Never mix business with friends.

[Clever]

Sometime in September I spoke to my friend’s brother who owns a construction company about renovating my basement, after doing an estimate, we decided to go ahead with the project. The completion date was set for December before Christmas, everything was on track, and was going according to plan, right around November things started to slow down with the progress of the basement. He was busy with other jobs so I understood, he still re assured me that the basement will be complete by the proposed time, December 20th to be exact. That day came and gone and my basement was still not complete but we have paid him in full. We let it slide due to my wife being pregnant at that time and we were expecting, we figured if the baby came we didn’t want any work being done at the house until she was settled in. That wasn’t an issue either since my contractor had a little accident and couldn’t do any work.

Now the basement is still in the same condition, nothing has been done, it is now mid April and he has given me a ton of different excuses as to why -- the recession, his truck was impounded and a few other excuses, bottom line is my basement is still not finished. My mistake to begin with was mixing business with friends and I can admit that, but now I am trying to figure out what my course of action should be? I’m pretty close to hiring someone else to finish the job and then sort out a way to get reimbursed for the cost but then am I just being too passive because he is the brother of one my closest friends? Or should I just pursue this through litigation? He did mention that he might be claiming bankruptcy at one point during our correspondence so I am not sure what will happen if he does go bankrupt. Any thoughts?

[gatorade]

He said he would be done in december? thats almost 4 months ago... uses the recession as an excuse but then says he is too busy with other jobs?. Sounds to me hes hoping you just give up, I think you should threaten to file a lawsuit in small claims, how much did you pay him exactly?

[topmade]

What has been done? Tough situation dealing with close friends. Seems like he just doesn't care anymore since he's already got your money. Just be straight up about it and ask for a fair amout back for the work that hasn't been complete. Try to talk his brother to see if he can convince him to give you some money back or you will file a lawsuit against him.

[brown_guy]

I say sue him

[dr_jared88]

I'd try and get a fair amount of money back at this point instead of trying to get him to finish the work. Even if you find a way to force him back to work; the quality won't be there since he'll be pissed.

[Kloubek]

If he goes bankrupt, you lose. So you need to nail this down prior to that happening.

Threatening a law suit is probably your best bet.

Note for the future: Don't pay anyone in full until the job is complete.

[benyl]

Let this be a lesson kids.

Always, Always hold back a good chunk of change to give the contractor incentive to finish.

Do not enter an agreement with a contractor where you have to pay in full before work is started or finished. Always work out milestones.

If it were me, I get my lawyers after him.

[G-ZUS]

Friends are friends, business is business

[googe]

grow a pair and hire someone else tonight. it doesn't require discussion, just, "I had to get someone else to take care of it, sorry it didn't work out this time...I'll swing by and get a cheque from you so we can get things squared away"

he probably wont pay you, but now you know not to pay people anything more than a deposit before they provide their services.

[SilverGS]

Originally posted by benyl
Let this be a lesson kids.

Always, Always hold back a good chunk of change to give the contractor incentive to finish.

Do not enter an agreement with a contractor where you have to pay in full before work is started or finished. Always work out milestones.

Agreed and always make sure its the majority that you hold back. If you even give half a lot figure thats enough and you will never see them again.

Big companies usually don't pay their contractors for 30-60 days after completion of the work. Most are happy if you pay them the day they are done.

Sucks that this also happens to be someone you know. If I was your friend I would be the one to be after my brother for trying to screw my buddy over.

[ExtraSlow]

I'd say your big problem wasn't hiring a buddy, it was paying up front. No reputable contractor needs full payment before the job is completed.
So now you are faced with suing him, or kising your money goodbye. Either way, your freindship is toast.

[blueToy]

Have you talked to your brother about this ? Does he offer you suggestions in how to deal with this ? I think he bears some respocibility being he's the one to give you this contact .
As for how to get your money back , grab a lawyer or sue this guy yourself , TODAY . WAYYYYYYY to many retards ( no disrepect to the mentally challenged folks ) with a pickup and 20 days experience calling themselves contractors that need to be PUT DOWN HARD in this city .
Anyway , congrats on the new addition to your family and all , but waiting four months for the dirtbag to get his shait together is way too much .

If anything , lesson learned , and good luck .

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
I'd say your big problem wasn't hiring a buddy, it was paying up front.

[Clever]

To clarify some things, I did not give him all the money upfront, we agreed to do the job in phases, when he started a new phase of the construction the deal was I pay him half and the rest upon completion up until the final completion date everything was going smoothly aside from minor delays on the project. Also the basement is about 85 % done, I paid him the rest of the invoice to finish because we just wanted to get the basement ready before Christmas and at this point all he had to do was the basement pantry, storage, light fixtures and other finishing touches. He had stated that he needed the rest of the payment to buy the materials needed to complete the job.

The thing is he has been doing construction for about 15 years and he isn’t just some Joe Blow that decided to pick up a hammer and drive a truck. In fact I did framing for his family back in high school as a summer job. Even his parents know about the situation and they have expressed how terrible they feel about it and like I said his brother is one of my oldest/ closest friends, which is the main reasons why I have not gone through with a lawsuit, yet. I have considered getting his brother involved but I know that he has other things to worry about; they too are expecting a baby so I have refrained from going that route yet.

I appreciate the feedback though, I guess it is one life lesson learned unfortunately this might end up worse than it should.

[Heff]

Originally posted by Clever
T at this point all he had to do was the basement pantry, storage, light fixtures and other finishing touches.

DIY.

In 4 months you could have had it finished yourself, and asked the guy for the final cheque back.

[cycosis]

If hes dicking you around hes not much of a friend. Sue

[Clever]

Originally posted by Heff


DIY.

In 4 months you could have had it finished yourself, and asked the guy for the final cheque back.

That's just it, if I do it myself or hire someone to finish the job I have no guarantee that I will get my money back.

[HRD2PLZ]

I've worked with lots of my friends before with no issues. I do understand if some of them aren't comfortable and chose to deal with someone else. No hard feelings. I think it all depends on the people involved.

I hired a friend to do some renovation work around my house. He started off great, then his work started to slip. He was began showing up every now and again (I wasn't living in the house so it was hard to monitor). Eventually we had a disagreement over time (he charged me 6 hours to install a hood fan...) and so it went. I was paying for materials and then paying him in steps as he completed certain jobs. He was supposed to have been done the job in November but stopped showing up, claimed he couldn't afford to be here working for a cheaper rate. Which is funny because I never asked for a discount, I figured if I was going to be paying out that much money for a reno, then I'd rather it go to someone who I knew needed it. Long story short, I no longer speak to him, have changed the locks, written off my financial loss as a lesson learned and hiring someone else to complete the job.

[will_e_chill]

I'm doing renos right now and understand what you are going thru.

Depending on how much you are owed, I would suggest you try to sort this out without going to court because that will only cost you more money.

Even if you don't hire a lawyer it will still cost you money to file a lawsuit in small claims court.

And even if you win your case it might still be difficult to collect.

If you still want to sue pm me and we can discuss some options.

If you need someone to help you finish your renos, I can make some recommendations also.

My advice for the future is when paying for work, hold back a significant amount until everything is done and the quality is checked.

[Kloubek]

Originally posted by Clever


That's just it, if I do it myself or hire someone to finish the job I have no guarantee that I will get my money back.

...you have a guarantee NOW?