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Anybody ever have to sue a contractor to get back their deposit?

amaysngrace

By amaysngrace
in Business and Professional Relationships

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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

Posted
Posted

Has anyone ever had to fire a contractor before for doing poor work? How did you go about getting your money back?

 

Mine is saying he used 700 lbs of sand in my back yard :laugh:

 

And he's trying to charge me for the hardening sand, the polymeric, 700 lbs at about $20 for a 40 lb tub when he actually used that sandbox sand that costs about $3 a bag and I can totally prove it, especially since it's raining and that polymeric sand hardens when wet.

 

I'm reading things online that say I need to watch out that he doesn't sue me back but I'm not lying and have pictures to prove it. I haven't placed any negative reviews or anything up yet either but may in time.

 

He will look like an incompetent fraud by the time I am done with him. I figure he should get about $600 and refund me a thousand but he is lying about supply costs now and wants to refund me $600 (up from first $300, then a firm $500) but I haven't budged off my initial refund request.

 

What now? Can I sue? There is an unsigned drawn up contract that says nothing about refunds or guaranteed workmanship that we verbally agreed upon but nothing has been signed, if that matters.

 

Can I sue for all my money back, since everything he touched needs to be redone? He was here about six hours so I thought paying him $600 was more than generous but if I have to take it to court can I change that amount and try to get labor costs back?

 

Is it even possible to sue a contractor for a refund? He said I didn't let him finish but I wanted him nowhere near my house after I saw the patio pavers he did sloping TOWARD my house, I fired him immediately when I saw that.

 

So anyway, advice please??

carhill Established Member

carhill

Posted
Posted

Judge Judy ;)

 

I'd consider any real or potential damages to be tuition at the school of unsigned and/or ambiguous contracts.

 

OTOH, you can send him a nice juicy 1099.... oopsie :D

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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

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Too funny carhill....I should go to a tv court, see how he'd like the whole country to know how poorly his work turns out but this idiot will probably see it as free advertising.

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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

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oh my gosh this guy....today he is saying he will refund me $800

 

so far it's been $300 to $500 to $600 to $800 and all along I have been asking for a thousand back....why won't he just give me back my money????

 

I feel like I lose braincells every text we have :(

  • Like 1
Rockdad Established Member

Rockdad

Posted
Posted

Sounds to me like he is trying to work with you to resolve the issue if he's offered you $800. It's clearly your choice but I guess you value your brain cells at $200 since you want to fight this out.

 

I've been in business for 25 years. Here is the problems I see with fighting it out. Unsigned contract with no performance specifications. You ran him off and again that is your choice but he will take the stand you didn't allow him to finish or correct a problem.

 

It's a small claims case. If you were to go to file a small claims court case it doesn't even mean he will show up. In mine and a lot of states that doesn't mean you win, you have to refile for another court date.

 

If he doesn't show again that does not mean you win. It means you petition for a failure to appear warrant. Then you wait till he is picked up then it's back to court to state your case.

 

Lets say you win. The judge makes the order and guess what? You still have no money in your pocket. He may nickel and dime it paying it back or not pay at all. That is when you start chasing him for a wage garnishment.

 

I have gone through this scenario several times. Their is no debtors prison in the USA so it's not like he will get locked up for not paying.

  • Like 3
UpwardForward Established Member

UpwardForward

Posted
Posted (edited)

Does he have a Contractor's License?

 

Take a picture of the job he has done. If he has a license, show him the picture and threaten to go to the State Contractor's Licensing Board.

 

You can go to court and name any figure you think you have coming to you.

 

(I just had $6000. artificial turf installed. I post dated the deposit for two days after the job to finish)

Edited by UpwardForward
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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

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Sounds to me like he is trying to work with you to resolve the issue if he's offered you $800. It's clearly your choice but I guess you value your brain cells at $200 since you want to fight this out.

 

I've been in business for 25 years. Here is the problems I see with fighting it out. Unsigned contract with no performance specifications. You ran him off and again that is your choice but he will take the stand you didn't allow him to finish or correct a problem.

 

It's a small claims case. If you were to go to file a small claims court case it doesn't even mean he will show up. In mine and a lot of states that doesn't mean you win, you have to refile for another court date.

 

If he doesn't show again that does not mean you win. It means you petition for a failure to appear warrant. Then you wait till he is picked up then it's back to court to state your case.

 

Lets say you win. The judge makes the order and guess what? You still have no money in your pocket. He may nickel and dime it paying it back or not pay at all. That is when you start chasing him for a wage garnishment.

 

I have gone through this scenario several times. Their is no debtors prison in the USA so it's not like he will get locked up for not paying.

 

The $200 extra means I'm paying him $800 in total. He stated he earned $450 in labor which I'm fine paying, I'm just wondering where $350 in materials comes from to reach that $800. Yesterday the asking price was $1000 and he was asking for $550 in materials so I'm getting somewhere.

 

The $200 isn't for braincells, it's for me not getting ripped off by paying for things I did not get and for him to keep me from publicly trashing him, his businesss and his reputation.

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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

Posted
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Posted
Does he have a Contractor's License?

 

Take a picture of the job he has done. If he has a license, show him the picture and threaten to go to the State Contractor's Licensing Board.

 

You can go to court and name any figure you think you have coming to you.

 

(I just had $6000. artificial turf installed. I post dated the deposit for two days after the job to finish)

 

He does and I have his business card with the number printed on it.

