Hired a contractor, all the bills were paid and got all the invoices, but with fake GST/QST no's

3/25/2014 at 8:39:21 AM

First of all you should have checked him out, from A-Z. Secondly, never pay cash. The reason you did pay cash was to save some money and you got burned. Who suggested paying cash, him? If so that was your first sign to walk away.

I hate to say it but you're to blame, you should have been more thorough and researched who was coming into your home to do work. Was he the cheapest? Did you check to see if he used licensed trades? Is he insured? Is he licensed? Is he covered by WSIB? Is his company Inc. or Ltd.? I would say no to a lot of the above.

When you hire these wanna-be contractors all you're doing is hurting the legitimate companies and affecting the industry in a negative way. Hence the reason why real companies are not cheap.

Good luck in court, the only ones who win are the lawyers.

3/25/2014 at 1:44:15 PM

It's sad things like this happen. Always check the company out. All our trades have to provide us with proof of licence, GST Number and WCB Coverage proof.

These so called contractors are just hurting the business and the legitimate contractors. This is why the industry suffers.

We never promise to be the cheapest - and not always, but the cheapest price is usually cutting corners.

Good luck

Daryl Berden

3/30/2014 at 1:46:18 AM

Wheres the "CONTRACT" in CONTRACTOR anymore?

It's not all your fault that there are asses out there like that, that hurt the entire industry in more ways than you'd probably realize, (don't get me started!), but it is your fault you got duped by one! Sorry!?!

References, and contracts and due diligence are your only advocate.

No permit, obviously then either, or the city would have crossed referenced his business/operating license.

I hear WAY too many of these stories!

4/4/2014 at 12:07:42 PM

Yet another unfortunate story that fuels the bad reputation given to undeserving, legitimate contractors.

Toro was brutally honest! But, honest indeed. My suggestion is to call it a day. The mistake was made and no amount of judgement from the courts will bring you piece of mind and or money back. Learn from the costly err and carry on. This character will not learn a lesson at your expense. Nor will he ever pay a judgement ordered. This is what they do and they have no care or concern for the laws and practice. Otherwise they would be legitimate!

Spend the lawyers money on hiring a legitimate contractor to review the work done and complete to satisfaction. There is your piece of mind.

Good Luck,

Jim

4/15/2014 at 3:10:00 PM

HI Anny

The first thing you need to always look for is whether they are a member of the BBB, or not. If not, move on, because the ONLY RECOURSE you have is going through the courts to solve any conflicts. If you want to have the best of all worlds, lowest price, valid invoices, and a paper trail that's an extremely important detail. On again, off again Contractors don't want to be found. At the end of every season they declare bankruptcy. They usually don't leave any paper trails. Unspoken Conclusions: The between the lines meaning of paying "cash for LARGER projects" signifies one of two things, the person giving doesn't want to be known to have the cash and the person receiving is saying just about the same thing. If you want to use cash, insist on using a money order made out to the Contractors personal SIN number and their name. This way you have an honest record of payment to the Contractor with a paper trail.

Sorry to hear things went south.

Good luck next time.

Norm