Poor choice of words...

Right now we're getting some work done at our house, general upkeep type stuff and a few "upgraded" items. So I've been contracting various professional tradesmen for the tasks at hand. One in particular just seems to have every warning sign going off, and yesterday was really sort of the end of the line.

THE SETUP

So I came across this guy as a referral from one of the other contractors who was providing an estimate on a related job. I gave him a call, and he came out and talked over everything for a little bit then left. I was told I'd have an estimate in an hour or two, but didn't hear back until the next day. His wife had a c-section the next morning and so obviously he'd been busy that day with the birth of his 2nd child. As heartless as it may sound though, I still didn't know why he hadn't shot me an e-mail after leaving my house, so instead I'm waiting a little longer. He mentioned he had his laptop at the hospital and he'd get me the estimate in a day or two.

THE DELAY

....or 3, or 4 or 5. Okay, so who knows what sort of fun birth-related things he was dealing with, but it took a while longer and another e-mail from me before I got a quote (and not a formal quote, but just whatever he had time to put together real quick). Regardless, I finally got some numbers about a week and a half ago. Everything looked okay, but he was still unable to provide proof of insurance at this time (a standard request for any general contractor). I'm told he'll get something sent off in an e-mail that night or early next day.

....or 3 or 4 days or so. Okay, I finally hear back from him a few days later, and he says he'll get the insurance info over to me sometime Monday morning, and he'll be here after lunch on Monday.

THE FAIL

....or not. I'm waiting all day, got all the furniture moved out and around so he can do his work, and when I don't hear from him, I give him a call about a quarter to 3pm yesterday. "Where ya at? What's going on?" Well, turns out he doesn't have insurance, he "forgot" to renew it, and he's working on getting it reinstated but it will be a day or two. Or three. Maybe next week. Why he didn't bother calling? Oh, he says he sent me an e-mail about 30 minutes earlier (it was 15 minutes). I let him know that a phone call is pretty normal when you're going to be late, or if you're cancelling the job...especially if it's already a few hours after start time.

Oh, another thing to note...the project he's doing must be completed before some other little jobs are done, so we're rescheduling these other guys all the time to accomodate this guy. He knows this, but still continues to push things back for what turns out to be no good reason.

THE CHANGE OF PLANS

So we have our phone conversation, he apologizes, gives excuses, and I cut him off. I let him know in a genuinely nice yet short way that this is all unacceptable. We leave it that we'll try to get something decided the next day (seriously giving this guy the benefit of the doubt) and that's that. Meanwhile, I spend a couple of hours finding other contractors who can come out and give an estimate and maybe get this stuff done. I find a good one, they come out, quote the job (for less money, I might add) and say they'll start work next day (an hour or so from now, in fact).

THE NOTIFICATION

So I shoot the original guy a phone call, he doesn't answer (per usual) and I leave a message saying another guy is coming to do the work, and I'll keep him posted on some other potential projects we had discussed. I apologized that it hadn't worked out, circumstances between us being what they were, and said no hard feelings, we'll try again next time. Am I a nice guy or what?

THE STUPIDITY

So with all my accomodation and niceties with this fellow, here's the e-mail (not phone call) he sends me a short while later. I've added my comments for your reading pleasure.....

"I got your message and was disappointd to hear this information. I felt that I made a promise to you (now your promises mean something?) to have the work finished tomorrow and it was left at that. But no hard feelings. Just for future reference it may be helpful not to ask for so many prejob requirements (beggin' your pardon, ma'am???). If it had not been for this (the request for proof of his insurance) your job could have been completed over this past weekend (...except the plan was to do it many days before then). I know you are just trying to play it safe (let's refer to it as "due diligence," shall we?) but I only have one in fifty customers ask for insurance (good to know that I am more intelligent and better prepared than 98% of your customers). References though are a more common request (and less useful in the event of a job site disaster). Anyways, I can still do the other work but unfortunatley I can not offer the same price (perhaps he feels that I am due a discount for my troubles...?). My initial estimate was more of a package price and since we have already cut that back quite a bit along with this additional work not being done I simply cannot do the other work for those prices (hrm....maybe he's NOT thinking of a discount.....). If you would like for me to requote the remaining items please let me know. Good luck tomorrow (can't be much worse, can it?)."

THE FINAL ASSESSMENT

Okay, so I had plenty of red flags and should have cut this guy out long ago, but I just felt like giving him a shot. As for his lack of business saavy...well, a lot of skilled tradesmen are excellent workers and horrible businessmen, so nothing new there. But this guy is either just having a really bad month, or he has an amazing combination of poor communication, lack of respect and failure to respond to customer requests. Regardless, anybody should know better than to tell a client that he asked too much. If I asked too much of you, dear sir, then why didn't you tell me so sometime before the job was supposed to begin? It is not my position to know what you are and are not capable of doing, it is your position to tell me. If I am too picky of a client for you, then either charge me more for your troubles or decline the work.

I did send a response to his message, but I still remained pretty upbeat with him. I told him where his train ran off the tracks, but I didn't nail him to the wall (which I probably should have). Oh well.

I guess I'll let you know how the next guy turns out....