I have a customer that has been a pain in the ___ for a while now and I received a letter saying that a complaint has been filed against me. Not what was said or the nature of the compalint just that a complaint was filed. I live in California where all contractors are considered scum and criminals so the deck is already stacked against me. Problem is I feel I have done nothing wrong. Customer signed a contract & did not read it. I know this because she said that very phrase to me. She thought that some work was going to be done which was not listed in the contract. It wasn’t and when I told her so she agreed (verbally) to the additional cost so we started demolition phase and I sent the proposal over. Then she started saying, “well why did you start the demo phase?” Becuase you told us to. You agreed to the additional costs outlined in the proposal. “Well I don’t think that I should have to pay that additional cost.” Well we cannot work for free.
I could go on and on but you see what I am saying. If I felt in any way responsible for the work then I would have done it. Unfortunately I am not independantly wealthy and I cannot afford to give away free jobs. What should I do now? Obviously she wants money, which by the way we offered her already but she refused. My reasoning for doing that was to avoid a situation such as this. I cannot risk losing my license over this since without one I cannot work in the state. Nor do I want a complaint listed against my license. That’s like being a convicted criminal. It doesn’t go away. No matter how minor the charge is it is still there and that could be a potential loss of business in the computer savy world we live in now. All you have to do is enter the license # and a search can be done.
Should I offer money and settle or try and prove that I was right and acted fairly abiding by the contract? What would you do?
Replies
Have you contacted the CSLB? There must be some sort of recourse available to contractors in cases like yours. Maybe they perform arbitration or something. I'd think that would be a good place to start.
"A completed home is a listed home."
Actually I have an arbitration clause in my contract. I have made a few changes dur to all the problems I have had with this lady.
I really dont want to go any further. Either way I lose. Its a question of how much. I am thinking long term not just this situation. Comparing the two it really is no comparison.
I have already had the attorney involved before. I find it odd that she refused a hand out to begin with. Also she was asked by me at least 3 times and my attorney at least 2 times for her attorneys name and number. She would not give it to either of us. That tells me she doesnt have one. She wont pay us to do the work and she wont take our money. Strange indeed.
That's good advice from Lisa. I'm not familiar with Cal. but I'd try everthing in your power to take care of you. In other words, forget her, she's damaged goods. Try to exercise every option to keep you name clear. Take everything over with a lawyer. Be sure to write her a letter, certified, and word it as if a jury was reading it. Outline reasonable solutions and reasonable timetables that all fall within the legal terms of your contract.
Do everything you can............
And accept that there might be a smudge on your name. Happened to me.
Anyone can file a complaint with the BBB. I had 2!
Horrible.
And how I handled it was to own up to it before a potential client discovered it on their own.
"Now if you call the BBB, you will find 2 unresolved complaints about me. Both parties were Lawyers who choose NOT to sue me, but instead filed a complaint and refused to abritate <sp> And so it's on my record, can't remove it. I will they had sued me so I could clear my name"
Havn't had a single person hold it against me.
If there really is fraud, real criminal intent, people sue. All the others complain.
Good luck
i am a california licensed contractor central coast san luis obispo area. first thing sue her before she sues you the contractors board will require you to go to mediation they might send a local profesional to lookat your work if you did something wrong they will issue an order to correct and the property owner must let you on the property to work if you do not correct your license will be suspended this is all going to be paid for with your 7500 dollare bond which means win or lose that bond is going to cost you more from now on. if you have confidence in your contract and the amount is under 5000 go to small claims i have been 5 times and came away smiling each time dont think just because you are a contractor you have strikes against you when it comes down to whos word is right the judge will listen to you as a proffesional and her as someone who either missunderstood which isnt going to help her or as someone who is trying not to pay your big mistake was demoing to soon now she has you over a barrel you will have to fix it to walk away from the job
you have to learn how to read your customers before you start working for them if they are vague and talk in circles when you are trying to talk about what they want done watch out write you contracts or work orders very clearly i even make them initial lines if i think they are going to try to say they did not understand we talked about all this work but we only agreed to do this and it is going to cost this much
i once had a mark on my license showing up on the cslb web site it was a mistake but by the time i got it cleared off it had cost me a long term contract with a insurance company to do home repair
That's not what I am about. I personally have no respect for the CSLB or anything they do. They are a joke. I don't want to go to court at all. My feeling is she is looking for a hand out.
I don't feel powerless, just not like I have a lot of choices. I'm sure that you know we as contractors are not held in high reguard in CA. Then again is anyone? Movie stars maybe. That's amazing that you have five victories in small claims court. Good for you. Sometimes the good guys do win.
Yeah you're right I should not have done anything w/o a contract. I want to believe that people are good for the most part. So that is my mistake. I don't think it is worth a free job though. My contracts are a lot more iron clad now than they were. They were never cheap cookie cutter ones, but they have more legal ease in them and more detail. Basically down to the type and size of nail. People will use any possible way to get something for nothing. I figured on one A hole per year. So far I am right. I try to limit my self to who I will and will not work for. Saying NO is a lot easier than it used to be. Sometimes a turd will slip through the cracks though. They are so squishy!
Don't take this the wrong way, but it is your fault that the customer did not read the contract. Poor communication is probably the biggest reason for all owner/contractor disputes. Sure, she is an adult and should read everything she signs, but you should have gone over every word in that contract with her.
When I sit down and get a signed contract, each person who is signing the agreement gets a copy and reads the contract as I read it out loud ensuring that everyone is on the "same page" so to speak. It is the only way that I do it. If a question comes up about something, it will be right there and then that it is clarified. I even leave space to add things if need be. If not, the space gets lined out and initialed.
I am not saying this individual would not have been a problem, but from what you have said, I believe this could have been avoided with better communication from the start.
"One measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions"
Those are good points. I will offer this in responce.
Being a small company I am on the job I would say 75% of the time. This job was more like 80%. I was there every day at 7:00am and the H/O didn't leave to go to work until 8:30. So every day she had 1.5 hours to communicate with me.
Due to peoples schedule I am not always there when people sign there contracts. This job was one such job. I think it is a cop out for anyone to put off there responsibility to read things they sign onto someone else. That is commen sense. It was a learning experience for me as a professional. People are unpredictable. Could it have been avoided...... possibly. It has happened none the less. I have taken steps to make sure it does not happen again. My problem is what to do now to minimize the damage.
What these H/O's don't understand is this is someones life they are screwing with. Like I said before if I thought that I should in some way do the work then I would have. I am a big enough person to admit when I have made a mistake. I don't feel I have done anything wrong. If someone wants work done then they should pay for it.
Anyway I hope that this will work out for me so I can continue to grow as a contractor and as a person.
what area are you in. how long have you been in business.
Southern California. Since 96'. I have only had one other problem. H/O forced me to sue him when he refused to pay. He lost.