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

It's ridiculous to me how immoral people can be.
Thoughts like this make it harder for you to think. Calm down before you act. You can get as bent out of shape as you want, but keep emotion separate.

When vetting contractors, always try to get a personal recommendation from someone you trust or whose work you trust. Without fail, no matter personal rec or not, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS look up online reviews and NEVER forget to consult the Better Business Bureau. That's THREE things you want to check before you think about hiring anyone.
 
So glad I just do all this shit on my own. I've only had Les Schwab try to rip me off one time. I did a suspension rebuild and took my car in there for an alignment and the guy came out telling me my suspension was worn out and needed replacement and that they couldn't align it. Told him to get my car off the rack and proceeded to tell everyone in the waiting room how big of a scam that guy was running before I left.

Also filled the room with uppercuts. Including employees, bystanders and small children.
 
If it’s how you say then forget him lol.

Also it’s very possible hes only paying his helper 15-20 dollars lol if that and pocketing the rest.
 
I have no idea what a "property lien" is
A lien means the house can't be sold without the holder being paid first. If you have a mortgage the bank is a lienholder.

You can lien whether regardless of the amount of equity. But typically 2nd or 3rd have problems if the market value dips
 
I would ask around and find how much the job should cost. If other carpenters agree that its a fair price pay the man, otherwise you are completely in your right not to.
 
In my mind I had already asked what the job was going to cost when he told me $45 an hour and it would take about two days. It's ridiculous to me how immoral people can be.
In your mind? As you can now hopefully see, that wasn't nearly good enough. You need to verbalize shit with other people, especially when you're paying for a service. And if you didn't know, there's a lot of shady contractors out there.
 
If it’s how you say then forget him lol.

Also it’s very possible hes only paying his helper 15-20 dollars lol if that and pocketing the rest.
If he's even getting that, which I seriously doubt..usually a very young helper is getting peanuts, this guy was testing limits and scamming from jump. Homeowner should have checked on him.
 
If he's even getting that, which I seriously doubt..usually a very young helper is getting peanuts, this guy was testing limits and scamming from jump. Homeowner should have checked on him.
Yeah I remember way back in the day when I was young. Made 9$ an hour as a helper when I first started lol.

It’s an unfortunate situation TS should’ve gotten stuff in writing and also checked up on the worker.
 
In your mind? As you can now hopefully see, that wasn't nearly good enough. You need to verbalize shit with other people, especially when you're paying for a service. And if you didn't know, there's a lot of shady contractors out there.

When someone says that their rate is $45 an hour I don't see how that isn't a clear verbalization of what they charge. It really looks like he intended to be deceitful especially now that I have seen that Yelp review of another customer who had the same issue with this guy.
 
Yeah I remember way back in the day when I was young. Made 9$ an hour as a helper when I first started lol.

It’s an unfortunate situation TS should’ve gotten stuff in writing and also checked up on the worker.

I did see some reviews initially (not sure where) and they were all positive. Wish I would have seen that Yelp review before now.
 
When someone says that their rate is $45 an hour I don't see how that isn't a clear verbalization of what they charge. It really looks like he intended to be deceitful especially now that I have seen that Yelp review of another customer who had the same issue with this guy.

When you saw him bring someone else you should have confirmed what was going on. It's ok to check up on someone that is doing work for you.
 
Yeah I remember way back in the day when I was young. Made 9$ an hour as a helper when I first started lol.

It’s an unfortunate situation TS should’ve gotten stuff in writing and also checked up on the worker.
Indeed, it's not a difficult concept but it seems social/communication skills are lacking today. It's like people do what they can to avoid interaction, though maybe I'm reading too far into this situation.
 
I knew absolutely nothing about the kid. I certainly wouldn't have agreed to pay him $45 an hour because he didn't look at all like an experienced carpenter. He appeared to me like a relative of the guy who was helping him out.

The main dude was almost certainly making more than the kid he hired out of that $45. You've got a right to expect a skilled tradesman for that money by the sounds of it.
 
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.
Did he tell you in advance that it was going to be two days of work? If not, then it is possible that it would have taken him alone four days to complete the job.
Edit:
Read the OP and if the days were mentioned up front then he should have brought it to your attention if multiple people were going to be involved on the job.

One other thing OP, did you get any other quotes about it? Don't assume you're going to win a suit. He could try to recover off the contract and secure restitution damages.
 
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If you pay him anything? Get a receipt, ni___a.
 
Did he tell you in advance that it was going to be two days of work? If not, then it is possible that it would have taken him alone four days to complete the job.
Edit:
Read the OP and if the days were mentioned up front then he should have brought it to your attention if multiple people were going to be involved on the job.

It appears he left this out on purpose because why else would he give me an hourly rate and NOT mention that he intended for me to pay that hourly rate to a second person?
 
It appears he left this out on purpose because why else would he give me an hourly rate and NOT mention that he intended for me to pay that hourly rate to a second person?
Is he a native English speaker? Inexperience caused it to slip his mind? Before assuming you got ripped off you should get an idea of what the value of the benefit you received actually was. I edited my reply above explaining how he could still win a suit.
 
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?
  • no contract signed, no possibility of a lien on home.
  • changing the terms of a verbal agreement is the same as violating a verbal agreement.
  • fuck 'em. he can get paid in hell. tell him just that next time he shows up. and make sure you tell him it's the last lawful visit to your home, unless he wants to get shot for trespassing.
  • then go back in the house and file a BBB grievance. be sure to state that he was "menacing and that you felt like he was threatening you". the best part about filing an online BBB grievance, is that it's indexed in Google.
  • if you really want to create a solid backup plan, call the police and "ask for advice" on how to handle a contractor that is trying to "strong arm you for money". be sure to ask for someone in fraud. if the call is assigned to a specific officer, it's recorded in the system. if he wants to visit, let him. act a little scared and a little dodgy. say "if he agrees to leave me alone, i'll give him whatever he wants!"
  • you're welcome.
 
That's shitty and is usually cleared up ahead of time, but not always. You can negotiate the cost of the helper that is common. I hate to give this advice as I am a contractor, but the customer always wins any disputes in court if they even take you up on going to court. If it isn't enough money to go that far I'd bump down his price as low as he will take and just pay and move on. Or you can be a dick and just not pay him

~DaViD~
 
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