Stood up by contractor

hollydolly said:
I know what you're saying..however that doesn't make sense to me that someone could charge you the price of your item in case THEY break it.. that's why they have public liability insurance...

Can you imagine, buying a £50,000 car and the seller charging you another £50k for him to drive it out of the showroom...in case he smashes into something ?
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Totally different comparison.
Its the likelihood of a loss. The likelihood of breaking a 7ft piece of glass is much higher than a car dealer totaling a car driving it out of a showroom.
Its all relative. I didn't have a problem with it because, 1) the quality of his work was outstanding, 2) his costs came in so much lower than other quotes, 3) his quote was much lower than what I was willing to pay, 4) he called back within 2 hours, showed up on time, stayed a full two weeks to get the job done perfectly.
Matter of fact, I was so happy with the outcome I gave him a $500 bonus.
 

Sippican said:
I had a shower door installed as part of a bathroom renovation.
It was an add-on from the original quote.
The door cost $800. He charged $800 to install it.
When I gave him the 'raised eyebrow', he said, 'because its an expensive all glass frameless door, if he breaks it installing it, he is on the hook to get a new one'. I thought that was fair.
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hollydolly said:
so essentially you paid for 2 doors and only got one.... :oops:
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As I read it, the door itself cost $800 to purchase. It wasn't going to jump into place in Sippican's bathroom so it needed installing via skilled labor.

Sippican could have purchased the door and installed it himself...
 
debodun said:
NextDoor is where I got the lawn guy who let his girlfriend now and my apple seedling disappeared!

Back door comparison before and after storm door installation:

View attachment 295085
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Who bought the door? Normal would be left hand hinge The way this one is with right hand hinge it makes opening the inner door really awkward. That & if a wind caught the door there is a chance the glass would slam into the light.

I'm picky I would have sanded & painted the frame molding. Actually I wouldn't let it get deteriorated to the point it shows in the pics. My 79 year old wife could do the sanding & painting I would do it but she could & would if for some reason I couldn't.

Other than that the cost seems reasonable & the mounting looks well done.
 

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StarSong said:
As I read it, the door itself cost $800 to purchase. It wasn't going to jump into place in Sippican's bathroom so it needed installing via skilled labor.

Sippican could have purchased the door and installed it himself...
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errrrm.. yes whatever price he was willing to pay is up to him.... however I would not have paid the same price an item cost me.. to have it installed.... that's usually not how it works...but it's really fine.. I did understand sippicans' post..you had no need to explain it for him :oops:
 
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hollydolly said:
errrrm.. yes whatever price he was willing to pay is up to him.... however I would not have paid the same price an item cost me.. to have it installed.... that's usually not how it works...but it's really fine.. I did understand sippicans' post..you had no need to explain it for him :oops:
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In the US, when having remodels and other kinds of work done the labor is generally costlier than the parts.
 
StarSong said:
In the US, when having remodels and other kinds of work done the labor is generally costlier than the parts.
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Yes, labor costs are expensive here in the US for quality work.
I did extensive research on doing it myself vs. having an experienced person doing it.
The ones that did it themselves, many time the glass shattered just by touching the tip down on tile floor. It is tempered glass so it is designed to shatter into a million pieces if not installed correctly. It was two large pieces of glass with no frame, so it was risky.

As I explained before, the cost is all relative.
He is an excellent contractor, called back quickly, showed up on time every day for two weeks, charged me less than I was willing to pay (I was willing to pay 5,000 more for the complete job, he came in much less expensive.
And because its so hard to get a contractor, show up,, and do the work, I told myself that I would give whomever 'checked all the boxes' would get a bonus.
I justified it because when I was working and I did well, I got a nice bonus each year, so I applied the same criteria to people that work for me.
Then for months he used me for a reference for others. I was happy to do it.

Given all that, how responsive do you think he will be when I call for more work?
 
I am at a loss to explain why I have such bad luck with contractors. I had an appointment today at 9 am with a plumber to repair/replace a toilet valve. I received at PM from him last evening saying it would more likely be noon to 2 pm today. It is now 3:30 pm and no plumber or PM.
 
debodun said:
I am at a loss to explain why I have such bad luck with contractors. I had an appointment today at 9 am with a plumber to repair/replace a toilet valve. I received at PM from him last evening saying it would more likely be noon to 2 pm today. It is now 3:30 pm and no plumber or PM.
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well if it makes you feel any better Deb...I said I'd never been let down by a contractor.. but ... I was let down by the lumberjacks... They promised to return the following week, to trim my high hedges and my giant Bay Laurel Hedge.. and despite me giving them a substantial tip when they cut the tree down.. they never returned... :rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
debodun said:
I am at a loss to explain why I have such bad luck with contractors. I had an appointment today at 9 am with a plumber to repair/replace a toilet valve. I received at PM from him last evening saying it would more likely be noon to 2 pm today. It is now 3:30 pm and no plumber or PM.
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I would pm him. I just got a delivery, and if I didn't call I still would not have gotten it. I thought I could wait patiently, but I could not so I swung into action!
 
I PMed him yesterday afternoon asking to reschedule. Still have not heard back. I looked him up on the BBB website and he had an A+ rating. The reviews are gushing about how good and communicative he is.
 
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I think single women and especially old single women are victims of 'ghosting' with contractors, just don't expect too much from them, they can pick and choose their jobs, many don't want what they consider a 'piddle a**' job....it has happened to me many times, I don't call them back if they don't show, just move on and look for another one, if you do find a good one, hang onto them, they're few and far between.
 
I am beginning to wonder how others define "handyman". To me it's a person that can repiar a wide varietry of small home repair jobs. Apparently in my locale it just means painting and carpentry services, no plumbing or wiring.
 
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debodun said:
I am beginning to wonder how others define "handyman". To me it's a person that can repiar a wide varietry of small home repair jobs. Apparently in my local it just means painting and carpentry services, no plumbing.
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well tbf plumbing ..and electronics are specialised jobs.. changing a tap washer doesn't need a plumber and can be done by a handyman .. but a handyman to me is someone who maybe can paint.. not all can.. but who can hang shelves, fix a broken something... move furniture for me.. unblock my drains.. hang the blinds.. and so on.. nothing that needs a qualification
 
hollydolly said:
well tbf plumbing ..and electronics are specialised jobs.. changing a tap washer doesn't need a plumber and can be done by a handyman .. but a handyman to me is someone who maybe can paint.. not all can.. but who can hang shelves, fix a broken something... move furniture for me.. unblock my drains.. hang the blinds.. and so on.. nothing that needs a qualification
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Agree. Most handymen I've employed or encountered can handle minor plumbing and electrical, but licensed plumbers need to be called for more involved jobs.

"Handymen" today were tend to do what our fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers took care of on their days off way back when. For big jobs, they'd all work together. Lots of the guys on this forum would qualify as handymen.
 
I'm now going to have to look for someone to come and fit a new strip light in my kitchen. Just a few minutes ago the light failed.. . It's not like swapping over a bulb which obviously I could do myself.. this needs a whole new flush strip light unit fitted after removing the now defunct one ....again it's a job my o/h would have done without any problem, he was the one who fitted them in the first place... *sigh*
 
Knight said:
Why it so surprising a contractor wants to make as much money from his trade as possible?
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If that is fact, and it is, he will only achieve that by recommendations and not short term gain ripping off the vunerable in life.
 

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