Hired a contractor to work on my home. Having a dispute over the price.

IamStryker

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I'm going to try to give a brief overview of what happened. I hired a carpenter to do a repair on my home. When he came out to my house to take a look I knew he wouldn't be able to tell me exactly what it would cost so I asked him what his hourly rate was and about how long he expected it would take. He told me that he charged $45 an hour and expected the job to take around 2 days. He didn't give me any more information than that and he never had me sign any type of contract. I thought that was a little odd but I liked him overall and didn't think this would be an issue. He then showed up to do the work and had a young kid with him. Looked to be around 20 years old. Could have been slightly younger or slightly older I have no idea. I didn't think much of it other than that I didn't know he was bringing assistance. They completed the job over the course of 3 trips which ended up to be 20 hours of work in total. They did a good job and I had no complaint other than it felt like he wasn't communicating with me very much. I would have expected someone in his position to communicate more with me on how long the job was taking and maybe give updates on the cost. He didn't do much of that and I was just trying to stay out of he way as they were working outside in cold weather and I knew that it wasn't easy work. Anyways when they finished the job they just disappeared and didn't say anything to me although I was in the house and told them I was around. A few days later I get an email with the price and it was literally double the amount I was expecting it to be. Why was it double? Because he didn't just charge me $45 an hour. He charged me $45 an hour for him AND his young assistant each. I found this to be very unfair as this was not communicated to me at all, at any point. I was only ever told that it would cost me $45 an hour and it would take two days. I wasn't told when he came out that he would even be bringing someone else. Was I really supposed to assume that I was paying that amount for each person who came out to do the work? I feel that I wasn't treated fairly here and I'm trying to figure out how to handle it with him.

TLDR

-Was told the repair would cost 45 an hour over two days. I was not told that he would be bringing anyone else out to do the work.

-I was then charged $45 an hour for two separate people which was never communicated to me and no contract was signed.

I know I made the mistake of not getting a real quote on the job but should I have
to pay twice as much as I was expecting to pay based on what he told me?

------------------------
UPDATE

So I had been waiting on a response from this guy since yesterday when I emailed him back explaining my issues with the price. He got back to me today and simply said that he was updating the invoice to the $980 that I was expecting to pay and then briefly remarked that the $45 an hour was for total man hours. I am happy that we are now in agreement I just found this whole thing to be very strange. I wouldn't expct someone who did nothing wrong here to just give in so quickly and lower the bill by $900. Whatever, I'm happy it's over and I will never let this crap happen again. Signed contract and written quotes from now on.

Thanks for the advice everyone. You all made me feel better about it which I wasn't really expecting. Sherdog can be a great place sometimes.
 
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What type of repair did he do?
 
He should have told you $90 an hour then. It's his fault and I wouldn't pay.
 
If the other individuals were doing work, I don't see what the problem is. It's not like one person would have finished the job in the same amount of time as two people. In the future, if you haven't worked with someone you should try to get an upper bound of the price.
 
I'm going to try to give a brief overview of what happened. I hired a carpenter to do a repair on my home. When he came out to my house to take a look I knew he wouldn't be able to tell me exactly what it would cost so I asked him what his hourly rate was and about how long he expected it would take. He told me that he charged $45 an hour and expected the job to take around 2 days. He didn't give me any more information than that and he never had me sign any type of contract. I thought that was a little odd but I liked him overall and didn't think this would be an issue. He then showed up to do the work and had a young kid with him. Looked to be around 20 years old. Could have been slightly younger or slightly older I have no idea. I didn't think much of it other than that I didn't know he was bringing assistance. They completed the job over the course of 3 trips which ended up to be 20 hours of work in total. They did a good job and I had no complaint other than it felt like he wasn't communicating with me very much. I would have expected someone in his position to communicate more with me on how long the job was taking and maybe give updates on the cost. He didn't do much of that and I was just trying to stay out of he way as they were working outside in cold weather and I knew that it wasn't easy work. Anyways when they finished the job they just disappeared and didn't say anything to me although I was in the house and told them I was around. A few days later I get an email with the price and it was literally double the amount I was expecting it to be. Why was it double? Because he didn't just charge me $45 an hour. He charged me $45 an hour for him AND his young assistant each. I found this to be very unfair as this was not communicated to me at all, at any point. I was only ever told that it would cost me $45 an hour and it would take two days. I wasn't told when he came out that he would even be bringing someone else. Was I really supposed to assume that I was paying that amount for each person who came out to do the work? I feel that I wasn't treated fairly here and I'm trying to figure out how to handle it with him.

TLDR

-Was told the repair would cost 45 an hour over two days. I was not told that he would be bringing anyone else out to do the work.

-I was then charged $45 an hour for two separate people which was never communicated to me and no contract was signed.

I know I made the mistake of not getting a real quote on the job but should I have to pay twice as much as I was expecting to pay based on what he told me?
Tell him you'll pay for the other guy on the basis that you have no idea what he did other than that he was a general laborer which would net him 20/hr, Carpenters are going to be around that price for side jobs per hour, sometimes you do need 2 of them at the most but that's when building a house from the foundation to the frame to the roof. Most of these fucks doing side jobs do this type of bullshit , white trash and illegals tend to be the worst offenders. The south Americans that worked on our house don't really like mexican's for this reason, but that's another story. He's supposed to give you a pretty good estimate for the labor charges if you paid for all the materials.
 
