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

[PRIDEWASBETTER]

That's pretty shitty that he didn't tell you how many people were coming out. He still charged you per hour, but it was for total hours among all Techs.

 

[RJ43]

What the hell is this weird world where you do building work on an hourly rate. You give a quote for the job, that's the deal. If you don't know how it's gonna work out you quote higher to cover the uncertainty.

You spoke to him, he said 45 an hour, that is what you owe.

Hourly work is done all the time. Most large scale home projects are done on a T&M basis which is simply an hourly rate by trade times hours worked

This is very common to ensure that the contractor isn’t fleecing the client with a bloated lump sum.

In regards to thread, TS should have gotten a rough estimate of total hours and rate. Now it’s just going to be a pissing match not worth even going to small claims over.

 

[D Train]

Do you really think he's charging his clients $20 an hour for your time? Most likely he's charging them 50+

I doubt it actually. I’m sure he builds in more than $20 into the quote. He’s gotta make money. But I feel pretty certain it’s not not much more.

 

[Phlog]

Hourly work is done all the time. Most large scale home projects are done on a T&M basis which is simply an hourly rate by trade times hours worked

This is very common to ensure that the contractor isn’t fleecing the client with a bloated lump sum.

In regards to thread, TS should have gotten a rough estimate of total hours and rate. Now it’s just going to be a pissing match not worth even going to small claims over.

But then the worker can just go slow? The quote system works because you get several quotes from reputable people. Then if there is anyone taking the piss it's obvious.

 

[I am your real dad]

He told you 45$ an hour ,you agreed,that is it. Its up to him to pay his help not you.

 

[ObamaPhoneLady]

On what planet does the boss pay his assistant the same rate he charges for himself? Tell him to go fuck himself.

It's a couple hundred bucks, not even enough for small claims court. He's SOL.

 

[usmctanker242]

Contractors are the worst with this kind of bullshit. Imagine getting your car repaired and the price is double because multiple mechanics have to work on it at the same time. haha If you quote me $45/hour that's your rate regardless of whomever you choose to bring along. As others have mentioned NOBODY gives a 20 year old kid the same hourly wage as they are making...not a chance. 100% pure bullshit and I just wouldn't pay up.

My advice: do ALL communication via text, voicemail, email, etc...make sure all communication is recorded in some manner and you should be good to go. Also, you not getting a solid quote leaves you very open for this kind of issue. After years of watching Holmes on Homes and other such shows I kind of "learned the easy way" that before any work begins there's a "meeting of the minds" and price is discussed. If it's an estimate it should be in writing...even a text is fine. I had some early issues with people replacing my roof after a hurricane, but since I have everything in writing they had no choice but do exactly what was agreed upon within the contract. I even made those fucks come back and clean up my yard because they left roofing nails everywhere...7 years later I still get nails in my shoes from those idiots not having a dumpster for the old shingles.

Good luck and I hope it works out for you.

 

[SRN]

Take him to small claim court.

 

[newms84]

Contractors are the worst with this kind of bullshit. Imagine getting your car repaired and the price is double because multiple mechanics have to work on it at the same time. haha If you quote me $45/hour that's your rate regardless of whomever you choose to bring along. As others have mentioned NOBODY gives a 20 year old kid the same hourly wage as they are making...not a chance. 100% pure bullshit and I just wouldn't pay up.

My advice: do ALL communication via text, voicemail, email, etc...make sure all communication is recorded in some manner and you should be good to go. Also, you not getting a solid quote leaves you very open for this kind of issue. After years of watching Holmes on Homes and other such shows I kind of "learned the easy way" that before any work begins there's a "meeting of the minds" and price is discussed. If it's an estimate it should be in writing...even a text is fine. I had some early issues with people replacing my roof after a hurricane, but since I have everything in writing they had no choice but do exactly what was agreed upon within the contract. I even made those fucks come back and clean up my yard because they left roofing nails everywhere...7 years later I still get nails in my shoes from those idiots not having a dumpster for the old shingles.

Good luck and I hope it works out for you.

I agree the guy is a shitty contractor but you do have to charge double what you pay your help. Here anyway, liability and workmans compensation are based on hours worked. So if I have a guy working 20 hours at $20 per hour, it doesn't cost me $400, it's really over $600 and that's before the owner of the company makes any money.
The contractor obviously didn't communicate very well at all and you should only pay the agreed upon amount but honestly $90 per hour for work you're satisfied with isn't overly expensive. Two guys from my company would cost $130 per hour but we're in Massachusetts and we get a good rate here

 

[JoeyJoeJoeJr]

Sounds like he doesnt know what hes doing. Pay him 45/hr and thats it

 

[usmctanker242]

I agree the guy is a shitty contractor but you do have to charge double what you pay your help. Here anyway, liability and workmans compensation are based on hours worked. So if I have a guy working 20 hours at $20 per hour, it doesn't cost me $400, it's really over $600 and that's before the owner of the company makes any money.
The contractor obviously didn't communicate very well at all and you should only pay the agreed upon amount but honestly $90 per hour for work you're satisfied with isn't overly expensive. Two guys from my company would cost $130 per hour but we're in Massachusetts and we get a good rate here

This is assuming the guy is licensed and operating above board, but still a great post. I realize that good people who know what they are doing absolutely deserve a decent wage. The flip side is that people of that caliber (I would suspect) wouldn't quote things so haphazardly to a new customer. Who the hell says $45/hour and then brings extra people and expects multiples of $45/hour? It would seem that what they had there was a failure to communicate.

