I have hired an individual to do the finishing work on a cabinet job. He has come recomended from a contractor we have recently done work for. I haven’t seen any of his work personally, but he seemed to be real knowledgable about finishing. The job is matching a stain with a glaze that the customer had liked from a model cabinet sample at a home store. The finisher said that it would no problem matching the finish. I gave hime some pieces of maple to do some samples on, so I can show the customer to get their okay. He hasn’t produced the samples yet and tells me he is having trouble getting the exact color match, but to not worry. I having trouble deciding wether he’s pulling my leg or being honest. I have already paid him 50% down to start the job.
At this point if the samples are satisfactory or never show at all, how should I proceed in getting the down payment back, and can righfully expect to forefeit some of that money for his time spent producing samples. I just have a bad feeling about this and am trying to prepare for the worst.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
Maple is a pain to color match. His only problem is telling you that it would be no problem. Give him some more time, I think he's being honest in telling you that he is having trouble.
Steve - in Northern California
I think that it's also reasonable not to have paid a 50% retainer before there was a color match. Maybe one-third and then a kicker when the match was approved by everybody concerned, then the rest on completion.
If the shop is extremely good, well-recognized, and all that rot, then maybe 50% is okay. If this is the case, then just be patient and don't worry. The explanation may be that you are dealing with a perfectionist and that's a good thing.
Next time, try to arrive at a deadline for producing a matched sample. When the deadline is breached, then you'll know when to start worrying.
Edited 7/22/2002 1:44:33 PM ET by CHASSTANFORD
"At this point if the samples are satisfactory or never show at all, how should I proceed in getting the down payment back, and can righfully expect to forefeit some of that money for his time spent producing samples."
It all depends on your state laws.
Here's the problem. If you ask for the deposit back and if he's honest, he will give it to you in full in order to protect his reputation. However, that will be the last time he will ever do work for you and you may find that he is the best around.
If you ask for your deposit back and he doesn't give it back to you then your suspicions are probably correct.
What I would do would be to find a couple of other finishers and see if they can do the match. If the can without any problem and it is up to your standards then you know this guy is hoseing you. If they can't then stick with what you have and wait it out.Steve - in Northern California
You don't mention how long you have been waiting, or if he is avoiding you.
Simple face to face should sort it out; get him to show you his attempts to match and get a specific time committment. If he can't show you some evidence of his efforts so far, I wouldn't worry about compensating him. If he won't commit to a time, get your money back and move on.
The problem is not him avoiding us, he returns calls and even came over yesterday for some more maple to test on. I guess our question is more of a what if. The finisher is behind schedule, hasn't provided any samples and we're getting nervous about our promise date. We hooked up with this guy through another contractor that, now, is saying that the finisher is behind on his job as well, which is ahead of our in line. So I guess our question now becomes, when do you cut the guy off and start exploring different options. ANd what do you tell the clients waiting on their cabinets? "The guy we trusted to finish your new kitchen is a flake and we're having to make an eleventh hour switch to someone more professional?" That doesn't reflect well on anyone involved, and then we're stuck with finding a spot in someone else's schedule.
What to do, what to do?
Call him and be very frank with him. No beating around the bush, no explaining things to where you HOPE he gets the point. Tell him straight out-"I need to know the date that you will start on this and the date you will finish. I know that you might be having trouble getting the match, but I have to know when this will be done." Tell him that you are through wondering when it's gonna get started and you want to know because you have set a date with a customer and you need to make a decision on which way to go in 24 hours.
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