Elina
2014-12-10 22:14:53
- #1
Hello, we currently have a somewhat curious problem. We hired a carpenter to install a staircase, who had done some work on the house before and was actually okay. The installation and removal of the old staircase were supposed to happen on the same day. To my surprise, the man came alone; I thought, okay, maybe his colleague will come later, but instead, he said "can you hold this here?" And shortly after, "can you help here for a moment?" My husband is good-natured, and we saw that the man simply could not manage it alone; at the same time, installing the staircase was urgently needed, and we just wanted to get it done. Ultimately, my husband worked as a helper for half the workday, and the craftsman still did not manage to complete the installation; there simply wasn’t enough time (more precisely, he didn’t even start the installation). There were also a lot of things left undone concerning the removal. So he then left us without a staircase, but at least with a ladder in the hole, through which we could get to the upper floor, and with the statement that he would come back at some point, as he currently had a lot to do... Some time later, the question was when the installation should take place, and I cautiously asked him if he intended to bring a second man for it since help was not agreed upon. "Yes," said the craftsman, "if you don’t want to help, I can bring my neighbor for a 'little extra charge'; he owes me a favor..." Since we found the whole thing outrageous from beginning to end, we told him that we would assign the job elsewhere. There was no mention of employee help; the contract was for the carpenter to do the removal and installation completely himself, and he would be paid for that. Any neighbors working here off the books would hardly be acceptable. The end of the story was that he charged us double for the removal, among other things for an emergency railing at the top of the stairwell to prevent falling (in my opinion, it’s his duty to secure the construction site if he leaves it half-finished in breach of contract). He took the wood from us for it but also billed us for it, which really takes the cake. Under no circumstances do I see any reason to pay him the agreed wage for the removal since he had us help for hours and only did part of the work himself. After I told him this, he said he would hand the whole matter directly over to his lawyer. Now I have transferred the corrected invoice (self-corrected: 40% labor fee deducted, railing costs removed, and wood removed) and will see what he does. But I suspect that this craftsman deserves the golden raspberry of the craft trade 2014. I don’t have a direct question, since this is not legal advice here. But I would be interested if any of you have had something like this before or as a craftsman have ever expected or demanded (or factored in from the start) that the client acts as a free helper.