 

I really wanted it to work out and to give the young man a chance. I appreciate his ambition to go into business for himself at 27 but I am sorry....I won't allow him to learn on my house.

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UpwardForward Established Member

UpwardForward

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Posted

You're generous.

 

Wanting to pay him $450 in Labor for a job that has to be taken up, regraded and reinstalled.

 

Then there is the inflated price for the materials, that is if he even chose the correct mixture.

 

I would work on his 'labor' figure as well.

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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

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You're generous.

 

Wanting to pay him $450 in Labor for a job that has to be taken up, regraded and reinstalled.

 

Then there is the inflated price for the materials, that is if he even chose the correct mixture.

 

I would work on his 'labor' figure as well.

 

No I'm fine paying that. I figured I'd give him $600, $100 for every hour he worked. Lugging pavers is no picnic.

 

I'm totally fine with his labor costs.

 

He wants me to sign something that I won't give a negative review also which I gladly would do if he gives me back my thousand dollars but not if he's going to rip me off by printing out bogus invoices from suppliers.

UpwardForward Established Member

UpwardForward

Posted
Posted
No I'm fine paying that. I figured I'd give him $600, $100 for every hour he worked. Lugging pavers is no picnic.

 

I'm totally fine with his labor costs.

 

He wants me to sign something that I won't give a negative review also which I gladly would do if he gives me back my thousand dollars but not if he's going to rip me off by printing out bogus invoices from suppliers.

 

He's getting by easy.

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carhill Established Member

carhill

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Posted

Fascinating that the guy wants something signed now :D

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Timuquana2017 Member

Timuquana2017

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Small claims court and then if the judge rules in your favor there is no guarantee that he will pay up. There is no enforcement on the courts side to get the party to pay up so then you will have to file a contractors lien against his company. And if he isn't an LLC I pity him because if he owns real property (real estate) you could be really evil and place a lien against that. But liens cost money. When I did one I think I shelled out about $400 but it was over $37k. So tread carefully if you wish to go that route.

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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

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He decided to pay me $1000 :)

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whichwayisup Established Member

whichwayisup

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Shame him. Go public. There used to be a little section on the news here called silverman helps. He would go to crooked 'professionals' on behalf of the screwed over client, and confront them, ask questions etc. google him! He was great. Think he's retired now.

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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

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I will totally do that if he doesn't pay me back my money. I'm really hoping he pays me soon so I can put this all behind me.

UpwardForward Established Member

UpwardForward

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Posted
I will totally do that if he doesn't pay me back my money. I'm really hoping he pays me soon so I can put this all behind me.

 

Don't make anymore promises in order to get your $1000 back.

 

Unskilled people don't get $100 an hour. He would be part of a

work crew who get far less.

  • Like 3
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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

Posted
  • Author
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Don't make anymore promises in order to get your $1000 back.

 

Unskilled people don't get $100 an hour. He would be part of a

work crew who get far less.

 

I know it was a high fee but I had to pay him something for his time and he did supply a little bit of lumber, very little, and a minimal amount of that cheap sand.

 

I thought he'd have been fine with my refund request but when he wasn't I made him do the math himself to really see what the job was worth.

 

I hope he can get me my money back soon. Half of me thinks he already spent it though.

Chardonnay Renée Established Member

Chardonnay Renée

Posted
Posted
Has anyone ever had to fire a contractor before for doing poor work? How did you go about getting your money back?

 

Mine is saying he used 700 lbs of sand in my back yard :laugh:

 

And he's trying to charge me for the hardening sand, the polymeric, 700 lbs at about $20 for a 40 lb tub when he actually used that sandbox sand that costs about $3 a bag and I can totally prove it, especially since it's raining and that polymeric sand hardens when wet.

 

I'm reading things online that say I need to watch out that he doesn't sue me back but I'm not lying and have pictures to prove it. I haven't placed any negative reviews or anything up yet either but may in time.

 

He will look like an incompetent fraud by the time I am done with him. I figure he should get about $600 and refund me a thousand but he is lying about supply costs now and wants to refund me $600 (up from first $300, then a firm $500) but I haven't budged off my initial refund request.

 

What now? Can I sue? There is an unsigned drawn up contract that says nothing about refunds or guaranteed workmanship that we verbally agreed upon but nothing has been signed, if that matters.

 

Can I sue for all my money back, since everything he touched needs to be redone? He was here about six hours so I thought paying him $600 was more than generous but if I have to take it to court can I change that amount and try to get labor costs back?

 

Is it even possible to sue a contractor for a refund? He said I didn't let him finish but I wanted him nowhere near my house after I saw the patio pavers he did sloping TOWARD my house, I fired him immediately when I saw that.

 

So anyway, advice please??

 

Do you have anything in writing that even says he did the work?

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  • 3 weeks later...
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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

Posted
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Posted
Do you have anything in writing that even says he did the work?

 

I do. A couple proposals, a receipt of my deposit and all of our texts are on my phone.

 

Anyway his check cleared the bank yesterday and we're done doing business now, thank goodness :)

  • Like 2
Chardonnay Renée Established Member

Chardonnay Renée

Posted
Posted
I do. A couple proposals, a receipt of my deposit and all of our texts are on my phone.

 

Anyway his check cleared the bank yesterday and we're done doing business now, thank goodness :)

 

Well, that's a relief!

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amaysngrace Established Member

amaysngrace

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Well, that's a relief!

 

It is for me! I really wasn't wanting to go court and I guess neither was he!

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