Problems with receiving money

[ChicagoJoe]

Like many people across the country, I have been out of work for some time. About a month ago, I was going through craigslist and found a guy looking for some painting work done. I gave him a call and it turns out the guy runs a landscape and maintainence company. He told me he had a job going on scraping, priming, and painting some exterior trim on an apartment complex he manages. We agree on a price per hour and I go out to the job. When I get out there we start talking more and he tells me that he manages a lot of properties and also does snow plowing in the winter. I end up working for this guy for the next two weeks. Meet at his house in the morning, drive his truck, use his tools, etc. The whole time he's talking about all these jobs he has lined up and all these plowing contracts for the winter. The whole time he keeps telling me to write down all my hours and then give it to him and that I will get paid every other week.
Two weeks goes by and I still haven't seen any money. Every time money comes up he says he will have it for me. Now by this time I am not doing any more work for him. Another week goes by and he says he had to go out of town for a death in his family. A few days later he calls me and tells me that he is gonna be in my area and that I will have my money by the evening. Never calls back.
It's now been over a month and I have yet to see a dime from him. He has told me four times that he will have my money by the end of the day. It's gotten to the point where he won't answer my calls or return messages.
Basically I need some advice on what to do.
Cliff notes... Worked for someone, never got paid, been over a month and now won't answer my calls or return messages.

[Blazin00Jimmy]

wow sorry to hear that. not looking like youre going to get your money.

[LOW S-10]

Burn it down!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LiquidFusion]

Quit. Don't work for him anymore. Next, you CAN file small claims, though I'm not sure how many hours you worked, so I don't know if it'd be worth it or not. You could get a lawyer to send him a nice letter to him, stating that he will be in small claims, should you not receive your money. Maybe it will scare him into giving you your hard earned cash. Otherwise you may not be getting your money. If all else fails, beat his ass, Seabass! lol.

[ChicagoJoe]

He owes me close to $1000

[LiquidFusion]

Well, small claims might be the best idea, then. Go here: http://www.19thcircuitcourt.state.il...aims/index.htm

[neo71665]

Without some kinda hard proof its gonna be hard to prove in small claims.

[nstoolman1]

Put your story on Craigs list and name his dirty deeds. That way someone else won't fall victim to him. Thats just wrong to have a person work for you and then stiff em. Good luck.

[LiquidFusion]

Quote: Originally Posted by neo71665

Without some kinda hard proof its gonna be hard to prove in small claims.

He claims to have written down his hours, I just hope he as a copy of some kind for his records so he can prove it to the Judge. That or print out the craigslist ad as well.

[ChicagoJoe]

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquidFusion

He claims to have written down his hours, I just hope he as a copy of some kind for his records so he can prove it to the Judge. That or print out the craigslist ad as well.

Yes I have a copy of the hours I worked. I also have a copy of the craiglist ad

[rmoore911]

sorry to hear about your situation. . .i'd do what andrew suggested and see about filing a claim against him. . .and, i'l also file a report report with the BBB about his business practices. . .

[JChapoton]

he's probably unlicensed.

[skanN86]

take hime to judge judy and if that doesnt go to work for him one more day and take his truck and his tools and put a lean sale on his truck and tell him its yours if you dont get paid

[Quetzalcoatl]

In my experience just about everyone learns this lesson the hard way. Cover your ass with paperwork! Get it in writing. Several contractors and my company did a big nite club project a bunch of years ago, we wired the whole building for sound, light and networking. We're talking big dollar installation on a handshake agreement. My losses were nothing compared to the drywallers, and HVAC guys who he conned into handshake agreements. I was lucky I found out he was locking it up and skipping town and managed to get out almost all the hardware we installed, minus the cabling and small stuff. He has over a million Canadian dollars in liens against a building that's not worth that. I know I'll never see the lien money that I claimed for but I learned an important lesson.

Short version, try a lien, or a small claims case. failing that take it as a lesson learned.

