Dealing With Greedy Concrete Contractor

[Tom Kaser]

Seeking input for a frustrating situation with a greedy, and what seems to be, an unethical concrete/brick mason contractor. I'm rehabbing a brick ranch home in North Denver area. At first, it appeared it needed extensive cracked brick repair, due to settling of this 65 year old house. Cracks on all sides of the house. He had me believe it would take days to repair and quoted me $8,000. Yikes. I've never done brick repair.

Well, it took three of his guys one full day to do the work. They only used half the bricks. Total cost for labor and materials is probably $3500 at most. I've asked him if he would consider lowering what he is charging me. He won't. I've already agreed to it of course, by email. And I am partly at fault here because I did not get other bids, as I've used this contractor before and he does good work. I work a demanding full time job too, so it's hard to do all the necessary things on a project, from start to finish.

I am so mad at his greed and how he was misleading. I'M MAD AT MYSELF for not doing enough due diligence; I know this my fault.  Also, he had an arrogant "my way or the highway" attitude, would not empathize. Told me he had many more jobs to do, which he does and how he "squeezed me in" to get the job done. The worst part of the house is now fixed and they did a good job. We are just finishing up the inside for new paint and flooring.

Last night the had the audacity to email me the invoice -- not even a formal invoice, just an email listing what was done and the $8000 charge that is due. And he asks me "when can I stop by the house tomorrow to pick up a check?" Aargh!!! He also quoted me $4500 to pour concrete for a new drive way. I told him to disregard that and if he gouges me for $8,000 that I would NEVER use him again. He made a sale and a profit here, but he lost a long term customer.

Any other input you have on how you could negotiate with him? If I don't pay all of it, he could slap a lean and then I can't refinance to a conventional. So frustrating. Help!

[Linda Weygant]

"He had me believe it would take days to repair".  Did he say $8000 for X days of work?  Or did he say $8000 for the work.

See, here's the thing that people always seem to forget about professionals.  You're not paying by the hour.  You're paying for the knowledge, the know-how and the resources.  You could not have done this work - not with your time and your knonwledge.  I couldn't have done it either - even if I only charged you $4000.

I've seen this same scenario in the past.  Client gave me a project to do that seemed very complicated to him.  I quoted him a price that he liked and he agreed to it.  I turned the project around in a day.  He was livid.  He'd been beating his head against the project for weeks and thought that the price I quoted him would be for weeks or at least a few days of work.  The price isn't for my hourly labor.  The price is for my know how to do the project correctly and quickly.

You thought it was a fair price when you thought it would take a couple of days.  Why is the length of time for the project now causing you to doubt the value of the work?  Work is not always done on a Cost Plus basis.  It's done on knowledge.  You said he did a good job.  Would you be happier if it took longer?