Bill wrote:


BTW2, I asked a Comcast technician (I had 3 out last week) why they
just threw my cable-splitter on the ground under my house when they
installed my service. He said that's just the way they install them.
I said, "What about *craftsmanship*, I said if I installed it I would
have mounted it somwhere...". That word is very powerful. Before I
contract people to work on my home I may talk to them about
craftsmanship--that way I may be able to get things finished to my
level of expectation rather than, in some cases, the minimum level
that gets the contractor out the door. I only mention this to help
empower anyone else who may prefer more control over the way his or
her work is performed by a contractor. It seems that if the
contractor agrees to perform at a certain level of craftsmanship then
the customer is empowered compared to if the contractor merely agrees
to get the job "done". I haven't actually tried this technique yet,
but it occurred to me after my conversation with the technician about
the cable-splitter.
Bill

It's not a bad thought Bill, but good luck, in a sense. It's common to find
contracts that use language like "in a workmanlike manner", but the problem
is... that has no real definition. Real slipshod work can be held to the
scrutiny of a phrase like that, but it's just so vague that it does not
really offer any protection.

--

-Mike-