[rmoore911]

Quote: Originally Posted by JChapoton

he's probably unlicensed.

always a possibility, if he is unlicensed the OP can get a small bit of satisfaction in knowing that the guy will get fined out the ass for operating an unlicensed business, and a possible looking into his state taxes for not disclosing the earnings of that business. . .just a thought.. .

[rmoore911]

Quote: Originally Posted by skanN86

take hime to judge judy and if that doesnt go to work for him one more day and take his truck and his tools and put a lean sale on his truck and tell him its yours if you dont get paid

that's not exactly how things work. . .in order to do that, he has to have proof that he had agreed to work for that money and that it hasn't been paid yet. . .if he ups and takes the man's truck and tools, the OP is guilty of theft right then and there

[ChicagoJoe]

Well I called him this morning and it went to voicemail. I left a message and said that if I wasn't paid I was going to contact the dept. of labor. He called me back about 3 minutes later screaming and yelling. Telling me I have been harrassing him by calling him constantly. We have a screaming match for a few minutes and it ends with him telling me if I take him to court he is going to counter sue me. He then hangs up on me. About ten minutes later he calls back and tells me that the hours I gave him were not right.

Now heres were a difference of opinion comes into play. I was driving my personal vehicle to his house, picking up his truck loaded with tools, and driving it to and from the jobsite. My feelings on this are, if I have to be responsible for your truck, then I want to get paid from the time I get into it until the time I get out of it. He's telling me I don't. I tried telling him this and I could tell I wasn't gonna win this battle. So I made a new time sheet, minus the time driving the truck, and faxed it to him. I still feel I should get paid for that driving time, but if this is what I have to do to get paid, so be it.

[Wrkn prgs]

Everyone says they are going to counter-sue, and the counter claim usually gets thrown out. If anything, have a police escort down to his house and get paid.

[deathphoenix99]

This is why you always get everything in writing first or get paid up front.

[ChicagoJoe]

Quote: Originally Posted by deathphoenix99

This is why you always get everything in writing first or get paid up front.

Well now I know that. Chalk it up as a lesson learned.

[neo71665]

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquidFusion

He claims to have written down his hours, I just hope he as a copy of some kind for his records so he can prove it to the Judge. That or print out the craigslist ad as well.

So I write down I worked for you for 10 hours this week I can take you to court and you think it'll stand as hard proof? About the only way that will work is if you add up your hours and then have the yahoo sign it daily. Anything else is his word against yours and won't stand.

[deathphoenix99]

It wouldnt hurt, but get a statement from him, record his voice on the phone stating that he owes you the money.

[oh_1_xtremeblazer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Quetzalcoatl

. He has over a million Canadian dollars in liens against a building that's not worth that. I know I'll never see the lien money that I claimed for but I learned an important lesson.

What is that like $100 american?

[scott9001]

^ our dollars pretty close its not that far off

[ka_jd7and1]

Quote: Originally Posted by scott9001

^ our dollars pretty close its not that far off

Do they have sarcasm up there in Canada yet, or should we send you a detector for Christmas?

[ka_jd7and1]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChicagoJoe

Now heres were a difference of opinion comes into play. I was driving my personal vehicle to his house, picking up his truck loaded with tools, and driving it to and from the jobsite. My feelings on this are, if I have to be responsible for your truck, then I want to get paid from the time I get into it until the time I get out of it. He's telling me I don't. I tried telling him this and I could tell I wasn't gonna win this battle. So I made a new time sheet, minus the time driving the truck, and faxed it to him. I still feel I should get paid for that driving time, but if this is what I have to do to get paid, so be it.

You get paid for the work, not the drive time.

[xJuice]

Quote: Originally Posted by ka_jd7and1

You get paid for the work, not the drive time.

You mean your boss doesn't give you a free ride to work and pay for it too? You're losing out sucker.

[ka_jd7and1]

Quote: Originally Posted by xJuice

You mean your boss doesn't give you a free ride to work and pay for it too? You're losing out sucker.

Well, now that you mention it......

