# Not Fun



## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

Ok so we did a job about an hour away. We put new gutters and covers around the house. The only issue was when they put on a addition they built it over the gutter instead off taking off the gutter.( the gutter buted against an addition or was supposed to but they ran it right in the new addition)

Day after job home owners call and said are you coming to look at the job. I asked is there a problem. No not that we now of. I said ok when im in the area i will stop in and take a peek.

A week later they call all angry. Why have you not come down yet. I said i will come down when i get a minute. We we have a problem here and you are avoiding it. I said well i asked before and you said there wasnt all was fine. They start no we said you were supposed to come down. Ok

So i go down and there neighbors runs out to meet me. Apperantly se is a production manager and thinks im trying to screw them.( i'm sure they didn't tell her the real story). So we meet and talk all goes fine. She said will you replace the gutter for free.I said fine we will pull off the gutter your carpenters can fix the hole and we will put a new one up.( buy the way my guys asked the home owner multiple times what they wanted to do and they said just put a ceder shake over the hole).

So the neighbor calls and said her carpenter can come tomorrow and it will take a day. So i said i cant come tomorrow and take off the gutter than come back 2 days later to put the new one on. She said well if you want to pay the carpenter to take it down and then come back and put up a new one thats fine. I said sure it wont take them more than 15 to 20 minutes to do. And will make it a lot easier on us.

So the night before we are going to do the job i get an email. Josh please bring payment when you come and said it about 4 times in the email. So i open it up and the bill is for $400 bucks!!!!! 2 guys 6 hours too take down a 30 ft gutter. And on top of that her contractor but my name on the bill. And that bothered me i didnt contract with him in any way. I told her the bill was way to much and are name had to be taken off the bill.

So tell me what you think. After the emil back she never wrote again and haven't heard form her. And this is a lady who calls twice a day to check in. I tink she knows she shouldnt have tried to pull that one on me.


----------



## DavidC (Feb 16, 2008)

Have I got this right? You installed gutters, then an addition was built over it? If that is the case then you have no liability in my opinion. Otherwise I'm confused.

Good Luck
Dave


----------



## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

No there was already existing gutters on the house. The builders built out around them and when my guys took them off. There was a hole in the side of the house


----------



## kevjob (Aug 14, 2006)

sounds like they hire a hack contractor who decided to build over the gutter it is his problem and he should be paying you to install the new gutter. As far as the neighbor tell her to mind her own buisiness.


----------



## Celtic (May 23, 2007)

nlgutters said:


> So i go down and there neighbors runs out to meet me.


:blink:




nlgutters said:


> No there was already existing gutters on the house. The builders built out around them and when my guys took them off. There was a hole in the side of the house


:blink:


This is one bizarre tale.


----------



## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

*Take 20 pictures*

I had a similar experience 20 years ago and I lost. If the customer pays the $400, directly, often, the judge looks at this as the cost to repair or complete the job, regardless of fault.

Take a lot of pictures. The carpenter may take you to court and say he had to rent scaffolding, or ladders, needed an assistant, and has a minimum charge. These are the types of contractors I would like to send Cousin Vinny to meet.


----------



## Jason Whipple (Dec 22, 2007)

So if your guys installed the gutters and did what she asked with the hole whats your responsibility in all this?


----------



## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

Jason W said:


> So if your guys installed the gutters and did what she asked with the hole whats your responsibility in all this?


 
Nothing really. I was just trying to make them happy. I would of prefered if my guys had insisted that the hole be fixed better first but the home owner said go ahead. The hole thing was weird.The carpenter built an addition on with out taking off the gutter.And they act like its my fault. I just dont know what they can do to me. I will replace the gutter as stated but will not be lied to like that. 6 hours for a 30 minute max job i will never pay that.


----------



## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

pcplumber said:


> I had a similar experience 20 years ago and I lost. If the customer pays the $400, directly, often, the judge looks at this as the cost to repair or complete the job, regardless of fault.
> 
> Take a lot of pictures. The carpenter may take you to court and say he had to rent scaffolding, or ladders, needed an assistant, and has a minimum charge. These are the types of contractors I would like to send Cousin Vinny to meet.


They where only gonna charge me what it cost to take off the gutter.( which really doesnt make sense either because she would have had to pay them to take off the old gutter too) That is one of the problems i never met or talked to the carpenter at all. The neighbor hired him and all of a sudden i get a bill from him with are company name on it. I told the neighbor we were reimbursing the home owner not working with there contractor.


