It's Not Just Contractors Who Are Dishonest

It's Not Just Contractors Who Are Dishonest

Remodeling contractors as a group have at times been rated just slightly better than used car salesmen with regard to their trustworthiness while receiving high marks for their ability to elicit everything from irritation to downright rage from their customers.

Unfortunately, there is a good deal of justification for these sentiments. As a result, contractors who conduct themselves ethically and professionally are highly valued and tend to stay busy even in difficult times.

What about the other party in a remodel project; the homeowner, are they always honest and easy to work with? Of course not.

Let's look at one example of the type of situation a contractor might encounter when dealing with a dishonest homeowner.

You get a call to bid a kitchen remodeling project. You set a date to meet in their home and show up at the agreed upon time. Upon entering the home you discover that some remodeling has already been done. The client explains that the reason the house is partly deconstructed is because they used another contractor for that portion and now want to use someone else for the remainder or that they had a falling out with the first contractor and need to find someone to complete the project.

In either case, they are not working with anyone else presently. You discuss the project and gather all the necessary information to prepare a design and proposal. When prepared you invite the client to your showroom to review the design and proposal. So far so good. After the presentation the homeowner lets you know that they are waiting on another bid or they need to reflect on your proposal, etc..

You don't hear from them for a couple of weeks so you call as a courtesy to follow up. They ask if you can send them to look at flooring, tile and other components of the project. You make arrangements for them to visit the wholesale facilities so they can see better what their options are.

They do so and advise you that they will be in touch. The next thing you know your wholesale suppliers call to let you know that the homeowner was trying to buy the product from them directly or have another contractor buy it for them.

This is when you realize that you are dealing with a dishonest homeowner, especially when they make all sorts of lame, implausible excuses to the wholesaler as to why they cannot use your company.

Here is what in all likelihood is going on behind the scenes.

The homeowner has had their own contractor all along. He is neither trained nor equipped to design the kitchen and may not have sources for some of the items required for the project, such as flooring or tile. In fact he may not even be a licensed contractor.

The homeowner has conspired with him to get all the information, such as a kitchen layout and wholesaler pricing and then he will do the work for them at a much lower price since he has no overhead to speak of.

Contractors know this goes on and do there best to protect their intellectual property (designs) and wholesale relationships from thieves.

It's ironical that some of the remodeling horror stories we hear are the result of this type of thing backfiring on the homeowner leaving them with just what they deserve.

Fortunately, most homeowners are honest and just want to be treated fairly. I think the same can be said for most contractors as well.

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