Dear YouDig?,
We are a tree service contractor and some shady property manager is trying to give us a haircut. We don’t want a haircut. We like our hair AS IS.
We had a contract. We changed the scope through agreed upon change orders. We finished all of the work on time. No complaints. Now, a month later, it is time to pay. The manager is challenging our work and offering only 2/3 of the balance due.
A bunch of lies. The job is small and the legal cost of pursuing this would eat up the margins. Very Frustrating.
-Throwing Shade
Dear Throwing Shade,
Managers are most often rewarded for reducing expenses. Manager’s job is to give a haircuts where appropriate. Your job BEFORE you start the work, is to make sure you will get paid when you complete the work.
This entails your commitment to perform ample due diligence about the credibility and motives of the person(s) writing the checks. If you get the wrong answers, get more money down or just don’t take the job. If you take the job, follow up with aggressive documentation of your own credibility and that of your work as it progresses. Lastly, don’t get the reputation that you will accept a haircut when you don’t deserve one or you will be in the barber’s chair more than the field. Sometimes you must fight to protect your reputation, YouDig?
