# Customer being a real pain in the wallet.



## Heritage (Mar 20, 2007)

This is how business gets done for a lot of these low lives (Home jippers...flippers).


With all those promises of work, Some guys forget to sign a contract...:shifty:.

All to eager to get on with this "upstanding gentleman" who can bring in X amount of work every month...gag.

Jippers are in the lubrication business.....they soften you up for hours and days and for the finale........well, use your imagination.

Don't take it personal...this is just how some of them operate.

Off the trust and naive nature of respectable people...that's business.

If you can guck him...guck him. If not...let him be and move on to bigger and better things. Always always sign a contract, take pics...what these other guys are telling you to do. 

Trust? Show me the money! Money talks and BS walks. Period.


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## tinner666 (Nov 3, 2004)

Seldom see a contract around here. Been to court and won too. No problem in Va.:thumbup:


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## leakygoose (Dec 14, 2007)

Greed , Its one of those things you must have a 6th sense for and it comes with experience. Chalk this one up and move on or call on the old fashion collector.


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## JonM (Nov 1, 2007)

Put a mechanics lean on the place...he'll have to settle up with you before he can sell the property.


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## Banned For Life (Dec 20, 2007)

big daddy said:


> we didn't make a contract :whistling


LOL


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## Tiger (Nov 21, 2007)

Lesson 1 Write Contracts.
Lesson 2 Never finish another contractor's work.
Lesson 3 If you do finish another contractor's work get a very large advance with a very detailed contract.

Sounds like he did the same thing to you that he did to the contractor before you. It should have been a big red flag for you.

BTW, I hit it lucky getting away from a GC with all my invoices paid. Most of the others didn't. I credit the terms of my contract that he signed.

Dave


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## macmikeman (Sep 12, 2005)

Contractor..... contract. Contractor.....contract. Contractor...... contract. Sorta goes together, doesn't it????


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## big daddy (Oct 29, 2005)

Contracts kindof go against the grain for me but it seems like it may help in the type of people that you have to deal with today. i guess i had to hear it from you guys to realize it keeps you from getting burnt. good to hear from all of your responses. i really want to keep doing this type of work but hated to resort to dealing with con artists. i sure hope thier ain't too many of them around especially in smaller towns. hell we are so small the mexicans don't even come here. 

i got a quote today from a typical steel worker. this is from someone who works for Arcelor Mittal and got some time off. he said it was a lot easier to get your butt chewed out then to do your job right. arty: i wonder how many of us would survive with that attitude.


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## JonM (Nov 1, 2007)

Their isn't a single contract written by a contractor a 1st year law student couldn't find fault with and prove to a judge to be invalid.


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## BuiltByMAC (Mar 11, 2006)

JonM said:


> Their isn't a single contract written by a contractor a 1st year law student couldn't find fault with and prove to a judge to be invalid.


What is the basis for your reasoning behind this sentence? It makes no sense to me. Finding fault with specific points, sure, rendering the entire contract (*every contract*) null and void...I don't buy it.

Mac


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## Crossgate-Matt (Oct 4, 2007)

I can tell from mistakes I made when I first went into the lions den on my own, that having a contract is the only way to go. In my first year on my own, I learned so much about what I didn't know that it makes you sick. Some people are like Lions; they sit and wait till you ( the prey) get just comfortable enough and let your guard down long enough for them to get the next free meal. They know exactly what they are doing, even if you don't. 

Theres no shame or offence in asking to sign a contract. None. If they don't sign the contract they most likley won't sign the check.
Hang in there.
Mat


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## UrbanBathCo (Mar 19, 2013)

File a lien on the property.
Http://www.minneapolisbathtubrefinishing.com


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## MattK (Apr 2, 2009)

UrbanBathCo said:


> File a lien on the property.
> Http://www.minneapolisbathtubrefinishing.com


You're a little late to the party! This took place in '07. Notice the OP still only has around a dozen posts. He got his answers, whether he liked them or not and screwed, lol.


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## UrbanBathCo (Mar 19, 2013)

Oh jeez, sorry Matt k.. Didn't even realize it. 
I'm still a little new to this site..


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## iggy (Mar 3, 2013)

A contract is an agreement in written form . It does not need to be pages long or have alot of legaleese in the language. 90% of our "contracts" are simple customer signed work requests. 

Always get a signature on something . Always ask what happened to the last guy . Always get most of your money before the job ends. Always have the better lawyer.


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## MattK (Apr 2, 2009)

UrbanBathCo said:


> Oh jeez, sorry Matt k.. Didn't even realize it.
> I'm still a little new to this site..


Just funnin with ya man. Ive revived a thread or two myself.


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## cabinetsnj (Jun 10, 2012)

big daddy said:


> Hope you guys can help. my son is getting in the home construction business for the last 3 years. i've done this stuff all my life with my father and presently am helping him out sometimes. he ran into a person that tries to flip houses. this person hired us to finish an electrical remodel that someone else started. he claimed he didn't like thier work. we did a bathroom that someone else started and we began on a kitchen. he liked our work so well that he talked about building a few houses for him on a subdivision. this guy seems to be like a project manager.
> all of a suden this guy stopped us from working one day and later said he had an inspector come in and found many faults, including cut floor joist below a bathtub. we wrote 2 letters asking to correct any damage that we may have done. we asked to inspect the damages with him that he was refering to and was denied. we had no idea what this guy was talking about. we later asked for the money owed for time and labor and he refused. he recently told us to be ready to file a claim against our insurance because he hired someone else to come in and refinish our job, including ripping up the tile we just laid.
> we seen a lawyer to give him a heads up and prepare for this low life. I've never had this happen to me. what is the best way to handle this situation?


I hope you have some proof that you did the work correctly or he is going to bring in the inspector if there really was one a beat you in a court of law. Your only chance is if there was no inspector and he is full of it.


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## cabinetsnj (Jun 10, 2012)

big daddy said:


> we didn't make a contract :whistling


Big Daddy, you seem like a nice guy, but are up a river without a paddle.


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## renov8r (Feb 16, 2013)

These are the types of crazies to try to avoid. I learned my lesson hard too but on a smaller scale project, coincidentally it did involve bathroom work as well. Try to learn to weed these dudes out before, do this by over pricing the job. That way as long as you get some milestone payments you've made close to what you would have charged.


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