[Yellow_Festiva]

Getting a house built - contacted around 7 different window suppliers. Sent them a detailed email with all specs, dimensions, opening directions etc etc etc etc.. around 40 items all up, made up of sliding windows, fixed windows and a bunch of sliding doors.

After a week no replies.... I get a call on the 9th day from one company asking for more details - which I give. After that, they send an email with their quote. Great, 1 from 7.

A few reply at around the 10 day mark. One quoted the wrong style of frame, one ignored the specs of glass I wanted and up-specced everything, one wanted to charge me $4.5k to do the frames in the colour I wanted. Yeah, right... One sends an email asking a whole bunch of questions (address, colour, my number) all of which was in the first document I sent.

I replied.

A week later I get the same email again - as if I didn't reply to the first one. A few days later I get my 4th quote in from 7.

3 weeks pass and I was getting peeved off. I sent a follow up email to one of the larger, well known companies with a simple line "Does it normally take 3 weeks to arrange a quote?"

I get a call the next morning right on 8:33am. I answer quickly as I was walking to my roll call class (I'm a high school teacher). I explain to the guy that I can't talk right now but i'll be free to talk in exactly 5 minutes (roll call ends at 8:35)...

No call back... they must be really busy!

No worries. My builder also got a few quotes so I will not bother chasing up any more.

Time for getting the AC sorted....

Drive in to a local company with plans in hand. Sit down with a 'sales person' to look at my plans. Some of what I said:

* Never had AC in my life (hardly use it), only getting it caus I'm in the process of building and it would be silly to do it later.
* Have single phase power only so happy for smaller separate systems to be run when needed.
* Full brick, well insulated home - so don't need to have huge cooling power - just enough to take the edge of any hot rooms to make them comfortable, but not cold.
* Don't want to spend too much (didn't give them a budget).
* Will have a semi-cathedral ceiling upstairs, but can modify the design to suit ducting or hardware if it makes the install any easier (roof isn't done as yet)..

He looks at my plans, says it will need to be run them by his boss and takes my plans up stairs to consult his boss.

5 min pass and he comes back down...

"Yeah, not going to be easy mate... house that size with the power limitations and the cathedral ceiling means you need a specially designed system.

You're looking at between $60-80k... but more towards the 80k mark.

We are NOT INTERESTED in doing anything less (smaller) as you will come back and complain that it doesn't get cold enough"....

******.... Didn't hear a word I said....

Sure... 80k for AC on a double story house.... What a deal!

What do I hate... people who don't listen, don't reply to email, don't call back and companies that think they can take people for a ride...

Should have asked him what's his best cash price lol....