Builder Destroys Beautifully Done Terrace After Client Didn’t Pay For It For Over 3 Weeks
Interview With Author
Sometimes you really wanna buy something. I mean, we get influenced to buy stuff all the time. We scrape up the money, all excited, ready to buy the new shiny thing that will make us happy (for a total of 1 day).
Suddenly, when it’s time to pay, we look at our wallet, our bank account, away, frantically checking again – something isn’t adding up! Turns out that in all the excitement we’ve been foiled by the dreaded math and are now just a little bit short to complete the purchase.
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You should really not test the patience of contractors and pay them up front or else you run the risk of them coming to your house and promptly tearing down their work
Image credits: Terasos Ara
A client had bought a terrace for $4.3k but 3 weeks after the work was done, he was short over $1k and wouldn’t offer any solutions to the workers
Now the terrace in question was built by the Terasos Ara company and you only need to take a glance at the examples on their website to know that these are masters of their craft.
Not only do they make terraces so perfect they wouldn’t look out of place in your Sims 4 mega-mansion, but they also do things like steel supports for roofs, fences – pretty much anything that would make your backyard go from sad and carefree to bad and boujee.
The terraces are a treat too, using wood and wood-plastic composite that are not only more durable, but come in a variety of styles and colors – pearly white, burnt dark, lacquered for that classic wood look – they’ve got it all.
Image credits: Terasos Ara
Image credits: Terasos Ara
The builder, Deividas, was working nearby and decided to pay a visit to “check out” how his handiwork has been holding up, circular saw in hand
There’s only one catch, though. You’ve got to pay for all of it. I know, it came as a shock to me too. Who knew that custom woodwork, expert craftsmanship, and good materials cost money?
Thus it happened that the premier builder, a Lithuanian by the name of Deividas Šadis, decided he needed to do something about a debtor who just wouldn’t cough up what he owed. And he did owe more than pocket change – 1000 euros, which is about $1085 in freedom currency.
So, working nearby to the location, he drove over there and took his circular saw to teach the debtor a lesson. Don’t worry, though, this won’t be an episode of Law & Order.
Image credits: Terasos Ara
Image credits: Terasos Ara
Not seeing any other options available to him, Deividas revved his saw and took it to the newly-installed deck, making sure that he’s not the only loser in the situation
Revving his saw, he began swiftly undoing his beautiful work. Just 3 cuts and the deck already looks way worse. Not to mention that the wood at the cuts is no longer protected from the elements and will begin rotting without replacement or some serious aftercare, especially in the rainy Lithuanian autumn.
In a great display of his cup of patience running over, the builder essentially said “if I go in the negative, he (the customer) also goes in the negative,” referring, once again, to his lack of payment for the services.
Image credits: Terasos Ara
Image credits: TerasosAra
In his 9 years of work, the contractor had never done anything even remotely similar and he says he hopes not to have to do it ever again
Although, if you talked to some builders, you’d realize that going unpaid for work does happen and with startling frequency, Deividas, in his 9 years of work, has only had to do something like this just this once.
He mentioned to one Lithuanian publication that he doesn’t want to ruin anything any more and hopes that he won’t have to make any more cautionary videos like this one any more. He doesn’t appreciate how viral the video went and is willing to bet that the customer is probably not feeling all too well about it either.
Image credits: Terasos Ara
Image credits: Terasos Ara
3 swift applications of the saw’s blade and the deck was pretty much ruined, the repairs for which would cost over $1.7k, along with the $1k debt
Although the method is certainly unconventional, it has paid off for Deividas. After the reversal of his handiwork, the debtor suddenly reappeared, wanting to solve everything civilly. It is a little bit late for that, but Deividas would like to meet the guy and see what he has to say for himself.
Apparently, the customer would like for the damage to be reversed again so that the deck will once again look like it did when it was freshly built.
It won’t be cheap, though – let’s not forget about the guy’s $1k debt, and fixing the damage would cost about $1735, including removing the old boards, getting new ones and reinstalling them.
Now, instead of the original 4.3k, the debtor will have to pony up a smidge over 6k.
Image credits: Terasos Ara
Bored Panda reached out to the company and got some more info — turns out that a Lithuanian company, Valiuta24, has covered the client’s debt for them
Bored Panda succeeded in reaching out to Terasos Ara and Deividas for a comment about the situation via phone.
It turns out that they’ve gotten a whole bunch of missed calls from the client, who, as mentioned, wants to solve everything peacefully and have the terrace restored. Feels like spitting into the ocean after getting your deck sawed up like that, but better late than never!
They’re unsure what has brought this change on, but our interviewee mentioned that it could be either the influence of upstanding neighbors or they got embarrassed after the video was posted.
