Remodeling Rip Offs - Don't Let This Happen To You If You’re A Contractor
If there's one thing you can count on reading in the
newspapers, it's a story about a contractor who's taken advantage of a
homeowner. Rarely do we you ever find a story in the newspaper about a
homeowner who took advantage of a contractor. That's what I'm going to
share with you here today.
As a building contractor, I get tired of listening to horror stories
about homeowners getting taken advantage of. It wasn't that long ago,
that a contractor, I was working with, shared this story with me.
An old lady contacted him about some home repairs that needed to fixed
as soon as possible. The contractor went over to her house, looked at
the repairs and gave her an estimate. She approved the estimate and then
the contractor asked her for a down payment.
He didn't tell me what the total price of the job was, but he did tell
me that she didn't feel comfortable giving him any money upfront. She
had been taken advantage of by three contractors and wouldn't be doing
any of this work at all, if she had to pay anyone of them upfront.
The contractor sympathized with the older woman and told her that he
would collect his money, when he was completely done with the project.
The day that he completed the project, he presented her with a bill and
she refused to pay it. She said that the workmanship wasn't very good
and that he used inferior building materials.
He argued with her, but soon found that he wasn't getting anywhere. He
went to put a lien on the property and found out that she didn't own the
property, she was renting it from a relative who lived in another part
of the country.
He never did get his money, but he did go back to her home and remove
all of the wood that he used for the repairs. According to him, he left
one heck of a mess. The woman contacted him and threatened to call the
police, but never did.
For all of the homeowners out there who have been ripped off by
contractors, maybe the story will make you feel a little bit better. I
can't believe that stuff like this actually still happens today.