I try very hard not to get ripped off by unscrupulous people. Yesterday I failed miserably. It's a little harder to look things up on your phone than the computer, but I do it all the time. I know to watch out for "Ads" and only click on REAL links to REAL businesses. I looked up Vail Locksmiths, called and made an appointment to rekey the locks.
The first order of business was HOW MUCH was this going to cost. $20 per lock and $20 service call. Okay, I can deal with that. 15 minutes AFTER the appointed time, they called to say they would be 90 minutes late. I won't be here ... I rescheduled.
This time ten minutes after the appointed time, the tech called to say he would be 15 minutes late. 35 minutes later, he finally showed up in an unmarked truck. My radar antenna went up. He looked at the locks and started counting up each dead bolt AND door lock. No I said, I only want the deadbolts keyed. "Oh, but you'll get locked out for sure" he stated. The total would have been EIGHT giving him a nice chunk of change. No ... just the deadbolts.
It took him about 30 minutes, whereupon he wrote up the bill and tacked on an additional $99 for labor. Wait ... no one said anything about labor. They said $20 per lock!! Well they should have told you ... you can pay me now. This guy looks like a pretty unsavory character, he's bigger than me and I'm pretty intimidated by this time. Since he couldn't get one lock done (a bad dead bolt, he tried to sell me one for another $25), he dropped $40 off the bill, so I paid him just to get him out of my house.
As I went out the back door to watch him drive off, I immediately noticed he put the lock on backwards. The locking mechanism was on the OUTSIDE of the door. Good grief. I ran to the truck and told him ... he came back and turned it around and left in a huff. When I double checked it, he didn't tighten it down at all. I grabbed a screwdriver and went around to every lock to make sure they were all installed correctly.
The last dead bolt was in the garage. I went to Lowes and found one for $12 which I installed MYSELF. He would have charged me $65 ... $25 for the lock and $20 for each side, since he said it was a double dead bolt.
WHAT A RIPOFF!!! I was so irritated that I let this happen that I closed my finger in the car door and badly broke my nail. Nothing like adding insult to injury!! This picture is MY handiwork.
The second disaster happened shortly thereafter. By then, it was afternoon, so I grabbed a glass of water and sat down at the computer. I reached behind the screen and hit the glass, dumping it on the table and floor. Instantly I picked up the computer, but apparently it was too late. The screen went black. WHAT???
Once I cleaned up the mess, I called Apple (luckily I got one of their most experienced Techs) and we ran check after check. Finally, he told me how to hook it up to the television and VOILA ... I have a computer screen as big as a TV. Here's my morning's work station. It's a little disconcerting to have the pictures you are looking at as big as my head and the letters half an inch high, but it does make it easier to read.
The worst of all ... I have to travel 45 minutes across town to the Apple store for diagnostics and repairs, meaning I will probably be without my computer for several days. Want to hear the BAD news? It's going to cost between $500 and $1000 to fix. What a stupid mistake on top of a big fat ripoff. I should have stayed in bed.
I'm a whipped pup this morning ... I feel bad because it's really nothing compared to what Nick and Terry Russell are going through. They have had some very bad luck on their trip to Arizona after having parked their rig for several months. Things just have a way of deteriorating. All their troubles may have happened anyway, but it's sure disheartening. I'm sending them lots of love and prayers.
I'm hoping today will go a little better as the electrical contractor comes over for the 50 amp service installation estimate. Thank goodness this time Mr. Chance will be here to run interference. The first time I spoke to the guy he sounded enthusiastic and willing to do the work. The second time, not so much.
My computer appointment is at 5:45 this evening. Here's hoping I get good news!! If not, I can still post with my phone, but I can't upload images ... so no more deer pics for awhile!!
You can get a MacBook at a pawnshop for 300 or less I spotted two at the pawnshop yesterday for 250 and 300 The 300 had one terabyte
ReplyDeleteIf you take any House lock to any lowes store they'll rekey it for you right there in front of you
Even so you can't speak Spanish you may want to get that painter and his wife back I'm sure they could set you up you for repair tape people that know what they're doing
My computer is unique,built especially for photography.
DeleteHaving all the Deadbolts and Door Handles keyed the same is a wise idea. We did that to our House and never regretted it.
ReplyDeleteIf you remove the battery from your Laptop and stand it on edge sometimes liquids will drain out and solve your problem. Good Luck with that problem.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Thank you for the tip. I always thought rekeying was a good idea in spite of the cost.
DeleteSorry about your computer problems, and I know about ripoffs.... The other day as we were driving through Southern Utah a lady calls from the company that put our floor in, asking Marcia about our outstanding balance. "We have no outstanding balance" she says. Well, the lady sends us all their info via email, but we are at a place that we can't even get a connection which allowed us to open her PDF. The next day we get further north and I get online and find all three payments we made, one of which was for $1 less than she had on her invoice. I did a Snippet of that three payments and email it to her. That was a Thursday. I also called...and called on Friday 3 times and can only leave a message, with the last call I tell her she was not going to hear from me again, it is over. Twelve days later she sends us an email saying it was all cleared up...my goodness, when these places take payments where does to money go until they get around to crediting your account???? That was all paid for back in late February!!! We wondered if they were trying to get us to pay more knowing we were paid up. Don't know if we will ever use them again.
ReplyDeleteGood heavens, I hate it when they don't credit payments immediately.
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