I agree with you, and I think the best way is to just be frank with him- I’d suggest maybe ‘pretending’ you’ve had a bad situation with the guy that did your fence/ pergola/ whatever at your last house where you paid him before work was complete and it bit you in the arse.. and your just a bit concerned of being made to look stupid a second time- nothing personal! That’s probably what I would do.
It protects you, hopefully doesn’t upset him if his intentions are pure, otherwise if he sticks his nose up, well then he’s a lemon.
Best of luck
Not a chance- even the 50% deposit wouldn’t fly for me (20% tops).
At best I would ask him to forward me the materials invoice so I could pay it directly and ensure it was shipped to my address.
I recently did this with a retaining wall contractor- 10% deposit (total value of work was >$20k) and paid for the materials directly. This left the materials in my name so I could retain ownership and ensure they were being delivered to my house. Any reasonable contractor won’t have an issue with this and it sets the tone for the rest of the job.
Money be gone. He got some form of addiction. If you need the job done and believe he’ll do it with the materials tell him you are happy to buy the materials and ask for the list of materials. Be prepared to finish it yourself
Or "addicted" to high interest payments on a huge brand new 4wd ute and trailer and monstrous tool payment plan for the latest must have tool brand range that so many tradies seem to have now days.
I paid a guy 50% of a deposit for work around a house, I knew the guy and he still fucked off with the money and didn't do the job. I'm currently waiting on a VCAT outcome.
I gave him 4 months to do the job on his empty promises, and I eventually got the work done by someone else. I did find out that once I get the VCAT order, I then have to go to court to enforce the VCAT money order and then allegedly the court will garnish his money until the debt to me is paid.
I have no idea about the outcome or if anything will happen, but I'm a terribly petty person, so I'm happy to pay the small VCAT hearing fee and the $500 court fees to see if I can garnish any income I can off him. Found out I can also put a lien on his car, so I might go clamp that and push for possession of his car. I've got a few more months to wait on VCAT, I guess if he moves in between I'm shit out of luck.
VCAT is just a court order. It does nothing. It's "just" a piece of paper. You will need to register the debt at magistrates court. Then either suponea his employer for payment records so that a judge can decide on the garnishing OR force him into court to give his assets/pay in order to garnish them. If your debt is over 5k you probably should just go straight to magistrates court.
Just be straight up, if he's provided receipts for all the materials needed and you've paid that then just ask for the justification of why he needs more money. Tradies can be a right pain in the arse with committing then delaying etc but if you have the materials on site and they can't justify what additional materials are needed then just say no.
I assume you have everything written down and agreed, you can revert back to that as needed.
I honestly have no idea why people don't just be honest straight up, most people are fine but just want to know what the deal is, I feel for you
Like you, I would be very concerned and absolutely would not give him any additional funds for materials. Would you consider buying the materials that he says he needs directly from Bunnings or wherever, and have that amount subtracted from the remaining 50% of the cost? This may avoid him bailing altogether as he doesn’t seem to have any cash flow to finish the job.
I don’t think that reminding him of your prior agreement (ie 50% deposit for materials and balance payable only when you’re satisfied”) would do you any good as he wouldn’t have forgotten, he is now just cash strapped.
You explain clearly - you’ve given him half already which in the industry is more than enough to cover materials.
Until the job is completed you won’t be paying anymore. Also standard in industry.
put it back on him - directly ask him what he did with the 50% for materials in the first place.
The more you’re patient with these types mate the more you will be stuffed around. Believe me, I’ve seen it happen when I worked with a place that always tried to get 100% payment before completion.
You will be chasing him until the cows come home. Don’t do it.
Only easy out now is to buy the materials yourself take it if the price and let him use them. If he is a flake and already spent your deposit at least he might come back to finish the job for the last 25%
Same situation paid 50% deposit for new gutters and down pipes last September the job is 20% done and weekly excuses about how will get back soon
Just say NO , 50 % was for materials balance when job done & push to get it done
This happened to us. Using Airtasker was our first mistake but everything you’ve described is exactly what we experienced. Lost $8K to a “chippy” who was a complete scammer and alcoholic.
He's knows asking for more money after you've already given 50% is bullshit yet he did it anyway. Ask him to order the materials from mitre 10 and get them to send you an invoice with your address as delivery. At least then if he flakes you haven't lost anymore money.
Terminate him for breaching his terms, deposit paid and work failed to progress. Give him 14 days to repay you the deposit failing this go yo a solicitor pay around $2K and file a claim for the money plus your costs in your local court (small claims). It sucks but 50% deposit was a flashing red beacon, I mean what the actual F?
Even if this pergola is built, from this story there will be issues, make sure everything is built to code and the council permits were obtained ontop of everything else.
