Excavation jobs gone wrong
Unlike other contractors, we will openly share jobs that have not gone as planned. Why? Because that’s how we learn! Enjoy some of these anecdotes from some of our previous jobs.
One customer we had lived next to quarrelsome neighbors. When the water lines broke due to poor quality install from the previous contractor, we were contacted right away. Even though it was a shared private system, some of the neighbors refused to pay! This caused everyone in the neighborhood to go without water until the squabble could be resolved. Eventually our customer paid everyone’s share upfront to complete the project and get running water again.
What did we learn? We learned to avoid jobs where people did not want to pay from the beginning. This is much more common in construction than people may think!
Another group of customers were required to pay for a new sewer main by their sewer authority. We were approached for the job because of its complexity. Most contractors chose to pass on it because it was too complicated.
After we got into it, we agreed with the other contractors. It was a complex job!
To make things worse, none of the customers were happy about this required job. This made plans very difficult!
In addition, one of the neighbors refused to hire us with his neighbors and paid a seperate contractor for his house only, which made everything much more complicated.
On top of this, the work had to be done in the wintertime, which opened up several pre-existing problems with foundation leaks and water lines in the customers homes. This made the job take longer than originally expected.
What did we learn from this? We learned to let customers sort things out on their own before starting any job.
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To conclude: While we choose to focus on the positive here at Complete Excavation Solutions, sometimes that involves remembering jobs that have gone wrong.
This has taught us that clear communication from the start is absolutely key to the success of the job. Will there be delays? Yes. Will there be miscommunications? Probably, despite everyone’s best efforts? Will we learn from this and become better every time? Yes.
Interested in telling us about your job that’s gone wrong?
Call us today! 814-221-7424