I have a 45 minute (~35 mile one way) commute to/from where I work now. Drive is unpaid. Before I worked at this location, I had a similar position in the same company in another office, but was being loaned out to this location 3 days a week as a fill-in for someone on long-term sick leave. I did get drive time included then, as well as mileage reimbursement for using my personal vehicle (didn't have company vehicles for my position). Not sure how I got both, but the boss was OK with it and corporate paid it. Actually made money on the mileage reimbursement, gas/wear and tear cost less that what they gave me.

[ChicagoJoe]

What I meant by travel time was when I would go to his house, get in his truck, and drive it to and from the jobsite. I was not refering to the time in my personal vehicle.

[ka_jd7and1]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChicagoJoe

What I meant by travel time was when I would go to his house, get in his truck, and drive it to and from the jobsite. I was not refering to the time in my personal vehicle.

Yeah, we know. I was relaying an anecdote related to xJuice's comment.

To reiterate post 26: You get paid for work, not drive time.

[roboticsguy]

Ah, the perks of my job. I get paid travel time from the time I leave my house until I get back home, plus mileage reimbursement for business use of personal vehicle.

To the OP: I don't know how things work up there in Canada, but I'm going to assume that it's similar to how things are done here in the United States. Contacting the Candian department of labor (or whatever it's called up there) would be a good start.

I'm not trying to the stir the pot here, but a good friend of mine owns a landscaping business here in Seattle. I checked with him and asked how he pays his employees, particularly when they are officially "on the clock" and when they are "off the clock". His employees meet at his home (business is based out of his house) and as soon as they jump into his company trucks, they are on the clock. They take a 1 hour lunch (unpaid) and are on the clock until they step out of the company trucks at his home.

In my opinion, and I know several of you disagree with this because many of you have already said so, you should be paid from the time you jump in the seat of that company truck, and until the time you step out of it. Since you don't drive directly to your jobsite from YOUR home, but have to go pick up company property (trucks) elsewhere, you should be paid for the drive time from where you pick the vehicles up and drop them off. Why? Because you are responsible for the vehicles and their contents. Why else? Because you are required to go pick these vehicles up from a different location, and the job cannot be performed without them.

[LiquidFusion]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChicagoJoe

Well I called him this morning and it went to voicemail. I left a message and said that if I wasn't paid I was going to contact the dept. of labor.

What you should do as well, is send him a letter, telling him the same thing. That way you have proof that you tried to collect the money, instead of having just a phone record to show the judge.

Quote:

He called me back about 3 minutes later screaming and yelling. Telling me I have been harrassing him by calling him constantly.

How often were you calling him?

Quote:

Now heres were a difference of opinion comes into play. I was driving my personal vehicle to his house, picking up his truck loaded with tools, and driving it to and from the jobsite. My feelings on this are, if I have to be responsible for your truck, then I want to get paid from the time I get into it until the time I get out of it.

You're absolutely right.

Quote:

I tried telling him this and I could tell I wasn't gonna win this battle. So I made a new time sheet, minus the time driving the truck, and faxed it to him. I still feel I should get paid for that driving time, but if this is what I have to do to get paid, so be it.

He sounds like a real douche. Trying to squirm out of a high payment to make when it sounds like either he has little or no money, or is just an outright thief. You should get paid for the drive time to and from his house with HIS truck and HIS tools, to the job site, and back. Have you started on the Small Claims stuff yet?

[sam1120]

just this fool

[LiquidFusion]

Yeah because a murder charge is worth the $1000

[96blazer]

Quote: Originally Posted by ka_jd7and1

You get paid for the work, not the drive time.

Quote: Originally Posted by ka_jd7and1

Yeah, we know. I was relaying an anecdote related to xJuice's comment.

To reiterate post 26: You get paid for work, not drive time.

His start time would be when he gets into the work vehicle. And his end is when he returns the work vehicle. So he should be getting paid for that drive time.

[sdimewisher]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChicagoJoe

What I meant by travel time was when I would go to his house, get in his truck, and drive it to and from the jobsite. I was not refering to the time in my personal vehicle.

did you have to load any tools, materials, equipment???? To me if he say I have to use his equip and such, I should get paid from the time loaded to when the truck is dropped off at his house

think about it..if you were in a real company, you would get paid....

