When you work in construction, it’s very important to get paid on time so that you can afford to pay your workers and so you can afford to pay for your supplies.

In this story, one plumbing company didn’t get paid on time by one of their clients. They actually thought the client wasn’t going to contact them again to finish the job, but he did.

The office worker at the company knew the client sounded suspicious, so he proceeded with caution and with a plan for revenge.

Let’s read all about it.

Builder doesn’t want to pay his bill, ends up losing over $1000.

I use to work for my family’s plumbing contracting business. It was decent sized company doing about 200-400 homes per year across subdivisions and custom homes, as well as some commercial and hydronics work.

My role was pretty broad but my main ones were purchasing, scheduling, dealing with customers, quoting and writing contracts . Basically an office type job with some occasional trips outside to job sites.

One client was pretty annoying.

This one custom home builder was a bit of a pain in the butt. Changing schedules last minute, wanting to make changes without paying, disorganized, and just gave me an impression that he would screw you over if he could to save a buck.

The project we were hired to do kind of went into limbo and he ghosted me for over 6 months while owing our company about $1500.00 that had not yet been paid.

He calls me up out of the blue and asks if I can complete the job for him.

We had completed the rough in drainage work and the water pipe, the house needed tubs installed and the rough in inspection completed and passed.

But OP was skeptical.

This guy had already given me a skeevy vibe so I told him I will complete the work only after I had been paid to which he agreed to and said he would have the money in hand when my workers arrived on site.

He agreed to the amout owing as well but I could tell something was off.

He was agreeing but being very vague when I was giving him my terms, using terms like “yeah” “uh-huh” when trying to iron out details for the job.

I had been doing this for nearly 20 years so I could spot a crooked builder pretty easily by that point.

He proceeded with caution.

Cue the petty revenge…

Since I had been already ghosted and burned by this guy. I had written the $1500 off since I hadn’t heard from him in over 6 months as well as the fact that even though he owed me $1500, I owed him 3 tubs that totalled over $2500 before taxes not including the work we needed to complete.

I called my supplier to check stock and asked if I could return them without a restocking fee as I think this builder may try to not pay me.

They agreed and said it wouldn’t be an issue as long as the tubs remained in their original boxes, as these tubs were all regular movers for them.

The builder was still vague.

I ordered the tubs and called the builder back to schedule the work for later that week. I reminded him that I will only start work once I had been paid as well as the amount owed.

He responded with a vague yet curt, “uh-huh.”

I told him to have cash or a certified cheque ready for my workers when they arrive on site which again I got another vague acceptance from him.

This isn’t going well.

The day arrives to do the work.

My workers arrive there a little before 8am. Jobsite is locked up and nobody is around.

I call the builder and he tells me his wife will be there in 15 minutes to let my workers in.

I remind him to make sure she has our payment.

He responds with another vague, “ya, uh-huh.”

The builder’s wife is just as bad as he is.

She finally shows up an hour later and surprise! No payment! No cash, no cheque, not even an apology for making my guys wait for her for over an hour.

Since I had expected this I made sure to have another job nearby lined up so the work day would not be wasted. I told my guys to pack up and leave for the other job.

I called the builder back and asked him why he didn’t have payment ready.

He starts making all kinds of excuses, saying it’s too much, blah, blah blah!

Here’s how it ended.

I told him the time to bring that up was a few days ago when we agreed to everything not when my guys were about to start the work.

To which he responded, “I’m not paying that!”

I said, “Ok, then lose my number jerk!” Then I hung up the phone, called my supplier and scheduled the tubs for pick up.

I don’t know if he thought I was naive, stupid or just so desperate for work that I would cave and work for free. Either way, his greed cost him well over $1000 in material alone, not to mention the labour for finishing the job.

It’s annoying to try to work with someone who doesn’t pay their bills, doesn’t show up on time and doesn’t give clear answers.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person likes how OP handled this situation..

Here’s some good advice.

Another person thinks putting a lien on the house is a good idea.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a tech support worker who told a manager a computer needed replaced, only to be told no thanks.

Another person shares their thoughts.

To be fair, as far as the last comment is concerned, once someone buys the house, they don’t need to deal with this builder regarding anything since they’re the homeowner. It’s not like they’re renting and he’s the landlord. He would definitely be an awful landlord!

They should block his number.