I know you're probably annoyed, but 5 days can be pretty minimal depending on what else he has going on. I'm not saying you should be happy, but I've delt with much worse. Our stone mason ran into some family problems. His last two visits were a month apart. He never came back to finish a little touch, which doesn't really matter. Although he left a masonry wheelbarrow, several halogen work lights, a shop vac, trowels and spacers, etc...

Austin

I had to sue in order to get the finishing touches done. I waited a long time though hoping not to have to go to such lengths.

RT
If in general you have been happy w/your GC, I would offer the benefit of the doubt - put in another phone call and/or email. A complaint to BBB seems premature at this juncture - as above poster stated 5 days is not much in the grand scheme of things -
If he doesn't have email & doesn't return your next phone call - I would draft a letter listing the items that are unfinished and where the billing is - have the letter sent w/a return receipt

Good luck

Finally spoke to the contractor late Fri. and he told me he would be here Wed. morning. Well it's Wed. and still a no show. Besides the things I mentioned above, we still have I pile of garbage to be removed. He told me it would be picked up and he thought it was done. Well thats still sitting also. At this point it will be spring and my husband may be taking it to the dump himself. I don't get it this guy prides himself on his great record w/ BBB and awards he has receive for past work.

It's only 10:00..understandably you want these things done, but you probably need to chill a bit. Calling the BBB before taking the steps outlined above and being so aggressive will probably backfire on you.

You're situation is typical - often getting a contractor to do the final things is like pulling teeth - many simply walk away and never show up. Consider yourself very lucky that you have a $5K holdback - that should be enough to motivate him. As others have said, it's way too early to contact the BBB and in any case, that probably won't accomplish much. The better thing to do, after a reasonable period of time is to send him a letter (possibly from a lawyer), stating that since he has not completed the final items, you are assuming that he is terminating the contract and you are keeping the $5K holdback. That will either get him there quickly or you'll have the $5K to get the remaining items completed.

Seems like you are being a little hasty. Again it is only 10:00 am . You have his 5000.00 if he doent get back to you fix the items yourself (they seem minor) or hire someone and pocket the difference. If it were me I would base my decision on the entire scope of his performance for the entire job not just these final details,good luck

With a few minor touch-up items left, our contractor was one who walked away after getting a fairly sizable payment from us. We called and left messages for a few months and never heard from him again (he is Mennonite and not so easy to track down). Fortunately, we had $3K that we held back for the remaining work, and we decided that the money was enough that it wasn't worth going after him legally. WeÂll eventually DIY what we think is necessary and leave the rest as is. If you decide that the $5K is enough to pay someone else to finish the job, I suggest you cut your losses and let him go.

But like others here IÂd suggest waiting awhile longer before you take any kind of major action. Unfortunately, once a contractor gets a sizable payment and there is less incentive to finish his work, he tends to move on to more critical jobs and come back to yours "when he has time". For now maybe just continue the gentle nudging by calling him again to check in.

Ditto. If he wants his money, he'll finish the job. Otherwise, send him a certified letter - after two weeks or so, saying that he has not returned to finish the job and you will have to hire someone else to do it. Enclose a stipulation he should sign and give back to you that says he has been paid in full for work completed to date and will forgo the 5K.

You'll get him to your house in a flash!

You're in good shape: the amount you owe is huge compared to the work remaining.

If the equation were reversed, and he owed you a lot of work for very little money, you'd probably never see him again.

Unless the amount you expect to be credited to you will consume all or most of that final $5k, that is...

1) There should be some screws on your hinges that allow you to drop the door slightly to fix that - easy screw driver fix.

2) Window screens - call the manuf. or company purchased from and make a stink - if you don't know the company purchased from, the manu. should be able to look it up - most have a time limit so do this now - we DIY'ed our Marvin's and the company we ordered through (only company in the area) sat on ordering a few screens and other stuff as a few were ripped too but Marvin straightened it out and waived the timeframe after I pitched a few fits.

3) Light in cabinet - get a battery powered one - problem temp solved till you hire an electrician for something else - that doesn't have to be done now.

4) Trash - for smaller things that can fit in a trash bag - get contractor grade (I usually don't bother as they don't have the ties built in) or Glad flex at the grocery store - for really heavy stuff like rocks (yup... don't ask) I double or tripple bag with grocery bags - hey, we recycle and then glad flex bag and throw it in the regular trash - just check weight size of how much cans can be and do it at each pick up - we usually do 4 cans when needed. And, when we did our windows we put out 4-5 panes each and they actually took them. Anything big like wood we cut up and put in trash bags. We just pull the stickers off our yard waste trash cans :) and convert them back and forth. Takes weeks, but better than a dump run. Trash guys when we go in those spurts must hate us. Take a picture before you work on your pile. If its outside and cold - pick one day, get a bunch of bags ready so on trash day - all you have to do is grab them and set them out. You can put a reasonable amount out at a time and they don't look in the bags.

