I shared this story on Instagram stories a week or so ago, but I realize that a whole lot of you don’t follow me on Instagram and only read my blog, so let me fill y’all in on what has happened with our bedroom suite and the contractor I hired to get that project started.
I know the last time I updated y’all, I shared that I was frustrated. While I was hoping the contractor’s part of the project would only take a week, allowing me to get started on installing the flooring last month, sickness and other circumstances (the contractor’s, not ours) had delayed the project. I was frustrated, and I shared that here, and I know that some of you thought I was being ungracious for getting upset at someone being sick. But just know that I was really holding back with some of the info because, at that time, he was still working here (kind of), and I had high hopes that he would actually finish the work and be on his way.
Well, it didn’t turn out that way. I ended up firing him, and now I’m left with a bigger mess than I had anticipated. It’s fine, really. I’m fully capable of doing the work that he didn’t get done. But I’m still shocked at how everything transpired, so here’s the rest of the story that I was holding back last time I wrote about it.
First, let me explain that the person I hired has done lots of work at our house in the past. He was one of the guys who built the carport, and then he came back and finished the carport last year. He did the drywall in my studio. He was one of the guys who worked on the bedroom-to-master bathroom conversion. And I’m sure there’s much more than I’m leaving out. When he first started working here, he was actually working for another contractor. And that other contractor kept his guys in line and on schedule. They would be at my house each morning at 7:50am to be ready to start work at 8:00am. They stayed all day, with an hour break for lunch, and worked until around 4:00 each day. When he was working for that other contractor, things got done, and they were done on schedule.
So when this guy and another one decided that they wanted to go off on their own and start their own business, I decided to stick with them since they’re the ones who had done the actual work on my house. I knew their work, and I trusted the quality of their work. Well, that was a big mistake. Some people are cut out to own businesses and be self-employed. Others are cut out to work for another person and need that oversight. This guy falls squarely into that second category.
The first day he was supposed to show up to work, he said that he wasn’t feeling well because of allergies. Since we no longer have a scuttle hole to the crawl space (a new one will be added to the hallway floor in the near future), he cut a hole in the floor of the guest bedroom (i.e., our future walk-in closet and laundry room) to get a look at the plumbing. He said he was going to purchase the necessary supplies, go to the doctor for an allergy shot, and show up the next day to work.
At least, that’s what he told me. He actually didn’t show up the rest of the week. So we were left with this hole in the floor for a week.
The rest of the week, he was dealing with sick kids, etc. I don’t have a problem with people needing to take care of their sick kids. I fully expect people to put their kids first, especially when they’re sick and no other childcare options are available. What I do have a problem with is when those people who are expected to be at my house working need to take care of sick kids, take kids to the doctor, etc., but don’t let me know what’s going on. When I’m expecting him to be here by 8:30 or 9:00am at the latest, and I don’t hear from him at all until after 11:30, and most of those times are only after I’ve texted to ask, “Are you coming today?“, that’s a problem. That’s not a responsible way to handle business.
On Friday of that first week, I texted him at 9:38a to see if he was coming since I hadn’t heard from him, and I didn’t hear from him until 11:13 when we had the following text exchange:
So the second week, he guaranteed me that he would be here bright and early on Monday to work. He didn’t get here at 8:00am, but he did at least show up that day. But even that day was a mess. He brought helpers with him that day. They showed up around 10:00, and then at 10:30 they said they needed to go to Home Depot to buy dust masks. I have no idea why it takes more than one person to make that trip, but they all left. Home Depot is a 15-minute drive from our house, and going in to buy dust masks takes about another 15 minutes. So that task, which evidently took all three of them, should have taken 45 minutes at the most. But they got back around 11:45. Then they left at 12:30 for lunch, and didn’t come back until after 2:30! They worked for another 30 minutes, and then left for the day. And at the end of the day, as he was leaving, he said he’d be here early Tuesday morning to continue the work.
Tuesday morning, I he didn’t show, and I didn’t hear from him. So at 11:13am, I sent the following text:
I didn’t hear back from him until 1:59pm. He said that he had overslept (what?!). He apologized and asked me to give him another chance, saying that he’d have the work done by that Friday. I won’t bore you with all the details of the whole timeline but suffice it to say that the work wasn’t finished by Friday, and this type of thing was par for the course for the rest of the time he worked here.