Although Deividas has been working in the industry for 9 years now, he hasn’t even heard of colleagues encountering non-paying customers. He also mentioned that it’s quite impossible for a contractor to know if a client has enough money – though any sensible person will have money set aside if they have work to be done.
There is a silver lining to this entire debacle, though. Deividas mentioned that the Lithuanian foreign exchange company Valiuta24 reached out to the business and graciously covered the client’s debt of 980 Euros or $1063. Turns out there is still some goodness left in the world. What’s left now is only a matter of principle and Deividas himself would like to meet the customer and finish on a high now by leaving them with a repaired deck.
Image credits: Terasos Ara
Watch the original video here:
Contractors going unpaid for their work isn’t an everyday occurrence, but sometimes they have to choose the most extreme option to get to some people
While builders may try to look for a peaceful way out, proud workers who respect their work and take no bull from anyone are certainly liable to pull something like this. Especially if you keep dodging their demands to pay or simply disappear entirely.
Just last month, Bored Panda wrote a piece about landscapers very satisfyingly ripping up all of their hard work when customers refused to pay, citing dissatisfaction with the work.
“If you’re so very unsatisfied,” the company thought, “we’ll just take our work and be on our merry way,” leaving the front and back yards looking like a bomb had gone off in them.
I feel like there may have been a better solution on the clients’ part, but it just won’t come to me right now. Probably something related to money and paying, though.
Image credits: Alexander van Loon (not the actual photo)
Just last month, Bored Panda wrote a piece about landscapers ripping up entire sheets of sod when a client refused to pay them for putting it down
There are legal ways to solve the problem for contractors, though. A thing known as a contractor’s lien (could also be called a mechanic’s or construction lien) is a claim that they have performed work on a property but not have gotten paid so far.
It’s certainly easier both for the customer and contractor to simply pay up or even work out some kind of payment plan for the debt, instead of going silent and having to file a lien. Most of the time, contractors would rather get to other jobs than engage in a legal battle with you about the money that you just won’t cough up.
There’s always them coming to your property with saws, sledgehammers, and crowbars to make sure that you’ll suffer a similar amount of losses as you’ve just incurred them and no one really wants that.
Image credits: kslicksix
Image credits: kslicksix
They wouldn’t leave the home unpaid and they couldn’t get through to the customer, so they left her yard looking like a really bad barber’s handiwork
Image credits: kslicksix
Image credits: kslicksix
Image credits: kslicksix
Many praised the landscapers and said that it’s possible to file a contractor’s lien, which is a legal way of solving such disputes
The contractor’s extreme option did work, though, and the customer reached out again, wanting to solve everything and restore the deck
Deividas’ video, posted on the Terasos Ara company Facebook page, collected over 3.8k likes, along with 600+ comments and a whopping 1.5k shares.
Comments (in Lithuanian) said that Deividas did a good job and that what he did was right. Even other contractors’ business pages chimed in, further supporting him.
Have you ever gone unpaid for your work? What did you do? Share your stories in the comments below!
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Never ever ever pay contractors up front, ever. Many are honest, but many go into the business as profesional scammers. Pay promtly after, with thanks and gratitude instead.
Yes, there are bad actors out there! Even if they have good reputations, they will move on and forget about things like drawer pulls or last minute adjustments because they have already been paid and they are now onto the next customer's project.
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What stupid waste of good, scarce material. 3 weeks? There are other forms to get the money. This is just dumb. Hey look at me, super A-male?
Honestly I do understand grass company who did not get any cent, they just could take back their grass and can use it for paying client. But here with cutting terrace? because client was short of 1000? in Lithuania there are very good debt collectors for such a cases. Just sell their debt for 80% of cost of debt, blacklist this client, and sleep well. There was no need for that. All of this is just either for publicity or scripted. horrible.
You can't really re-use that grass; it's weeks old and unrooted/dried out. It looks like it wasn't babysat after install, so certainly on such slope would have died anyway.
Load More Replies... Never ever ever pay contractors up front, ever. Many are honest, but many go into the business as profesional scammers. Pay promtly after, with thanks and gratitude instead.
Yes, there are bad actors out there! Even if they have good reputations, they will move on and forget about things like drawer pulls or last minute adjustments because they have already been paid and they are now onto the next customer's project.
Load More Replies... What stupid waste of good, scarce material. 3 weeks? There are other forms to get the money. This is just dumb. Hey look at me, super A-male?
Honestly I do understand grass company who did not get any cent, they just could take back their grass and can use it for paying client. But here with cutting terrace? because client was short of 1000? in Lithuania there are very good debt collectors for such a cases. Just sell their debt for 80% of cost of debt, blacklist this client, and sleep well. There was no need for that. All of this is just either for publicity or scripted. horrible.
You can't really re-use that grass; it's weeks old and unrooted/dried out. It looks like it wasn't babysat after install, so certainly on such slope would have died anyway.
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