Thieves on the Project Site:
There are a good number of job sites that have experienced theft. Thieves come to a job site and steal whatever they can to resell or recycle. The problem has become out of hand, but we have been fortunate not to have this happen to us… until now. One of our commercial clients asked us to fabricate and install a large grate system in their parking lot where they had a very deep storm water drain vault. Now a project of this nature takes several weeks since the grate system is custom-made to fit specifically in the hole. We do not fabricate the grate systems ourselves but have a local vendor that takes care of this for us and our team of professionals would handle the installation.
On this specific project, we did not provide the measurements for the custom build ourselves, we requested that the sales rep meet us at the site and take the measurements. Once the new grates were fabricated, we picked them up from our supplier and took them straight out to the job site to install the new system. The new grate system was installed. All was well, what could go wrong? Since it was only the installation of the grate system, it was not a full day for the 3 man crew. The crew finished up their work around 1:30 pm and was off site for the day. Later, around 5 pm, some random men stopped into the vendor who had made the grate system and were asking “for their money back” indicating that these new grates did not fit their custom project. What the heck? Less than 6 hours after installation, thieves went to our job site, cut out the grates and returned them to the exact fabrication shop we had ordered them from – trying to get a refund. It just so happened that our sales rep, who took the measurements, was in the shop and recognized the project the thieves brought in – recognized it as “his” project. From his back office he went in to call the police while others at the front of the shop were trying to figure out what was going on. Before the police could show up, the thieves took off, leaving the grate system with the fabricators as they could not get a “refund” on “their” custom project.
After our sales rep called the police, we were his next call. We were shocked to find out that the welded in place, bolted down, custom grate system installed (around noon) to prevent people and animals from falling into a very deep storm water drain vault was stolen before the work day was done. We had to scramble and return to the site to cover the hole with a plywood cover to prevent injury. After some modifications were made to “thief – proof” the grates, we returned to the site to install (hopefully for good) the newly modified grate system. That was the first time we had ever experienced a situation where our “project” was stolen from the job site. Some days things can get a little crazy on a job site, but as long as the project is completed and the client is happy with our work, we’ll take a little crazy now and then – it helps to keep us on our toes.
Until the next interesting story in the Adventures at Wheeler Painting and Restoration Services, be well and do good.