 

[90 50]

For 90 bucks an hour it better of also included a blonde working on me while they worked on the house.

Fuck that. That’s way to high for general labor

 

[IamStryker]

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.

Yes he is obviously just a white american guy like me. He is also a very experienced carpenter who has had this issue with customers in the past.

 

[IamStryker]

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~

Thanks David. I always pay what I owe someone. Would never dream of not paying someone anything. I do want to be treated fairly however and I don't feel he is trying to treat me fairly.

 

[Johnsonville]

Thanks David. I always pay what I owe someone. Would never dream of not paying someone anything. I do want to be treated fairly however and I don't feel he is trying to treat me fairly.

Yah and that's honerable because you'd be surprised how many people try some shit paying. Hope it all works out but you have most of the power is what I'm getting at so you guys can work something out I'm sure

~DaViD~

 

[IamStryker]

In regards to thread, TS should have gotten a rough estimate of total hours and rate. Now it’s just going to be a pissing match not worth even going to small claims over.

Isn't that what he gave me? He said 45 an hour over the course of about two days. I thought that was clear enough and had no idea he would try to charge me separate for the kid he brought with him. If you mean a written estimate/quote then yeah I wish I would have done that. Never again.

 

[bufetadanacara]

I don't see what he did as being that bad. He said his rate was $45 per hour, since he had a helper, it makes sense to charge more.

When I was in highschool, I worked as a carpenter and I was billed out at full carpenters rate despite being paid much less. This is very normal practice.




He sounds very slightly sketchy in my opinion. You sound very inexperienced. I look at this as a miscommunication as much as anything. You saw be had a second person theret didn't it occur to you that $45 pretty hour, for 2 people, was pretty cheap? You could have mentioned it then.

Also, most people would have got various quotes before choosing their contractor.

It would also really help if you told us the total cost and a detailed breakdown of the job. Pictures would be beneficial.

Bottom line is simple, what was the job worth and did he do a good job?

 

[EL CORINTHIAN]

I don't see what he did as being that bad. He said his rate was $45 per hour, since he had a helper, it makes sense to charge more.

When I was in highschool, I worked as a carpenter and I was billed out at full carpenters rate despite being paid much less. This is very normal practice.




He sounds very slightly sketchy in my opinion. You sound very inexperienced. I look at this as a miscommunication as much as anything. You saw be had a second person theret didn't it occur to you that $45 pretty hour, for 2 people, was pretty cheap? You could have mentioned it then.

Also, most people would have got various quotes before choosing their contractor.

It would also really help if you told us the total cost and a detailed breakdown of the job. Pictures would be beneficial.

Bottom line is simple, what was the job worth and did he do a good job?

Yea except no one does business like that. That guy could have brought over 4 people and then all of a sudden you have to pay 4xs the agreed upon rate? No homie, you sound like the inexperienced one here and susceptible to scamming.

Im a landlord and have worked with tons of servicemen over my years. It never works that way.

 

[bufetadanacara]

Yea except no one does business like that. That guy could have brought over 4 people and then all of a sudden you have to pay 4xs the agreed upon rate? No homie, you sound like the inexperienced one here and susceptible to scamming.

Im a landlord and have worked with tons of servicemen over my years. It never works that way.

I wouldn't say I'm inexperienced. I own multiple houses, one which I built about half of myself.

In this case, I would probably have done the work myself. If not, I'd have asked around and for a solid price.

You're right that nobody does business like this, the customer should always do some research and get a proper quote before starting the project.

I still say that I don't think what the guy did is bad. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for now. He said the hourly rate was $45 per hour. He wasn't clear about that being per person. None of that necessarily matters if by having 2 people, he finished much quicker. Besides, as soon as TS saw a second worker, did he just assume he'd got the deal of a century and found carpentry at $22.50 per hour? Come on, he should have said something.


The only thing we need to know is if the final price was fair for the work that was done. For all we know, TS might have got a great deal on this, we don't know that he didn't.

 

[EL CORINTHIAN]

You're right that nobody does business like this, the customer should always do some research and get a proper quote before starting the project.

Yes and the reason you would ask for that quote is because you don't want to get scammed into an agreement you never agreed to in the first place. Legit tradesmen give you prices you will be immediately paying and not alluding to an amount twice that when you agree. TS absolutely should have asked for a quote but let's not be rediculous and sum this up to a miscommunication, this is scammery 101 and once more not how business is done.

I still say that I don't think what the guy did is bad. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for now. He said the hourly rate was $45 per hour. He wasn't clear about that being per person. None of that necessarily matters if by having 2 people, he finished much quicker. Besides, as soon as TS saw a second worker, did he just assume he'd got the deal of a century and found carpentry at $22.50 per

So let me get this straight. The only price point for the job given was an hourly wage of $45 for labour which was agreed upon and because he brought a 20 year old this infers he should have known to pay him the exact same wage if any at all? Not only that but also you think they may have worked hastily perhaps halving the time necessary?

I'll take your word that you have some experience here but I'm not withdrawing the fact that you are prone to scamming with a thought process like that.