Someone here has got to have gone through this. In a nutshell I had an electrican that only showed up once in awhile. He got the rough wiring done and was supposed to come back to finish everything in the house (new construction). I left him 10 calls in about a week. He only worked at the house for about 5 hours in the last 2 weeks. Didn't show up yesterday so I fired him last night. Giving him the benefit I'd say he has 2/3 of the work done but I have paid him a little over 2/3 of the total. What is the best way of getting the rest back? I doubt he is going to stop by tomorrow and say "here is your money".

btw- I'm taking numbers for any good electricans in MA. The house should be done in 2-3 weeks. At this point I'm going to be using candles in the house.

 

idk how it is is MA...but in nj you can take them to court or put a lein on their business.


both are a pain in teh ***....good luck with everything.

 

Damn Electricians,,,they all suck

 

That same guy is still dicking around... talk about a headache.

 

Yup, I'm all done with him through. He kept telling me that he'd be there today but I told him the only thing I'd like him do if he went to the house was watch the grass grow. To many tomorrows that never came. I like what his dad told him. That was "Pull up your pants and be a man. Do your job like your supposed to or get out of my house". This guy is 30.

 

I'd have somebody double inspect his work. You've seen him, and you've seen his work ethic. He ain't got any!! Always be careful in the way you pay upfront. You could put a lien against him.

 

Hard to prove what % of the job is done, therefor near impossible to prove how much he owes you...or you owe him. You got bit... eat it, move on... put your energy into your busineess. He will get his.

On the otherhand, in Albany we have people with bats for hire.... they are getting pricey these days though. Must be the gas.

 

Did he pull the proper wiring permit that Mass. requires? Did you have your rough inspection yet? If not, get the wiring inspector for your town involved. He could be your ace in the hole here. WJ

 

I have to second that, it may cost more to figure out what was done and what is owed.


This will learn ya to have a contract with a drop dead clause . If they don't finish by that aggreeed date then you can get a refund for whatever was agreed to in the contract.

 

No, first you never pay more than the work that is done.. period.. 2nd, just take him to small claims, for more than you think, you will win, and its only a few hours time usually.. But I would tell him, give you back $XXX amount first and say if not your taking him to court for $XXX + $500 lol.. will be worth it for him to pay.

 

I talked to him a little while ago. He wants to meet tomorrow to go over the bill. The amount that I say that he owns me is only $1450. The guy does good work at a good price, but it's hard to get him there to do it. There will also be $100. added for me to pick up a 10' piece of PVC tubing to lay it across the yard before my stamped concrete sidewalks were poured. He was supposed to take care of this so wiring could go through for the landscape lights. He never did it so I had to take care of that the morning they poured.

Permits were pulled and the rough inspection was done. We're at the point where it's mostly finish work and I could be in there in a few weeks. I'm looking into small claims court now.

 

True that Electricians suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like a real mess you got goin on there. If i were you if the guy is any good after tomorrow give him one more shot to finish it or it will end up in court. Trust me unless you can get a friend to do it or find a nice electrician whoever comes in to finish the job could totally pork you on price and it would cost you more in the long run to have someone else finish it.

I've been doin electrical work since about 2000 or so and ive worked all over in a variety of towns and places. I prob got about another year or so till i can go for my lisence. I need to add up my hours only need 8000.

Also just because you have a rough inspection doesnt necessarily mean the guy did a good job. Ive been on some jobs especially in the smaller towns where most of your inspectors are part timers they walk on the job and just sign the card. The never really look close. I think some of the guys around here in the higher end towns like north andover were only makin like $20 an hour so i doubt they'll bust their *** to hard for that kinda change. Youd be suprised at the stuff i have pulled apart or seen that has slipped by inspectors. That and unless you know the code its really hard for someone to tell if the person did it right or not. Some stuff might be wrong but all home owners really see is that its neat, and just because its neat doesnt make it right, homeowners dont really know the behind the scenes. dont really know the behind the scenes. Most of the wiring is pretty basic and straight forward but they have thrown alot of little stuff involving arc faults and placement of smoke detectors that you gotta be careful with, the list goes on it gets more complicated then that but no reasin to get into that now.

Some electricians are good some are bad, ive worked with some of both. Everything i do i make sure is neat and up to code but you do have those that dont care and are hacks. The hardest part is you really dont know what your getting yourself into without letting the guy work. Anyway good luck with it. Post up here on how you made out im kinda curious.

 

Thank you for the detailed post! Part of me thinks I should give him one more change. Lay everything out tomorrow and give him an idea of what could happen if he doesn't stay on the job everyday until it's done. The other part says to find someone else to complete the job. That will probably cost me more in the long run but I have the satisfaction of electrican #1 not being there.

Friends told me their home building stories before I started this and now I have mine. I'm just amazed at how some of the contractors operate. You pretty much have to beg them to take the money.

 

Give him the one more shot and see how he handles it. Its probably your best option. Nothing worse than trying to finish a job someone else started, not to mention the fact it would probably end up in court with all that BS. More then likely everything he did was legit and up to code he just isnt a good business man. Hopefully after your done you wont be needing any more electrical for a while anyway.

 

Looks like I might be doing that. I had to meet someone to have my garage floor epoxied between 11 and 1 so I told the electrican that I'd be there during that period. I left 5 minutes early and he called me 10 minutes later. I had things to do at the shop so I wasn't turning around. He asked me to allow him to finish the job. Told me that there was no excuse for him not being there and he promised that he'd get everything wrapped up right away. This is crazy! Anyway, I will be meeting him at 8am to see what he has to say. If I continue to go with him there will be no room for error. One missed day will result in him being finished for good and me taking legal action as far as I can go. I friend of my is an attorney. He takes care of me when I need something done.

 

I say let him get more done...just dont be surprised if he doesnt complete...but every bit he does is less he owes you in case he doesnt finish! This reminds me of dealing I had with a former sponser on this site!
3 months from now, noe of this will matter. Till then have fun and enjoy the stress.
J

 

When they get the money up front there's no incentive to come back and finish. Some guys don't care about rep or doing the right thing. Good luck.

 

Most contractors take payments in 1/3s (beginning, middle and end). The middle payment I gave him was a little more but I didn't think to much of that. But now I do. He can probably have it all wrapped up in 3-4 days if he puts in 8 hour days. I'd like to be able to flip some lights on soon!

 

When he comes over, show him this post and ask him what does he think he should do if he was in this guys shoes.

 

I dont know about your state but in PA you'd have to file a lawsuit against him but it would be awhile before you'd have a court date. That sucks because it would put your house on hold unless you got someone to finish it. The fun part is if you win and he doesnt pay you could get a sherrif sale on him and sell his equipment for pennies on the dollar until you get to your dollar amount.

My advice--------get a lawyer, document you butt off, sue him, get another electrician to finish the work and have your laywer try to get your money back plus what you had to put out to get the job done.