How to deal with workers not showing up

Question

In order to save money, I end up playing the role of the general contractor and hire people by referrals from others and through Craig's List. One of the guys doing my stucco work advertises in Craig's list all the time and is very experienced. He gave me a great deal for $4500 (3 coat stucco including material on a 1200 sq ft ranch home) Everything went well until he had to do the second coat. He stopped responding and finally a week later he texted me and started the 2nd coat. Now on the final coat he is playing the same game of not answering my calls or texts. I still owe him $1500 to finish the job so I know it isn't the lack of incentive. I used a friends phone today and 1 ring later he picks up. He was surprised it was me and told me he is busy and will come on Sat. How do you guys deal with this? I seem to always have this issue except for a few people I always work with, all these other guys I find never seem to answer their phones or respond to texts.

J Scott · Answer

You need to layout out the schedule expectations in the contract, as well as penalties for missing schedules (you don't actually have to enforce the penalties, but they should be in there as a deterrent).

If you have a contractual schedule and the contractor isn't performing to the contract, fire him.  And make sure you never pay ahead of the work, so that if you need to fire him, you aren't losing any money.

Then find someone else.

Will K · Answer

Great advice, and I highlighted the most important part of J's quote

Darish D. · Answer

Amazingly he calls me up to finish the job. This is after he found out I gave it to someone else and I let him know. Now he says it's his job and he wants to finish it but next monday...that is 6 days from today! I disagreed with Danny Day at first when I read his post....boy was he right.

Michael Noto · Answer

Good move Darish on stepping up and firing this guy.  J Scott is right on with the contract.

Bottom line is time is money in the flipping business and holding people accountable to deadlines is a must.

Darish D. · Answer

Great advice J Scott on the contract. So he didn't show up on Sat either. He picked up a call I made (from a different number of course) said he would be there and lied again. I left him a message telling him to not show up and that I will be hiring someone to finish the job and should the amount exceed what it would have cost me with him, I would pursue it. Also FYI, he is not a contractor rather a Craigs list guy. Here is a link for Bay area and Sacramento (Cal) people to be aware.
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/sks/3913471592.html

Phil Z. · Answer

If it gets real bad you might need to hire someone else to finish the job and then tell the original contractor that you had someone else finish so they wont be paid for the work they didn't do.  If they hassle you about the money and putting a lien on the house, then you might have to pay them and try to get the money back in court.

Joel Owens · Answer

"He gave me a great deal for $4500 (3 coat stucco including material on a 1200 sq ft ranch home)."

I am not a rehabber at all but I have noticed things from owning buildings and needing repairs.

As mentioned they might be cheap because they are inexperienced or do not have the right tools and the insurance for the job etc. The other side of the spectrum is you have a professional that does great work and gave you a great quote.

You are calling them constantly to get your job done quick with what it sounds like when you are calling them they are saying " I gave you a great deal and I am fitting you in between my retail jobs. I will get finished when I can schedule it in."

Contractors agree to the filler work to keep cash coming in between retail jobs. Unless you are giving them constant work I can't see them turning down retail paychecks for finishing a job where they are hardly making anything.

I am not by any means defending deadbeat contractors but I am just relaying my experience and what they have told me in the past. When they need the money they are all over it but then a big retail job comes up for their company or they land a gig out of state etc. When that happens they can drop you like a ton of bricks.

"He was surprised it was me and told me he is busy and will come on Sat. How do you guys deal with this?"

This is exactly what I am talking about. You both seem to have a different set of expectations. The contractor thinks they gave you an awesome deal and will not put you ahead of his retail jobs. Sounds like he is not saying he will not do the job just not as fast as you want. The reality is contractors are motivated by money and retail jobs give them a fat paycheck for profit. The investor side is a volume business for thin money. If you are not a big flipper you can't give them constant work and money. Now if they do not make you happy you can then not refer them for other business but if every job they get is for cheap and little profit then they are not excited about it.

It is the 4th of July so is the contractor putting you off until Saturday because of the holiday?? Maybe dangle some more money for them to finish it earlier. They already are almost finished so would be easiest for them to finish what they started if they have quality work. If the work wasn't up to par then dump them long time ago.

Steve Wilcox · Answer

Some contractors (ESPECIALLY if you go for the cheapest price) are always disappearing, late, dodging calls, and otherwise unprofessional.

Keep in mind that if they were organized, professional, and timely they probably wouldn't be cheap. (However this does not mean that just because someone is expensive they are necessarily going to be better).

Unfortunately dealing with this stuff is part of rehabbing to an extent. Try to set clear expectations as J  Scott mentioned through using a contract that clearly spells out everything including time to complete work, payment schedule, ect. Having all this clearly defined up front can remove alot of head ache later. If someone is not willing to sign this type of contract they have basically declared that they will not be responsible for working in a timely manor.

As you build your business try to build your network and when you get someone who is good pay them a fair rate, in a timely fashion and keep them in your Rolodex

Danny Day · Answer

Get rid of him fast.. had this happen many times before and not worth dealing with.

Scott W. · Answer

Funny you wrote this, i had this happen just the other day with an electrician. blew me off twice; just tried somebody else who showed up on time & did great work.

when you find someone like that, keep them busy even during the slow months.

How to deal with workers not showing up

Most Popular Reply