Sharing bad contractor experiences?

Question

I'm curious what other folks do when they have terrible contractor experiences. I've been rehabbing properties for more than 3 minutes, so I've had both good and bad experiences with contractors. :) I want to add as a disclaimer that I feel bad contractor experiences fall on both parties. I've been too lenient on contractors - trying to show compassion, listening to their BS reasons that they're behind or that the work isn't properly done "yet", and so on. I don't think that having bad contractor experiences is 100% on a contractor as someone had to give them the opportunity to do the bad work/continue to be employed.)

When bad contractors happen, what's the best way to handle it? It feels like if a person stands on a soapbox and shares their experience with everyone, then they could be viewed as a "risk" to other contractors and seen as "unprofessional" and someone to be avoided by investors/community members. Also, it opens up the "he said, she said" dynamic. I've had contractors explain to me how certain clients were unreasonable, didn't understand the scope of work, didn't understand construction. It seems this is done in an attempt to discount any possible negative reviews from the person or to help guide the expected behavior of their future clients.

When someone does have a bad contractor experience and doesn't share it, it's like helping the contractor continue to dupe people.

I feel like the "correct" answer is to leave a review on Google, Facebook, really everywhere you can about the facts, share your story with other investors that may cross your path, accept that some will view you a person who overreacts, and move on, but what do people really do?

I'm currently having contractors redo work from a contractor that was within the local investor community. The "amount of bad" is higher than I realized as we are fixing some parts of the project. The guys I chat with about "daily investor things" know who the original contractor is, but I don't know if I'm enabling unethical contractor behaviors by not leaving written reviews.

So, again I ask, when bad contractors happen, what's the best way to handle it? :)

Erin Church · Answer

Hey @Mohammed Rahman

Thanks for the response! I totally agree with you about using referrals that are mostly "mom-and-pop" type operations. That's exactly what I've done and how I've found some of my great contractors. :) We also agree that hiring bad contractors means paying for it twice - that's the main reason I put much more weight on the recommendation I've gotten from other investors than the cost of the contractor.

I hear you about the polite version of "suck it up buttercup", and that's what I've done traditionally. :) The reason I struggle with this is because I've used a contractor that someone else gave an "average" review on when asked about their experience. Because I knew I could check up on the job frequently, I felt confident that I could get a good enough experience/product out of the contractor. I was wrong. When bluntly sharing the bad experience with the reviewer, they had an experience that was much more similar to mine than I realized.

I agree with you that sharing my recommendations/referrals/avoid list is important and I definitely will with those I have contractor conversations with. However, I'm fully aware that I'm not nearly "important"/connected enough (nor would I want to be) for every local investor to ask me about my experience/recommendation on contractors. :)

So, to ask clarifying questions and to make sure that I'm understanding your response: If you have a recommended contractor do terrible work (literally, ripped out), run over schedule, and you fire them, do you only share that experience with people that ask you directly? Is that true even if you know that many others in your investor sphere will likely hire them in the near future? I feel like your response is "yes" to both of these if I understood your response correctly.

Again, I appreciate your response and going through this mental exercise. :)

Mohammed Rahman · Answer

Hey @Erin Church you pay for a bad contractor's work twice. Once for them to do a bad job, and the second time for the next contractor to undo the damage done.

Most of the time in these scenarios I rely on my network to find reliable contractors. I've found most of the reliable mom-and-pop shops barely have an online presence.

There are contractors that have a heavy online presence and are good quality, but I've found that they're not the best priced but that's a product of their demand/supply.

In terms of what to do about bad experiences... pick yourself up and move on, and the next time someone comes to you for a referral/recommendation - tell them who to stay away from.

Sharing bad contractor experiences?

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