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voicemail full---bad sign for a contractor?

7K views 38 replies 29 participants last post by  huggytree 
#1 ·
I have a new remodeler im working for...there have been several red flags so far...but today when I tried calling him his voice mail is full

in the past this has always meant the guy is basically out of business...the voice mails are full because every sub. is calling asking for $$....this has been the case 100% of the time for me.

I have done 2 jobs for him in 2 weeks and was planning on bidding on another one this week.....the biggest red flag is he has never asked my price...the jobs are all last minute and I do them at T&M.......by now he has 2 invoices and knows my prices.....but how do you hire someone w/o knowing the price......what if im $1,000 over budget?

ive been in these situations before...I am hard core on collections and have always been paid in the end...but I can see it coming (I always do)

I emailed the guy asking if hes having financial issues

is there any other reason his voice mail would be full?
 
#2 ·
Guys on vacation? Guy has a small mailbox (basic mailboxes here are 3 or so messages)? Could be a plethora of reasons, don't always jump to the negative ones.

Mines been full in the past, as I deleted them, they weren't deleted, just archived and I had to go in and delete again, still do, I just know that is what needs to done now.
 
#38 ·
This reminds me of a very old school type business man I know well, for some reason he never responded to any of my emails, so one day in his office I ask him why, he said take a look at my inbox, WOW he had over 33,000 un-read emails in his inbox.

This guy only uses the telephone to communicate.
 
#6 ·
Does he pay on time? Checks good?

I'd give him a couple of days to sort it out. Could be a new phone he's not familiar with. I got a new phone last year and when I deleted messages they didn't actually delete, just 'archived'. It was my fault because that's how I set the phone up (not intentionally).

But yeah, a constantly full inbox is a huge red flag for me too.
 
#8 ·
If you can't get him for a few days, I would worry but 1 day of voice mail full is not a big deal.
I get storage for 20 voice mails, and when busy, save voice mails to deal with them later in the day so I dont forget.

I can easily get 20 voice mails in a day, and have filled my voice mail more than once.

If he is not clearing them by the morning, then I would be more concerned
 
#16 ·
I have never set up a voice mail on any of my phones.

I transact business through my office phone- leave a message there.

currently, my wife,my 2 sons,my 2 daughter in laws, and one supplier have my cel #.

Everyone else can call the office and leave a message. I don't like to talk on the phone and I am hard of hearing anyway- so I return all calls each day-generally between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM when I am calm,cool,collected and clean-AND in a quiet enviornment.

someone doesn't like that arrangement-they can call someone else because I have no intention of being a slave to a ringing phone.

there are NO emergencies in this business.

stephen
 
#13 ·
mine gets full from time to time. but my vcml clearly states to call the office or email. 99% of mine are from deliveries and stuff like I'm here where are you, or running late...blahblablah... we have 2-teams i am one with helper. run appointments, estimate close deals handle materials and so on an so on..jeez I'm getting a headache. I'll call you the customer when I need you until then call the office or email we always get to everybody same day / 24hrs. and if your house is falling down on fire you should not be calling me. I can't stand when people don't have vcml and you just get that automated chit " the pcs customers is not available" I alot of my customers text me and ask to call them to go over a things and get to them when I get a few minutes. I gotta tell ya most of time we don't even see the customers during the job. don't spaz out. tell him the box is full and or ask for 1/2 up front or something.
 
#17 ·
Stephen H.,

I used to be the same way. Now everybody has my cell phone. I do get really tired of the phone ringing. On the other hand, these days, when I'm done working for the day, I'm done. I don't have to think about responding to 15 different people at the end of the day.
I think it is better for my family if I leave work alone for a few hours at night. Everybody has a different situation though.
 
#23 ·
that might be a valid concern for you Bam.
In my case- it's going to be days at least before I would be able to even look at a prospective job- and weeks or months before we would do it-------------------

so- if they can't wait until this eve. to talk to me, I am just not going to be able to help them. They are certainly free to call someone else.
However-- if we DO talk this eve.- they will have my complete attention.
Stephen
 
#24 ·
his voice mail is full
he has never asked my price
the jobs are all last minute
I do them at T&M
now he has 2 invoices
Sounds like a one way relationship.
What would annoy me the most is the "M" part as he literally has no skin in the game other than to get paid. If I'm doing tm for another contractor, there is no m on my side because it's not my job.
 
#25 ·
he ignored my email

saw him today...we didn't talk about what was on the messages....he said it just gets full sometimes

he was wearing sweat pants.....he's an odd sort....nice guy, but not as professional as im used to....

I go to bid on a job for him tomorrow....I may ask for payment for job #1 before I do job #3........its a struggle how to bring it up and not look like a ahole

it tells him I have 0 trust in him...that I want to be paid early.....

if he pays on time he could be a very good contact...he has a job for me per week...im ready to hire and he could be a major part of the equation

the last job was about $1,000 shy of what it should have been(because it was T&M and I hustled like crazy).....we will see what he says to a real bid at full price....it may end on its own
 
#30 ·
he ignored my email

saw him today...we didn't talk about what was on the messages....he said it just gets full sometimes
I go to bid on a job for him tomorrow
Man, ain't no quit in you. Con artists depend upon that. This is how we read about people that have been conned, realize it, but keep on sending that nigerian prince more and more money.

Can you send me $100? I'll give you back $120 next week. And if I don't, let's just not talk about it. But I'll probably need you to front me $150 next week. Might as well as you're already into me for $100.
 
#29 ·
I guess I don't understand the whole contractor/sub-contractor dynamic-------------- as in why on earth you would be looking at job #3 when you haven't been paid for #1 yet.

I used to have a guy(mike) who cleaned up roof tear-offs for us at $8/sq.. Soon as he was done each day I paid him on the spot and gave him the address for the next days job.

He was constantly telling me about contractors who would not pay HIM until THEY collected on the final payment from the customer. I have never understood linking those to separate events............

anyhow- his own brother was a roofing contractor and repeatedly stiffed him on cleanups-and mike would continue to do more cleanups for him.

I guess some people really just WANT to be taken advantage of.....
stephen
 
#32 ·
I had a builder that used to pay great. Over the past year, they started slow paying, and it became obvious that they were having to finish other jobs to pay me for jobs already finished. I told them I could no longer work without 50% upfront. Never heard from them again. Sad, given our years of good relations.
 
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