Contractor becoming irate with me

[Anonymous]

^^Here and on places like Nextdoor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you go from irritated and impatient to violent? That is several leaps of logic.

His tone was more than irritated. He was cursing.

Again, that is quite a leap to violence. What kind of contract do you have signed for this next step? Or see if a friend can be there when he comes.

We have no contract and having a friend watch him during they day isn’t really realistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another thing to keep in mind is that contractors like to block out a week per client. They like to start Monday or Tuesday so that they can get the work done before the end of the week. If it is a shorter job, then they have a day or two to fix things or finish things if the client changes, or flags something. They want to be ready to start on another project the next week, if possible. They will take short jobs like day jobs or two day jobs mid-week, if they have finished with the main project for the week.

If your job is a mid-sized or longer job and he suspects it could take 4-5 days, then he may be worried that either something delays the job (needing to order a part or supply, replacing a defective part, discovering something that was not planned for, etc), then he may be worried about the job creeping into another week and possibly not making him available to take another job or start another job that was planned for after yours.

In this case, he's frustrated because of the delays. Yes, the first delay was on his end, and he can't complain about an illness/death in the family, but now, it's been several weeks, and when things finally align, you've stalled again.

He's frustrated. And the delay only delays him getting paid for this job and being able to schedule other jobs behind you, which delays him getting paid for those.

So, acknowledge his frustration and try to help keep the job moving as fast as possible and try not to make any excuses that extends your job any further, and if possible, crossing another week boundary. Be as cooperative as you can to get him back to work as soon as possible and to finish the job as soon as possible. That's the best that you can do. And, if appropriate, tip generously to help ease his frustration at not being able to get paid.

I never stalled again. I said I would get back in touch with him after the holiday. That didn’t mean start work Monday.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you weren’t clear. You said you were ready after the fourth. But you’re really not ready for like a week after the fourth. They may have postponed other jobs based on that. Their frustration with you makes sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you weren’t clear. You said you were ready after the fourth. But you’re really not ready for like a week after the fourth. They may have postponed other jobs based on that. Their frustration with you makes sense to me.

Yeah this is on you. When a contractor says 'I'll be there on Monday' you jump for JOYYYY. Nobody in their right mind says eh that doesn't work for me.

[Anonymous]

If you have to take off from work to watch your GC then you hired the wrong guy.

[Anonymous]

Trust your gut and don't have him come back. Cursing was highly inappropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you weren’t clear. You said you were ready after the fourth. But you’re really not ready for like a week after the fourth. They may have postponed other jobs based on that. Their frustration with you makes sense to me.

They told me they have no other jobs thus leading to them being frustrated about money and they initally postponed my job weeks ago to take on a different job. If he comes into a larger job I imagine he will postpone again or just not show up.

[Anonymous]

Was it a death of a parent that pushed it 3 weeks on no work?

[Anonymous]

If you’ve paid him for the work completed why have him come back? Hire someone else for the next part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’ve paid him for the work completed why have him come back? Hire someone else for the next part.

He was given money to purchase materials (tile, tub, vanity etc) which he will not deliver to me unless he is allowed to do the job. He’s basically holding them hostage until he comes over. He was supposed to bring the materials weeks ago and kept stalling with a different job then he said he got sick then I had family issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was it a death of a parent that pushed it 3 weeks on no work?

We had 2 elderly family members die sequentially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’ve paid him for the work completed why have him come back? Hire someone else for the next part.

He was given money to purchase materials (tile, tub, vanity etc) which he will not deliver to me unless he is allowed to do the job. He’s basically holding them hostage until he comes over. He was supposed to bring the materials weeks ago and kept stalling with a different job then he said he got sick then I had family issues.

Wait you did this with no contract? How much are the materials worth? You sound crazy to have agreed to this honestly, both of you. Consider starting over and considering it a lesson learned about cheaping out on things like paperwork which are for preventing situations exactly like this by agreeing on ground rules in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’ve paid him for the work completed why have him come back? Hire someone else for the next part.

He was given money to purchase materials (tile, tub, vanity etc) which he will not deliver to me unless he is allowed to do the job. He’s basically holding them hostage until he comes over. He was supposed to bring the materials weeks ago and kept stalling with a different job then he said he got sick then I had family issues.

Wait you did this with no contract? How much are the materials worth? You sound crazy to have agreed to this honestly, both of you. Consider starting over and considering it a lesson learned about cheaping out on things like paperwork which are for preventing situations exactly like this by agreeing on ground rules in advance.

This is a small bath remodel. In my experience jobs if a job doesn’t reach 5 figures I am rarely presented with a contract. Material are worth $2k.

[Anonymous]

OP if you were happy with the work, just verbally acknowledge that it sounds like both of you have had a rough go of it and pick a time to finish and COMMIT.

I'd have to know exactly what he said but for me, cursing is NBD especially for a contractor and there is a huge difference between 'f**ck you' and 'this f**cking work'.