Feeling conned by a contractor in Cranbrook, BC

We never lack for homeowners posting on our site that they have been ripped off. Normally, we don’t run these as news items – we are an information service for contractors.

But this one has so many business lessons for contractors that we couldn’t resist. Where was the contract? What was agreed to? The judge had to piece together the facts and, ultimately, sided with the contractor. 

Sadly, given some of the ridiculous expectations of this homeowner (that labour should “clock out” the moment they are on a site waiting for another trade or process before they begin their own work), we are not entirely surprised.

But again, where was the CONTRACT in all this?

Comments?

We recently went through a renovation disaster with a contractor. They claimed to have finished and charged us $8,500 dollars for a 5×7 bathroom. I had gutted the floors. When they left, I had to prime and paint. I had to put baseboards on and do the caulking.

The contractor took us to court seeking payment. He had gone from $5,200 to $8,500 the day before the project was finished. Claimed that before fixtures were put in, we had changed our fixture choice. True. But the cost of the fixtures is not the problem. Putting them in was an extra $200 dollars or so in labour? They honest to goodness went in the same way as the initial chosen ones.

The day before the end of the project the contractor decided to let us in on the fact that we were paying 50 dollars an hour for their two employees. The thing is that they were standing around waiting for the plumber. They were asked to put the baseboards on that were in another room. They said no, that will be extra. Then clock out and get out until plumber arrives! Of course I knew they were getting paid but thought the estimate included what the contractor pays his employees as it did not state anything else. Horrible experience.

The judge ruled against us and did not let our counter claim come to the table. The contractor came in after I painted and did the finishings. Well, that bugger presented those pics as his finished product. And the judgements let him lie about that under oath. Total BS. I  have now filed for an appeal.

Make sure you look into contractors in the Cranbrook area! We got scammed. And I would like to add that the entire courtroom was in disbelief as well as the Better Business Bureau and lawyers. Total nightmare!

Maria