For the better part of two years I've been aiming to have my bathroom door fixed. It's not your typical turn-knob swinging door, due to the narrow shape of the bathroom, the door folds inward into the bathroom. Over time, the screws which hold the centerpiece folding part together had been coming loose, plus the door itself had started to slide off the track. I had been able to get the door back on the track from time to time, but eventually the door would slip off again. With those moments of short-lived success, eventually the ticking time bomb went off six months ago of the screw-holes being too big for the screws to fit in anymore. I couldn't fix this deadly issue, I needed a miracle, I needed - the landlord.
During the whole process I would reach out to the landlord once in a while to see if he could fix it, but usually he would say he'll call me when he's around, and then I would never hear from him. Since I was working normal full-time hours during most of this stretch, I would only be able to reach out to him on Saturdays or Sundays. More often than not it was the same answer, "I'll call you when I get around there", but then the call would never come and the bathroom door would still be suffering. I would go through periods of not bothering to call anymore because he simply kept repeating the same answer and it was becoming useless. Then after a long period of time went by, I would toss in another prayer call in hopes it would seem like a new problem and get him motivated, but the result would be the same: the door remained unfixed. I've had heating problems in the winter and calls to the landlord about that have hit the same brick wall, so there was no reason to expect the bathroom door to ever be operational again.
Starting last month, I ratcheted up the calling intensity again in hopes of eventually getting the landlord to come over to check out the door. My strategy would be to call very early on a Saturday morning and let the landlord know I'll be around all day long if he wanted to drop by. His answer was always the same; he would ask what time I would be around by, then he would say he'll call me when he's around. Sometimes he would even specify a time like 3pm he would say he'll be there by. Of course he wouldn't come and this routine repeated itself several times over. On a couple of these Saturdays I had a good feeling that it would be the day, but they would turn out just like the other Saturday and Sundays over the past two years. Then this past week I thought of a new strategy, don't wait till Saturday, call him on a Friday. I dialed him up on Friday afternoon and he wasn't available that day, but he wanted me to call him the following day at 1pm.
The next day (Saturday) came and I didn't want to seem too eager, so instead of calling him at 1pm, I decided to play it cool and call him at 1:07pm. He picked up and told me he was nearby and would come around in twenty-minutes. I looked at the clock, twenty-minutes passed at 1:27pm, and there was no sign of him. Then it became 1:46pm and there was still no word, I thought to myself, let me wait till 3pm and if he doesn't show up, I'll give him a call. Then all of a sudden there was a surprise buzzing of my door bell, followed by another. Was it possible he was actually here to fix the door? I buzzed the door open in the lobby and opened the door to let him inside. Jubilation entered my body as I heard the echos of someone walking up the stairs, this all seemed very real. Then when the person reached my floor, I saw it wasn't the landlord, but actually someone else he sent. I didn't mind, as long as they were there to fix the door it could've been anyone. After surveying the damage, the guy said he had to place butterfly screws to fix the 'holes-too-big' problem, so he physically took the door with him and told me he would have it back tomorrow (Sunday). He kept asking me if I'll be around and I replied back that I'll be around all day for him to come again and put the door back on. We even exchanged phone numbers so he would be able to call me.
I had a number of things I needed to get done on Sunday, but I remained inside because I took him seriously when he said he'll have it ready the next day. Hour after hour went by and there was no word from this handyman. By 3pm I figured I should call him and find out because I needed to go out and get things done. I was able to get in touch with him and he gave me the great news that he didn't have the butterfly screws put in yet, I would have to wait another day (Monday). It took nearly two years to get someone to even look at the door, was it going to take another two years to get the door back? Monday went by the same way Sunday did, no word from the handyman who still had my door in his possession. By late Monday around 8pm I gave the guy a call, and his response was he called me around 4pm, but got no answer. I was underground without signal on the subway at the time, but he didn't a message. His updated launch time was he was going to call me Tuesday morning to put it in. Tuesday came by and I received that call; him and the landlord both came by with the prized-possession bathroom door, newly configured with butterfly screws. After about fifteen minutes of manual labor with getting the door back on the track, the mission was complete, I once again had a fully operational bathroom door.
