What was your troubling experience? If we don’t know I’m afraid we can’t help.

I understand, I'd just rather not give much detail. But to just state the main fact without getting into how we got there, how it made me feel etc., they refused to leave my home after repeated requests to do so (for a considerable amount of time). And yes, I could have escalated it, but I didn't for a variety of reasons. I do have some videos of what took place, phone messages from the owner etc.

Sounds like a police matter. If you asked a contractor to leave, clearly, and that person refused...and If I understand what you are insinuating...that perhaps you were frightened? Concerned? Then, it should be reported to the police. Maybe the state licensing board as well.

i wonder why you won’t share what happened. Were you alone with one or more people in your house? Did you attempt to leave? or call someone to come join you/help you? Was the contractor verbally abusive or even physical? Just inappropriate?

Maybe it’s just me (reading into what you wrote too much) but I’m alarmed at the thought of a contractor overstaying his/her/their welcome...

Someone made you feel unsafe in your own home, and that is unforgivable, let alone unprofessional. I am at a loss as to how you can warn others and maintain your anonymity, which you must feel you should do. I am certain @Joseph Corlett, LLC and @Granite City Services will weigh in with substantive advice.

I understand the work is completed, but do you have any safety concerns now? If so, I think you should talk with the police to get professional eyes on the situation. They may have seen behavior like this before, and understand it in a different light than we lay people.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Since I know this is confusing without an explanation, here it is: It started with them requiring the remaining payment immediately after the job was finished. I wasn't aware they would require payment at that immediate moment (not a contract term) and had planned on paying them later that day. I didn't have the wire information at that exact moment so I offered them to wait outside if they really wanted to be present bcs I would have it sometime in the next 2 hours (my building doesn't allow workers past a certain time). And that's where things got out of hand - the owner demanded they didn't leave insisting on getting paid immediately.

This lasted about an hour - refused to leave/blocked the door/demanded immediate payment etc. The last thing I heard was a text message saying that the owner had ordered a number of people to come and remove the stone (I won't even comment on this). They got paid about 40 minutes after they left when I got my wire info, as promised. And not that it really matters, but there is absolutely no reason for them to have been worried that we wouldn't pay. We're not hard to find.

I had a small child at home, and I know I could have escalated it. It was very upsetting/disturbing, but I wasn't afraid for my life etc. because it was obvious that the installers were acting under the owner's instructions. In many ways, I feel bad for them having to choose btw doing what they did and keeping their jobs

.

I won't put my name out there in any public way, and I don't want to make this about me - I don't expect to hear from them again. I just can't stand the thought of them doing someplace else.

The only place to voice complaints on this is the police and the sooner the better. Nothing can be dome otherwise. Faceless, Nameless complaints are just white noise.

This happened to a neighbour of mine. She had young kids at home with her. She called her husband at work and he called the police. Terribly frightening experience. I'll never forget the company name. Today, with social media...?

File a complaint with the BBB and write a review there too.

Well, it doesn’t sound like you were uncomfortable paying on job completion, just unaware that you were expected to, and similarly unaware of the ramifications to them of their leaving. I’ve never heard of anything like this. I always ask how people want to be paid because I prefer to make electronic payments and not everyone is set up to receive them, but that’s habit, not gospel. This could have been handled so much better on their part, and it’s not like they don’t deal with payments every day. What a shame.

So the good news is you have no lingering safety concerns. For a minute there I was thinking you should check your locks.

First time I hear something like that. I had something like that happen to me on very different circumstances and yes, it is frightening. Every renovation/construction order I had involved payment at completion on site, it was explicit. I dont know what you can do, except a BBB review, but certainly, this owner needs to work on its relationship with customers. You'd think that is obvious to a business person, but it does not seem to be.

Uh, LWO, the OP said that she was not aware that the payment would be required immediately. And whether that was an omission on the contract and its terms, or the OP did not read or misunderstood said terms, it sounds like she was telling them she could get them the money as soon as she had the wire information. So yes, let's go shame someone who felt uncomfortable in her own home.

@cocoaandmittens, I'm sorry that happened to you. But I agree you are going to have to file a complaint with the BBB and speak with your local police. I hope that in doing that you'll help prevent uncomfortable situations happening to others. Good luck!

