The Contractor from HELL Part 2
Did you read this post about my contractor from hell?
Well, the saga continues......
The last anything got done on the porch was May 21 when the contractor took the blocks of cement off the driveway. He told me he would have guys there on Friday, May 25 to frame the porch. After the framing, our town would have to come inspect before pouring the concrete.
Would you like to take a guess at what happened next?
I get three calls on Friday. Each time I was told it doesn't take long to frame and the guy would be there. At 4:30PM the guy was at a job over one hour away and would be by after that job to frame it out. Uh-huh....
Saturday morning....Mr. Incompetent Contractor calls and says the guy doesn't want to work Monday due to the holiday and would give me a ring Monday to let me know what time on Tuesday the guy will show up.
Monday. It is now May 28. Our porch was torn up on May 14 and we have had no progress since then. On Monday, I receive a call from a "friend" on behalf of Mr. Incompetent Contractor. Mr. IC had to leave town and go to FL suddenly because his grandfather needed either knee replacement surgery or hip replacement surgery and would call me when he gets back into town.
You can only imagine the thoughts running through my head. This guy has now left with a significant amount of our money.....
I still am not sure what to do. Do I trust this guy at this point in hopes the job actually gets done? Do I file a lawsuit or lien to get my money back and use another contractor? Do I call someone else to finish the job, lose more money in hopes I can recover what I had paid to this asshole? I just don't know.
What I do know is we have paid $4,100 to this guy plus $255 for the building permit ($200 we do get back once the job is done) on a $4,800 job. Our porch was torn up over 3 weeks ago and nothing more had been done. It took over a week to get the concrete blocks off the driveway and this contractor can't get workers to our job site and then leaves town.
Pissed is NOTHING compared to what I am feeling!
posted by RollerCoaster @ 8:18 PM
7 Comments:
MAN OH MAN! That's SSSOO lame! I can't believe that there's not more you can do against crappy contactors like that. Is there any wording in your contract that states when the job would be done?
Write a letter to Mr. IC spelling out the service you have received, and his latest promise to have the work done by such & such a date. Cross-copy the better business bureau. The cross-copy usually makes things happen quickly. If it doesn't, at least you have created a paper trail.
YIKES. I would be really ticked too. No idea what you can do... but maybe just a call saying you are considering your options will light a fire under him? Hope his excuse was real and he gets it in gear and makes some serious progress next week!
I agree with Nicole, is there a date on your contract when it's to be done.
Maybe call him and say that is this job is not done by such and such a date that you will proceed with legal action, and stand firm with that date.
What a mess, soory you have to deal with this.
That really, really sucks. I hate when people take advantage of people just because they sense they can get away with it. I don't have any great suggestions - though I would say unfortunately you should maybe hold off on hiring someone else at least for maybe another couple of weeks. But if you don't get progress from him by then, definitely look into a lawsuit/lien - maybe that would propel him into action, though at this point I doubt he'll do a decent job. But boy, that's a lot of money to give up on. Hopefully you can find someone who can give you some expert advice. Ugh - hang in there!!!
Ouch..that sucks. I wasnt hoping it wouldnt lead to something like this. Im sure you are rightfully furious. Ive had a very bad feeling aboout this contractor since you first mentioned him. Ive seen people who operate like him before. Yikes.
Sorry you are going throught hat.
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