Example:

i worked for a glass shop in SoCal, and the doors opened up @ 7am or whenever the boss showed up)

I loaded the truck and we took it around town installing glass/metal/shower enclosures..i got paid my hourly rate to sit on my ass, and drive around town until we got to where we were supposed to be..my time ended when the truck was back in the shop, everything was unloaded(trash, etc), and locked up...

different companies, different policies I guess...but it sounds like he just doesn't want to pay you.....I would keep calling him, but tell him that you ARE contacting the labor board, and all other necessary people, THEN ACTUALLY DO IT..you may not get paid, but the satisfaction of putting this a$$hat into some deep government debt/trouble would be worth it IMHO..then take him to court since there will be non payment/financial irrisponsibility on record..might swing it in your favor a little bit

I had a boss that didn't pay me almost 1500 bux..i worked for him for 3 weeksand didnt get paid...I stopped working for him right then and there..i called his boss since he was a subcontractor and told him I hadnt gotten paid....they paid him, but he used that money plus some other peoples wages, and bought a brand new f150 WITH CASH, that the company was giving him to pay his workers..i ended up getting paid after a month, BECAUSE I ACTUALLY CALLED THE LABOR BOARD...he has been out of business for almost 2 years

[LiquidFusion]

Updates?

[camberbrandt]

If you were knowingly working "under the table", and he was knowingly going to pay you "under the table", you both might be in trouble.

[rmoore911]

Quote: Originally Posted by camberbrandt

If you were knowingly working "under the table", and he was knowingly going to pay you "under the table", you both might be in trouble.

i didn't see any part of his first post that he said he was working under the table. . .sure he may have been, but you can work for someone, get paid cash for it, then claim it later on your 1099 or some form, and pay the taxes on it then. . .i know plenty of people that do handyman type work in their spare time, and that's what they do. . .

[sixfeathers]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChicagoJoe

Like many people across the country, I have been out of work for some time. About a month ago, I was going through craigslist and found a guy looking for some painting work done. I gave him a call and it turns out the guy runs a landscape and maintainence company. He told me he had a job going on scraping, priming, and painting some exterior trim on an apartment complex he manages. We agree on a price per hour and I go out to the job. When I get out there we start talking more and he tells me that he manages a lot of properties and also does snow plowing in the winter. I end up working for this guy for the next two weeks. Meet at his house in the morning, drive his truck, use his tools, etc. The whole time he's talking about all these jobs he has lined up and all these plowing contracts for the winter. The whole time he keeps telling me to write down all my hours and then give it to him and that I will get paid every other week.
Two weeks goes by and I still haven't seen any money. Every time money comes up he says he will have it for me. Now by this time I am not doing any more work for him. Another week goes by and he says he had to go out of town for a death in his family. A few days later he calls me and tells me that he is gonna be in my area and that I will have my money by the evening. Never calls back.
It's now been over a month and I have yet to see a dime from him. He has told me four times that he will have my money by the end of the day. It's gotten to the point where he won't answer my calls or return messages.
Basically I need some advice on what to do.
Cliff notes... Worked for someone, never got paid, been over a month and now won't answer my calls or return messages.

Goto the court house in the county where the work was performed and ask the clerk for the papers to file a lein on his house, you can legally do this. Dont post anything negative on cl or anything to protect your rear.

[camberbrandt]

Quote: Originally Posted by rmoore911

i didn't see any part of his first post that he said he was working under the table. . .sure he may have been, but you can work for someone, get paid cash for it, then claim it later on your 1099 or some form, and pay the taxes on it then. . .i know plenty of people that do handyman type work in their spare time, and that's what they do. . .

He also didn't say he wasn't.

Also if 1099's where in use in this situation it would actually help his suit, however im guessing they are not.

[ka_jd7and1]

Quote: Originally Posted by 96blazer

His start time would be when he gets into the work vehicle. And his end is when he returns the work vehicle. So he should be getting paid for that drive time.

What I was saying: he's not going going to get paid for the drive time in the company truck. Should he get paid for it? Yes. Will he get paid for it? No.