5) Threshold - get a handsaw and just cut and nail in or get a friend/family member experienced DIY - shouldn't take very long if you have any skills.

Stop chasing the guy to pay him... he wants his money, he'll ask... but that trash would annoy me (which is how I came up with my plan as I'm too lazy for a dump run). Give it a few months, get rid of the trash, DIY the rest, then go out for a nice dinner, and put it in savings given how the economy is. :)

I agree with oruboris
you're in the drivers seat, no need to get too upset
He will be back, does he realize how much you still owe him?
that's alot of $ to be holding up in this economy
maybe you can get the screen direct from his supplier, since it came in damaged anyway, the other items seem fairly minor.
I'm surprised he hasn't come back to take care of them if there's such a large amount owed.

My husband fixed the cabinet doors so they don't rub now. Losening the screw on the hinge worked. It is know late Fri. and still no show. I hope we can deal with getting the grids for our window and screen on our own. I think I know where the contractor purchased them. This is a contractor that is located within a mile from mile house I find this all very surprising not to return. I reread our contract and even thought he told me our kitchen will take 5 wks to complete (he did bulk of work wihin that time, except unfinished items) he covered himself giving him 10 weeks. He has not been here in akmost 4 wks.

Glad to hear one problem is solved! :)

If there's an Angieslist in your town, I'd really recommend posting what this contractor did. Post the good parts and the bad parts and grade him accordingly. It will help folks down the line, at least.

I finally reached the contractor again on the phone on Tues. (27th) he claims he thought the garbage was picked up, and when he spoke to the company that they brought the window from that everything was their (the contractors carpenter picked up the window and told me in the beginning that the grids are ordered last because they don't wont them damaged sitting around, when I asked about them not being here) well he said he would reorded them and have it by Fri. He will also be here to add the molding on the floor. We will see if he shows up. This is not the first time he said he will be here so I'm not sure if I believe him. Still owe $ and according to the contract Fri. is the last day on it (even though was told us verbally it would take 5 Wks). If he does show up would you pay full amount for work or would you negoiate for keeping you waiting? He does owe us the credit for work unneeded and I don't know what he will tell us it will be but other companies told us about $2000.

If he finishes EVERYTHING then you owe him the full amount unless your contract has penalties in it for being late. Generally dates in contracts are estimates with disclaimers. You could certainly ask about a small discount for your trouble but I wouldn't count on it - if you don't give him the full amount he can put a lien on your house - definitely not worth the hassle if the work is all done.

Once again a no show, I will give him partial credit, he called on Fri. and said window grids didn't come in but told me they would be here on Mon.. No surprise no show or call that day, also said would take care of the garbage, but thats still here. However, yesterday I called him because the electric for the heat that they installed wasn't working correctly (I thought it was a transformer prolem). It was flickering and making loud, clicking noises. Well the electrician did show up within the hour, and said the whole transformer needs to be replaced, he did a bandaide job to have it work correctly and said would be back on thurs.. he also gave me his own # (he is a subcontractor of theirs) so I could call him directly. He is very surpriced that the GC did not come back to finish and he knows I am unhappy. At least he sent a reliable electrician, because I think the rest of his employees are unreliable. You would think in todays economy they wouldn't be that way. I feel they have now broken their contract and not finished the job.

Well the garbage is finally gone, grids are in, grout (it cracked) was regraouted but no screen. He took his pictures and said we would "settle up" after he fixes the screen. Said would be back in about a week. I hope it doesn't become 6 wks again. Anyway I will see how much he asks for, I fell he took to long to finish up. It seems he moved on to someone else and put us to the side.

Today a got a call from the contractor asking about a comment that I placed about him on Angie's List. I was very honest in my report and said a good job was done but included all the unfinished items. Overall gave him a c do to left garbage and little uncompleted items. He acted shocked to that grade and thought it should it been a A-. He did apologize for the problems and said it was the clean up crews fault. I don't know how he found the report unless he was fishing around checking his credentials. Anyway, I still don't have my screen he said it came in ripped again and is still waiting he hopes to have it by the end of the week and we will settle up. What does anyone make of this, do you think I should heve waited longer to file a report w/ Angie's List.