newjerseynewsroom.com

BY WARREN BOROSON

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BOROSON ON MONEY

Guy I know in the Woodstock, N.Y., area told me another horror story about a handyman, after he read my own horror story.

The names in this story have been changed to disguise identities.

Fred, the guy’s name, is elderly, and lives in Montclair, N.J., during the week, coming to Woodstock on weekends. He needed his house’s trim painted, so he hired a handyman named Eric, whose name he had obtained from a newspaper ad. Eric seemed competent, and said he charged only $25 an hour – not bad. His brother, Lee, would help out.

Eric said he’d charge a total $1,200 – and, Fred said, he didn’t argue, as maybe he should have. That would be 48 hours of work. A lot.

Eric, says Fred, quickly put him on the defensive. He seemed concerned that Fred might not pay up…

A colossal mistake that Fred made, he says now, is that he expected Eric and Lee to work during the time that Fred was back in Montclair. He himself couldn’t monitor their work, and he had no one in Woodstock to check that they were actually working during the time when Fred was in New Jersey. Fred seems like an amiable guy, a retired school teacher.

Now, Fred didn’t want Eric and Lee to take forever working on his house, and he objected when Eric said he would sand down the shutters – including the slats – before repainting them. Sanding down the slats would take hours. Hey, this is a summer home, not a mansion in the Hamptons. No sanding the slats.

Fred left on Sunday and returned on Friday. He saw that the work that had been done was very good. The grime on the aluminum siding had been cleaned away with a power washer. But not that much work had actually been done. A lot of work — painting and caulking — still remained.

When Fred had driven to Woodstock on Friday, Lee had been working – but Eric wasn’t there.

Fred had mentioned that he had more work for Ertc to do. The garage floor to be painted, too. And a giant screen, falling apart, had to be replaced.

“I could do that for you,” said Eric. “And I could get you a good price.” He thought for a few seconds. “$80.”

$80 just for screening? Fred had bought screening recently, and knew that that price was absurdly high. He was getting the impression that Eric was not scrupulously honest.

Eric also mentioned that he would charge Fred for the renting of a power washer he used to clean the siding. Fred didn’t think that the old, grimy washer had been rented.

Although Fred was shocked at the enormous bill that Eric presented, for $1,625, he paid promptly. He’s a trusting guy, not inclined to confrontations. Or even mentioning that the estimate had been lower.

Later, he studied the bill. Eric had written that he had worked 30 hours and Lee 35. That amounted to the $1,625.

After thinking it over, Fred phoned Eric and said he couldn’t afford to pay for any more work.

Lee came over to Fred’s house the next day to collect his supplies. He seemed concerned about Fred’s finances.

Actually, admitted Fred, you did good work, but I expected more to have been accomplished.

Well, said Lee, my brother used to help me, but now he just goes away and lets me do all the work. And it had rained on Thursday — so I couldn’t work on Thursday.