The door gives me hope that the heating issues will be resolved next winter season, but maybe I shouldn't get greedy.....
During the whole process I would reach out to the landlord once in a while to see if he could fix it, but usually he would say he'll call me when he's around, and then I would never hear from him. Since I was working normal full-time hours during most of this stretch, I would only be able to reach out to him on Saturdays or Sundays. More often than not it was the same answer, "I'll call you when I get around there", but then the call would never come and the bathroom door would still be suffering. I would go through periods of not bothering to call anymore because he simply kept repeating the same answer and it was becoming useless. Then after a long period of time went by, I would toss in another prayer call in hopes it would seem like a new problem and get him motivated, but the result would be the same: the door remained unfixed. I've had heating problems in the winter and calls to the landlord about that have hit the same brick wall, so there was no reason to expect the bathroom door to ever be operational again.
Starting last month, I ratcheted up the calling intensity again in hopes of eventually getting the landlord to come over to check out the door. My strategy would be to call very early on a Saturday morning and let the landlord know I'll be around all day long if he wanted to drop by. His answer was always the same; he would ask what time I would be around by, then he would say he'll call me when he's around. Sometimes he would even specify a time like 3pm he would say he'll be there by. Of course he wouldn't come and this routine repeated itself several times over. On a couple of these Saturdays I had a good feeling that it would be the day, but they would turn out just like the other Saturday and Sundays over the past two years. Then this past week I thought of a new strategy, don't wait till Saturday, call him on a Friday. I dialed him up on Friday afternoon and he wasn't available that day, but he wanted me to call him the following day at 1pm.
The next day (Saturday) came and I didn't want to seem too eager, so instead of calling him at 1pm, I decided to play it cool and call him at 1:07pm. He picked up and told me he was nearby and would come around in twenty-minutes. I looked at the clock, twenty-minutes passed at 1:27pm, and there was no sign of him. Then it became 1:46pm and there was still no word, I thought to myself, let me wait till 3pm and if he doesn't show up, I'll give him a call. Then all of a sudden there was a surprise buzzing of my door bell, followed by another. Was it possible he was actually here to fix the door? I buzzed the door open in the lobby and opened the door to let him inside. Jubilation entered my body as I heard the echos of someone walking up the stairs, this all seemed very real. Then when the person reached my floor, I saw it wasn't the landlord, but actually someone else he sent. I didn't mind, as long as they were there to fix the door it could've been anyone. After surveying the damage, the guy said he had to place butterfly screws to fix the 'holes-too-big' problem, so he physically took the door with him and told me he would have it back tomorrow (Sunday). He kept asking me if I'll be around and I replied back that I'll be around all day for him to come again and put the door back on. We even exchanged phone numbers so he would be able to call me.
I had a number of things I needed to get done on Sunday, but I remained inside because I took him seriously when he said he'll have it ready the next day. Hour after hour went by and there was no word from this handyman. By 3pm I figured I should call him and find out because I needed to go out and get things done. I was able to get in touch with him and he gave me the great news that he didn't have the butterfly screws put in yet, I would have to wait another day (Monday). It took nearly two years to get someone to even look at the door, was it going to take another two years to get the door back? Monday went by the same way Sunday did, no word from the handyman who still had my door in his possession. By late Monday around 8pm I gave the guy a call, and his response was he called me around 4pm, but got no answer. I was underground without signal on the subway at the time, but he didn't a message. His updated launch time was he was going to call me Tuesday morning to put it in. Tuesday came by and I received that call; him and the landlord both came by with the prized-possession bathroom door, newly configured with butterfly screws. After about fifteen minutes of manual labor with getting the door back on the track, the mission was complete, I once again had a fully operational bathroom door.
The door gives me hope that the heating issues will be resolved next winter season, but maybe I shouldn't get greedy.....
No comments:
Post a Comment