I know that many people have had problems with contractors, indeed it has become almost a cliché. However, you seem to have gone out of your way to prove yourself the bottom of the pile. A few words of advice for future jobs.
Payment: If you and a customer agree on a percentage down, and a percentage when the job is done, it is not good form to hit the customer up for "money to pay the employees" less than halfway through the job. Especially when you try to hit him up for the balance less than a week later because of "unexpected expenses".
Corollary: Your girlfriend’s car catching on fire is not an expense that the customer has to worry about. If you want money to pay for that, finish the job and the customer will gladly give you money.
About those employees of yours: Telling the customer that they are running out of things to do when there are obviously quite a few things left undone is not going to endear you to the customer. If the customer works less than ten minutes from the job site, he may pop by on his lunch hour. Chances are he may not like finding the house wide open with no one there, and no work having been done in the last three days. For additional fun, tell him you had no idea that your employees weren’t there.
More fun with employees: If you mention that your employees also paint, and the the customer tells you that he will do that, just finish the job at hand, he really does NOT want to come into the house and find that your employees have decided to tear curtain rods off of the walls, and tear picture hanging screws out with claw hammers. It does not make the customer want to pay you or your employees when you claim they must have done all of this damage when you weren’t supervising them.
Running around like a hummingbird on speed not concentrating on the task at hand, not supervising that pack of nincompoops you see fit to hire, asking for money when the job isn't finished, and causing damage to the house not related to the job. If you want to know why you were fired from the job, take a look.
Side note to any contractors who may be dopers, or who may read this. I know that most of you are professionals with employees you can actually do the job. However right now my house brings to mind a quote from Firefly:
“Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys, maybe got loose?”
How’s the firing work in this situation? He keeps the down payment you gave him, but you give him no more money? Do you charge him for the damage and request that he pay you after you’ve fired him? Do you count your loses and just find a better contractor?
If the contractor isn’t stupid (which, um, doesn’t seem to be the case), then the contract has call-outs for what constitutes how much of the job is complete - pouring concrete is 25%, laying flooring is 10%, etc. Presumably, the OP would owe the contractor for the percentage of the job completed, minus damages.
But I have a question for you. What would you have thought If the contractor had built the proposal with a payout structure like 40/30/20/10 rather than 50/50 or whatever your #'s were?
He could have put several progress points/payout times to fund the job “as it goes”.
Would you have felt comfortable with a payout schedule like that?
I’d like to know how to fire a contractor, too. If he did a shitty job, for instance. And you fire him. Do you get your original payment back because the whole job wasn’t completed? Or do you just fire him and take him to court?
I’ve had good luck and bad with contractors. My worst experiences were with friends and family. I’d prefer to use strangers all the time.
We had initially agreed on "part down, the rest when finished". When his girlfriend's car "blew up" he started asking me to give him more of the money. He was attempting to change the agreement during the job.
Honestly, I prefer the 50/50 or even 60/40 method of payment. I really don't want to have to show up to the job site wiriting checks every week. Also with some contractors I have dealt with, (and I would include this bozo) the fact that they don't get the bulk of their money untill they are finished, is the only thing that makes them get done in anything resembling a timely manner. I know of people who have had contractors start on their house,and then suddenly get another, better paying, job causing them to let the origional customer's house sit for several weeks with work undone
When I let this guy go. I basicly told him what I was going to pay him. I arrived at the figure by taking the work he had done, and subtracting what I belived it would cost to repair the damage.
And I think that every time you make a blanket statement like this, and you make quite a few of them, Trunk, you display how big of an arrogant twit you are.
Yeah, it’s an industry wide problem from what I can tell. He should not be trying to change the terms of agreement any more than you should. That’s why we start with an agreement in the first place right?
If more good contractors built realistic contracts including timelines, payout structures, budget figures, scope of work descriptions, change order plans, and then just stuck to them the industry would so much be better off.
Far too often I see contractors over promising on timelines and budget figures to “get their foot in the door” then building payout structures they know are not going to work. That starts up a sort of three card Monty of money shuffling where they have to case money from job to job for materials, labor, etc. to jobs that are not completed. The reason they don’t show up often is because they need to start another job to collect enough money for materials on your job. :eek:
Only solid referrals, recommendations, and strong communication skills can allow the truly professional contractor to rise above the other bids that promise faster turn arounds, better pricing, and whatever it takes to get the deal promises from so many other competitors willing to “wheel and deal”. So the field winds up saturated with less than stellar contractors. They lack the personal skills to recognize their weaknesses business wise and in communication skills.
If you think that’s bad do yourself a favor and never look at what’s going on with new home construction. It’s a horror show.
IANAL, but IAAC. Regulations vary from state to state. Firing a contractor typically involves having to show cause, and in some locations, you may have to allow the contractor the opportunity to take corrective action.
How the payments shake out depends on the situation. If your first payment was for materials and they have been delivered and partially or completely installed, I’d doubt you’ll get that payment returned. If workmanship is defective, not in accord with the contract/proposal, or was rejected by the AHJ, and the contractor is unwilling to take remediative action, then you’re forced to get the court involved. That said, you shouldn’t pay until the job is done and any inspections have been cleared.