D & C Land Services

Citing "death in the family", owner Mr. Danes only communicated twice over three weeks' time after approximately 4 weeks' of incomplete service and minimal communication by text and voice mail. The portion of the Scope of Work that vendor authored for stump removal was completed in two days and up to 90% complete. Vendor was paid for 16 hours of verified work after conceding from claims of 17-18 hours' of work. The remaining grading and debris management work using a well equipped bulldozer ceased for observed equipment failure after only 30 minutes of stump pushing,
Vendor's promise to return after repair and on a date window that weather allowed, was never realized. No explanation. We were pleased with the work to date. However, we became concerned that vendor perceived he had under-bid project (?) in lieu of other, "more profitable" work project/s - such is understandable in his line of work; and, we would have been flexible and negotiable for amending our written service agreement - except, the perpetual "no show" attitude and limited communication we experienced would have us think twice before continuing.
Good lessons learned - we learned to evoke a completion date before payment for future vendor agreements or no hire. We also learned of numerous "tricks of the trade" to elicit "stealth profit", such as,
- hourly vs by the job bids (latter seems better);
- pricing contingencies for delays;
- payment terms considering inspection of results (using photo documentation throughout);
- specifically outline and define all vendor's terminology of precisely what the work entails ( avoid, "we DID what you asked");
- operator productivity (low throttle vs full throttle that could extend time on job);
- size of equipment to be used and, if owned or rented (see delays' affect upon costs & pricing);
- get it all in writing FIRST or don't get it done by that vendor;
- get references and verify them (lots of stories by these tradesmen); 
- employ a third party Agent / Consultant on standby, as needed;
- and more, that has us on the hunt for hiring better.
Bottom Line, the vendors who employ "good 'ol boy" tactics and, "a handshake" need to back it up with written agreements, or there will certainly be difficulties that could have been avoided. They don't have to be sophisticated business people; but sometimes, "professionalism" is a vague concept with even the best intentions. Those that can't agree to a written service agreement with expectations mutually agreed will be a challenge to find ; yet, "you get what you pay for".