A great way to END the week off bad!

[andy]

Awnings are simple structures..... you build and aluminium frame and then staple a fabric covering onto it.... it's not rocket science.

This awning company is deliberately trying to add on layers of complexity which just aren't there..... the original awning blew off the building because it wasn't fitted properly.... you can see this just by looking at the photographs.

Siting vehicle impact is a complete Red herring.... there is no sign of impact damage on the framework and the fabric covering is virtually undamaged. In a vehicle strike situation these aluminium framed awnings crumple and collapse in a major way.

All it takes is for one section of awning to be installed with too few fixings and the wind will work it loose.... once the first section is free it will drag off other connected sections with ease.

If you can find some of the screws used to fit the awning you'll soon see whether it was fitted properly.... on something that size you would expect aluminium hooks every metre and at least 75mm long screws in between the hooks... the hooks should also be connected to the awning frame with large guage self tapping screws. The vertical support legs also need to be firmly bolted to the wall... if not the wind gets underneath the awning and flips it up over the hooks... snapping all the screws as it does so.

Awnings are simply SAILS in another format... whenever you build and install an awning structure you are basically bolting a sail onto the side of a building.... if it's not nailed on in an over engineered fashion even moderate winds will peel that sucker off in seconds.

We used to make a lot of awning and canopy structures in years gone by.... what Heath is experiencing is a classic example of a poorly fitted awning or an awning which has been tack fitted temporarily in the expectation of revisiting site to install the permanent fixings.

In this case it's not your problem and it's NOT an insurance issue... the awning company installers f*cked up and it's their responsibility to fix the problem... if this costs them a boat load of money then it's tough titty.... it'll teach them to install properly first time, everytime.

 

[signage]

what Heath is experiencing is a classic example of a poorly fitted awning or an awning which has been tack fitted temporarily in the expectation of revisiting site to install the permanent fixings.

In this case it's not your problem and it's NOT an insurance issue... the awning company installers f*cked up and it's their responsibility to fix the problem... if this costs them a boat load of money then it's tough titty.... it'll teach them to install properly first time, everytime.

 

[GP]

I think we can all walk away learning one thing and Brother Andy from the other side of the pond nailed it. The term "tough titty." Strong, but comical. I am going to incorporate this term from now on. You don't like it? Well tough titty...

In all seriousness - this whole situation gives me a stomach ache. Best of luck Heath.

 

[Marlene]

Their main frustration is focused at me;

that is so hard of a place to be. my only advice is to keep talking with them. update them more that you usually would even if there is no new news. customer's want to know that you are all over it when it comes to issues and that you are working to solve the problem. keep after those awning guys. who cares if they get pissed that you are calling ten times a day. You are their customer, plain and simple.

please keep us updating on how things are going. I so hope this all ends well for you

 

[skyhigh]

I'll assume the awning has been removed by now? I hope you got a better picture (a bunch I hope) than what you posted. I would like to see a picture of the corner.

I'm glad to hear you have your insurance co. & attorney involved.

 

[TheSellOut]

When posting this thead a better title would have been "A great way to END the month off bad", maybe even "the year", and quite possibly "my career"...just got off the phone with my lawyer who just got word that the awning company's insurance is not going to cover the damage done. My lawyer advised me to start getting quotes from other awning manufactures to rebuild the structure to cover my arse if this awning co. decides to do nothing.

There was once a time that I truly enjoyed and took pride in what I do for a career....

 

[signage]

Did you have a written contract with the awning company?

Also what was your attorneys advice to do with this awning company?


I was afraid something like this was going to be what turned out, hope that you can get this taken care of without loosing you business!

 

[TheSellOut]

Did you have a written contract with the awning company?

I do have signed contracts with them that just have very generic terms, proposal expires 60 days...

Also what was your attorneys advice to do with this awning company?

Sue for damages if they decide not to do anything


I was afraid something like this was going to be what turned out, hope that you can get this taken care of without loosing you business!

Ditto & ditto

 

[GypsyGraphics]

There was once a time that I truly enjoyed and took pride in what I do for a career....

Heath maybe this will go down as your least enjoyable job but that doesn't mean there's no pride to be had here. YOU didn't F-up and YOU haven't dropped the ball! Unfortunately you have to take the ball from the guys who did drop it... and run with it.

Even if the clients are pissed right now, and this job ends up in the red, you'll still have every reason to be proud of your role when the job is done right.

i feel just awful for ya though

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Have you contacted your insurance company? I'm not positive on how insurance works for something like this but I thought I remember when we took out our policy years ago that ours would kick in in the event of a subcontractor's failure to fix their own mistake, more or less insuring the subcontractors. Or maybe I'm way off base, but I'd still be curious to know what your ins. company said.