Tell him you'll pay for the other guy on the basis that you have no idea what he did other than that he was a general laborer which would net him 20/hr, Carpenters are going to be around that price for side jobs per hour, sometimes you do need 2 of them at the most but that's when building a house from the foundation to the frame to the roof. Most of these fucks doing side jobs do this type of bullshit , white trash and illegals tend to be the worst offenders. The south Americans that worked on our house don't really like mexican's for this reason, but that's another story. He's supposed to give you a pretty good estimate for the labor charges if you paid for all the materials.

I forgot to mention the materials. He got those himself and what he charged me for them was perfectly fine. I have no complaints with how he did the job other than trying to charge me for the other person.
 
If the other individuals were doing work, I don't see what the problem is. It's not like one person would have finished the job in the same amount of time as two people. In the future, if you haven't worked with someone you should try to get an upper bound of the price.

Your first point makes sense and that did cross my mind but this wasn't communicated to me at all. If I would have been told at all that I was really going to be paying $90 an hour over two days of work I would have looked elsewhere to see if I can find a better price. That is the heart of the issue.
 
I'm going to try to give a brief overview of what happened. I hired a carpenter to do a repair on my home. When he came out to my house to take a look I knew he wouldn't be able to tell me exactly what it would cost so I asked him what his hourly rate was and about how long he expected it would take. He told me that he charged $45 an hour and expected the job to take around 2 days. He didn't give me any more information than that and he never had me sign any type of contract. I thought that was a little odd but I liked him overall and didn't think this would be an issue. He then showed up to do the work and had a young kid with him. Looked to be around 20 years old. Could have been slightly younger or slightly older I have no idea. I didn't think much of it other than that I didn't know he was bringing assistance. They completed the job over the course of 3 trips which ended up to be 20 hours of work in total. They did a good job and I had no complaint other than it felt like he wasn't communicating with me very much. I would have expected someone in his position to communicate more with me on how long the job was taking and maybe give updates on the cost. He didn't do much of that and I was just trying to stay out of he way as they were working outside in cold weather and I knew that it wasn't easy work. Anyways when they finished the job they just disappeared and didn't say anything to me although I was in the house and told them I was around. A few days later I get an email with the price and it was literally double the amount I was expecting it to be. Why was it double? Because he didn't just charge me $45 an hour. He charged me $45 an hour for him AND his young assistant each. I found this to be very unfair as this was not communicated to me at all, at any point. I was only ever told that it would cost me $45 an hour and it would take two days. I wasn't told when he came out that he would even be bringing someone else. Was I really supposed to assume that I was paying that amount for each person who came out to do the work? I feel that I wasn't treated fairly here and I'm trying to figure out how to handle it with him.

TLDR

-Was told the repair would cost 45 an hour over two days. I was not told that he would be bringing anyone else out to do the work.

-I was then charged $45 an hour for two separate people which was never communicated to me and no contract was signed.

I know I made the mistake of not getting a real quote on the job but should I have to pay twice as much as I was expecting to pay based on what he told me?

<{cuts}>
 
The real question is what is he gonna do if you don't pay?
 
By the way his bill didn't include any kind of taxes. Is that normal or is that a red flag?
 
The real question is what is he gonna do if you don't pay?

I have wondered that myself. I do fully intend to pay him what I was told the job would cost initially. But I don't think he will agree to that and I'm not sure what he will do.
 
he is trying to scam you, so definitely don't pay that. your original verbal contract is $45 / hour to hire him and his business. who he hires is them on him. NOBODY conducts business this way by terming it "$45 an hour" and then meaning that applies to everyone.

if you had a crew of 12, you tell the person hiring you either what the overall estimate is (which is how it's supposed to be done) or an hourly that the BUSINESS will charge.

tell him you will pay him the agreed upon rate and hours. if he wanted double that, then it should've been a $90 an hour term. let him take you to small claims if he has to, you are not acting unreasonable. let a small claims judge make the decision.

if you want to avoid court, you could make him an offer over the agreed upon price, but do not agree to double. don't let it hassle you, small claims is not that big a deal. but be firm about it, tell the guy either (1) take our deal or take me to court, or (2) offer him a slightly better than the original deal but significantly less than what he wants. that's my advice.
 
The fact he didn't tell you it's $45 EACH person is bullshit, I'd refuse to pay anything but the price you both agreed on. What's he gonna do if you don't pay up?
 
if you had a crew of 12, you tell the person hiring you either what the overall estimate is (which is how it's supposed to be done) or an hourly that the BUSINESS will charge.
.

I have very little experience in hiring contractors but what you said here is exactly what I was thinking about the situation and why I don't feel I am being treated fairly.
 
This is crazy talk. He said 45/hr. He should have told you it was per person and that he was bringing in someone else. He didn't say either of those things.
 
I wouldn't pay him, or I'd pay him just the $45 he quoted you for originally.

I'm sure most tradies are fine, but fuck there are so many of them that are dodgy like this and are lazy on top. I'd be way more inclined to try and learn whatever it is I'm supposed to be hiring them for before actually hiring them.
 
btw i'm sure we are all curious how this resolves so keep the thread updated if you can.
 
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