Tales from the toolbox

Of course, there’s always another side to the story. Four contractors recall their worst clients.Contractor No. 1, West L.A.: I did about $700,000 of work on a brand-new multimillion-dollar home in a gated community that had turned out to have serious defects. Every window, roof and deck leaked, and it had only half the electrical service it needed. We fixed it all up and even helped the client with an insurance claim, and my thanks was that he withheld $28,000 from my final payment. I couldn’t afford to take him to court. There never was a question of bad workmanship. It was his way of getting a discount.

Contractor No. 2, Venice: I was building a house for a couple, four stories, $3 million. The plan was highly detailed. Just getting the permits took a year. Then the woman insisted on using her own subs. I never saw the drywall guy on the job and when I called and asked him to come by, he started cussing at me. The plumber went bankrupt. One day I was in the basement talking to the husband, and his wife came down and said, “Why aren’t you working?” That was it. I jumped up and moved toward her, and the husband went after me and got his hands around my throat. That was the closest I’ve ever come to a fistfight with a client. But in the end, the house got done. And I’m still friendly with the guy. I still do work for him.

Contractor No. 3, Agoura: It was a major remodel of a big house, maybe a half-million-dollar job. I got a call from the supervisor saying, “Better get here; we’ve got a problem.” The client and his wife were there when I arrived. I said, “What’s the problem?” and he said, “I hate the stairs.” I looked at the plans, then said, “I understand you’re upset and I’m trying to help, but the stairs are built exactly according to the plan.” He said, “That’s right.” I said, “If that’s right, what’s the problem?” He said, “I hate these stairs, my wife hates these stairs and you should have known we’d hate these stairs!” That was the only job where I ended up suing the client.

Contractor No. 4, Malibu: One woman seemed to think that she had hired a slave. She wanted us to move things in her house and rearrange her garage. When I wasn’t there, she abused my workers, calling them stupid because they weren’t educated. When you do a job, you get wrapped up in a client’s life, until you feel like you don’t even have your own. Sometimes their lives are pretty neurotic. It’s a great relief to walk away. You realize, “I was in hell for six months and I didn’t even realize it.”