He begged me to give him another chance, and because I’ve known him for a long time now, I very stupidly gave him that second chance. But then after that, he didn’t show up on another day when he said he’d be here.
On Friday of the next week, he asked if he could work on Saturday to finish up the work. He told me that he was going to work from 8:30 to 4:30. He showed up late on Saturday, and then at 2:30, he asked if he could work a half day on Sunday. I said yes (because I just wanted it done!), and then HE LEFT for the day at 2:30 instead of working until 4:30 like he said he would.
I wasn’t here that Sunday morning, but I left a key for him. Matt said he did come and work for a couple of hours. I think that was the end of the second week. So by the third week, I was beyond frustrated. I just wanted the work DONE. The third week went about like you’d expect, although they were here more than they had been the previous week. But once again, he was supposed to be here on Saturday to finish up the job, and that didn’t happen.
At 10:37am on that Saturday, when I still hadn’t heard from him, I texted him to see if he was coming. I didn’t hear back from him until 1:43pm when he told me that he was on his way to pick up the trailer and head to my house. Then 45 minutes later, I got another text from him saying that he couldn’t find his keys, but and as soon as he found them, he’d head my way. That’s the last thing I heard from him that day. I didn’t get a text. No phone call. Nothing. Just…silence.
By that point, I was fit to be tied. So on Sunday evening, I gathered up all of his tools, piled them on the sidewalk in front of our house by the front porch steps, and sent him the following text…
I honestly don’t know how he has any business at this point. If that’s the way he treats a long-time customer, I can’t imagine that he treats new customers with any more respect. And what a terrible business decision to treat a long-time, repeat customer with such disrespect! I just can’t wrap my head around it.
The craziest thing is that he responded to that text saying, “Okay, I’ll have my wife bring me in the morning to pick them up.” IN THE MORNING?! He had left just about every tool he owns at my house, and they were now piled in front of my house, and he responded that he’d be there the next morning? He was willing to leave the literal tools of his trade out overnight, where anyone could have stolen them? That response was just as unbelievable as his behavior had been the previous three weeks. If someone had told me that every tool I own had been piled in front of their house, I would have been there within minutes to pick them up!
Evidently, he did end up coming that evening to pick them up because by the time we went to bed at 10:00pm, they were gone. Well, most of them were gone. He actually left behind a ladder and a big fan that he uses to dry drywall mud. He just left them!
And they’re still there, two weeks later, right next to the pile of stuff he was supposed to haul away on his trailer! I honestly don’t know what to do with them. I don’t want them, but I also don’t want to move them because I don’t want to be accused of keeping his ladder and fan and not letting him have them.
So that’s the rest of the saga. Hopefully, my irritation at him makes a lot more sense now. I wasn’t irritated because his and his kids were sick. I was irritated at the lack of communication, and the lack of showing up when he said he’d be here. All it would have taken is communication. If you can’t be at my house when you say you’re going to be there because you have sick kids, just text me and let me know! But if you’re supposed to be here by 8:30, and you have to take sick kids to the doctor, don’t wait until 11:30 to let me know! Don’t keep me guessing for hours…or days…while I’m expecting you to be here. I just can’t imagine what had caused him to go from being a good and reliable worker to this.
It’s sad that he’s burned this bridge because, with all of the project we have planned in the near future, I alone could have kept him in business for a good deal of this year. And I’m incredibly frustrated that I no longer have a go-to person to call when I need work done. Finding a new, reliable contractor to do small to medium jobs is no easy task. So this may truly be a “back to my DIY roots” kind of year.
(FYI, I edited the original post for more accuracy when I realized I still had our texts.)
Update: Several people have asked if I got my money back. I didn’t, and I didn’t ask. Amazingly, even with all the hassle and missed days, most of the work actually got done. There were a few final small things on the list that still needed to be done, plus the cleanup and haul away. Those didn’t get done, obviously, but I also still owed him a good chunk of money when the job was done. Needless to say, he didn’t get that final payment. In the end, he’s the one who lost out. Not only did he miss out on that final payment with just a few small jobs remaining, but he also lost a long-time repeat customer. In the end, the loss is his, not mine. And I’m fully capable of doing those last remaining small projects, and I have another very reliable man who does haul away for me at a very reasonable price.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
