Normally I would agree with you, because your comments are exactly the attitude I used with a contractor on my house…I made sure to keep him and his workers happy…I didnt argue with him over prices (well, not much!), I gave his employees cash tips,etc…because to me it was worth paying a little extra for the peace of mind that my house would be perfect.
But–and it’s a BIG but…my contractor was also perfectly honest with me (well, as far as I could tell)
I’m sure he overcharged for certain materials, but he was always on time and on schedule.
In your case, you know he is not being honest with you…he’s cashed your check, but not bought the materials. Be careful.
Once again, it’s hard to know. Either he’s actually busy or he’s buying himself another week to come up with the cash to buy the materials that you pre-paid for but he never bought. Or both.
The fact that the materials weren’t already delivered to you back in July belies his “Let’s buy the materials now before the prices go up” reasoning for wanting cash upfront.
I don’t envy you.
On a positive note, we lucked out by hiring a terrific contractor who is not only getting the job done quickly, but he’s great at communicating. He routinely sends photos of his progress.
And, no, I’m not giving anyone his number. Good contractors are like babysitters. You hoard them.
Jeff is going to have a hard time dropping off the materials if he hasn’t bought them and I will guarantee you your money has already been spent. Jeff is scrambling at this point. I think you had better get ready to pull the legal trigger. It might also behoove you to search your state legal case database to see if there are judgements or actions pending under his name.
I agree; he never purchased the materials back in June. (And at the time he said he did.) I will be pleasantly shock if the materials arrive this Saturday.
I checked our county and an adjacent county. I didn’t find any civil cases. The only significant criminal case I found was from June 2015. He pleaded guilty to “driving under suspension” due to not paying child support. He was fined $142. According to the online case info, he still hasn’t paid the fine.
I hate to say it, but I’m almost positive you’ve been scammed. I went through a similar thing a couple of years ago and I’m still extremely embarrassed about it, though I got most of the money back. The asshole was taking down payments from people and gambling the money away.
At this point, I would first contact your bank and see if they can do anything about getting your funds back and tell them you believe you are a victim of fraud. See what they have to say. That won’t cost you a thing and only a phone call, and make sure you speak to someone who is in management there, not a teller or something who will tell you anything to get rid of you.
Do talk with an attorney, and find out if it’s worth going after this guy or not. Sometimes a letter from an attorney will convince this guy he needs to pay you back the money.
Don’t worry about if he bought materials or not, that’s his problem. And I wouldn’t permit him to do the work, because it’s doubtful he is going to do a good job, because at this point the money has been spent and he feels like he’s doing you a favor instead of what you paid for. In his mind, he has to come over and work for free to do this job. I know this doesn’t make sense, but to poorly run business people they chase the people giving them checks.
When it comes to skilled labor, you should pay the going rate for high quality workmanship. Getting someone who does this on the weekend or charges less than everyone else is going through stress all the time and I can’t see how they could do a good job. The other thing to consider, what if there is a problem with the work? Do you really believe this person is going to rush out there and take care of the problem if you can’t even get him to show up to do the job?
Material was not delivered yesterday. Big surprise, huh?
Here’s my plan:
Call Conover Lumber tomorrow. Ask (again) if Jeff ordered the materials, and if he requested the materials be delivered to my home on October 10th.
Assuming he never ordered the materials, I will send Jeff the following FB message: “Jeff, I called Conover Lumber - you never ordered the materials. I will give you 48 hours to return the money I gave you.”
If he does not return the money within 48 hours, I am going to contact the sheriff’s department in our county.
I suppose I can do this. But I really really doubt the bank can do anything.
That’s an interesting approach. I was hoping a felony criminal charge would convince him to return the money, and then drop the charges once he returns it. But is that how it works? I don’t know.
Since he has not actually begun work it may simply be a straight theft/fraud case at this point in which case you can sic the sheriff on him directly. If threatened by you without involving the authorities he will probably try to play you for more time, but I think it’s pretty evident at this point he does not have your money or materials and you really don’t want him doing the job.
I wouldn’t mention the part about calling the police or calling the Lumber Yard. Send him a message demanding your money back, something like “Jeff, the materials didn’t show up as promised, several times. I expect my money to be returned by the end of the day”. Then, if he doesn’t show up, call the police or file a small claims suit, whatever makes sense in your case. If you tell him you’re going to do it, he can be prepared for it. Surprising him will be better.
Also, if the police are willing to handle this, I’d also suggest that you tell them to pass along the message that he’s not allowed on your property. That will prevent him from randomly showing up and attempting to do the work. He may know that doing a half-assed job is totally different then just taking the money and running. If he’s been told he’s not allowed on the property, he can be cited for trespassing (and keep your jobsite locked).
So an hour ago I stopped by Conover Lumber and asked if Jeff had ordered materials. Nope.
When I got home a few minutes ago I found that Jeff had messaged me on FB: Jeff: I’ll have ur metal there this weekend I have been trying to get fought up on these other jobs I’m ordering it this week
Jeff: Cough up and I couldn’t keep it there and me and XXX for got to order it but I will have it there !!!
Crafter_Man: Jeff, I want the materials shipped to me - or the money returned to me in full - by 5 PM on Saturday, October 17, 2015.
Jeff: Ok it will be there I’m sorry just got really swamped
I’m sorry, but at this point you’re a fool. He gave you the perfect out, and you refused to take it. Your response should have been “I’m sorry you’re overwhelmed. I no longer need your services; I expect my money returned in full by 5PM on Tuesday.” This gives him a little extra time to account for the holiday.
All you’ve done is given yourself another week to stress out about it and shown him you’re a pushover. How do you go from siccing the police on him to “oh, sure, take another week!”? You don’t even have confirmation he’ll DO the job this week- only that he’ll have the materials there. How long will you let him string you along?
Well first of all, he is not doing the job regardless of what happens. (I never signed a contract with him.) Secondly, up until this point I never asked for the money to be returned in full, which I think is critical.
But you’re very correct that I have not handled this properly from the get-go. Lots of lessons learned here.
So this Saturday is it. If there’s no money or materials by this Saturday, I’m filing charges first thing Monday morning.
What on Earth is inspiring you to give him another week? It’s the exact same story twice in a row - I’m swamped, but I’ll order the materials and have them delivered next Saturday. There’s no way anything is getting delivered.
