Making someone "eat" $100 only gives you a bad reputation. I had some tree removal done last week on a fence line. The guy bid $1000, he had a crew out there busting their tails but not making to much progress. I told the guy I did not want him losing any money on the job and said I would add $500 so he could get the job done right and he could make some money. My reputation with him is now stellar.

I think if the post wasn't included in the quote then he was in the right. This really depends on the structural integrity of that post though. If the post was really that far gone it would be considered part of the job without any verbal agreement needed afterwords and would fall under his initial quote.

With that said, if the post still had structural integrity to it, (by the sounds of it, it did) then it would come down to the verbal agreement which he seemed willing to do you a favor on until things went south, and at that point, I think the extra 100$ was in order seeing as it wasn't apart of the initial quote, he basically tried doing you a favor and stopped abruptly informing you on it, which was the right move to make on his part. It would of been shady if he finished the job and tried tagging that extra 100$ on.

The single post being removed was at another residence, not the samne property and if i rea the post correctly the only work at the other property was removing the one post.

That is correct, the one post is on a different property. Thanks for all your input. I realize legally I had no recourse because the contract didn't include the post but I wanted to see what others thought.

You witnessed he was having a lot of difficulty after "several hours trying to get it out". Based on that asking for another $100 doesn't seem outrageous.

He probably viewed the post removal as a bit of a favor that he threw in for free when you agreed to use him to build the other fence. That's why he didn't add it to the contract.

Then the realization of what he'd agreed to sunk in. :)

Why was removing the post so much work? Was there something unique about the situation? Was it something that was obvious before starting the work? Did the guy even come out to look at the post before agreeing to remove it or did he agree to do it sight unseen?

He came out to look at it before hand so it was included in his bid, just not written on the contract he gave us. It was a regular 4x4 post that had rotted near the ground and made the entire section weak. Nothing else unusual about it, it was easy to get to, etc. it just wouldn't budge. We ended up filling the hole with water overnight (a trick I learned in this forum :) and with a little more digging we got it out ourselves. It ended up being set in what I would estimate to be about 18" of concrete. I guess what really rubbed me the wrong way was that one, he left and took his tools without telling us anything then later texted that it would take another hour and he'd need another $100 to complete the job. Before that, I didn't even know this post was any more difficult than any other post. Then he made it sound like he did us a real favor in the first place with his bid. It was within reason of other bids, so I don't think it was any real steal.

Now you're making it sound like he was more in the wrong. Not every little detail has to be written in a contract. If someone quoted you on replacing your tires and then said it would be an extra 100$ to torque the tires down or else they'd full off, That would be wrong. If the post was that rotten and the fence was weak, it was indeed part of the deal and he under quoted you and should of bit the bullet. With that said, if 3 of the 4 posts were listed in the contract and not the 4th, then he shouldn't be liable because he directly listed the posts, and there was an obvious misunderstanding that needed to be adjusted.

FastInk the rotten post was on a different fence than the one he installed, but just the same, he knew that it was part of the overall job. I guess bottom line is he probably did underbid based on his experience with post removals (easier ones obviously). Why mine was so hard I don't know, but rather than see it through he walked off the job. Lesson learned. Thanks all.

As far as reviews go, you don't have to give him a GOOD one. You can certainly add some context about his poor communication--even if it doesn't affect the number of stars you give him, your comments would be fair to include.

Not to sound too harsh, but the written contract between you and the vendor can only be modified by a written change order or written addendum. You can't modify it by a verbal agreement. I know it sounds very formal to do it this way, but this is why contracts exist so the terms are well defined. This is why you have to review the contract with the bid in hand - to make sure you are getting what was presented initially.

Do I think he handled it well? No. But you can't force the contractor to do work not included in the contract for free. I think this is a good lesson for you and for the contractor. For $100, I would have paid it when I noticed that that post was not in the contract. Not everyone feels the same.

Written contract or not, in any business sometimes you come across unforeseen situations and you might need to invest more time or use special tools, etc. so it is fair to request an additional amount to cover the time and labor.

$100 is more than a reasonable amount for additional time and labor involved.