Can someone explain what his angle was? Was he just crazy?

[Anonymous]

I hired someone to remodel a small bathroom. I was told it would take a few weeks and I went with my median quote after getting 3. The contractor told me he had decades of experience. He came almost daily for months and ended up walking away after not finishing the small hall bathroom. A new contractor has taken over and deemed all the work garbage (it really is) and I will be having it all ripped up again. With that said why do this? Normally if a contractor scams you they take your money and bounce asap. They don’t keep coming for months and the amount of money charged doesn’t make sense to stay on for months. They don’t come daily. Also we would look at his progress and question what he did half the time. He also told me strange lies like he was a veteran and the government was withholding his benefits because they couldn’t find his files, he lied about having a brain tumor, he lied that his aunt needed a lung transplant and he was helping her, he told me his father was a song writer for Johnny cash (not true), he told me he was getting back together with his ex wife (not true and I found out she has a restraining order against him), he pretended to collapse and need medical attention at my home (we strongly believe this was fake) etc. Is this just severe mental illness? What was the angle here? And before anyone says anything I should have just fired him and cut the losses sooner. I just really want to get the bathroom remodel finished.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't waste time trying to peal this onion. He was a whackadoo. For whatever reasons. Move on.

[Anonymous]

Just make sure you change all the locks and any security codes.

[Anonymous]

He's just not mentally well. Being a handyman/small contractor is a low barrier to entry and doesn't require the same social skills as office work.

We've had wonderful contractors and a couple duds. One was similar to yours. They're just messed up people who couldn't hack other types of work so they fell into this work during a boom time for construction when jobs are plentiful.

[Anonymous]

Lonely, unfocused, delusional

[Anonymous]

I swear I read this exact story before. Did you post about this earlier OP?

[Anonymous]

Was this munchausens? Extreme narcissism?

[Anonymous]

Were you annoying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were you annoying?

No. He was. He would also text me at night about things that had nothing to do with the job. If I was annoying why would someone stay on for months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Were you annoying?

No. He was. He would also text me at night about things that had nothing to do with the job. If I was annoying why would someone stay on for months.

He stayed for months because he couldn't quite figure out what to do and how to do it.

What I've learned from working with and sharing offices with GCs over the years -

The best carpenters and millworkers are generally Irish, hands down
Most people are very inexact. But anyone who started out in carpentry will have respect for exacting dimensions, i.e. your plumbing will be centered, your sinks will be located exactly equidistant, etc...
The ones who treat it as craft have a high standard of care
Aside from physical labor, there is a lot of research into proper materials and assembly and this should be done before lifting any power tool
You get what you pay for - low skilled labor yields low level work

-signed, architect

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Were you annoying?

No. He was. He would also text me at night about things that had nothing to do with the job. If I was annoying why would someone stay on for months.

He stayed for months because he couldn't quite figure out what to do and how to do it.

What I've learned from working with and sharing offices with GCs over the years -

The best carpenters and millworkers are generally Irish, hands down
Most people are very inexact. But anyone who started out in carpentry will have respect for exacting dimensions, i.e. your plumbing will be centered, your sinks will be located exactly equidistant, etc...
The ones who treat it as craft have a high standard of care
Aside from physical labor, there is a lot of research into proper materials and assembly and this should be done before lifting any power tool
You get what you pay for - low skilled labor yields low level work

-signed, architect

Interesting take. So you think he was trying to be somewhat honest and do the work but got in over his head? To me I would think that he just wouldn’t take the job if it was too much or run much sooner after he had enough.

[Anonymous]

He didn't know how to do the work, so he used his knack at sensing weakness and went in for the kill with dramatic stories because you bought in, allowing him to pretend to do the work for months. You pretended to believe his crap and engaged on that level so he felt a little bad for lying but also got the payoff of the attention.

Moral of the story- have a good contract and keep it professional. No need to share and care- and if you get the dramatic details when you first meet the person- that tells you all you need to know.

Some people give off that 'blind-crippled-crazy- come one, come all' energy so liars and manipulators seek them out.

[Anonymous]

Mental problems, and there's a reason he works for himself. Sound like my ex, but my ex would have called in sick on second day.
Depression, anxiety that completely takes over and runs in the family. Very hard to see at the beginning when they can be on their best.

[Anonymous]

People have problems and fail at jobs they are really trying hard to do all the time.

I'm a lawyer and I've seen lawyers do the equivalent of this with cases.

[Anonymous]

He tried his best but he has some kind of mental health issues.