Fun with Contractors. A State of the economy type of thing.

Thought I would share a couple of recent stories of fun with contractors..

I just need to clarify a bit in advance. I am not a tough guy to work for… I don’t call these guys up and tell them “LOOK HERE YOU DIRTY SOB.. I KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO TRY AND RIP ME OFF, SO DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!”.. I am nice.. I call and ask for a quote on specific tasks, and let them give me their quote. Then i go with whomever I feel is the best, and it’s not always the cheapest quote either… Lately, I’ve just been having a TERRIBLE time with contractors… so here is some of my most recent stories…

1) Electrician: Two, COUNT EM, TWO… different members of the local REIA(Real Estate investors Association) recommended this guy. So I decided to use him. I wanted all my ungrounded 3 prong outlets grounded. I wanted a GFCI outlet in the bathroom, and I wanted ceiling light boxes, capable of handling a ceiling fan, in each of the bedrooms. Electrician told me it would be time plus materials, and since two DIFFERENT people recommended him, i didn’t feel the need to get a contract up front.

What I got was Two, Count em, TWO.. GIANT holes in my ceiling from the electricians’ apprentice falling through my ceiling, TWICE, from the attic. All my outlets switched over to 2 prong outlets(He felt he didnt need to call me to confirm, just assumed I didnt want to pay for grounding the outlets). The holes that were put in the ceilings in the bedrooms for the ceiling fan/lights were created by using a sharp jabbing device. I assume it was a screwdriver. Oh, and lastly, the gfi outlet in the bathroom… Yeah, when he cut the hole for the box, he got over zealous and decided to punch through to the wall in the living room… /SIGH

For the record, i tried to make it work with him(the electrician). The apprentice was fired over the incident(not at my prodding). The electrician told me he would be out there in a couple of days to make it right, and I was okay with that… Week later I called the electrician to see where we were at, and he told me he would call me in a couple of days to come out the following day. He called me back 6 weeks later to say he was ready to come out… I told him I had already had someone else do the job… So at least i didn’t have to pay him, although repairing the ceilings was prolly a lot more than what little I got for free… /sigh

2) I called 9, yes that’s a NINE, different contractors to get a quote for a new roof. I got 4 responses. Two of which i had to poke and prod and BEG for a written quote for a week or more.

3) I called one of the guys from #2 above, and asked him to go over to my property and put in an emergency tarp. He quoted me $300.00 to put the emergency tarp in place(which i thought was pretty high), but also told me he would give me $150 credit if we signed the contract for replacing the roof with him, so I went ahead with it.. He told me he would have someone out there the next day(a saturday) to install it… Monday came, and no tarp, so i called and he told me that it would be there on Tuesday.. Whatever, I waited, and they installed it on Tuesday, and then I got a bill for $450.00… I called him and spoke with him in a nice bewildered tone “Hey Tim, this is Lee, I just got my bill and it’s says $450. I thought we agreed on a price of $300 with a $150 credit if i signed with you?!? What am I missing here?”, and he gave me some grief, and acted like I was taking advantage of him.. WHATEVER!!! For someone who wants me to sign a contract for an $11,000 roof replacement, he sure isnt going out of his way to earn my business… AND WHY THE HECK DIDN’T HE CALL ME AND TELL ME HE WASNT GOING TO INSTALL ON SATURDAY?!?! dumb dumb dumb…

4) I called a guy out to give me a quote on fixing a breezeway. While he was there, i had a window company out to give me a quote for replacing the windows, and he offered to give me a quote on replacing the windows as well. Sure, I dont mind giving someone more business if they are worth it!

As we are standing there, he tells me he can fix the breezeway for $3100. Couple of days later, he calls me back to give me the quotes, and he tells me $5700 for windows(which I had two other quotes for $3400 and $3500 from other reputable companies), and that the breezeway was going to be $3400. I, nicely,  tell him I am not interested in the windows, and that I was curious why the other quote had increased. He stated he got home and did the math, and he realized he needed more for the breezeway job. I accepted that explanation, and asked him to ship me over the written quote on the breezeway.

Couple of days later I hadn’t seen the quote, and i had a question, so i called him. Asked him if the $3400 quote included drywalling the interior of the breezeway, and explained that I hadn’t received my quote.. He stated he had been busy, and indeed he was including drywall inside, and would send me the quote later in the day..

Two days later, no quote yet, and so i called him back… He informs me that he was sorry no quote yet, but he had been thinking about it more and more, and that the job was going to be $3900, and he wasnt going to do the drywall anymore…  /SIGH Never mind, I’m sorry i didn’t give you the window job, but the two grand difference is TWO FRIGGIN GRAND!!! GET OVER IT!!! I didn’t bend your arm on the price, you are the one who gave me the price(3 friggin different prices, and still no friggin written quote)…

WHATEVER!!!! For an economy that supposedly sucks, I sure don’t see it… I cant get anyone to work! hehe