Contractor Went AWOL..what are my options?
Hi All,
It's not 100% clear yet, but I believe a contractor I am working with on my septic/well system has went AWOL. I won't post his info yet, but looking for options.
So when I first started building my house, I found a contractor who advertised that they do grading/septic/wells, and met with him on the property. He was the first contractor I had to deal with on this property and it was long before any construction started. I needed to know his requirements for a septic field location ect so that I could place my house correctly with proper clearances. Also, because my house is a slab-on-grade, I needed the water line and drain line in place before my walls went up.
A few days later he showed up on land with a little excavator and dug a few holes in a few areas for a perc test.
Fast forward a few months and time came to get my house pad built and area cleared for my house build, and this is where first sign of trouble started. At this time he told me that with consultation with his co-worker, the job is too big for him, and he wouldn't have the equipment to do it property, and would need to bring a ton of material, adding about 13k+ to the cost. This should have been my off-boarding with him, but after finding another guy to do the grading and the pad, at an unexpected $24k expense, I decided to stick with this guy for the other parts of the build, this was probably a mistake.
Anyways, when the screw piles started going in, he showed up and got the water line installed, got the septic tank installed, and got the septic field built. He also dug a trench for my electrical cable and put in sections of pipe as conduit in a few locations around the house for all of the conduits I was going to be using. At this point, his work was done for a while, as I had an entire house to build before I would need him again. At that point, I have paid him majority of the money for the job, but held back $3k until he was able to finish everything.
As there were some delays in my build, after about 3 month he asked that I pay the rest. I was very hesitant, but against my better judgement, I paid him the remainder of the money. The only outstanding things left are a pressure tank, a pressure switch, and the related wiring, nothing too complicated, and realistically not terribly expensive, so I decided to settle fully with him. He seemed trustworthy enough, and when I brought up the fact that he won't have a reason to come back, he sweet talked me by saying things like "this is a long term relationship, I have to warranty the field ect ect).
Fast forward to this summer, which is about 7 months after he finished the previous work, I reached out to him to see if he was still alive. Initially he didn't respond, but eventually we talked and he asked if I was ready for the tank and I said I was. He insisted we get this done now instead of waiting, as he will get more busy as things pickup, and I agreed, and then it went silent. I got many things on the go, and don't need the tank right away, so I didn't bug hum much about it, but then a month or so later I started talking to him more, and he was still answering the call and always said "i will go and pickup the tank tomorrow and we will get it done". This same message has been repeated to me throughout this entire summer. I know contractors are super busy now, but it's getting harder and harder to reach him, and now, whenever I call the number, I get a "this number is not in service"....but then later if I try again I get his voicemail directly. I haven't tried in a few days, so perhaps was some issue during that day, so I sent an email and haven't heard back.
At this point, I feel like he will never show up, and I want to see what my options are, if any. I could just swallow my loss, and find someone else to finish the last few minor things, but if I got screwed, I want to make sure this guy doesn't screw anyone else.
He seems to be very concerned about his google ratings, and asked me to leave him a good review back in the day, which I did, but shortly I will be telling him that I am about to change my review, which I think may be the final trick I have to get him to come and finish the job.
Just wondering what my options may be after this, if he completely ghosts me and never finishes the job? I know I fucked up by trusting him and paying the full amount, but with little outstanding work left, I figured it wasn't that big of a risk overall. If I have to, I am willing to fuck this guy over as much as I have to, so all options are on the table. It's not about the money, it's to ensure he doesn't fuck anyone else.
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by eblend
