this is unbelievable and bigger than just an oops. do you think the contractor should be charged with breaking and entering and vandalism/destruction of property?
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article133378524.html
No, but I think he should be responsible for doing a really nice(and good quality) remodel.
nrdsb4
something tells me there is a good chance this lady will be screwed. I think he should be charged criminally and pend the trial until all work is completed and give the lady the opportunity to decline to press charges. that way if he walks away it is criminal not just civil. he did literally break in and enter and destroy her home. (maybe without malice but this is kind of big)
Oh my! My kid got a whole tank of oil delivered to his college apartment (which was like heating the outdooors…mo insulation). The company realized their error and asked the students to pay the bill.
All three parents said…NO. This was not their oil company, and also had higher prices. They told the oil company to come and siphon the oil out.
They ended up with a free tank of oil.
The issue I see innthe above story…this contractor was doing the demolition…but was he really doing a rebuild?
Plus…if he DOES rebuild…what sort of quality could,these,folks expect?
I would want the money…upfront…including costs for lodging and food while my house was being done. And I would want to choose the contractor…and it wouldn’t be one whomgets addresses wrong!
Hoping this guy was bonded and had some kind of insurance.
Definitely not criminal, they shouldn’t have the wrong address on the street, right in front of the house. The only error the contractor did was not verify that with the address on the house, and the owner told them to break in. Sounds like the contractor intends to make them whole. If that doesn’t happen, I’d sue the pants off of them.
It also appears to me like the house is empty and for sale, as the contractor offered to buy it at the listing price.
Does it seem like there are some missing pieces to this story??
Sure does, thumper. But at the end of it, the homeowner sounds assured that the contractor is going to take care of it. Ah well, we are always making judgments on a snapshot of a story, without all the details.
Bus, remember the Craigslist story from our neck of the woods when someone posted an ad “come and take anything you want for free,” and people descended on the woman’s house an took everything, including the kitchen sink? That was malicious and criminal.
I know a guy who went home for lunch and had his roof stripped off by a roofing company in the 4-5 hours after he left for work. he freaked out as he should. nobody was home so they started tearing off the shingles.they were supposed to be at his neighbors home. the owner of the roofing company said ok…you pay for materials and I cover labor. the guy I know said no you cover everything, my roof was fine , you destroyed it and I am getting a police report. I reminded him make sure they get a permit at there cost . ( they made good) to bad for him his roof was already pretty new.
Yes, I remember that, Bunsen. Seriously malicious and criminal. Stupid too, like they thought nobody would find out who did it?
But this one sounds like an honest mistake, unless the person who asked for the contractor to come over was trying to do something malicious, knowing about the house number issue. In that case, I’d definitely say criminal, but not towards the contractor, if they really acted in good faith. There’s always more to the story!
Related…we lived in an apartment. People moved in and out all the time. It was a street full of apartments. One day a moving truck pulled up…cleared out an apartment. It was nice out…and a bunch of us were sitting outside…wondering who was moving out.
Well…turns out no one was! The renters came back to a totally empty apartment…including the clothing in the closets…and the food. And it wasn’t a mistake of the movers going to the wrong place. It was thieves.
Do contractors in Texas normally show up to jobs to start work never having seen the house? How does the contracter give a price for their work without seeing what the job entails?
^^^ the contractor may have been there to give a quote and collect a deposit… the employees tasked with the job have not before the job (maybe the site supervisor came with the contractor…big maybe on a small job) the contractor often only shows up occasionally and randomly unless there is a big problem or they are looking to get $$$$ from the owner as the job progresses. the owner of the roofing company I used always found me when he needed more $$$…than I suspect back to hanging with the ladies or whatever he was doing. the work was top notch, but he had zero to do with the work. he did have two guys who oversaw the work and one of the two was always there overseeing it and dealing with the scheduling the inspector from the city to come at the different stages of work. .
We recently had an unexpected, unwanted, and unneeded “service” performed at our home. Presumably somebody in the neighborhood called a service to winterize their hot tub, but it wasn’t us. Now I need to pay someone to de-winterize it.
I’d take the money and give the contractor the keys. Except, oops, I guess keys are no longer needed.
I’m not understanding the address sign on the curb. (Maybe someone local can explain?) Seems like whoever put it there has some responsibility for the mistake. Also not understanding why some here are going on about criminal charges when the whole thing was an error AND the contractor has committed to make good on it. No prosecutor would ever waste time pursuing such a case.
I’m not surprised that the person who first came to bid the job wasn’t there for the demo. That’s not highly skilled work and doesn’t need oversight from the big boss if the crew has been used successfully in the past. More intriguing is why the owner of the house that was supposed to be gutted never came by to see how the work was supposedly progressing.
And then there’s the local case where a house was built on the wrong lot. That was fun too!
Seems like, regardless of anything else, the misleading sign on the curb should be removed (or at least an arrow pointing to the correct house added).
I’d take the money and sell at full list price to the contractor but there seems to be lots of pieces missing from the story. At least no commission would be needed for the sale–that’s a savings. I wouldn’t EVER use that contractor!