Construction Woes
Our condo still looks as if a bomb exploded in it because I made the mistake of giving in to the carpenter's repeated requests of payment advances. So now that he has been fully paid, it's become a headache to get him to come in and finish the work. My husband was supposed to be the one managing the repairs, but he was suddenly bedridden because of horrible back pains almost right when we began our condo renovations, thus, the task fell to me. And silly me, with my little experience with managing workers, didn't know that the balance of fees has the effect of the proverbial carrot on the stick. Now that the carpenter has eaten, digested and crapped out the carrot, what's his incentive for coming over and finishing his work?
His word.
By receiving the payment and agreeing to take on our condo renovations, he bound himself to finish his work.
But that's just me. Apparently, some people don't operate that way and will come up with all sorts of excuses to put off complying with their obligation.
I'm still thinking if I will have him blacklisted from our condo compound because I know he has done several projects within the compound and hopes to do more. When I was feeling particularly vindictive, I even toyed with the idea of looking for his daughter, who's a graduating student at the aeronautics college beside our condo compound, and giving her a piece of my mind since her father has made himself scarce. But that's just mean and uncalled for.
Hay nako. Maybe it just says a lot about how naive I am, but I can't imagine not going through with something I promised I would. In fairness to the guy, who incidentally just showed up while I was typing this post, it does appear as if he intends to finish the job, but only at his own, glacial-like pace. And if somebody else taps him for a job, he won't think twice about taking it and leaving us hanging for the next few days, because he'll get paid there while he has already received his fees from us.
I don't think I'll be blacklisting him from our condo compound, because it does look as if he will finish the job, but I definitely won't be recommending him to my friends and family members. That seems fair enough.
His word.
By receiving the payment and agreeing to take on our condo renovations, he bound himself to finish his work.
But that's just me. Apparently, some people don't operate that way and will come up with all sorts of excuses to put off complying with their obligation.
I'm still thinking if I will have him blacklisted from our condo compound because I know he has done several projects within the compound and hopes to do more. When I was feeling particularly vindictive, I even toyed with the idea of looking for his daughter, who's a graduating student at the aeronautics college beside our condo compound, and giving her a piece of my mind since her father has made himself scarce. But that's just mean and uncalled for.
Hay nako. Maybe it just says a lot about how naive I am, but I can't imagine not going through with something I promised I would. In fairness to the guy, who incidentally just showed up while I was typing this post, it does appear as if he intends to finish the job, but only at his own, glacial-like pace. And if somebody else taps him for a job, he won't think twice about taking it and leaving us hanging for the next few days, because he'll get paid there while he has already received his fees from us.
I don't think I'll be blacklisting him from our condo compound, because it does look as if he will finish the job, but I definitely won't be recommending him to my friends and family members. That seems fair enough.
Send a demand letter (not sure if that's how it is called) from a lawyer. Might scare him a bit.
ReplyDeleteWe decided to let him go na, even if the work hasn't been finished yet. It will take about 1-2 weeks to finish everything and that's 1-2 weeks without pay for him. For every day that he comes here, I suspect that he gets more buried in debt and this was confirmed when he tried to borrow 1.5k from us to pay off a debt. It looks like he's isang kahig, isang tuka.
DeleteI felt really bad about letting him go because he does seem like a good person, but we had given him several chances and even waived the 3.5k we advanced for materials that were never delivered. I believe that this is the best move for everyone though, at least now he can look for a paying job and we can look for a more reliable carpenter.
Hi Jill! I think looking for a more reliable carpenter is a wise decision on your part. Iwas ka na sakit sa ulo at stress nyan. The money you lost in him you could earn again, way more pa. But that carpenter is going to have a hard time earning money if he won't change his bad work habits. It's really his loss, not yours. Lesson learned na lang din for you. Next time, you know better na. :)
ReplyDeleteAy sobrang lesson learned na talaga. I'll never commit the same mistake again.
DeleteNaku mam jill, yan ang mahirap kapag arawan ang karpintero, nakakakunsumi talaga binibitin pa nila para tumagal ang babayaran sa kanila, kaya noon mas prefer ko pakyawan para tatapusin nila yung trabaho basta specific yung ipapagawa mo sa kanila at may nagbabantay lang para makita kung maayos ang pagkakagawa. I hope makakuha ka na ng maayos na karpintero :)
ReplyDeleteHi Grace,
ReplyDeletePakyawan talaga yung arrangement namin, advance lang ng advance yung carpenter kaya nung naubos na yung bayad niya kahit hindi pa tapos ang trabaho, naging laking sakit na siya sa ulo.
Ang laki na ng bahay mo! At ang ganda ganda talaga ng kitchen mo. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! Hopefully matapos na lahat para makapag ligpit na kami. Ayoko na ng kalat!!!
DeleteIs this the same condo that will be converted as a dormitory? Hindi naman halatang nagback read ako kasi feeling ko andami kong namiss bec I was on an unofficial hiatus dahil sa laptop ko :( kaya sunod sunod ang tanung :p
DeleteHi Rach!
DeleteYup, we plan to convert our condo units to dormitories in the future. But for now, we'll be living in them.