ROTHENBURGER – Why is it that so many trades people don’t return calls?
Lining up at the building supply store. (Image: Mel Rothenburger)
UPDATE: The Kamloops Home Depot store has re-opened today (May 16, 2020).
THE SUDDEN TEMPORARY CLOSURE of the Home Depot store on Hillside Drive this week was a blow to all home handy men and women. The store was shut down for a couple of days for a check on slope stabilization.
I had the honour of sawing a piece of lumber to help officially open that store more than 15 years ago, and it’s been one of my favourite shopping haunts ever since. I’ve always felt I should get some sort of certificate in recognition of the amount of money I spend in the place.
Lineups at other building-supply stores like Rona and Home Hardware probably increased as homeowners went looking elsewhere for widgets, doohickeys and gizmos. Those lineups have already been lengthy and slow-moving during the current crisis as extra precautions are taken against COVID-19.
Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops, former school board chair, former editor of The Kamloops Daily News, and a current director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He was awarded the Jack Webster Foundation’s lifetime achievement award in 2011 and was a 2019 Commentator of the Year finalist in the Webster Awards. His editorials are published Monday through Thursdays, and Saturdays on CFJC Today, CFJC Midday and CFJC Evening News. Contact him at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
While it is the case many service providers are only “in for the money”, it is also obvious most people don’t understand the value of “relationship”…when you find a good provider (they are out there) don’t “nickle and dime them” obsessively. Nor bore them with pretending of a firm quote as the scope of work can often change unexpectedly.