On Jul 19, 6:11*pm, "benick" wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
News article:
http://realestate.msn.com/article.as...1445>1=35000
My favorite anecdote:
When asked why it was taking so long to install a garbage disposal, the
worker replied: "When they showed me this morning at Home Depot, I thought
I understood."
It's sometimes hard to find an honest workman; give him cookies.
What a STUPID story...In 20 years of drywall contracting here in Maine with
NO licensing laws I have rarely seen any of the crap the story talked
about..Getting paid however is the problem I see most...Quite a few jobs I
bid on the homeowner adds things on with the old "since your already here"
line like that means I'll do it for free or at a reduced rate or *the "we've
decided to do this instead" and expect me to take rock down and do it over
for free or "we thought that was included" line and I have to fight to get
paid...I get the money for the materials the DAY they are delivered..Half of
the rest when the rock is hung and the remaining when the job is complete
plus the add ons per my contract...Usually all I have to do is tell them the
rock comes down ALOT faster than it went up to get paid...And yes I have
taken it down once when the homeowner refused to pay for the hanging untill
the job was complete and RAN not walked away from the job...I also called
every other drywall contractor I knew and told them to BEWARE...They won't
pay....He must of gotten somebody out of town to do it at a higher rate
because of travel....LOL...Screw him...I also know quite a few general
contractors who have been running back to jobs for over 2 YEARS trying to
get the rest of their money...Homeowners nit picking every little thing or
trying to say something was included that clearly wasn't hoping they will
just give up and go away even after doing the everything they asked...I
asked why they didn't take them to court and they said the judges almost
ALWAYS sides with the homeowner regardlees of the facts even going so far as
to blaming the contractor for "not explaining things clearly"...Check out
the responses to the story....LOL...
The MSN article was written by a hack and simply stated stuff that has
been said a million times before. The comments, at least some of
them, were written by kooks. The only real comment that made sense
was that there are people looking to get over on people in all walks
of life. Again, this is no surprise.
If you have to fight to get paid they you are either not screening
your customers carefully enough or your written agreement - assuming
you use one - isn't up to snuff.
It IS the job of the contractor to explain clearly to the owner what
is to be done and how it is to be done. Many contractors do not like
it, but it is a part of the business.
The simplest way to deal with the wallyas (while you're at it) is to
have a change order fee in your contract, a clause that says that no
change work can be started or other work delayed while waiting on a
change order to be signed, that no work is started until it is signed
and that all change order work is paid in full up front. If the
homeowner balks at this part of your contract before signing, it has
done it's job and eliminated a potentially problem customer for you.
It is your job to explain why the clause is there and why it is
constructed that way.
There are a lot of cowboys in the home improvement business and they
don't make it easy to tell the good from the bad as they don't wear
white or black hats. Contractor licensing laws came about in an
attempt to prevent hacks and scam artists from preying on the
unsuspecting. Licensing laws don't eliminate hacks or scams - if you
can come up with a foolproof method of separating the good from the
bad everyone will definitely listen.
The same as anything else in life, you have to start with a basis of
trust and have practices that plan for the worst. You are in business
- at least as important as your work skills are your business skills.
If you have problems getting paid the business skills need work. It
may be your contract, it may be learning how to eliminate the 1 in 10
problem customer that will do everything in their power not to pay you
- before you sign a contract.
R