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Originally Posted by Busterdogs
Does anyone have an suggestions on where I should post my experience?
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I'd suggest one simply titled "Lessons Learned" under "General Repair."
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I hate someone else to go through what I did.
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Exactly the reason why it's called "Lessons Learned."
Don't that the following critique personally. I'm offering it because I've worked with "Lessons Learned" databases for the last 30 years at work, where we maintain a "Lessons Learned" database on our contracts so that the designers who write the specifications, the contracting specialists who award the contracts, and the inspectors who watch over the contracts all can avoid making the same mistakes we've made in the past. The goal is to never make the same mistake twice; if we're going to make mistakes (and everyone does) they have to be
new mistakes each time. That's why we get paid the not-so-big bucks.
The key to a viable and useful "Lessons Learned" database is that you address procedures and methodology only. Not policy, which is each owner's personal responsibility. Not personalities, which will vary from one owner to another and one vendor to another. And you never, ever name names or places. The lessons have to apply to more than just one situation or just one owner or just one vendor, otherwise there's no point setting it up in the first place.
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In the end I had to hire an attorney to get the rig released.  Unfortunately, I also learned this wasn't the first time this attorney represented someone with this vendor for the same thing.
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That is not actually a lesson. That is the price of
tuition in the School of Hard Knocks, what you
paid to learn the lesson.
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1.) Get scope and pricing in writing at the onset of the job. I did this in an exchange of emails and some discussions, but I never pushed to summarize the scope and costs in one final document.
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Any agreement between customer and vendor is a contract. Treat it as such. YOU write exactly the end results you want (the scope of work). BUT you don't tell the vendor how to do the job; his expertise is why you hire him. You also set the limits of the vendor's discretion; "Don't do ANYTHING unless we agree on the price first." Or, "Don't do anything that will cost over $XXXX without getting approval from me via e-mail first." Or however you want to do it. But pick the limits, and
write them into the scope. Never work with a verbal contract if the price is going to be more than you have in your wallet right now. In writing, there's no "He said, she said."
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2.) Get regular updates on your progress and pricing. Discuss it, make sure the job is tracking to your expectations. Don't assume it is SOP with a vendor, or that it will be okay.
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That's called "quality assurance" and it's the
customer's job to verify that the work is being done on time and under budget. The vendor's version is called "quality control." In other words, you do quality assurance to make sure the vendor has done his quality control.
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3.) Trust your instincts. I didn't, and am paying that "stupid tax" in the setback of my own restoration project today.
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That is NOT a lesson learned. That is an observation. You have no idea whether anyone else has the same instincts you do, so saying "trust your instincts" MIGHT be good advice
or bad. You don't know.
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4.) Trust your talents. There is precious little that is proprietary in these rigs. I will take the time to understand what needs to be done myself, and hire talent if need be for the task directly.
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Ditto. That is not a lesson to pass on to others, just an observation on what YOU will do in the future. Not everyone has the same level of ability, or even necessarily knows his/her level of ability. The "Lessons Learned" thread should be what you're teaching others, not what you're reminding yourself.
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