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Am I being unreasonable? *UPDATE 2*

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Is your friend a licenced and bonded contractor? If not, that may be the reason they went with someone else. While they should have found out BEFORE they agreed to let him do the job, it could be that they never considered that, and once they did, they wanted some assurance of the job being done right. NOT that your friend may be a hack, but having a state licence and bonding/insurance covers their investment better than hiring someone who doesn't have those things...
 
Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Originally posted by: MustangSVT
are you still moving in or not?

what is your father's reason for hiring someone else and being an ass?
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I'm probably still moving in. I gave notice at to my current roommates two months ago and a replacement roommate has been found, and finding a new place in 2 weeks will be a bit difficult. I admit that my burst about not moving in wasn't rational but the result of my parents not listening to me (yes, i was having a bit of a hissy fit).

They didn't hire him because another contracter came in the next day and "dazzled" my dad. My friend was being realistic throughout the estimate procedure - my dad asked for marble counter tops and David was honest and told him that it wouldn't be possible at my father's budget and made suggestions to make things happen at a fair price. This other guy must have lied and under-estimated the job while planning on asking for more money after the kitchen is gutted and my dad has no other choice than to pay up. I've seen low-balling contractors do that all the time...
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You bring up a good point and this is very possible. Your dad could end up getting raked over the coals by this other guy.

Of course this poses yet another question: what was your dad doing getting additional estimates after he had already committed to your friend?

Good luck with this. You're already handling it better than I would have.
 
Bravo for standing up to your parents. It is complete BS that they pulled on your friends. At the very least, your parents should've apologized about their change instead of using you as the messenger. It's these actions that makes younger generation distrust the older.
 
verbal contracts aren't worth the paper their printed on. yes, you're being unfair and attempting to extort roughly $1000 out of them. good luck with the potential civil matter.
 
Originally posted by: chambersc
verbal contracts aren't worth the paper their printed on.
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And you know this how? Or are you just playing a legal expert on the internet? You ought to check out the case of Texaco vs. Pennzoil, and see how Texaco's mistaken belief that all contracts had to be written cost them a few billions. With some exceptions, oral contracts are generally valid.
 
Originally posted by: Mursilis
Originally posted by: chambersc
verbal contracts aren't worth the paper their printed on.
Click to expand...

And you know this how? Or are you just playing a legal expert on the internet? You ought to check out the case of Texaco vs. Pennzoil, and see how Texaco's mistaken belief that all contracts had to be written cost them a few billions. With some exceptions, oral contracts are generally valid.
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Don't worry, I don't tend to take legal advice from people who can't tell the difference between "they're" and "their"
 
I agree that your parents actions were unethical and unprofessional, but I can't say I blame them for wanting to use someone else.

I have a lot of experience with remodeling, and there is no way some guy can do a professional job for $2k when others were bidding so much higher. The cost of materials alone would eat that $2K in a heartbeat. It sounds like your parents jumped at the low price without thinking everything through.

Hopefully your parents learned a lesson to always go with "trusted" or at least insured and bonded contractors.

Good luck to you and your friend. And, good job for standing up for your beliefs to your parents. I'm sure that was a hard thing to do and takes a considerable amount of character.
 
I'm not exactly sure why you think you have any leverage in dealing with this situation.

First you threaten to not move into their existing co-op. I understand you recognized the idiocy of this in the thread already, but what a great way to show complete lack of maturity.
Second, I don't think your parents are going to pay your friend a dime for breaking a verbal contract. I also don't think you or your friend will bring your parents to court over such a trivial matter.

At least your parents are offering your friend some sort of gainful employment out of this. They could just tell him they don't want his services and that's the end of it. I'm not sure why you're trying to go about bartering with your parents on who is going to do the work on what they own. Your friend should take whatever work he can get out of them and like it.
Your parents should definitely apologize to him for cutting out right before he was going to start the job.
 
UPDATE 2 Karma Strikes Back!

This ended up in a pretty funny way. Again, in bullets since I'm lazy (ok, dashes):

- I calm things down with my parents and look for a "diplomatic solution": i asked them to be fair and give my pal $2,000 worth of work since they do need a lot of painting/remodeling. In order to be mature and fair, I don't mention anything about a breach of contract fee, but ask them to treat him fairly and to never breach contract again. They agree and allotted work to him, based on what they both felt was fair. Plus they gave him another closet remodeling job - for $500 extra.. He walks out ahead and everyone's happy

- The people who undersold my pal do one day of demolition and then demand more money! EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT THEY'D DO. I step in and call them on their bluff - I ask them to pack their gear and we'll pay them $500 for the work completed.

- They offer the job to my pal, on their own, and he takes it - he's getting twice what he anticipated based on my parents not doing the honorable thing
 
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