and he would get someone to come soon to look after all of the outstanding issues with both the doors and windows.
Several months later John Marchand (Rusco Plant Manager) came to my home, he brought with him a list which I believe was the list that Dave had taken with him the previous October ... I did not see this list. I asked John to start with the Windows ... John told me that he was here for the doors, and he was not responsible for the windows.
I told John that none of the doors were properly caulked and all would need to be removed and installed properly with adequate moisture proofing ... John told me 'that isn't required' I told him that all of the exterior doors leaked, none were ever aligned, many were starting to fall out of the frames because of loose and missing screws.
He said he would get them all working properly ... and he did straighten and tighten all of the door sets, he was successful in making them work properly, with the exception of Door set 3. I told him that I still wanted the leaks fixed and asked how he intended to fix the leaks under the sills without caulking them ... he once again told me that caulking is not required for the sills, and assured me again with a condescending manner that once the bricks were installed I would not see any more leaks.
John and I had a disagreement about leaks from two doors in particular:
Door 1 - single side door
I observed water coming under the sill and emptying on the floor
John assured me several times that this leak would be fixed by adding bricks to the walls
I am sure that the snow melt on the ground, rain drops bouncing up under the sill, and water flowing over the ICF edge do infiltrate inside the house under the sill of the door frame provided by Rusco, John made it clear to me that he does not accept my observation as valid and told me that he believes that I am unable to discern where the leaks originate. He appears to be certain that adding a brick veneer to the exterior wall will stop all leaks
Door 3 - ground floor double doors at south entrance with electronic lock
I observed water coming out of the lock bolt and down the door edge
John told me that I could not be sure where the water was coming from, and that once bricks were installed this leak would stop too
John did not even look at this leak when I asked him to, the response I got was another condescending assurance that the leak would stop when bricks were installed
I concluded that it was futile for me to continue asking him to fix or even look at any more leaks, even though ALL doors were leaking both from within and without their frames because he had made it clear to me that he did not accept my observations as valid.
The result of this interaction between John and me has given me the impression that John is willing to hide Rusco mistakes and simply hide continuing water infiltration into my house caused by inferior Rusco products and workmanship. I was expecting him to be back because of the follow up conversation that I had with Dave Kerr. I believe that if he did come back with the objective of doing any remediation I would need to have more control over the work that he would actually do in order to get the real problems actually fixed, I do think he does know how.
I called Dave Kerr just after John left, and this time did not get Dave's full voicemail box, but actually got Dave. Dave listened to me tell him that John not only did not do what was needed, he seemed to be genuinely surprised that I expectet him to fix the windows and remove then re-install the doors ... as Dave had told me that John would do. Dave gave a big sigh and told me that he would talk with John ... and that John will do the work that I had previously agreed upon with Dave.
I continued waiting for Rusco to complete the installation of both the main floor windows and now the 6 door sets, as well as make the repairs needed to the defective door sets.
Then another winter passed before I was able to talk with Dave Kerr again. So this spring I started trying to call Rusco again to finally get them to fix the windows and doors ... after getting only Dave's voicemail (often full) for several months ... I called John instead, I had finally exhausted my patience and felt the unresolved Rusco issues were now urgent and affecting other work schedules, in particular the installation of bricks.
Instead of a reply from John as I expected I got an email from Michelle Stothart who expressed surprise that I was asking for anything ... after all I signed the completion form. I considered for the first time publishing a report of my experience with Rusco and let Michelle know of my considerations ... which appears to have provoked some hostile responses from Rusco.
This rude surprise from Michelle was followed by several unpleasant emails from Michelle that have done a marvellous job of making me feel like Rusco really did intend to defraud me and does not intend to honour the promises made by Dave Kerr, then an unwanted (Speaker) phone call from Bob Young and John Marchand which featured several imperial judgemental statements and orders from Bob Young, even more misinformation from John Marchand and some shouting from all three of us made my opinion of Rusco even worse.
Now, I don't want John to come back either because I do not believe that he will actually fix the problems with either the windows or doors. I want a refund and will plan to get the necessary work done without relying upon any more promises from Rusco. I no longer feel that anyone at Rusco is trustworthy.
Now Michelle has offered to send a Referee to help with my disagreement with John Marchand ... because Rusco has told me that they will send him back even after I told them not to.
