It’s all in who you know

There’s a new man in my life. Juan is handy around the house, he cleans up after himself, and if he inconveniences me, he apologizes. He has spent the last three weeks with me and that is just fine with Keeper. In fact, when he comes home from work, Keeper asks, “What’s new with Juan?”

I met Juan through friends. My friend Zelda heard about him through our former co-worker Chris. Chris is a former police officer, former government administrator, and current real estate expert, and if he passed Chris’ muster, Zelda knew Juan was someone she needed to know. Juan spent a month with Zelda, and then she passed him along to me.

Every morning I leap out of bed, hit the shower, and get dressed before 8:30, the hour when Juan is to arrive. I am breathless with anticipation. What will Juan do today to make my life better?

Two weeks ago, Juan remodeled my kitchen. This week, he’s putting down hardwood floors and installing a granite countertop in the bathroom. 

Juan treats my house as if it’s his own. His brothers join him here and they play a Spanish radio station quietly in the background while they do my bidding. They are here for one reason: to make my house beautiful and to make me happy.

Yes, Juan is my contractor, although he is now more like one of the family. Juan and I share a love of beautiful materials, a need for tidiness, and a streak of perfectionism.

As I write this, Juan is ripping out a floorboard because he accidentally dented it while moving the refrigerator. The damage is not major, but it no longer looks perfect and that’s not good enough for Juan. He is meticulous and takes a truly justified pride in his work.

If you have never hired a contractor, you might be saying to yourself, “So, the guy does good work and shows up on time. What’s the big deal?”

Here’s the big deal: he works in a business that has a bad reputation. Nearly everyone who has had remodeling work done has a nightmare story to tell, of crews not showing up, shoddy workmanship, and trash left behind at the end of the job. Endless delays and cost overruns seem to be common themes.

I won’t say that my home improvements haven’t taken longer and cost more than I anticipated. The reason is because once I saw what Juan could do, I found more and more things that needed to be done. I haven’t found any project that he can’t do, and do perfectly. Oh, did I mention that his prices are reasonable?

Eventually, I will run out of money and will have to let him go, to make another homeowner happy. I will miss him.

After last week’s bad customer service story about the refrigerator that was “installed” without being actually hooked up, I felt compelled to tell you a story with a happy ending. 

And here it is. For once, I am a completely satisfied customer.