Getting Stiffed on a Side Job

[Davisden79]

New York, My husband installs central air for a living, a friend of ours sister and husband were looking to have this done to their house. They had been asking our friend to connect them to my husband for months and eventually my husband agreed to meet with them. He was weary only because friends were involved. As it was they had the main part that was given to them by someone else when they bought the house, they said it was only a couple of years old and so one of the more costly parts was taken care of. My husband ran all the air ducts, and got everything in place. Took a few weekends, a part had to be ordered to connect the two and the union which made this part was on strike, so it took almost 2 months for it to come in. A very frustrating ordeal for ALL parties, but when it came in my husband showed them the paperwork with which it came and it showed the order date and the delivery date. Proving it was under no ones control. My husband went to install it and it did not work, turned out that the main part which they provided was not 2 years old but much older. In fact the machine they had could not even use this converter and the company that made this product no longer made these or had anything to do with it. When my husband called the guy he told him and said all you have to do is buy the $300 machine and I will switch it over for you for no extra charge. He basically just wanted to be done with this.The guy said that he would call him back and that was a month ago. The other day we heard from someone that they had someone else do the work. So in other words they bought the $300 part and probably paid someone $200 to install it because all the manual labor part was done and they stiffed my husband for $1800. Yes the situation was less then desirable for EVERONE involved and he knew that it was a bad situation for the owners too to have to wait for their air, but the situation only went bad because they lied about their system and how old it was. If they had a problem with anything they should have called and spoke with my husband not just decide that all the work he put into their house, and all the money he saved them more then $3000, was not important. From the start of the job to the very end they not once called us. If I had a problem with someone doing work on my house I would definitely let them know, not decide oh well they don't get paid. Is there anything we can do without a contract in place?

 

[BL]

I have a problem with an installer that does not do his research on a main system to determine what parts in fact it would need , or are no longer available in the first place .

You can " HEAR it from the grapevine " , that's not proof .

Now , If your husband can prove the cost of materials for the duct work , and the approx . amount of time a professional installer would charge for it's installation , He might have a shot at being compensated for those materials and labor .

I hope He was able to return the part that He couldn't use .

Just for your Info. I trained in HVAC , and other areas of home renovations .

A maintenance man that works for my LL said He could repair our stoves oven , He'd done it 100 times on stoves like our . It was hogwash .

Your husband has to go in to Court with proofs , and appear to be creditable .

Good luck .

 

[PoorMe]

Similar Situation

I can't believe my h has been going through the same ordeal. To make a long story short -He did a job for a friend of a neighbor of a friend of ours. They agreed on the cost of parts plus $2500 in labor. I have receipts for $6423 for parts from the place with his name or address listed on the invoice. He has paid us $6900. We are owed about $2023 ( I don't have the exact figures right here).He had done a job for one of his other friends in the past ok. Well any way he had installed duct runs ,thermostat, humidifier, registers-anyway it was a lot of work all he had left to do was put in 2 registers and hook up the ac condensor as the electric, line set etc was already run to the area. The owner asked him to wait until he had his house sided so nothing happened to the unit. After waiting for weeks and no call my h went to the house and attempted to install it, only to find he did it. Numerous calls later he did find out from the guy he installed it with a friend. I sent him a bill for the balance due, which he ignored. Our lawyer then requested it, I filled small claims. First date he was a no show, to find he never received the summons. The day before the next date we get a counterclaim saying my h never completed the job and he tried to call numerous times. He said he paid someone $6500 to install the unit and he had to change duct work. He also claims he only agreed to pay a TOTAL of $6800 for the job complete. No one in their right mind would agree to that since he wanted the furnace and air that cost $1500 each-the $150 thermostat-etc. Anyway Friday is court and our lawyer was recommending to drop both-concerned if we lose we will have a problem with our new house purchase. We are building in the spring and have money down. I don't see how we could. Why would he pay someone another $6500 to install just the unit and pay that much for the job? I think he is trying to get out of anything and on top of it have us pay for his material.