Richard’s Ramblings

The two teams consisting of Apollo Johnsen (owner of HVAC service companies Day and Night Furnace Company and The Furnace Company) and his two expert witnesses, and Kim and I and our CSLB-appointed expert witness all attended an arbitration hearing today to settle the matter once and for all; whatever decision the arbitrator makes is final and binding. There was a small amount of emotion displayed on both sides (both frustrated that the matter has gone on for so long), but the matter is no longer in our hands; it is now up to the arbitrator.

The entire process was extremely stressful and nerve-wracking, although it would have been much worse in a courtroom-like setting — this was held in a spare conference room in a low-key regional government building. Informal enough that I inadvertently addressed the arbitrator by her first name, and formal enough that I was reprimanded for it; trust me, I didn’t make that same mistake twice! I was not cut out to be an attorney; I was so frustratingly shaky and dry-mouthed (although part of that was lack of a proper lunch; being hypoglycemic is sometimes a bìtçh) that I had difficulty focusing, thankfully relying on my well-prepared notes to keep me grounded.

I believe both parties had a very good opportunity to present their versions of the facts — even though the validity of the facts were questioned by both sides. The arbitration process seems quite fair. As expected, the Day and Night Furnace (aka The Furnace Company) team questioned the validity of the testimony and fact findings of the Contractors State License Board official witness. Most of the rest of his case centered around the fact that I had signed off his work as satisfactorily completed. His approach was a bit bizarre at times, though — I’m quite convinced that his claiming that I had secretly fixed the air conditioning system and therefore did not have to suffer through what he himself called “the hottest two summers in years” was not a particularly good strategy on his part. I was also somewhat intrigued by his unsubstantiated accusation that we had several old open permits on our house and that we somehow use the permitting system against contractors (my words; I can’t recall his exact statement). I wish he’d brought copies since I’m not aware of any open permits; looks like I need to make a trip to the appropriate government office. Many of the points raised on both sides were of the he-said, he-said variety in that there was no way to prove anything. Such is life.

Reactions to my complaints aside, one of the other issues raised by Apollo was this website and the fact that I had apparently displayed personal information about his wife. I had no idea that any information that I had presented about the address histories freely available by searching Google had anything to do with his wife; no females that I listed shared any last name with Apollo that I could see. I clearly did not intend to bring family members into the fray. Since I can certainly understand where that could be a significant issue (having had someone harass our own family for years, far beyond the scale of an inadvertent mention) I apologized for publishing anything that might have been considered personal, and volunteered to remove the information as soon as I arrived home — which I have done, limiting the potentially offending June 6, 2007, comment only to addresses and phone numbers directly associated with the business contact information of either Day and Night Furnace Company or The Furnace Company, and not tracing that information to any specific individuals — even those readily available through Google search results. Eh, whatever. Not that any of the information previously posted was private. Home ownership is public record. The information is out there already; if you know how to do basic Googling, you can find anything, too.

Speaking of which, he took umbrage with the fact that searching his name on Google showed my complaints about his company at the top of the list. Shucks, don’t look at me. I don’t control Google. And it’s not like I didn’t warn him about the possibility…

He also didn’t like that fact that I mentioned here on my website that I declared my wish that he lose his license. (For some reason I think I forgot to address that point during arbitration.) Well, duh! Of course, I wouldn’t be very upset if he lost his license! I wholeheartedly believe that we were wronged by him, and I equally believe many other less-empowered, less-vocal homeowners have been wronged by him, and I don’t think he should be allowed to work in construction anymore. That said, I have perhaps an unjust belief in humankind that says maybe, just maybe he has learned something, has taken a long look at the situation, has realized that homeowners aren’t prey, that a new leaf could have grown and turned. But, then again, I believe in Santa Claus…

Not unlike here — I did most of the talking. If judgment were based solely on preparedness, I would win hands down; he came with an unorganized smattering of photocopied manuals and online articles that he did not fully address other than passing them out in triplicate (the copy handed to me was missing at least one page) and chatting randomly about various points in several of them. I, on the other hand, have spent far more time in my life preparing for this than I would have ever cared to — unleashing a highly organized, 76-page packet (probably larger), complete with no fewer than 17 exhibits. The tree that died for this dispute allowed me to bring two additional backup copies, just in case. Considering that I’d never read a letter of contractor law prior to June 18, 2005, I took offhand comments by Apollo that I “certainly like to write” and that I “know the law very well, having quoted most of it” in my evidence packet as compliments (although he clearly did not intend them to be taken as such). No, I do not plan on releasing or publishing the packet, so don’t ask.

In some respects, I wish the arbitration process was over a two-day period. So many rebuttals and legal points to countermand his points have come to mind that I could have certainly solidified my case further. But, also not sure I would have been able to mentally cope with a second day and the stresses it would bring.

No matter what the outcome, I’m just glad it’s over, barring anything unusual and unexpected. I am satisfied that I did the best job possible at presenting my case. Just to remove something from the cloud of çráp that I have to do with, I almost don’t care what the outcome is — although I may not agree tomorrow after some much-needed rest! If we are awarded nothing, I am OK with that. If we are awarded a paltry sum far below expectations, that, too, I would be fine with. If we are awarded something and he chooses not to honor the award, that’s OK, too — almost better, in fact, because the nonpayment of award will cause the outcome of dispute to be public record.

Speaking of which, whenever final closure comes around (in theory, within 30 days), I will not be spilling detailed beans because I don’t believe the nitty-gritty details of an award (if any) is a public matter. However, I will let you know if I am pleased with the outcome or not, and possibly how pleased or not. Other than whatever unknown final outcome awaits, my public openness in this matter constitutes a teaching tool that many can hopefully learn and benefit from. Feel screwed by a contractor? Don’t just sit there and take it. Don’t wait for the next homeowner to take action. Do something about it yourself. And share with us the lessons you’ve learned while on the unavoidably painful ride.

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