Aside from that, have you heard anything else from the awning company lately? Where do they stand?

I sure do feel sick about this for you, what a tough position to be stuck in.

 

[klemgraphics]

I sure do feel sick about this for you, what a tough position to be stuck in.

My thoughts exactly.

Has me nervous about some subcontracted jobs I am quoting right now. My bet would be that the awning co. doesn't want to re-do this for nothing so they will drag their feet till they see some $$. Makes me sick how some people just do not care at all that they are at fault and try to place the blame on others.

 

[showcase 66]

That sucks man. I wish I could help you out more on the structural. I would check with your insurance as well. Just make sure you document everything and have a ton more pics of any and everything you find.

 

[anotherdog]

I hope when the dust settles you name the awning company.

 

[signcrafters london]

No news in the last few weeks?

 

[TheSellOut]

Sorry I haven't updated you guys in a while but everything should be resolved by the end of next week.

So 3 weeks ago after the awning company's insurance denied coverage I had the project quoted from a few other places to the tune of $23,000. At this point the Honda dealership and I both had started claims into our insurance and I really didn't want to have the dealership's insurance involved as they just started this new policy with a new insurance provider. So I had a meeting with the GM of the dealership and told him that if he paid me the rest of the balance for the original awnings that I would in turn use that money towards the down payment on the new ones and have to bite the bullet on the remaining balance which would have been around $10,000.

He agreed and no later than I returned to my office, felling quite ill, I received a call from the original awning co. stating that they weren't assuming fault for what happened but that they wanted to make it right by me and my customer and were going to order all the materials that day.

Even though I was completely frustrated with them at this point, and would have liked to have received that call 2 weeks prior, I obviously decided to let them fix it.

So as of now they are on schedule to be installing next Tues and with my fingers crossed I hope they pull through form me.

 

[showcase 66]

Sorry I haven't updated you guys in a while but everything should be resolved by the end of next week.

So 3 weeks ago after the awning company's insurance denied coverage I had the project quoted from a few other places to the tune of $23,000. At this point the Honda dealership and I both had started claims into our insurance and I really didn't want to have the dealership's insurance involved as they just started this new policy with a new insurance provider. So I had a meeting with the GM of the dealership and told him that if he paid me the rest of the balance for the original awnings that I would in turn use that money towards the down payment on the new ones and have to bite the bullet on the remaining balance which would have been around $10,000.

He agreed and no later than I returned to my office, felling quite ill, I received a call from the original awning co. stating that they weren't assuming fault for what happened but that they wanted to make it right by me and my customer and were going to order all the materials that day.

Even though I was completely frustrated with them at this point, and would have liked to have received that call 2 weeks prior, I obviously decided to let them fix it.

So as of now they are on schedule to be installing next Tues and with my fingers crossed I hope they pull through form me.

At least they are going to do the right thing. Hope this one wont fall off. Double check all the bolts are in.

 

[TheSellOut]

I have no doubt that this company is fully capable of a job like this. They have major accounts and do awnings this size all the time, something just went very wrong here.
I will heed your advise on this and plan on double checking everything!

 

[jfiscus]

I would be on-site supervising the new installation the entire time this time.

 

[GypsyGraphics]

Heath, this is great news!
whether the awning company goes "on record" or not for the blame
it seems quite clear to all, including and most importantly to your client, who's at fault

this is a happier ending that i was expecting... so glad to hear it!

 

[signage]

Glad to hear that they are stepping up and fixing it. Like Jfiscus said make sure you are on site while they do the work.

 

[TheSellOut]

Well the awning is back up and is very secure, but this nightmare just won't end! Premier Sign Systems is the name of the awning company and I have to give them great credit for coming through for me and my customer and even though it took a little while it could not have worked out better for my customer.

As much as I am completely relived to have this portion of the job behind me it is still my greatest "job from hell" that just won't die.

Now all of the following is completely the fault of my customer and they are very aware of it. I wish I would have spoke up in the beginning of this project but I was told even if I did everything still would have went down the way it did. So pretty much everything that I was contracted to do was not approved by Honda and has to come down! I have already taken down the pole sign that is on the corner, I had to call Premier Wed. of last week to stop them from eradicating the new awnings, and now I am working on quotes to re-fabric the awnings on the showroom to remove anything that says Williams Honda. Apparently the GM knew they weren't allowed to do any of this but thought he could get away with it anyways.

I don't think they are members here but would just like to say Thanks to Premier and hope that none of you think bad of them, they really came thru and made this job right. The owner was onsite all day yesterday until 5 this morning making sure everything was done correctly.