@ live_wire_oak - if there's a common law "course of dealing" legal standard that says that you have to pay "within 5 mins after completion" and not 1.5 hours (as I told them they'd be and as they actually were), I'd love to see it. And to be clear, I didn't prohibit them to remove the stone - I actually told them to go ahead and do it - but they chose not to. I absolutely think it was within their right to repossess the stone, but instead they refused to leave and kept pressuring for immediate payment. The threat to remove the stone I'm referring to is a written message by the company - immediately after the workers had left my home and before the payment - stating that the owner had ordered his guys to come to my home and remove the stone by force. That's ordering an act of vandalism.

So if they are at my home, do not want payment in the next amount of x hours and also do not remove the stone, their remedy is only to sue me - as it should be.

And yes, we did have an electronic of payment set up bcs we had already paid 50%. My husband had the bank info and it was physically impossible for me to reach him until the time I gave them. We paid immediately after my husband became available. If they had told me ahead of time of their requirement to get paid immediately upon completion and when that time of completion would be, we could have set it up ahead of time - but they didn't - not even when they came to my apartment.

And I repeat, I was satisfied with the work - had no intention of not paying them.

In any case, I'm not asking for an opinion on if and how this was wrong - whoever has a direct interest on the company can draw their own conclusions. I don't want to go the route of social media for personal reasons, but I can see how that's an obvious one. My sense is that the parties that may find this helpful would be the manufacturers selling through the company, but wanted to see if there are any other thoughts.

@cocoaandmittens

I think you showed proper restraint for not getting workers in trouble for following the directions of their superior.

I would simply write a review on several review sites. This is a behavior that potential customers need to be aware of. While some might attempt to rationalize this type of behavior, it is nothing more than strong-arm tactics and you can be fairly assured that this is not an isolated incident and is likely not limited to installation payment. Very likely this owner is going to use this same tactic any time something doesn't go his way, whether that is a warranty call or an installation problem and potential customers should be forewarned.

“...they refused to leave my home after repeated requests to do so (for a considerable amount of time).”

“This lasted about an hour - refused to leave/blocked the door/demanded immediate payment etc.”

@cocoaandmittens: Not only do the events described in these two statements warrant a call to the police, your strong desire to prevent this (or worse) from happening to someone else requires that you make that call without further delay.

P.S. There is no justification for what happened. None. @User’s comments are way off-base.

Sounds, to me, like: 1) This company has been burned in the past 2) This company didn't spell out the terms or remind you the day before. Even though I have terms written on my estimates and invoices, you'd be surprised at the number of people that forget when they owe, saying "I need to transfer money, or I forgot my checkbook" or "I didn't realize I needed to pay right away". I now try to remind people a day in advance when a payment will be due. It's all about keeping good communications open.

What this business did was still unprofessional. They handled it the wrong way and could have been more pleasant about it. Could you have given them a check and told them to hold it a few hours or one day? That would have solved the problem. I do that for people all the time that need to move money around at the last minute.

One thing that homeowners don't realize about stone is it has very low profit margins. Even asking for half down, if someone doesn't pay the last half, you're in the hole. Thats why we ask for 65% down on all installed countertops. Home Depot and Lowes ask for 100% at the time of order!

To this day, it astounds me: If someone shoplifts a $5 item at a store, they are arrested and taken to jail. Yet, if someone refuses to pay a dealer or GC, the burden is on them to collect it. I think that's why some contractors and dealerships get antsy when people stall paying. Most people are honest and have honest intentions....but there are a few that take advantage of the system. I'm not saying what they did is right....obviously its unprofessional. They just need to make sure they communicate payment expectations prior to install.

To this day, it astounds me: If someone shoplifts a $5 item at a store, they are arrested and taken to jail. Yet, if someone refuses to pay a dealer or GC, the burden is on them to collect it.

The difference being intent. If you go to a restaurant and eat dinner then realize that you left your wallet at home and can't pay right then, you haven't committed a crime. If you go to a restaurant and sneak out before paying, you have committed a crime.

