Sweet Olive Antiques & Cafe

May 15,2015Dear [redacted] -I am in receipt of your letter dated May 11, 2015, regarding the above “Delivery Issues” complaint. I regret that you have to be troubled by this rather insignificant matter.Before presenting the company’s side of this case, please be assured that this matter already has...

been resolved; delivery was successfully made on May 8,2015. without any problems, prior to our receiving this complaint.That said, our customer [redacted] conveniently left out a number of important facts regarding this case, which centers on the repair and re-installation of his deck awning. [redacted]’s awning was damaged last year in a hail/ice/rain storm, causing 2 of its 6 fabric panels to stretch out of shape. Our customer contacted his homeowner’s insurance company which was only willing to have the awning repaired and not replaced. Based on my 35 years of sell ing awnings, our usual course of action under the circumstances would be replacement, not repair. However, because [redacted] did not want to incur any out-of-pocket expenses to replace the awning, I agreed that we would “do our best” to repair his awning instead, stressing to him that this would be the first time we’ve ever done so, and being careful not to promise him completely satisfactory results.Accordingly, I prepared a cost estimate for the repair (see attached), which his insurance company subsequently approved in December 2014. Although the estimate stipulated an initial deposit of $300.00 (based on the custom nature of the work), I agreed to waive the deposit when [redacted] expressed reluctance to incur any up-front expenses. Thus we began work on his awning without it costing [redacted] any money whatsoever.The repair and re-installation of the awning was to be completed no later than April 15 (not “early April”, as claimed by [redacted]). Unfortunately, the repair process went much slower than anticipated and actually our first attempt at the repair was unsuccessful and quite frankly looked terrible. I wasn’t all that surprised at the results, given that this was our first time effecting such repair. Nonetheless, we then had to re-do the repair (this time with much greater success) and once it was completed we then had to wash [redacted]’s awning, as outlined in the original cost estimate.As mentioned, all of this work took much longer than expected. I tried to explain the situation to [redacted] who in fact kept calling regularly, as if the constant calls and his need for an update would somehow expedite the matter. Instead, it got to the point of annoyance and even harassment such that in our last conversation I had to firmly (and loudly) remind [redacted] that:1) the repair process was very complicated, and we were doing the best we could;2) we were doing him a large favor by repairing and not replacing his awning (which in hindsight I should have absolutely insisted on), so his constant questions, criticisms, and comments were uncalled for and not welcome;3) he would get his awning as soon as we were done with it, whenever that would be in the next few days; and4) unlike us, he had not incurred and would not incur any monetary expenses whatsoever in this matter,If that was a “rant” and a “tantrum”, then it was well-deserved, in my opinion.As I write this response letter to you, [redacted] still owes us $694.30 as originally agreed (see attached invoice). Per the estimate, he was supposed to pay the balance COD (with the money he had received from his insurance company!) but told my crew that he refused to do so because “the job was so late”. Now in his complaint to you [redacted] has requested a reduction in price because I “yelled” at him. You may draw your own conclusions, but to me he is not the kind of customer we want, having been in business 95 years. Needless to say, I emphatically reject any lowering of the balance due and expect to be paid in full as originally agreed by 5/31/2015. or we will be forced to commence legal action against [redacted] on our own.Whatever you can do to expedite such payment in a more amicable fashion would be greatly appreciated.Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.Sincerely,Lee S.President and General Manager