advice needed for unprofessionalism

[rh71]

Wife and I had an architect (recommended by our 1st contractor) draw up plans for our dormer and he took his sweet ass time doing it. We paid him his full fee and also $50 (town fee) for filing with the town. In the meantime, our 1st contractor sucked, so we signed with another guy... the architect was his own contract, not attached to the 1st contractor (we never signed a contract with 1st contractor). Come time to file, it turns out our new contractor's licensed plumber caused some issues with documents at the town not being updated. This caused the architect to have to go back a 2nd time and spend time waiting for the documents to be faxed over. At no time did he say he would charge us to file - we knew it was pretty much "a favor", which by the way, our contractor could've done also.

Now a few days later he sends us a bill for $100 because of the whole ordeal with needing to go back and waiting there.

Is this just? Shouldn't he have warned us before going back a 2nd time that we will be charged? Again, I could've just had my contractor do it if that were the case. I wrote him an honestly nice email back saying he never asked for that information and we could've ensured it was all good at the town. He goes off on a tirade with an ALL-CAPS email and says we need to treat him professionally and if he doesn't get paid, "see what happens when we need something" (which we do while the permit is going through).

At this point it's about the principle. How can these guys just charge something without ever mentioning it to begin with? Is that even legal? Should I play that card?

 

[Gibson486]

when it comes to service, nothing is free, especially when it comes to drawing sets.

Someone has to pay for that service, it's not free. If the plumber caused issues, he should resolve it.

 

[ussfletcher]

You always have to be very careful picking out contractors and the people that contractors recommend. You should probably just pay the fee and go along with it though.

 

[highland145]

when it comes to service, nothing is free, especially when it comes to drawing sets.

Someone has to pay for that service, it's not free. If the plumber caused issues, he should resolve it.

this.

 

[Krazy4Real]

slash his tires.

 

[Skitzer]

Stick to your guns, don't let him bully you. He is obviously pissed that you didn't use him for the build.

 

[Gibson486]

Stick to your guns, don't let him bully you. He is obviously pissed that you didn't use him for the build.

he's an architect, not a MEP firm.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Dear Sir,
Had I known you planned to charge me $100 for re-filing paperwork due to the plumber's error, I would have requested our current contractor resolve the issue as they would not have charged us for their plumber's mistake. Because you did not disclose this charge until after you performed the service, we will not be remitting payment for it. I now consider this matter closed.
Signed,
rh71

If anything does arise and you do need assistance from an architect, you shouldn't have any trouble finding an underemployed architect to hire. Their unemployment rates are unreal right now.

 

[rh71]

it's funny because when I wrote our 1st contractor an honestly nice email saying he's been unresponsive with our request for referrals, he responded pretty irately saying he's been trying to get people to talk to us but doesn't owe us anything since we didn't sign a contract with him. He even got borderline personal. I'm the one trying to give him my money / trust here. These service people are a different breed...

 

[JulesMaximus]

Does your lawyer call you everytime he looks at something for you to tell you it will cost $xxx.xx amount of money? How about your accountant? Your shrink?

 

[rh71]

Does your lawyer call you everytime he looks at something for you to tell you it will cost $xxx.xx amount of money? How about your accountant? Your shrink?

Is that why my mechanic asks me before performing any specified work? What are contracts for?

Do you pay them anything they ask? Honest question.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Is that why my mechanic asks me before performing any specified work? What are contracts for?

This. Accountants, lawyers, etc. are not appropriate analogies.

 

[rh71]

If anything does arise and you do need assistance from an architect, you shouldn't have any trouble finding an underemployed architect to hire. Their unemployment rates are unreal right now.

The issue here is that the permit was filed using his name (applicant). Any progress and requests for further information goes to him. The last thing we want after this long is further delays. I suppose we're gonna have to turn it over to our contractor to get the plumber to pay.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

The issue here is that the permit was filed using his name (applicant). Any progress and requests for further information goes to him.

Ah, well, then you get to decide whether paying him the $100 is worth more or less than the cost of filing new permits, etc. If I weren't in a hurry and had money to spare, I'd tell him that I'm not in a hurry, I don't mind hiring someone else to file a new permit, and that his extortion attempt failed.

 

[Bill Brasky]

Ah, well, then you get to decide whether paying him the $100 is worth more or less than the cost of filing new permits, etc. If I weren't in a hurry and had money to spare, I'd tell him that I'm not in a hurry, I don't mind hiring someone else to file a new permit, and that his extortion attempt failed.

That would certainly be a satisfying ending to this story. I hate people that try to pull shit like this.

 

[Kirby]

pop 'em in the lip

 

[dank69]

NYC/LI permitting process sucks big fat donkey balls.

 

[thepd7]

You always have to be very careful picking out contractors and the people that contractors recommend. You should probably just pay the fee and go along with it though.

agreed

 

[DrPizza]

Just saw you're on Long Island. Heh heh heh heh heh. I've heard how fun the permitting process is out there. I'd look at it as a percentage of the entire job - if it's significant, then argue about it, but if it's not significant compared to the total costs, then pay.

 

[rh71]

Just saw you're on Long Island. Heh heh heh heh heh. I've heard how fun the permitting process is out there. I'd look at it as a percentage of the entire job - if it's significant, then argue about it, but if it's not significant compared to the total costs, then pay.

yeah it's a 2 month process for the permit. When he went to file, they checked everyone's insurance (general contractor / electrician / plumber) and it had to be on file at the town (there are a handful of towns with different rules so each person has to have things on file at different towns)... and after that, the plumber application got nicked for not having the verbiage "the town of ____ is additionally insured" and that took another 4 parties an hour to communicate/fax that over. That's just to file... now it's in the review process where they look at EVERYTHING. I heard we passed zoning though... week 2 begins...

Anyway, we're gonna eat the $100 rather than have the plumber be pissed at us the whole time he's doing our house... and of course asked the architect to let us know if he's going to charge us something first... I bet he has a reply for that too.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Pay the architect, it's not his fault. Maybe you can get your $100 out of the plumber but probably not.


You HAD to file, so the architect had to make the run to handle it. I'm not really sure what you're complaining about... It's an unfortunate situation but this is (imo) not something you needed contact over. $100? nah $200? yeah probably $500? definitely.


Or maybe he should call you to ask about the $100 then bill you $15 for the call?

 

[Gibson486]

Pay the architect, it's not his fault. Maybe you can get your $100 out of the plumber but probably not.


You HAD to file, so the architect had to make the run to handle it. I'm not really sure what you're complaining about... It's an unfortunate situation but this is (imo) not something you needed contact over. $100? nah $200? yeah probably $500? definitely.


Or maybe he should call you to ask about the $100 then bill you $15 for the call?

I know....his job was to make the drawings with all the info he had. He did exactly that. Then, there was a change. It caused the architect to change his drawing set after he submitted an acceptable set of drawings. It sucks to bite the bullet on $100, but those changes are not free. If he had to restamp the drawings, then you actually got a bargain.

 

[kranky]

My rule of thumb is expect to be billed for anything you ask a lawyer, accountant, architect, etc. to do. And then be pleasantly surprised if they don't bill you.

Realistically, you should have expected to be billed. These people don't give you a warning before doing work they are going to charge for when you asked them to do the work.

Now might be a good time to watch (or re-watch) the movie Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House.