"Leslie" wrote in message
I offered to pay the roofer the difference but he waved it off and said
he wouldn't charge if it it didn't make a difference to his final
profitability on the work, etc.

This shows he is an honest person.


After a few delays on his side(some weather-related and some not) the
roofer finally came out last Friday and Saturday and installed the
slate. The project is not quite done -- he needs some additional
contrasting slates for the decorative rosettes and has a small area
adjacent to my neighbor's roof which needs shingles -- but he included
a small holdback in the invoice for the last bit of work. Everything
looked great and as he was packing up on Saturday, I offered to write
him a check on the spot, which he declined because he wanted to double
check the invoice before he sent it. I also asked if he would like to
stop by next week to pick up the check. He declined that also.

The holdback shows once again he is an honest person. Wanting to double
check his invoice is protecting _both_ parties, so there are no
misunderstandings.

Asking him to stop by to pickup a check is an honorable jesture on your
part. But, you have no idea where he might be working the following week.
Stoping by might be a huge inconvenience on his part. You may be an hour
each way for him to travel to and from, time =$$ .


The roofer FAXed the invoice a day or two later (Sunday or Monday) but
I was so swamped at work over the next few days that I didn't have
time to sit down and write out the check until this morning
(Saturday). The roofer had called once on my cell and sent one or two
E-mails but I couldn't even listen or read the messages through until
today. Even then, they weren't along the lines of "Hey, I haven't
received payment yet. When do you think you can send a check."

Let me get this straight. You claim to be so swamped you can't write out a
check and mail the guy a check for a week, but you want him to come running
over to your place? Be a little more considerate. What makes you think
your time is more valuable than his? You are the one being unreasonable.
Try that tactic anywhere else, you will be making payments with interest.


Among other things, why would I have E-mailed him asking for another
copy of the invoice? And why would I have offered to write him a
check on the spot when he finished the work? And finally, he's still
holding a deposit for my neighbor. Like I'm going to cheat him even as
I'm working with the GC to get the prep done on my neighbor's house.
I told him to come on over and pick up the check if things were that
desperate but once again he declined. He was too busy.

You should've taken care of business and you wouldn't be asking for another
invoice. This tactic is used by deadbeats which collection agencies are
well aware of.

His holding a neighbors deposit has nothing to do with your business. His
contract with neighbor is a seperate contract.

You making a remark that if he is so desparate to come pick up the check,
sounds like you're the uppity type. Just pay the guy his money, what is
your problem?

This afternoon I took the $1,200 check to the post office and mailed
it, which is exactly what I was planning on doing anyway. But I'm
still upset. I've never cheated anybody in my life! Was I committing
a cardinal sin by putting the payment off a few days (5 days at most)
until I could get to it, or is something else going on here?

Something else is going on here, you're a slow pay. You said yourself you
were too busy and finally got to it, but first came the excuse you lost the
fax. Take care of business and you won't have these problems.

I do want this guy to finish the work because of the quality of work
he does, but how do I approach him to (1) come back to finish my
section; and (2) get him to start and finish my neighbor's roof. He
already told my GC that if the guys can get the neighbor's roof deck
rebuilt before March 27 he could come out on a Saturday and get the
work done. My neighbor does have a signed contract with him, so
should I let him communicate directly with the roofer? I hate to put
the onus on him as he is so far away.

Yep, far away. And you want him to chase the $. Good contractors are hard
to find, consider yourself lucky if he shows back up.