Loam Install- HELP!!!!!!

At the end of September I did a lawn renovation. It involved tearing up the old sod with the york rake and putting down 25 yds of new soil. I qouted the guy $950 in labor and $500 for loam. I had a signed qoute from him to do the work. I brought in the loam during the week while at school, he had a pH test done on it, perfect. It was a perfect sandy loam mix, very few stones, etc. Well, I send out bills last month (I know Im late, busy with school and cleanups) and I recieve a call 10 minutes ago of him claiming Im scaming him on labor (spent 4 hours there, with tractor and 2 with laborer) and that the product I brought it was atleast 50% sand and full of other junk. He pretty much flat out yelled at me on the phone and said he was very disadisfied. He said hes pay me $1000 for it or take me to court. I told him to just send me the check but am regreting it. Should we just take this to court? He was happy with it when we left, even out there with us as we were doing it. He put down his own seed, we did NO seeding.
I NEED HELP???? WHY THE HELL DID HE WAIT 2 MONTHS TO COMPLAIN???????
THANKS
James

 

He signed the quote and agreed to everything....By any chance did you take pictures of finished project (your part)?? He hasn't a foot to stand on. If you sent the bill late because your busy. Then you gave him extended credit.

Need to put a clause in your quote or contracts that state complaints need to be made in blah amount of time.

 

Why do people think that just because someone is young, they have license to abuse them? If you have a signed estimate, and he approved the work, he has no recourse but to pay you what he agreed to. DO NOT cash that check. Especially if it says "paid in full" or something like that. Just another case for the lien and small claims court. Obviously I am not an attorney and I'm not sure of the laws in your state but you may be able to cash the check IF he doesn't put anything on it stating "paid in full". Then sue him for the balance. I wouldn't negotiate anything about the price at this point. The price was negotiated before he signed.

And I think the statement about giving limited time for conflict resolution is a valid one. I guess implied warranty may apply??


See if you can get some pictures of the job too. May help to alleviate any of his complaints.
Psst. You maybe need to brush up on your spelling a bit too.

 

Sorry about the spelling, I was quite pissed off . Still exploring my options.
James

 

Don't cash the check..call him and tell him it's the full amount due IN FULL, or you will take the signed agreement and proceed to file charges against him in local court. It's holiday time, and the jerk probably can't pay up or doesn't want to pay up. $450.00 isn't a few bucks, you know.

 

excellent post, I'll add if you don't have pics, go buy one of those throw away cameras and ride over in the middle of the day and start snapping pics. from the road of course, don't need a trespass violation. then go pick up the papers for small claims and a lien. that way you are ready to go if you can't get it out of him before the need arises.

 

This is one of the oldest tricks in the book,he's trying to scam YOU by scaring you into paying his amount.
Do NOT FALL FOR THIS!As far as I am concerned this guy got one heck of a good deal from you ,the soil was approved and the work completed as agreed.
Take him to court or tell him you are taking him to court unless he pays you the full amount .He got a deal for what you did.An anntenna should have gone up when he had a PH test done on the soil..that would have been a red flag for me.
Next time on a job such as this one was
get your money when the job is complete hand them the bill and wait tell they wright you out your check,before you leave the job if possible or hand deliver within a day or so of completeing the work.
Do not eat it because this guy is scamming you big time.

 

Jim, I have to aggree with sheshovel. He signed the quote authorizing the work to be preformed at an agreed rate. He owes you the full amount due. There is nothing wrong with a sandy loam and he apparently had a soil test done indicating the soil was fine, though ph is only one part of a soil test. That being said I can grow grass on my warehouse parking lot and that also has a neutral ph.

In the end, he asked for, signed for, received and approved for sitework, he owes you the money.

If you need any help give me a call. My number is on the website on my profile.

Erik

 

dont let this guy intimidate you he is a crook as all the above said he signed the quote thats good enough in any court i no its tempting to just cash that money but he has no leg to stand on call his bluff

 

He was the one threatening to take me to court because I didnt forfill my obligations, THIS IS AFTER HE OK'D EVERYTHING. He said I didnt scrape the old sod off, I DID, (dumping it over the bank where he told me) and he was out there are my brother (using a shovel and rake) and I (on tractor) were spreading it.
I know my soil and it was good stuff. I had used this supplier for all of my bulk orders and have had good results with it. He is also mad because I gave a lump sum bid for the labor of $950, took 4 or 5 hours to complete and hes bitching about how much it is. I cant take pictures because its a long driveway and I do not want to get arrested. What really PO'd me is that he waited 2 months to tell me. After we layed the loam out, raked it with the york rake and raked by hand, he gave us the OK. He was applying his own seed also. I think hes trying this because we had 2 solid weeks of heavy rain and hes complaining about all the rocks now ...ofcourse there is going to be rocks coming to the surface after it rains. I have been in discussion with my parents and I will be sending a certified letter to him asking about all the complaints in writing, giving him 10 business days to send it back. He prob. will have his lawyer write one, oh well, but if he doesn't respond within 10 days its looking like a easy case in court if it isn't settled outside of court. This is the second time this year a "older" person has complained after the OK when the job was complete. Things are going to be more different next year