Friday, December 25, 2009

Happy OCD Border Collie X-mas and Garage Door Rip-Off Artists





Strummy got a new toy for X-mas.

He loves it so much, he cannot stop playing with it.  Literally.
 
If one is fun, two must be super funtabulous.

 
This has been going on for nearly 4 hours with no sign to an end.  I know, I should take them away but it's keeping him occupied if maybe in a not so healthy obsessive-compulsive way.

I didn't buy these, the former dog walker did which was very nice but since they squeak I'm supposing that dog people all over Boulder County are cursing her name this fine morning.  I'm not, I don't mind the squeaking and a present is always nice, especially when it comes in fashionable animal prints.

I didn't buy any X-mas gifts this year, I figured I'd just give all my money to these guys.  They're also known as: 
www.justgaragedoors.com
www.americaschoicedoors.com
www.firstchoicegaragedoors.com
www.garagedoorprofessionals.com
www.garagedoormasters.com
www.garagedoorsatlanta.com
www.garagedoorsdallas.com
www.garagedoorsdenver.com
www.garagedoorsjacksonville.com
www.garagedoorslasvegas.com
www.garagedoorsorangecounty.com
www.garagedoorsorlando.com
www.garagedoorsphoenix.com
www.garagedoorssanantonio.com
www.garagedoorssandiego.com
www.garagedoorsseattle.com
www.garagedoorstampa.com
www.affordablegaragedoorsvc.net
and they operate in the following markets:
Atlanta, Ga.
Chicago/North Shore, Ill.
Denver/Boulder, Colo.
Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Houston, Texas
Jacksonville, Fla.
Las Vegas, Nev.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Orange County, Calif.
Orlando, Fla.
Phoenix, Ariz.
Sacramento, Calif.
San Antonio, Texas
San Diego, Calif.
Seattle, Wash.
St. Paul, Minn.
Tampa, Fla.

Here is an article about what a nice businessman the owner is.  Do you like the part about how he was fined $20,000 for deceptive business practices?  I sure wish I'd read that part before calling these guys because wow were they sleazy and boy did they rip me off and I'd do something about it but apparently the fine and the exposes on t.v. and the nuclear holocaust of a recession in the construction industry hasn't killed these cockroaches off yet so I don't see what good it would do other than raise my blood pressure.

An extension spring on my garage door sprung and the only happy part to this tale is that there was no one around to get decapitated when it happened.  Apparently they're supposed to be installed with a safety cable running through them but mine were not.  Anyway, I called these sleazebags and they gave me a quote over the phone of possible costs for springs ranging from $30 to $89 and since I have just a single car garage door I figured we'd be on the $30 end of things.  A quick search of the internet revealed that the most expensive springs cost just under $40.  Labor would be $75 and I had a $35 off coupon so I was expecting to pay just over $100.  Of course Mr. Shyster says I somehow need the $89 (per spring) springs and it's an extra $50 for the safety cables and he angrily refuses to honor the $35 off coupon because the safety cables normally cost $89 and he's giving me such a great deal on them.  Trouble is these cables actually cost $9.50 and I don't see how it is he can randomly decide he doesn't want to honor a coupon and I am furious when the bill comes to $321, more than twice what I am expecting to pay.  But I was tired and my head was dizzy from my lingering head cold and I could see I was dealing with an aggressive sleazebag with anger control issues who was well seasoned in arguing and not going to give in and what could I do at that point other than be happy to see his trail of slime leaving my driveway?  I should have eaten the $29 service call and sent him packing when he initially quoted all those ridiculous charges and it was obvious he was a con man.  I had no idea the garage door industry was such a racket and I'm usually savvy about not getting ripped off which made me all the more angry. 

Anyway, my loss is your gain, if you need garage door work done stay away from these creeps.  Trouble is if you do an internet search for garage door repairs these guys come up at the top of the list and they also have huge ads in the yellow pages and promises of coupons/discounts but don't be fooled by all that and watch for all the different company names they have.  Do some research on whatever company you do pick because it looks like they have zillions of names for their operation and the one in your area might not be on the list.  I don't know, maybe they're all shysters but no point giving your money to someone you know for sure will rip you off.

On a happier note we're having a bunch of people over for dinner tonight and I made a nice mascarpone chocolate pie that I did not screw up so far.  Jonny is making something complicated and there are a lot of bad words coming from the kitchen and the smell of garlic is enough to kill a whole cave full of vampires but it'll probably taste wonderful in the end as it always does.  Hope you are all enjoying your day, I'm off to walk the pups in the frozen icy tundra.

4 comments:

  1. Too bad about the sleazeball. In California I believe the safety cables are required by code. In the old days--back when I was in High School--the spring on my boyfriend's garage door sprang and it went straight up through their roof. You could see daylight through it. Glad it was a one-story house, not with a bedroom upstairs like my current house has.

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  2. P.S. Great toys. Someday I'll post a video of Jake doing the squeaky toy thing. Wish I'd thought to take a vid when he was younger and the gods would descend from heaven to see what one of them had wrought.

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  3. Complete bummer about the garage door sleazeballs. Every time I hear something like this I hope I remember to do the research when I need to fix something ... but I think that in the frenzy of the moment I'll probably forget ...

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  4. Yeah, that was my problem, there was a storm coming and I was in a hurry to get the door fixed because even opening it by hand was dangerous and nearly impossible it was so heavy and I didn't want to be shuttling dogs in and out of the car on the icy driveway so I didn't spend enough time researching. It seemed such a simple thing too, I had no idea there was a possibility to be ripped off so badly and so easily.

    Probably those safety cables are a code requirement here too but I doubt these shysters are worried about codes.

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