hawaiisunrise

[hawaiisunrise]

Bad Customer

What is the name of your state? Hawaii

Aloha I have a small contractors business and I had a customer who wanted me to build a small home for him. He gave me a 3% deposit on the labor for the home. I started getting contractors and suppliers ready to go and dealt with the architect for several hours and did all the prep work that needs to be done. The day we were supposed to start the job he tells me he doesnt have all his money together and needs to put it off for a month. I continue to work his job and start another job for another customer. This goes on for almost 5 months and then he calls me and says he is ready and I need to start the next day. I said no way I have another job in progress but I will leave there early and work half days on your home until I finish the one I am working on now. He says ok so I start work on the home and not a week later pulls his job from me saying he wont wait for me. That I should have been ready to do his job. So he wants his deposit back. I have over 80 hours invested in the prep of this home so I give him a partial refund with a detailed explanation of the charges. I send the check with the explanation. He cashes the check and two weeks later calls me and threatens to sue me for the balance. I have been told that cashing of a check means he accepts my terms. Is this true? I dont feel that I should have to return the whole amount as I had lots of time in this job and did physical work on it. Any advise would be appreciated.
thank you
hawaiisunrise

 

[divgradcurl]

Unless you noted somewhere on the check that the check was for "payment in full" or otherwise notified the other party (in writing) that cashing the check was acceptance of your terms, then no, cashing the check alone is probably insufficient to prove that the other party accepted your terms.

From what you've written, it sounds as if you are due something -- but you may need to end up in court to sort it out.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Hawaii

Aloha I have a small contractors business and I had a customer who wanted me to build a small home for him. He gave me a 3% deposit on the labor for the home. I started getting contractors and suppliers ready to go and dealt with the architect for several hours and did all the prep work that needs to be done. The day we were supposed to start the job he tells me he doesnt have all his money together and needs to put it off for a month. I continue to work his job and start another job for another customer. This goes on for almost 5 months and then he calls me and says he is ready and I need to start the next day. I said no way I have another job in progress but I will leave there early and work half days on your home until I finish the one I am working on now. He says ok so I start work on the home and not a week later pulls his job from me saying he wont wait for me. That I should have been ready to do his job. So he wants his deposit back. I have over 80 hours invested in the prep of this home so I give him a partial refund with a detailed explanation of the charges. I send the check with the explanation. He cashes the check and two weeks later calls me and threatens to sue me for the balance. I have been told that cashing of a check means he accepts my terms. Is this true? I dont feel that I should have to return the whole amount as I had lots of time in this job and did physical work on it. Any advise would be appreciated.
thank you
hawaiisunrise

**A: what is the value of the contract, did you have a written contract and do you have a contractor's license?

 

[hawaiisunrise]

yes we have a contractors license and the total value of the contract was a small job at 15,000.00 This job was for a friend of a friend so we did a bid which was signed by the customer and accepted by him The job was due to start in June of last year but the owner would not let us start on the job until october. However we did do alot of prep work. We are trying to be fair but he wants the total deposit back in full and we feel that is a bit out of line.
thanks for your time

 

[hawaiisunrise]

thank you for your time. I did note on the check that it was payment in full on the subject line at the bottom of check. I also noted that on the detailed explanation I gave to the customer.