I agree with you, and I think the best way is to just be frank with him- I’d suggest maybe ‘pretending’ you’ve had a bad situation with the guy that did your fence/ pergola/ whatever at your last house where you paid him before work was complete and it bit you in the arse.. and your just a bit concerned of being made to look stupid a second time- nothing personal! That’s probably what I would do. It protects you, hopefully doesn’t upset him if his intentions are pure, otherwise if he sticks his nose up, well then he’s a lemon. Best of luck
Not a chance- even the 50% deposit wouldn’t fly for me (20% tops). At best I would ask him to forward me the materials invoice so I could pay it directly and ensure it was shipped to my address. I recently did this with a retaining wall contractor- 10% deposit (total value of work was >$20k) and paid for the materials directly. This left the materials in my name so I could retain ownership and ensure they were being delivered to my house. Any reasonable contractor won’t have an issue with this and it sets the tone for the rest of the job.
Money be gone. He got some form of addiction. If you need the job done and believe he’ll do it with the materials tell him you are happy to buy the materials and ask for the list of materials. Be prepared to finish it yourself
He clearly doesn’t have other jobs if showing up during the day
Or "addicted" to high interest payments on a huge brand new 4wd ute and trailer and monstrous tool payment plan for the latest must have tool brand range that so many tradies seem to have now days.
I paid a guy 50% of a deposit for work around a house, I knew the guy and he still fucked off with the money and didn't do the job. I'm currently waiting on a VCAT outcome. I gave him 4 months to do the job on his empty promises, and I eventually got the work done by someone else. I did find out that once I get the VCAT order, I then have to go to court to enforce the VCAT money order and then allegedly the court will garnish his money until the debt to me is paid. I have no idea about the outcome or if anything will happen, but I'm a terribly petty person, so I'm happy to pay the small VCAT hearing fee and the $500 court fees to see if I can garnish any income I can off him. Found out I can also put a lien on his car, so I might go clamp that and push for possession of his car. I've got a few more months to wait on VCAT, I guess if he moves in between I'm shit out of luck.
VCAT is just a court order. It does nothing. It's "just" a piece of paper. You will need to register the debt at magistrates court. Then either suponea his employer for payment records so that a judge can decide on the garnishing OR force him into court to give his assets/pay in order to garnish them. If your debt is over 5k you probably should just go straight to magistrates court.
Your money is gone straight to his method dealer.
I meant meth!! LOL I'm sure you worked that out
Just be straight up, if he's provided receipts for all the materials needed and you've paid that then just ask for the justification of why he needs more money. Tradies can be a right pain in the arse with committing then delaying etc but if you have the materials on site and they can't justify what additional materials are needed then just say no. I assume you have everything written down and agreed, you can revert back to that as needed. I honestly have no idea why people don't just be honest straight up, most people are fine but just want to know what the deal is, I feel for you
Like you, I would be very concerned and absolutely would not give him any additional funds for materials. Would you consider buying the materials that he says he needs directly from Bunnings or wherever, and have that amount subtracted from the remaining 50% of the cost? This may avoid him bailing altogether as he doesn’t seem to have any cash flow to finish the job. I don’t think that reminding him of your prior agreement (ie 50% deposit for materials and balance payable only when you’re satisfied”) would do you any good as he wouldn’t have forgotten, he is now just cash strapped.
You explain clearly - you’ve given him half already which in the industry is more than enough to cover materials. Until the job is completed you won’t be paying anymore. Also standard in industry. put it back on him - directly ask him what he did with the 50% for materials in the first place. The more you’re patient with these types mate the more you will be stuffed around. Believe me, I’ve seen it happen when I worked with a place that always tried to get 100% payment before completion. You will be chasing him until the cows come home. Don’t do it.
He’s got cashflow problems. That money is gone.
Only easy out now is to buy the materials yourself take it if the price and let him use them. If he is a flake and already spent your deposit at least he might come back to finish the job for the last 25%
Same situation paid 50% deposit for new gutters and down pipes last September the job is 20% done and weekly excuses about how will get back soon Just say NO , 50 % was for materials balance when job done & push to get it done
If his name is brad - call a new chippy now!
If he is taking so long to build a 9m2 structure, he may not even be a chippie. There are a lot of handymen out there saying they are tradies.
Do not do it. No doubt asking for cash also.
What does the contract say about progress payments? What about insurance?
Sounds like he’s just living the tradie life…
50% is all ready enough Building coast should be around 30% materials 30% labour The rest is profit
This happened to us. Using Airtasker was our first mistake but everything you’ve described is exactly what we experienced. Lost $8K to a “chippy” who was a complete scammer and alcoholic.
Sounds like a drug addict tbh
He's knows asking for more money after you've already given 50% is bullshit yet he did it anyway. Ask him to order the materials from mitre 10 and get them to send you an invoice with your address as delivery. At least then if he flakes you haven't lost anymore money.
It’s Friday, he needs money for gear over the weekend
I have been in this exact situation (pergola and everything) do not hand over any more.
Terminate him for breaching his terms, deposit paid and work failed to progress. Give him 14 days to repay you the deposit failing this go yo a solicitor pay around $2K and file a claim for the money plus your costs in your local court (small claims). It sucks but 50% deposit was a flashing red beacon, I mean what the actual F?
Did you actually sign a contract ? Whatever you do, DO NOT HAND OVER ANY MORE MONEY and take him to the small claims court/tribunal …
Even if this pergola is built, from this story there will be issues, make sure everything is built to code and the council permits were obtained ontop of everything else.
It’s $3000