Ditto what Worthy said only in addition, in my letter I would detail the date he started and the fact that he said he would be done in five days, that you paid him 40% of his contract price and he had NOT completed 40% of the work. Detail the work that has been done and the work that remains undone. Tell him that you expect a response from him in writing within 10 days of his receipt of your letter if he disagrees with any of the facts you have stated. Then, state that you are giving him until such-and-such a date to return and finish the job or you will be forced to hire someone else and will use all legal recourses available to you against him. Send the letter by certified mail return receipt requested. Keep copies and keep the return receipt.

Then, if he doesn't get the job done, when you set out to hire someone else, show them the letter sent to the first contractor. That might help you to overcome any prejudice they might have against you that you were the one who was "difficult." (Black out the contract price in the copy you show to his competitors.)

If you do have to hire someone else to finish the job, take detailed pictures of the job site before you let the second plumber in to finish the job. If it winds up costing you in total more that the total amount the original plumber quoted, you can file suit against the original plumber in small claims court for the overage amount plus court costs (and maybe even something extra for all the days that you didn't have use of the plumbing because of his breach of contract). If you've detailed the situation in your letter to him and he doesn't reply controverting your details, and you put the letter into evidence along with your contract and pictures, you are highly likely to win. Chances are, the plumber will counterclaim against you for the value of the tools he left behind - so be sure you hang onto his tools so you can tell the court that you have his tools and will be happy to return them to him - once he pays you back for what his breach cost you. If you really want to be nasty, you can even ask the court to award you a storage fee for storing the tools the plumber abandoned.

If you don't want to go thru the hassle of filing suit, I'd write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper telling the story. Stick to the facts exactly as you stated them in your letter to him and - while the plumber may get seriously torqued at you - you'll be safe from legal liablity for slander.

Don't make your letter to the editor inflamatory. Keep it simple: "I'm writing this letter so that my neighbors can avoid the situation we recently found ourselves in. On (date) we hired X of company Y to do a plumbing remodel job on our home. X promised that the job would be completed in 5 days and that he would be at the jobsite every day until it was complete. We paid 40% of the contract price to X. Unfortunately, X did not keep his end of the bargain. As of January 27, 2011 (a total of 55 days) the rough plumbing still was not done; waste lines were run, but not hooked into the tubs/shower; supply lines were run, but not hooked in; Gas connections were not done; etc. All our requests that he come and finish the job were met with excuses. On (date) we sent him certified letter, return receipt requested, demanding that he complete the job by such-and-such a date or we would be forced to hire someone else to do the job. He failed to meet our demand and we eventually hired Y to do the job. Mr. X HAD a good reputation in this community or we would not have hired him. Based on our experience with X, that good reputation is undeserved. We believe the people of this town deserve to know the kind of service they can expect to have if they hire X." Properly worded, you won't come across as bad-mouthing a pillar of the community but as a good neighbor trying to look out for other members of your community. I seriously doubt you are the first person in the community to be shafted by this guy and, until someone speaks out, you won't be the last.

He's not connected like break my kneecaps, more like connected, can cause problems with inspections and permits.

I think my biggest hurdle is that it seemed to be such a problem to hire a plumber to begin with, that if I'm trying to get someone to finsh an unfinished job it will be worse.

I'm going to consider the letter idea. I'm afraid that it will be the expensive way of doing it since it will cost me a lot to replace the plumber and I won't get anything out of the other guy.

I won't get anything out of the other guy.

Uh, what are you getting now?

Your big mistake was paying him before the job was finished. Why did you do that?

I'm not sure how things work in other areas of the country but if a contractor is bringing materials to a job, or basically starting investing time or anything, they want some form of a progress payment. I didn't pay him the inital until he started the job.

everyone on here seems to indicate that "don't let the contractor get ahead on payments etc..." however, I've never seen a contract from a contractor that lets that happen. best I was able to do was put off initial payment to start of the job

"...everyone on here seems to indicate that "don't let the contractor get ahead on payments etc..." however, I've never seen a contract from a contractor that lets that happen...."

I am one of those that always says this. It is do-able. But many people are afraid of pushing back on contractors. I would simply tell the person that you are willing to pay for the delivered materials and will pay for labor as completed. When the contractor pushes back you just tell them that they have the ability to get a lien against you, but if for some reason they are unable to complete a job (illness, any reason at all, not necessarily nefarious) you cannot afford to pay twice. 40% would cover more than rough, it would conver part of finish as well (well, depends on if you are including fixtures in that).

At this point I would sit the plumber down (show up at his place to talk to him if necessary) and tell him it seems like he is too busy to do your job and you would like to discuss him refunding a portion of what was paid (have this number ready) so you can find someone else. He may say he wants to finish the job. If that is the case tell him you can give him X days (7 at most), but no more, that you need to continue construction and this is holding thigs up (is it holding things up?). Since you are afraid of what he might do, I would be nice, matter of fact, taking an attitude that you are trying to correct this for both of you. If none of this works you can either hire someone else and eat the loss or go after him (hire a lawyer, etc.).

Don't drag your feet too long. I speak from experience. One thing that was said over and over for years on this forum was, "don't give him money upfront". I made the mistake of assuming I knew my builder because our boys have played on the same baseball team since they were 8. Four years later, I assumed he would be honest when he remodeled our house when he said he needed money upfront to start the work. Well...he held us up for months, then when I knew I wasn't getting the money back, I hired a lawyer and fired him. He fled to South Carolina with my money. Not only did he have my money, the work he did was all wrong and not to code or plans. Now we're at the end of an insurance claim for negligence that hopefully will help us recoup some of the money we lost. If I can get anyone to learn from my mistakes it makes me feel better. My new builder had the entire house framed, windows and roof before he got any money.

Hopefully, your plumber will show up and get his butt moving. God knows MY plumber came out to the house and then didn't come back for almost two months. He held everybody up, but he explained he had a big subdivision he was working on (I really don't care).

I would hope for the best, but get all my ducks in a row just incase. It could very well be nothing. No one is in as much of a hurry as the homeowner.

Contact the state licensing board. In NC, the licensing boards can discipline contractors who abandon jobs before completion.

I had to track my plumber down - to his current job - and in front of the new client asked him bluntly where the
@#$#&&@ he had been for the past 3 weeks.

He was just starting to remove the plumbing from that house, and I advised the homeowner that the plumber had removed plumbing from mine and then vanished for reasons he failed to tell me about.

regarding the percent paid vs complete etc. to clarify this is without any finish fixtures, just finish work. ie: I provide the faucets, showers, tubs toilets etc. he provides the piping, installs etc. He is providing the boiler, hot water heater and recirculator.

the office is now basically putting us off saying he got it to the point that you can get the framing inspection done.... which is true and we will do that..

I think it comes down to the guy will do it, he's a flake who overpromised and get busy on top of it, but is ultimately going to finish just a question of when...

Well, I don't think you should feel intimidated just because the guy has "connections" in the town. He has no right to cause issues with your permit process, and if that does in fact occur, then it is time to start calling legislaters to look into the matter.

You have a right to expect someone whom you've paid a significant down payment to, to actually complete the work. He's supposed to provide the boiler, etc., but you do not have them.

You need to decide if you are going to stand up for your rights or continue to let this deadbeat push you around.

surprisingly the plumber showed up today with a helper!

according to the helper, the plumber just has a lot of issues with his divorce and it is screwing him up.

Apparently the helper hasn't worked for the plumber in weeks and got a call out of the blue to work today.

makes me feel better that he's back.

One day at a time. The problems are not ended.