Goddamnit

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can you leave a flaming bag of dog poop on his front stoop?
Oh you've got to be FUCKING KIDDING ME.
A bag of flaming dog poop?? How about setting the son of a bitch's fucking HOUSE on fire?

and why only $10k? I think you should be asking for 50 times the amount that you actually paid him, for your inconveniences (remember the bucket!) and the fact that he's just an a-hole.

I've always wondered why, at some point, someone doesn't start a contracting business and be scrupulously honest, never take on more work than he has the staff to handle, etc.

Wouldn't this person within a short period of time be almost guaranteed more work than he/she could handle? Wouldn't people be signing up six months in advance to schedule repairs/improvements that they could count on being done exactly on time?

What are the incentives in that business that cause such clueless douchebags to start them and promptly manage them into the ground?
I think greed is the #1 factor there. I think that honest contractors probably exist, but I think the waiting list to get on their project schedule is ridiculously long that most people don't want to wait that long. I also think that those guys sometimes decide to take on more business, expand the company, and then run into quality control problems, because they can't be everywhere at the same time. I also think that those guys automatically are charging a premium for their services, so they are instantly out-priced by everybody else on the market.

I know our contractor was really eager to get that second payment check, and then he didn't show up for six weeks. So, that sort of speaks for itself, I guess.
My mom dealt with a shady contractor when they had their new house built. She didn't give him a dime until work was done, and then they ended up hiring some of the electrical contractors themselves and left him out of the loop. That contractor took several other people in that development for a lot of money.

When someone is that eager for a check, my "I'm getting scammed" radar starts pinging like crazy.
Yeah, yeah. Write me a list of what I did wrong. Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better.
Simmer down! :)

I think after I'm done with this startup I might get my GC license. My brother is a master carpenter so he'd be my main man. I think the biggest issue GCs have is cash flow management. Most of them probably have no idea how to run a business and end up using one customer's payment to finish the last customer's job, etc.

I've always wondered the same thing about auto mechanics. I know of a few who are scrupulously honest with their customers and they literally have to turn business away. Who looks at that and says "nah, I'm just gonna go for the quick buck?"

Good luck with this dude. If you need a hit squad to come down let me know :)
Cash flow is the #1 problem for these dudes, and I recognize that. I'm fairly certain he used our money to fund another construction project. If you figure out the cash flow problem that contractors have, I'd love to hire you. But I won't pay you a dirty penny until the job's done, ha ha ha.
I know the problem, it's that they can't manage their fucking cash flow. :)

Essentially you need to figure out how much cash you need to have on hand to run "x" projects at a time, and make sure you always have that cash plus some cushion. That way you never need people's payments and you can sign contract saying that once this part of the job is complete, customer pays this much, etc.

The problem is that most of these guys don't know how to run a business, have no concept of accounting and even less of a concept of how important it is to maintain a positive cash flow.

Your GC now has the wolf by the ears and can't let go. What happens if he can't find another job because the economy is tanking?

...what?!? He. Wait. WTF?!!? What was he expecting to accomplish by showing up. I'm pretty sure his case is: "Um, your honor. I took her money and didn't do a lick of work. Yes, she has photographic proof that I'm a crook. So I'm innocent, right?" *schmoogie's brain explodes*

Ugh. Want me to come kick his ass? I'm so there.
What he probably does then is file bankruptcy.

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