You had the WRONG company doing the job. That IS what I do. Actually I dont do the physical labor myself any more, but I used to. Installing a couple of cooler boxes and a freezer in a new store about 12 hours.
A few years ago I replaced all of the display/self service coolers in a few food world stores in North Alabama (Similar in size to Kroger or Publix) If we didnt have the job finished in 48 hours from start to finish we lost our asses on the job. (Thats take out the old and install the new, WORKING) 48HOURS
I could fill a 10000 sq ft store with all the refrigeration equipment and shelving you can get in it and have everything at operating temp in 3 days with 3 helpers (big strong helpers)