'I let him think he got [a small victory]': Homeowner goes MIA when payment is due, wood floor installer contractor gets his money and then some

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Jul 28, 2023 10:00 AM EDT

If you hire someone who quotes you, upfront, exactly what you will owe, and they do the job exactly how they said they would... then you had better pay up. Because someone who knows how to be handy in the home can also be un-handy, if you know what we mean…

One contractor shared a story of his early days as a wood floor installer on Reddit. He had done everything right for the entire job. He quoted the homeowner exactly what they were going to owe. He told them exactly the timeframe in which they would be working and done working and when exactly he would owe the money. The homeowner agreed, and OP hired his team, and they got to work. They worked hard and did their job exactly how OP said they would. They finished exactly on schedule and didn't go over budget. They put any of the extra scrap from the job that the homeowner had purchased themselves neatly in their garage and called it a day. The team was sent home, and OP called the homeowner. He called and called and got no answer. He even waited at the house well past the time he was supposed to be there, but they never showed up. Days went by, and not a word. Finally, he heard back from the homeowner only after putting a lien on his house ( a lien is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation). 

However, the homeowner was trying to withhold $300 for some petty reason. He said they didn't clean up their scraps, even though that was the homeowner's scrap. OP was tired of fighting with this guy, so he let him think he had this small victory. To make sure the homeowner had to get that $300 and then some, he went up stars and made the pipes leak—water damage costs way more than $300. 

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  • 01
    Product - Posted by u/brandonbolt 3 days ago 2 homeowner refused to pay for his new wood floor.
    via u/pexels
  • 02
    Font - Earlier in my profession as a wood floor installer I had a nice side job set up with a home owner. He was building a new home and had some wood flooring that he needed installed. I checked out the place and gave him a quote for his new 2-story home. He accepted my bid and I told him three days it would take for install.
    via u/brandonbolt
  • 03
    Font - I set the day and time and we both agree. I get there with my crew and the wood is sitting in the garage. We begin work and everything is going well the first day. At the end of the day we clean up and bring all the scraps and boxes outside to the garbage
    via u/brandonbolt
  • 04
    Font - pile out back. Second day the same, no issues and we clean up and throw out all the waste. Third day I call the owner and tell him everything is going as plan and we will be done by the end of the day and we expect payment then.
    via u/brandonbolt
  • 05
    Font - Third day comes and we get going and the whole crew is in a nice grove. I run out and get lunch for everyone so we finish on a high note. Come 4 pm we are done and everything looks great. I send the crew home and wait for the homeowner at 5 pm. Come
    via u/brandonbolt
  • 06
    Font - 545pm no one shows up. I call and get no answer. Long story short he never shows. I call and call no answer. Days go by nothing. We are talking 8k back in the 90's. I end up having to put a lien on the home to get the homeowner to respond. Fast forward the
    via u/brandonbolt
  • 07
    Font - homeowner ends up paying us our money but for spite he held $300 for what he called disposal of our garbage we left in his garbage pile out back. I told him those were his boxes of wood that we cleaned up and put it in his
    via u/brandonbolt
  • 08
    Font - garbage pile. He wanted a small victory, so I let him think he got it. After he left I was still in the house so I made my way upstairs the hall bathroom. I went inside the sink cabinet and loosened some of the fittings so there would be a nice slow leak of water over the weekend.
    via u/brandonbolt
  • 09
    Font - I might_be_weasel +1. 3 days ago Someone doing shenanigans like that, I would absolutely not let him feel like he won in any way.
    via u/I_might_be_weasel
  • 10
    Font - reeses-take5 • 2 days ago That's why you don't let anyone shenan because if they shenan once, they're gonna shenanigan
    via u/reeses-take5
  • 11
    Rectangle - Ambitious_Piglet. 2 days ago That's also why you don't let someone hool, because if they hool once, they'll hooligan
    via u/Ambitious_Piglet
  • 12
    Font - SpezMechman 3 days ago edited 15 hr. ago I thought you were going to say you went to the upstairs toilet and left an upper decker in the tank of the toilet.
    via u/Spezmechman
  • 13
    Font - Paevatar 3 days ago You forgot to leave a container of termites
    via u/Paevatar
  • 14
    Font - CaptGunpowder . 3 days ago I had a coworker who used to run admin for a construction company; she said she encountered this kind of thing pretty frequently, and that the quickest way to get the money they were owed
    via u/CaptGunpowder
  • 15
    Font - was to literally go to the steps of the courthouse (once the statutory period for waiting for payment was over and a small claims summons had been sent) and call the client
    via u/CaptGunpowder
  • 16
    Font - from there. She'd ask them where they were, were they ready for their court appearance, etc. 99% of the time the client would freak out and send payment by the end of the day lol
    via u/CaptGunpowder
  • 17
    Font - Steddie-Eddie ● 3 days ago Aren't contractors supposed to get 1/3 to 1/2 the job up front?
    via u/Streddie-Eddie
  • 18
    Font - LokeCanada • 3 days ago My father owned a flooring company. Pay for wood on delivery. Deposit before start of work, then pay when done. Most companies I have know do this.
    via u/LokeCanada
  • 19
    Font - The 1/3, 1/3 and 1/3 is not always an option. Especially if you have a construction loan from a bank. Bank will only release funds when you prove the stage of work is done.
    via u/LokeCanada
  • 20
    Font - I know some companies that would put a construction lien on the property as soon as they started work if it was a big job so if there was a problem they would be at the head of the line.
    via u/LokeCanada
  • 21
    Font - One time he let a good customer not pay on delivery and the guy tried to screw over.
    via u/LokeCanada
  • 22
    Font - mikeyblueeyes20 +1 2 days ago I had wood floors installed in my entire house by one of these big national companies. They did a decent job, except for one soft spot that they didn't reinforce. We gave a small down payment. My spouse signed all of the papers. (I was at a
    via u/mikeyblueeyes20
  • 23
    Font - doctor appt) My spouse passed away after we had made 2 payments on a 3 year plan. On the advice of an attorney, I sent the death certificate with no payment with the next bill. No more payments made! I received one phone call and they asked for my spouse. I explained that my spouse was dead. Never got another call.
    via u/mikeyblueeyes20
  • 24
    Font - SaneForCocoaPuffs 3 days ago ● Water damage to a wood floor is going to cost more than $300
    via u/SaneForCocoaPuffs

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homeowner home renovation Justice-served petty revenge diy-home-renovation contractor wood-floor-installer construction workers
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