Dealing with Poor Tradesman Services
You have a right when a tradesman is hired to expect him to do the job he was hired to do in a timely fashion and to do it correctly. If you are unhappy with a tradesman's work there is something you can do about it. You do not want or expect him to prolong a fifteen minute job into one that takes days or even several hours longer then it should. It is within the rights of the person who has employed him to do something about if he does not live up to his side of the bargain.
To make sure you do not have another if you are unhappy with a tradesman experience, the first thing to do is to be very explicit about what you expect him to do for the money before he begins to work so there is no misunderstanding. Make sure the tradesman understands what you want done and how it is to be done. If there is something you do not understand about the job and it cannot be done the way you expect it to be this is the time for him to tell you why. Sometimes a tradesman will accept a job, do part of it and leave you hanging for days or weeks while he goes on to another job or several. Never pay anyone fully before the job is completed; money is a great wedge. Pay him or them only for work that is already done. In this case a phone call telling the tradesman that the job needs to be completed or you will find someone else to do it is not uncalled for. If he is actually waiting for parts or material to finish up that makes a difference. Do not however, let him take on more business then he has time to do to obtain more money at your expense.
Another thing commonly done by tradesman is to make a real project out of a small job and try to do things that are not necessary so he can charge you more money then the job is worth.
These are all things to watch out for. As an example I called in a plumber but had read a book about plumbing first to see if I could do the job myself and decided to hire someone. The plumber arrived, assured me it was a big job, the bathroom wall needed to be taken out and the job could not be done in a day's time. I already knew what was wrong and told him so. I told him to leave the wall alone and what was to be done. After some discussion it came down to either do it my way or leave. He wanted payment so he did it my way while I watched what he did. The job was done right in about twenty minutes. This is another one of the things you can do to avoid a you are unhappy with a tradesman experience, familiarize yourself with what needs to be done on the job so you know if what the tradesman is going to do is right or wrong and of course there should be a discussion before he starts so you know what he is going to do and he understands what he is going to be allowed to do. If you think what he tells you or does is not right ask for an explanation he might have a good reason. It is always a good idea before you hire someone to do a job to call them out for a price estimate and discuss the job in detail and in this way you can get at least one more opinion if it does not sound good. There are some small jobs like the one I hired the plumber for that really do not require a contract or calling several people out because it is a waste of their time. In this case all you can do is make yourself familiar with the job and ask for a guarantee.
Tradesman Breach of Contract
If the job is big enough that a contract can be made out this should give you an additional edge or recourse to see that the tradesman's work is satisfactory. Just make sure the contract is in your favor. Make a stipulation in the contract that gives you an out under certain circumstances. If possible get a time limit on the job, this is very important. You might make a provision that if the job is not completed within a week or two after the job ending date there will be a reduction in the amount of money per day that you owe for the job. This should save you weeks and possibility months or maybe even a year's time of waiting for the job to be completed. From past experience I assure this makes for a really bad if you are unhappy with a tradesman experience. After all, these are supposed to be experienced people that should know what they are doing. If at all possible hire people that belong to the BBB, while you can not always do this they are generally honest hard working people. Make sure the contract states that if anything goes wrong soon after the job is completed the tradesman will return to fix it at his expense. One of the best clause's to have in the contract is you do not pay until you are satisfied, but be reasonable sometimes things go wrong that is the fault of no one. If you do not make enough provisions or resources in your contract to protect yourself if you are really dissatisfied with the job after it is done, it's going to be hard getting help legal or otherwise.
If after all is said and done and if you are unhappy with the tradesman and you have talked to the party that worked for you or his company then its time to go for outside help.
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