Breaking up with My Flooring Installer

Just call him up and tell him that you have decided not to use him for the job. State a few reasons why and move on. Why pay someone to do work for you that isn't deserving of it. And if he is a problem now, it will only get worse when he has to actually do work.

Jane, have you actually given him any money, or signed/approved a proposal yet? If not, then you don't even need to fire him. Just hire someone else, and if he calls, tell him, "We decided to go in a different direction. I'll let you know if we need you to bid on any future flooring projects."

ETA: After reading your SWH... I'm a contractor, so I get it. But here's the thing, if he is trying to guilt you into giving him the work when he is not performing, then he doesn't deserve the work. If the Yelp reviews are true, and he's not doing anything to turn around those behaviors, he will not last long in this industry. I wouldn't withhold a poor review if it's well-deserved and you provide details. Other customers need to know this stuff before they head down this path with this guy. And in giving an honest review, you're helping push deserving contractors to the top of the heap.

We spend all kinds of time on jobs we aren't awarded. It's all part of the industry. We do not take it personally when we aren't awarded a job. I do ask why, and listen to the feedback. Maybe the customer didn't like the way we worded the proposal, or our electrical costs were higher than the next guy's, or maybe the contractor the client chose was his brother-in-law. Who knows. In the end, I thank the customer for their feedback, and move on to the next job. Please try not to feel badly about this.

Use the "good, good, bad" technique.

"Joe, we like you as a person and we have time invested in having you do the work because we wanted you to do it. BUT, you're not meeting our schedules/deadlines and we have no other choice but to get someone else."

Tell him you will keep him in mind for other projects, etc., but time is of the essence with this project.

If you can afford it write him a letter and inform him you won't be needing his services, you've changed your mind. Include a check to help cover his time.

If you can't afford it then simply write him the letter and be sure to thank him for his time and involvement.

Have you already said I need X on X date and Y on this date and completed on this date? If you have not spelled that out part of the flake is on you.

I always establish time constraints before we ever get into materials or measuring because if someone can't do it it is unfair to make them do as much work as he has done and get nothing for it.

Every single time I have gotten to the point of listening to a contractors personal story and personal problems...the job goes south.

It's like contractors can't work for family / friends.

Keep it all business next time. Just the facts of what you want, don't want, offer to meet at the flooring store to pick out samples, give specific dates and times that will definitely work for your schedule.

Repeat to the contractor (this and next) that reliability is super important. If he can't keep deadlines, than you'll move on.

Your situation sounds slightly redeemable. You could state that you've lost the window you had to work with, so can he / can he not carve out the time to finish the job by specific date. What will it take to complete the floor by then? Days/ hours..be specific.

And how can he guarantee that he has the time now?

Honestly, I've made the same mistake numerous times..asking every worker about their lives, where their from, how they got interested in the trade and before you know it I'm listening to sad, sad stories. And the job doesn't get done, because too much time was wasted on the life story.

"Joe, this arrangement isn't working out for me. I am spending a lot of time listening to your personal stories, but you are missing deadlines, not following through on getting me estimates and quotes, and you've failed to arrive when we agreed upon a date and time. I'm going to make arrangements to work with another contractor who is more reliable. I wish you well but my decision is made."

If you want to give him one more chance, you can do that, but be very firm. Say the above, but add in, "I expect you here on Tuesday as we agreed, with all the samples and the quotes, and I want a written work schedule from you at that time, complete with prices and materials. That is your last chance, and if you are unable to to do this, I will take it as confirmation that you don't want this job."

He's not your friend, he's your contractor. Going forward, you also need to get out of the house when people are talking to you, or learn how to redirect their sob story to say, "That's interesting, but I really need to focus on this flooring so we can meet the deadlines."

Good luck!

Oh I feel for you! We just went through this with our remodel of the kitchen. We are the general contractors. I engaged an electrician who did a lot of work for friends of ours. She really liked his work, was on time and reliable.

So, it took me three days just to get a hold of him. I sent text messages, phone calls. Finally I heard back. He would come and look at job site and send bid. This went on for a couple of weeks! I wanted to get other bids but my husband was like "oh we will have to start all over again, blah blah blah. I'm sure you can see where this is going! The guy kept saying "oh this isn't that much, I can get it done in a couple of hours, no problem. Easy". HAHAHAHA.

He never showed up to perform the job! Good thing we never gave him any money!!!! We called, texted, nothing! So we had to start all over again. Put us behind our schedule and we are still paying for that. I'm lucky that at my job we have electricians so our maintenance superintendent helped us out!

So in your case, I think you have probably been too nice. He doesn't think that you really care if he shows up or not. To him, this is a "long term project" so he isn't busting his butt. I would put him on notice and say "I need this done by whatever date. If you can't, I will find someone who can". My thought is to keep it simple. Good luck!

You have gotten some very good responses to use with him. I would like to add that he might end up doing a bit of - perhaps unintentional! - emotional blackmail when you tell him that you are turning elsewhere. Please have your reply ready so you are not caught off guard if he responds to your "breakup" by pleading with you: "Please give me another chance!" or "I really can make this good!" or even the guilt-inducing, "I really need this contract, if you pull out my business is in trouble financially."

It sounds like he over-shares and may be a bit too emotional as a businessperson (not a great combination) and that's why I advise having not just your initial breakup speech ready, but also your reply to any of the above pleas from him. I would be interested to see your update after you talk to him. He might surprise me and just say "OK, I understand," but in similar circumstances I've had a contractor tell me that he had put time into the initial estimates etc. and was really hurt that I was going elsewhere with my money, etc.

So he has read other customers think that he lacks professionalism, and instead of becoming more professional with his work interactions, he took time out of his current work to complain about those customer's comments to you. He might be beyond help.

I'm don't think there's really anything to be gained from directly confronting him with your issues with his work (or work ethic, or lack thereof). I would wait for him to call you back and let him know then. You can say you changed your mind (true), or make some kind of excuse (you decided it wasn't in your budget, or your husband/significant other has decided against it).