Mills Builders Blog

My Contractor Ripped Me Off and I'm Mad as #$@*!

Do you feel that you have been treated badly by your contractor?  If so, you are not alone. In fact, thousands of people - perhaps millions - loathe contractors.  Many negative characteristics are attributed to General Contractors:

They are widely believed to be imbeciles who drop out of elementary school to smoke cigarettes and hang-out at pool halls - louts and ruffians who annoy with loud talk, poor dental hygiene and tobacco products.  Others hold that contractors are grifters - outright criminals - who work tirelessly to manipulate the wallets of unwary homeowners, dashing their hopes, and leaving them without funds to complete their projects. Still others see contractors not so much as criminals, but rather as lazy, incompetent clods who are skilled only in meeting only the lowest acceptable levels of personal industry and workmanship.

Are these attributes of character unfair stereotypes or is there a kernel fo truth in them?

First, it is obvious that there are plenty of bad contractors.  Some of the bad ones mean well, but they simply have no talent. When you find an excellent contractor, you will very likely find that he or she was first a superb tradesman first. Highly talented carpenters, plumbers, electricians and the like, generally make the best contractors. Their feet are firmly rooted in the trades. Those with little or no aptitude for the trades tend to make poor contractors.

Combat Abuses of Industrialized Farming! Support "Farm Sanctuary" - An Organization We Love.

WIth facilities in Watkin's Glen, NY,and Orland,CA, Farm Sanctuary is among the nations finest farm animal protection organizations. 

Here's some information from the organizational overview appearing on their website:

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary operates shelters in Watkins Glen, NY and Orland, CA, which provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals.

"Negotiated Bidding? Hmm.... What's In It For Me?"

In my last post, I promised to discuss three (3) popular business models used in the remodeling industry today. These represent very different alternatives - each having good points and bad. At Mills Builders, we find that many homeowners are acquainted with only one such model - "competitive bidding". My goal for this series is to acquaint homeowners with all three.

Today, I'll review the "Negotiated-Bid" method and wrap up  in a few days with a third post that points-up the pros and cons of the  popular Design-Build option. With this said, let's get started!           

In the first installment of this series, we learned that the "competitive bid" model - is being challenged as inefficient, subject to abuse by unethical contractors and flawed in that it makes "apples to apples" comparisons of bids very difficult.

Even worse is the fact that many of the best contractors will no longer bid on a competitive basis.  The preparation of a good bid takes time and money.  The bigger the project, the greater the resources consumed in preparation of an accurate estimate.  Given the competitive disadvantages associated with the process - especially large numbers of competing bidders and those who submit "lowball" bids - there is often no good reason for a quality contractor to participate.

Negotiated Bidding provides a reasonable alternative to the many problems associated with Competitive Bidding.