Levco Builders: A True Client Advocate

by | Jul 31, 2011 | Levco Builders Process, Levco Remodeling Project FAQs, Remodeling Budget | 3 comments

Reading Time: 3 minutes

What does being a client advocate mean to me. It is more than just words… It involves taking decisive action sometimes.

The Depot

The design phase was done and the components were selected in a small  bathroom  project. The construction phase was in full swing. In an effort to save a few bucks the clients selected a mid priced bathtub from Home Depot. They left the store feeling good about being frugal.

One of my favorite rants is “Like Pizzas, all (fill in the blank) are not alike.” The bathtub came in a box that I recall feeling light but it had a nice picture of a good looking tub. In questioning the plumber after the install, he said “I thought it was flimsy but didn’t want to say anything because the owner had selected it.”

Fortunately, I stopped in at the job site for something and was pleased to see the progress and leaned up against the tub. Although it looked like a tub and acted like a tub it was the flimsiest plastic thing I had ever seen or felt. I thought to myself, in whose best interest is it to leave this tub in place. NO ONE is the correct answer. I immediately told the owners that if we allow this thing to stay it would not last and cost lots of money to replace in the future. Luckily I was able to round up an acrylic one right away so we are in the process of scheduling the replacement early next week.

The Owner is not the expert in our field, they had no idea what they were getting into. Had we built the tub into the tile wall before we brought it to their attention (or worse they brought it to our attention),  I would have felt horrible. The momentary embarrassment the client may feel and the awkwardness of the conversation is nothing compared to the potential upside of being a true client advocate. Sure, it could have gone the other way. My client may have insisted upon leaving the tub but at least they would have been made aware of the situation and made an informed decision.

Cracked Bathtub

I have nothing against The Depot, to be fair, this quality of tub is unfortunately seen in modular homes. My feeling is that it was totally out of character in this application. In my opinion, a shampoo bottle falling would crack this tub. In followup questioning, the display was 7′ up in the air and from that distance it looked like a typical bathtub that you would see in any home.

Did it hold up the project? Yes for a little bit. Did it avoid a huge problem in the future YES. This was an Owner Furnished item. There was no warranty on my part other than for the installation so why should I care? Because that is who we are. I define integrity as ” once you know the right thing to do… that is what you do.”

My dream is that with my team at Levco we would have caught this   prior to installation and we are working towards that but for now I am especially proud that we were acting as the experts in our   field and behaving like true professionals. I often say that we are always on the lookout for examples of “showing that we care”, well this is as bold and obvious as it gets.

Perhaps I am especially sensitive to this issue because I am working on a project where both a tub and the shower are fractured in a modular home. Talk about inconvenience, we will be fixing them one at a time.

This story is especially apropos because many of my remodeling clients are looking for ways to stretch the budget. When I was looking for the replacement tub I asked my sales person at Ferguson, sell me a tub that you would not be embarrassed to sell or soak in yourself. Time will tell, but I believe this story will have a happy ending.

Incidentally, in a post script, The Depot took the tub back no questions asked.

Disclaimer: Some of these images came from the WEB. If they are yours, and you object to them being used, please claim them and I will gladly remove and replace them at once.

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3 Comments

  1. Brian Chojnacky

    Joe,
    I want to say I truly appreciate your integrity in this situation. Not only did you recognize the problem, but as you stated in your blog, you chose to take the next step of remedying it – despite the initial inconvenience. It is nice to know that your company believes in quality of construction. As a homeowner who is new to all things construction, nothing is more frustrating than making a purchase only to have to replace an item down the road. In the case of a bathtub, this replacement would be very costly and time consuming. The sacrifice of a short delay on the finished job is nothing compared to what could have been an enormous disaster in the future.
    Thanks LEVCO,
    A satisfied remodel customer

    Reply
    • <div class="apbct-real-user-wrapper">
    <div class="apbct-real-user-author-name">Joe Levitch</div>
    <div class="apbct-real-user-badge" onmouseover="
            let popup = document.getElementById('apbct_trp_comment_id_207');
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            <div class="apbct-real-user-title">
                <p class="apbct-real-user-popup-header">The Real Person!</p>
                <p class="apbct-real-user-popup-text">Author <b>Joe Levitch</b> acts as a real person and passed all tests against spambots. Anti-Spam by CleanTalk.</p>
            </div>
        </div>
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      You are very welcome. I have found that there is no way to achieve this level of satisfaction without a problem to overcome.

      Reply
    • Maggie

      I’m quite pleased with the infomraiotn in this one. TY!

      Reply

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