----------



## Jason Whipple (Dec 22, 2007)

No doubt, that bill is for the entire repair. I would ask the homeowner why they feel it is your responsibility to pay for the mistakes of the other contractor. I would also remind them they had the opportunity to have it fixed right while you were there or to call the other contractor to fix it before you got there.

I would have pointed it out before the contract was signed and included it in the contract terms.


----------



## wireless (Nov 2, 2006)

Does he have a signed work order from you? If not, I would ignore his bill. When the HO asks for reimbursement then you should deal with it.


----------



## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

Jason W said:


> No doubt, that bill is for the entire repair. I would ask the homeowner why they feel it is your responsibility to pay for the mistakes of the other contractor. I would also remind them they had the opportunity to have it fixed right while you were there or to call the other contractor to fix it before you got there.
> 
> I would have pointed it out before the contract was signed and included it in the contract terms.


 
They dont feel like i should pay the whole thing. They are trying to sneek the whole bill to me. They can say with a straight face that it took 2 carpenters 6 hours to take down 30 ft of gutters. 

Didnt notice it before. Theses carpenters even trimmed the cedar shakes around the profile of the gutter. They spent twice as long working around it as they would of taking it down.


----------



## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

wireless said:


> Does he have a signed work order from you? If not, I would ignore his bill. When the HO asks for reimbursement then you should deal with it.


It is from the contractor sent to the home owner to sent it to me. No i didnt sign anything.


----------



## orson (Nov 23, 2007)

I'm still stuck on the part where someone built around an existing gutter.

Did I mention I can't quite get past the part where someone built around an existing gutter?:shutup:

:shutup:

:shutup:


----------



## boman47k (Oct 13, 2006)

orson said:


> I'm still stuck on the part where someone built around an existing gutter.
> 
> Did I mention I can't quite get past the part where someone built around an existing gutter?:shutup:
> 
> ...


I'm trying to figure that one out too. It makes for a strange visual.


----------



## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

it was crazy. The house is/was a ranch so they put on a garage. where the gutter would but up against the siding they cut a hole the shape of the gutter and sided it wth cedar shakes. And actually cut them to match the profile of the gutter. This gutter ran into the new house/addition about 1 ft.


----------



## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

Here is the email they sent today. Just after i posted this.


Hello Josh,

Thank you for the heads-up on your schedule. Tuesday or Wednesday will work just fine. Keep in touch with us on which day it turns out to be.

You are completely correct about your company name on the invoice and honestly, we didn't notice it previously. We've fixed this and will resend it as soon as we get our computer fixed. If you pay this invoice by check, please make the check out to us of course.

Regarding the invoice amount, the contractor didn't think it would take much to remove the gutter either but even though they turned out to be good carpenters, they don't typically handle this style of gutter and probably aren't as proficient as New London Seamless is. This is why we made sure to ask you if you wanted to remove the gutter yourself. They worked around the gutter as long as they could but finally had to take it down. All in all, the contractor was here for over three days. Since getting your guys here to remove the gutter was difficult and would have resulted in less work you could have done on other jobs, we believe the time spent by the contractor is cheaper for both of us. We're retired and on a limited income. Please do not fight this legitimate invoice.

Yes, it makes sense to reuse any hanger and spacers which can be salvaged (not all of them are usable and there may be other parts damaged). Please be prepared to replace parts where needed to make sure the end product is sound.

Thanks,
Anthony and Judy


----------



## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

One of myself proclaimed talents is the ability to visualize everything. 

I am so coming up with a blank on this one. Maybe it will make sense around 5pm during my vodka revisit.


----------



## HitchC&L (Mar 7, 2008)

So because they are retired on a limited income and hired a bunch of inexperienced hack carpenters, you need to foot the bill for this whole situation?

Seems right...


----------



## Jason Whipple (Dec 22, 2007)

I'm not only having a hard time visualizing the gutter but I also fail to see why you agreed to pay someone to take it back down again! Especially when it was to fix their work. Now add to that, they damaged some of it?:blink: WTF?

Hey NL, next time you're in the mood to throw money out the window give me a call! I'll take some:whistling

Whats the total damages going to be, a couple of truck payments?


----------

