Am I too nice and an idiot?

[Anonymous]

Whenever we have had issues with work done or proper procedures not being followed we have always tried to work it out first with the person responsible be it the foreman on site. I always try to be considerate of not getting people in trouble with their bosses but the last few times I have done this recently the people responsible have pushed back and when I stood my ground they took it to their supervisor and their supervisor backed them up.

By waiting to escalate this to the supervisor I gave them an opportunity to tell their version of a story and the supervisor made a decision without even hearing what we had to say and in one case the supervisor even refused to speak with us about it.

Is the lesson that I am an idiot and I should have immediately brought up the issue to the supervisor? What is it with people doing this? What else am I doing wrong?

These are all cases where any normal person would have agreed with us, but I wonder if I am an easy target for a person who is in the wrong making me out as unreasonable or wrong because of the way I look or act. Need advice to figure out what I could be doing wrong.

[Anonymous]

Why don’t you give use one example, OP?
From your post it seems as if you have unrealistic and/or unreasonable expectations if they’re pushing back and the supervisor backed them up.

[Anonymous]

I think you are probably underestimating the intelligence and street smarts of blue collar workers. Just bc someone has a high school diploma doesn’t mean that they don’t have the wherewithal to run circles around you when it comes to their income and livelihood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you are probably underestimating the intelligence and street smarts of blue collar workers. Just bc someone has a high school diploma doesn’t mean that they don’t have the wherewithal to run circles around you when it comes to their income and livelihood.

So is the way to solve problems just to immediately go to the supervisor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you give use one example, OP?
From your post it seems as if you have unrealistic and/or unreasonable expectations if they’re pushing back and the supervisor backed them up.

They plumbing was not angled to drain down at a bend. The supervisor who did not want to come come look said his worker told him it was fine and he believed his worker. It was really cut and dry that they were wrong. We got 2 other plumbers to take a look and it would have in fact caused a clog because that pipe should be at a slope down.

A few dozen tiles on the bathroom floor were sticking up to the point where you could cut your foot walking in those areas. The workers forgot to level the floor before they put the tile down but they claimed there was nothing wrong and this is natural.

The shower hot and cold controls were connected backwards. The acknowledged this issue but claimed it was due to problems with the faucets we had purchased and nothing could be done. We later learned they probably did not want to cut into the tile and have to retile everything which is why the supervisor backed them up and said nothing could be done.

Now that I read this it sounds like maybe the companies themselves are trying to scam me.

[Anonymous]

Have your husband or any man talk to them. They take advantage of women. I’m a single mom and I have a male friend who does this kind of thing for me.

[Anonymous]

Thank you PP. That's a great idea. I'm a single mom too.

[Anonymous]

You asked what the lesson is with your situation. With all due respect, I think it is that you hire better contractors. The examples you gave us are egregious and unacceptable. Are they licensed? Insured? Did you check any references or reviews?
I’m sorry you have to deal with this. You’re not an idiot, but I think you know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have your husband or any man talk to them. They take advantage of women. I’m a single mom and I have a male friend who does this kind of thing for me.

This. Contractors are, to a man, the most sexist people on the planet. It’s an eye opening window for what life was like for women 50 years ago.