Handling This For A Friend - Contractor Horror Stories
Recently I went to look at a bathroom and kitchen
remodeling project and when I introduced myself to the man I was
supposed to meet with, he didn't respond in the appropriate manner. He
didn't give me his name and I couldn't get it out of him. I tried every
trick that I could, until he finally said that he was handling this for
a friend of his.
If you're looking for the ultimate contractor horror story, this could
be it. If you're a licensed contractor, you can't sign contracts with
anyone who isn't the owner or the owner's representative. The owner's
representative must have the proper paperwork, but even then I would be
extremely careful.
The guy practically pointed to the bathrooms and said that he needed
them remodeled, with very little instructions on what parts of the
bathroom were going to actually be remodeled. I knew what was going on,
or at least had a pretty good idea what was going on, so didn't spend a
lot of time at the home, asking questions or answering them.
I forget about my old lessons every once in a while and need to start
asking people if they're the homeowners. Sure someone could lie to me,
but hopefully, I would find the truth out, before signing any contracts
with them. You never know what you're really going to run into, a
situations like these could cost you a lot of money, especially if
you've pre-paid for most of the building materials.
Just the other day, someone called me about a water damage job and I
asked them if they owned the house. The woman told me that she didn't,
so I told her to take some pictures of the project and e-mail them to
me, even though she was persistent about me coming out to the property
and giving her a on sight estimate.
She never did mail me the pictures and I never heard from the man about
the bathroom and kitchen remodeling project.