[island_dude]

It just keeps getting more interesting. I got home last night and my wife tells me that the contractor sent two of his guys over to deliver an envelope to us. Not knowing what was up, she refused to take it.

This morning a got an email from the contractor saying that he had a bad feeling about all of this and if I didn't respond by this tuesday he was taking legal action. Dumb schmuck. He confirmed that the envelop was a copy of the invoices that he emailed.

Lets see, this guy doesn't indicate that he is planning on sending anyone to my door. Two guys show up trying to give my wife invoices that say the balance due NOW. The contractor doesn't think there is a problem here? We have this technology called the US mail system. He has been told he is not welcome at our house. I guess we should have said the same for his workers too. Perhaps he is so dense that I should have named each one just so he is clear on this point.

All I can say is that this guy is a total fool. To any objective observer, this would look like intimidation on a physical level. I have half a mind to tell him to bring it on, because he just keeps giving me more amunition.

One last little thing: He sent an invoice that was dated sept 23. Gee, if he had an invoice generated then why didn't he bother to send it? Better yet, he sent me a copy of the second invoice that was uncorrected. In this invoice he charges me for installing three windows, 17 hours of work for $1,020. Excuse me? He never installed any windows. When I asked him about this charge he said it was for additional work done to repair pet damage to the subfloor. Anyway, in court, this item will certainly get thrown out since he never made any attempt to document this item other than what is an obvious mistake.

Ok. I do have a laywer advising me. This is being done as a favor. I am getting good advice, but perhaps its time to actually hire someone. I don't know if this guy is smart enough to figure out how strong a hand I have to play, even if it comes in a letter from a lawyer. The worst thing is that this guy wants to play this deal two ways. On one hand he acts like a business man with a company with all that that implies. On the other hand, he wants to be compensated for everything that he does on a strict time and materials basis. When a buisness provides an estimate, and they did not anticipate things going wrong on their side, they have to eat the cost. Otherwise, what is the point of the estimate in the first place? They don't get to make a profit when they screw up. This guy thinks he should be making a profit on this job.

After all of the hassle (tearing our house up and leaving it that way for 18 days, the workmanship problems, and the damage to my walls and elsewhere, I should get all of my money back. In fact I will have to have a lot of the work redone at some point much earlier than one would expect for this sort of job. The worst thing is that it actually costs me money since he wasted a bunch of expense hardwood flooring.

Sigh. I am on a rant. Thanks for reading.