20 October 2010

As Per Plan


The drain hole for the sink in the upstairs bathroom is askew. This means that the sink is not centered and thus it's at the side of the wall. I asked Engr. Rommel if he would do the same arrangement in his house and he replied in Filipino that it did seem wrong. His actual words were "parang mali, noh?" But he said Avida can't fix it as it's "as per plan."

The bathroom sink downstairs is also positioned similarly. Avida installed the drain hole in such a way that the sink is now BLOCKING THE BATHROOM DOOR. Was that "as per plan" too? Just a thought.

Note that we did not mess with the drain holes. Ellen from Avida head office, told me earlier today that this situation is due to our contractors. I had to point out that we "borrowed" one of the plumbers from the neighboring house that is currently being built so technically he's not our contractor, he's THEIR contractor. And he only placed the sink over the drain hole made by Avida.

We found out about the sink blocking the door last Saturday because as mentioned in the previous post, the house was turned over without the sinks and toilets installed.

All this resulted in my temper going over normal levels (yet again) with Engr. Rommel in attendance. I asked him why we had to spend a lot on cement just so that we could install tiles properly? A few days prior, he said he would fix the situation. I asked him why he only offered to fix it now when we alerted him to the problem during the house inspection (which you can read about here)? Why only now when we've already done the repairs ourselves?

I told him that I was not mad at him personally but he's the representative of Avida. (I didn't bother to add that since he's from the Construction Group, he was responsible for overseeing how the house was built.)

My voice broke when I talked to him as I really felt like crying. I pointed out to him that we have spent so much just fixing everything from the floor to the electrical system only to have water go down the switches. He said it was fine and that nothing was damaged. I countered that, sorry but I do not trust Avida.

I have come to the conclusion that the ones who say "everything will be fine" obviously are not paying for the house.

Last Monday afternoon and early Tuesday morning, I tried calling Engr. Rommel to get an update. After 15 tries, he had yet to answer his phone. This was unusual as he used to answer right away or he would call or text back to inquire what I needed. Now, zilch.

I called Ellen to ask him to call me as I was getting extremely upset with the situation. He didn't call so I sent him a text message asking why he was suddenly incommunicado. He replied back that there's something wrong with his phone and that while he can be heard, he can't hear whoever is on the other side of the line.

That happened to me just last week and the person I called still picked up the phone to tell me he can't hear me and to text him instead. Why didn't he do that? He had no answer.

Might I be reading the situation incorrectly? Maybe. But at the moment I feel that he's mad at me for getting mad at him and thus avoiding me. Well, I certainly hope I'm mistaken as this is not exactly professional behavior.

4 comments:

Maxi said...

Hi Nicole,

I think you need to escalate this concern directly to Noel Ignacio for a clear and fixed timeline. On-site Avida personnel are limited on what they can do, escalate it to Avida Management and they will act on it with urgency.

I would suggest that you temporarily suspend your construction works and have it re-inspected again by Avida QA team.

Mahirap ma high blood, tayo ang matatalo dyan.

Regards,
Maxi

Nicole said...

Hi Maxi,

I already talked to Ellen who advised that they do not know when they can start repairs. I told her that my contractors can't work until they're done and Rabacon has other projects so they can't wait indefinitely.

And I had another "wonderful Avida bonding session" this afternoon but this time with Des, Engrs. Frolan and Mark. I told them them I'll most likely get a heart attack thanks to Avida. They said they'll go over the house tomorrow.

poison ivy said...

hi nicole. chill... kahit sobrang nakakainit talaga ng ulo. kami dati we had to pay 6k for a month's water bill because the contractor left an open pipe underground, and was discovered only when it was already covered with tiles.

Nicole said...

Hi Ivy,

I'm trying but it's so very hard =) If we had the 6K water bill, I would probably pop a blood vessel...

But seriously, I've decided that only Earl will talk to them from now on because I'm too upset. Problem with that plan though is that he's only free on Saturdays.

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