The inability to pay for something is not a crime. The intent to obtain goods or services by fraud is a crime.

Depending on your state's contractor licensing requirements, you may be able to submit a complaint to the board for contractors (or its equivalent.) A telephone call to the board should be able to determine if your complaint is one that they would be likely to investigate and what the implications would be for the contractor.

bry911 is correct legally. Once a countertop is installed, it becomes the owner's real property. You can no more take it back than you can confiscate their toaster, paid for or not.

Perhaps this is at the root of the problem. The fabricator knows the hassle and expense of collecting a balance due just isn't worth it, while having a few guys standing around killing time until the check arrives is.

I'd like to see cocoandmittens post a Google review and read the fabricator's response.

If you buy your tops from a big box store, you're going to pay in full before the tops are installed, take it or leave it. They can't afford any collection problems either.

There are several ways that a business can effectively and legally ensure prompt payment. Paying upfront in full is, of course, one of them. However, there are problems with that, as people are often reluctant when forced to pay upfront.

A better way is to offer a discount for early payment. A person who is reluctant to pay money upfront by demand may have no problem paying that same amount upfront when it is optional and it results in a perceived savings (even if that savings ends near fair market value).

Another alternative is to add a fee when payment isn't tendered at the time of installation. When you tell someone that a few hours will cost them an additional $500, it tends to motivate people to pay on time.

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Strong-arm tactics are common in businesses that do questionable work. This guy may have just been burned, but he is choosing the same tactic used by businesses that burn people. Let's be real, if there is a legitimate quality concern, then collecting payment is that much more important.

I would also argue the contractor's response to the review is not going to matter. We all use reviews from our perspective and for most customers there is no excusing this.

"I would also argue the contractor's response to the review is not going to matter. We all use reviews from our perspective and for most customers there is no excusing this."

I would argue that we've only heard one side of this story.

I had a customer who got a spectacular sink installation, admitted so, yet gave me a one-star review for allegedly not wiping down his counters (I did it twice, he's a liar.) and for not putting his Windex back under the sink. Oh, and my helper forgot to remove a small bag of trash. Guilty as charged there.

In my response to his poor review, I tell potentials that if they are liars or would give me a one-star review for lack of Windex replacement, please don't call me. Ever. And if my response to his review has no value, don't call me either.

Joe,

You seem to be specialized enough that, even if you lose some customers, you will still have enough. But your attitude is a turn-off. In a different context, you would probably have more difficulties because who wants to deal with a diva contractor.

Actually, your attitude may make me believe your customer, and in any case, I would say : good riddance,

What specifically about my attitude is a turn off please?

I should leave myself defenseless when I'm lied about on the interwebby? How does that make me a "diva" please?

@Joseph Corlett, LLC

First, your response is a straw man, a review about wiping down a surface isn't equal to a review about a contractor committing a crime.

However, to answer your question... business responses are more important than complaints.

Calling a cuatomer a liar on the internet is almost always a bad business move, because they are rarely lying. Typically they are just mistaken. Calling them a liar and being combative with a rather ridiculous complaint costs you money in the long run, if anything your entitlement just makes the bad review more legitimate.

" business responses are more important than complaints."

We agree.

And while I've never directly called a customer a liar online, I have no problem whatsoever in making potentials pick which one of us is telling the truth.

After reading my reviews, you wouldn't believe how many people ask me in person, "What was with the lady with the caulk job?" right before they sign a deal. I just shrug my shoulders, roll my eyes, and cash their check.

I am a fabricator. The root cause of the OP's problem is that the fabricators expectation of immediate payment on install was not communicated prior to the install. This is primarily an error by the fabricator although it's a question a customer could ask at any time. Managing the customers expectations is a critically important part of the suppliers job. As I gained experience the frequency of problems related to missed expectations decreased as my company became more and more experienced in reviewing details during the bidding phase. Unfortunately you still have customers that complain about things they don't like even when what they got was exactly what was promised. Statements like "I was told the seams would be invisible" (which NO ONE at my company would ever say) or "It doesn't look like I thought it would" are frustrating but an unavoidable part of doing business with the public. This forum is useful as it sometimes can provide an objective assessment of issues. my 2 cents.