Cohousing-L Mailing List: Round 2 - Response to Building 7 owners about exterior door colors

[DEL HOLLAND (delholland]

Fellow Managers,

Here’s a next stab at this.  I have not said either that no errors were made or 
that we will not replace the doors.  Maybe don’t need to?  I think we need to 
get this out fairly soon.  At TT, Nan heard an earful of the wound up venting 
about the doors from Cile and Aidan.

I’ve again pasted the original email from the buyers to set the context and 
then below the line of &&&&&&&& my proposed response in magenta.

Dear Del and Members of B&I,

The buyers moving into Building 7 would like to express frustration with how 
the exterior doors to our units have been handled.  

A couple of months ago we were asked to choose colors for our doors—as most 
others in the community have done—providing for a colorful visual as well as 
individual expression. We were excited to do so and happy with how the colors 
we chose blended with our interior color schemes and/or with the way the color 
pattern echoed what others in the community had done. 

You can imagine our disappointment when we were told last week that there had 
been an error in ordering the doors—and that black is now the only choice 
available to us. The fact that the doors were installed without our consent 
seems to be common practice for this contractor—that is, this is not the first 
time items have been installed (without our consent), and then (post 
installation) we were asked for approval and payment.
 
We are writing to ask you where the error with the doors occurred, because if 
it is with the vendor, we could inquire as to whether the vendor would be 
willing to work with us to compensate in some way for their mistake. As is 
common business practice, we feel that the vendor should either pay for the 
mistake or correct the error, providing us with the colored doors we originally 
ordered.  We (Building 7 folks and ICCH) should not be left with the bill nor 
an unwanted product. Additionally, expecting us to paint over the black doors 
is not satisfactory as we would be getting an inferior product—less durable and 
less attractive.
 
We do not want this correction to interfere with our move-in date. So if the 
doors cannot be replaced before that time, we would be fine with having them 
replaced at a later date—as long as we are assured the replacement will happen 
in a timely fashion.
 
Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. 
Victory, Chris, Cecile, and Aidan

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

At the Last Inners meeting, last Friday, we talked about the black, factory 
finished exterior doors.  I'm sorry there was a misunderstanding about what 
options were available from the factory.  Except for those who wanted black 
doors, all the exterior doors at Prairie Hill have been so-called “field 
painted” to colors that the owners desired.  I have asked Steve to get us 
information about painting the doors.  I will let you know when I have more 
information about the options.

Del