Island Irrigation

Not good.  I broke my own rules and accepted Mr.
Sander's grandfatherly demeanor as honesty despite the fact he refused to give
a fixed bid.  I was told that ?things change? during the install and he
could only quote me a price for the system and that it would definitely not be
any more than 10-15% over budget (as he had a lot of experience with costing
jobs and never ran over more than 15%). 
 
The total cost of the system was quoted at 30 - 32K with a
10K deposit required for materials which  I was told verbally "were ordered and in
the warehouse".   I could have saved myself a lot of grief by
insisting that I pay for all the sprinkler heads, valve boxes (etc) directly
and at the least should  have asked to see his purchase invoice. 
 
Our general contractor repeatedly complained about the
quality of his work but having gotten into it I was only trying to get out the
other side.  In four months time I realized that Mr. Sanders had blown
through the entire irrigation budget and that there was only  a small
amount of money remaining to be paid out (and a lot of unfinished work).  Realizing
this, I politely asked him to explain and hard bid the rest of the installation
and that I would be happy to pay as long as the remaining funds were paid out
based upon completion of work and not on ?time and materials?.
 
 There was no attempt to address my concerns, get the
remaining work done or reassure me that he wasn't planning on gouging me for
tens of thousands of dollars more than he had originally agreed to for
completion of the work.  At a loss for
what to do I felt I had no choice until I got some answers and withheld a $4,200
payment.  I made it clear that I would be
happy to pay provided that he give me written assurances in writing that the
project would be completed for the amount originally agreed upon.   
 
There was no response to my pleas...only a million
fabricated excuses for why he could not honor the bid amount.  Our general
contractor and other workers on site went out of their way to help him bury
lines and do what they could to make his job easier so everyone has been
shocked by his behavior.  When push came
to shove and I asked him to deliver the materials paid for and not on site he
quickly changed his tune and insisted that there was never any 10K deposit for
materials (see email below).  In the email below he answers my question
about  why we were being billed off the bat for 10K: "The supplies
have been purchased with the 10K, even though they are not all in the ground
yet."
I'm embarrassed to say that during this ordeal I even went so far as to tell
him I might be willing to pay a little more but that he really needed to make
me comfortable and put in writing the agreement, abandon "time and
materials" and get the work done as agreed for the price agreed.  
The crowning blow came the night before last when our general contractor called
me to tell me that Mr. Sanders had come onto the building site and pretended to
be checking out the system.  When he left it was discovered that he took
our irrigation control box...unscrewed it right off the wall?thereby disabling
what little works of the system we have paid 28K to date for.   I
still remember our GC swearing and saying "there are just a bunch of wires
hanging out of the wall!" 
 
I immediately wrote Mr. Sanders and told him he had 24 hours
to return the stolen irrigation box or I would call the Sheriff.  The
reply by email this:
?I have not stolen anything. I removed the timer as I was having troubles with
it and needed to work on it in a well lighted shop. I also removed a valve
solenoid that was troublesome. You should not activate the water until it is
replaced. As this is an ongoing project I have an obligation to bring and
remove any part that is necessary for the system to function properly. To say I
have stolen something is a slanderous accusation.  I will not return to
the job site nor will any representative of mine until I have been paid. The
timer and solenoid will remain in my possession until that time. I can return
it to you ?as is? or you can pay me to fix the problem. You may call the
Sherriff if you want but I recommend you do not, as you will just be
exacerbating an already volatile relationship, and nothing will come of it as
you have not made payment for all parts.?
Receiving this response we immediately terminated our relationship with Island
Irrigation and Mr. Sanders.  It is my I hope others will not make the same
mistake I did.  We have hired an "off island" irrigation company
and I suggest if you have irrigation needs in the San Juan Islands you do the
same.
Sincerely,
Jeff Cline
Email Addendum:
Jeff,
As I stated before we began the project you would be receiving
progress billings. The supplies have been purchased with the 10K, even though
they are not all in the ground yet. I still have operational costs that must be
met, so each invoice is payable upon receipt. After the first invoice you will
begin seeing credits for money already paid for supplies toward the supply
line. By completion of the project there will be approximately 10% of the total
 due.
Craig
 From: Jeff Cline [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 8:23 AM
To: 'Craig A Sanders'
Subject: RE: Progress Billing invoice 2716
 Hi Craig,
Thanks for your
note.  Not quite sure if this is just for accounting purposes or
not.  Obviously the system is far from complete so imagine it is just for
accounting purposes and that you are deducting this amount from the total on
the 30-32K cost estimate of the full system.  We obviously want to pay for
work that has been completed and since my guess is only 20% is complete (if
that) it should be covered by the 10K deposit we made.  Let me know if
there are any issues as obviously we want to be on the same page.  As I
recall you estimated the system at 30-32K including all exterior work including
the greenhouse watering system.  We understand that figure was not a fixed
bid but that your estimates never are off by more than 10% or possibly a small
amount more.  Just want to be sure that you understand that was our
agreement.  Supposed to be 81 on Sunday so am pushing Denny to get the
filtration and cistern done as soon as possible so we can get the system in and
fully operational.  Thanks for all your hard work!
Best,
Jeff