ACROSS the Board By Patrick Adams
I’m a sucker ’ that I find myself speechless. Caught truly flat footed where all the signs point one direction and in spite of that, I went the other way. This is going to be a rant that I’m sure will have all of you shaking your head in the disappointment of how naive I apparently am. I’ll try to keep it brief. It started one morning after my 4:00 a.m. workout. I noticed a crack in the drywall and I thought, did we have an earthquake That led me to notice cabinet base moulding in the kitchen separating and our wood floor starting to get darker in an area near the fridge. Fast forward two hours later and the plumber says I have a leaking ice-maker supply line and should call a remediation company. Remediation is now on site and says it’s not a little fix and I should call insurance. Here’s what will make you laugh I have always been “responsible” and had additional coverage through top tier companies for that “emergency.” In all of our years, we have NEVER had an insurance claim of any sort. Something small I figured was simply my responsibility. I always imagined if that day happened when I called insurance that I would go something like this: “Oh, Mr. Adams, I’m so sorry this happened to you and your family. But don’t worry, you’ve got a great policy and we’re going to take care of everything for you” Well, reality hit me squarely in the face. The first response was, “You have a $2,000 deductible and I would suggest that you pay out of pocket because wildfires have made it hard to get insurance in your area.” Remediation did their jobs which left us with no kitchen, our fridge in the garage, and a coffee maker, toaster and microwave in the laundry room along with an estimate of about $120,000 and three to five months to get my home back to where it was as they would have to replace all of the wood floors, cabinets, etc. Several more calls (no visits) just extended on the insurance company’s opening shot with them implying they would not cover anything because their impression is that the “ leak has been happening for more than 24 hours.” I asked where that was in my policy and the response was “ it states a reasonable time’ and we determine that to be 24 hours.” As I write this, we are five weeks and counting without a decision from insurance. So here we are with something I’m legally obligated to have, pay for to be “responsible” all of these years and may still be left with the full bill to pay because apparently, I am supposed to inspect my entire house every 24 hours so I can find the first drop of water, videotape it at that time, and
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immediately take steps to minimize the damage (insurance’s words, not mine). At the end of the day, this is what I call a “first world problem.” My family has their health, we are employed and can provide, and we have a home (minus a kitchen). But, it is a disappointing realization when you discover that “like a good neighbor, I’ll be there” is really just a slogan and not the foundational value of an organization. This is why I left my past lives because corporate spreadsheets and politics of the moment became more important than people and delivering on what you say you’ll do. To me, even if you’re focused on the spreadsheet their strategy is short sighted. They have lost a customer forever and worst, anyone who ever asks me about them will hear my story. Perhaps I’m a sucker more because I believe the world is still a place that may only exist in my imagination. Maybe I’m a sucker to lead our organization to focus on a business of “service” to our industry, readers and clients. That things always work out over the long haul by doing the right thing, even if there isn’t a column on the spreadsheet to account for it. It’s not just my present situation I see this happening over and over again with one time “important, valuable people” being discarded once they are no longer valuable in the moment. As I write this I am now smiling a bit. Maybe being a sucker isn’t all bad because it means I still have hope that good will prevail. That there are still honorable people out there who are suckers just like me. We may not end up with all of the “gold,” but to me there are things more valuable and they allow me sleep peacefully at night. Rest easy if you’re one of those “sucker good guys” and also, remember that next month as we prepare for next year’s 100 year anniversary, that I’m going to ask a couple favors from each of you
Patrick S. Adams Publisher/President padams 526mediagroup.com
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n Building Products Digest n October 2021
Building-Products.com
