The roofer made an major error on my roof. He admitted it was his fault, but since I got an improved roof, he wants me to pay the material costs of over $1000. I agree I’ve got a better roof, but I didn’t ask for or need the improvement and I certainly don’t have $1000 kicking around. What should I do?
Can you explain abit more?? did the roofer install something wrong or something?
One side of my roof was failing - the other side was good for another 10 years. The workers replaced the wrong side, so they ended up replacing the whole roof. Yes, I now have a brand new roof that will last my lifetime, but I wasn’t anticipating having to replace the other side and an extra $1000 wasn’t in my current budget.
So you got a whole roof for the price of half?
Well the roofer screwed up big time. Are you legally bound to pay him? Probably not. All depends what the contract says.
Morally and ethically should you pay him the extra? That’s on you and how you sleep at night. I’m a sucker and would probably pay the difference. Knowing I got 50% of my roof for the cost of materials no labor or profit is a good thing. I understand the part about not having $1,000 kicking around. Who does anymore?! I don’t. But I’d be inclined to pay if I felt it was an honest mistake and overall had a good experience with the contractor otherwise.
Alot of guys will disagree with me, and that’s fine. I envy them. Like I said, I am a sucker.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to your morals and your ethics. I’ve been in situations where I screwed up (not quite so bad) and don’t recall ever asking the customer for a dime to cover my mistakes.
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i with crumpy,it up to you to pay or not pay .What i would do if you decide to pay ,just tell him you don’t have that much and offer to pay him mounly,like $50 or $100, and get it in writing that a thousand dollar is all you have to pay
I agree with Grumpy. $1,000 isn’t much for 1/2 a roof by any means. Just ask yourself a couple of questions. First, what do you think the right thing is to do? If your Son or Daughter put this type of hypothetical scenario in front of you, as kind of a request to Dad for a lesson in morals and ethics, and asked what you would recommend, how would you respond? Finally, assuming this was a simple mistake and the roofer is acting professional about it, put yourself in the roofer’s shoes and consider how you would like to be treated.
Actually, I have one more thought. Suppose this roofer gave you a quote and his secretary made a typo, put in $8,000 instead of $6,000. Let’s say you didn’t know any better and signed the contract for $8,000 only later to get a quote from another roofer only to find out you paid way too much. You ask the roofer with the contract about it and he tells you it was a typo but since you signed the contract, too bad. Legally, he would certainly be right. Morally, very similar situation to what you are in right now. What would you expect the roofer to do in that situation?
Was this an insurance claim or a cash bid? Either way your contractor should have sold you a complete system. If it was an insurance claim you should have and possibly still can insist that they pay for a complete roof system with a full warranty. Your contractor might be a great guy who’s heart is in the right place but in my opinion was not truly looking out for your best interests.
Let us know if you need some help getting this resolved.
I understand the analogy you are making, but there is a mistake defense in contract law. Contracts can be voidable by mistake, or the mistake can be corrected. Just FYI.
Based upon what you have said, I don’t see you have any legal obligation to pay. However, as others have said, it is up to you in regards to the moral obligation.
My answer would change if, for instance, you were present while they were tearing off the wrong side of the roof and you said nothing. You then may very well become legally obligated to pay for it.
I could sell half roofs all day long for $1,000.
My crew has actually made this nightmarish mistake on a job. 1. It is the contractor’s job to make sure his crew knows what they are doing! Period. I’ve read the other responses above and tend to agree with them for the most part. You are only legally bound to pay, I believe, if you witnessed the wrong side being removed and said nothing. If you do believe it was an honest mistake and you got a great job and all he’s asking for is the difference in materials…well, I guess that depends on your morals and your bank account. Personally if I had the money I’d pay him. The man has a family to feed too. I’ve made mistakes where I didn’t order enough materials and I eat it every single time. For your contractor’s sake I hope he’s not slacking on the supervision part of the job too often or else he won’t be in business much longer. Those mistakes are costly.
Split the difference!?
Come on now.You got an entire roof and you will be out of pocket $1000 ?
Make $200 payments for 5 months because I am sure he will never let that happen again.
Who cannot afford $200 per month ? Everytime you mail that payment.,.on your way to the mailbox turn around and look at your roof.
Roofer buys it it is his mistake not yours. Balls to ask for any amount of money from you for his mistake.
Although I like RM’s comment on look back at the roof on your way back from the mailbox- you only owe for the Contract.
If my boys did that because they were not informed- well it would be my fault. Would I be happy? No. But it is nobodies fault but his own.
overall i as a contractor wouldn’t even ask i would say well looks like like get the whole roof done after all legally are you obligated i would say no is it fair to cover the cost yeah and no depends on how you feel so same as every one else i guess cheers to the new roof though :biggrin:
Have some mercy! Send in payments, if you don’t have 200.00 a month, send in 100.00. Although you’re not obligated, have a heart and AT LEAST split the difference. Just the humble opinion of a homeowner.
I am impressed by reading this Post, its really awesome for the work you guys are committing actually… I find your contractor firm’s information really helpful for the future!!thanks!!
A R P…I saw your exact same, post in the other form? Wasssup which you bro??
Don’t pay the roofer a dime. I make about 250k plus a year roofing. If I can’t swallow $1000 mistake that “I” made, whether you realized it or not, then I shouldn’t be in the damn biz anyway. I eat $1000 mistakes at least three times a year, it’s part of doing biz.
What you can hope for, is that he “learns” from his “mistake”.
What roof cost $2000 anyway???
Do you live in a 250sf home???
A mistake is a mistake. "Sorry officer, I know I ran that red light, but would you mind covering this speeding ticket for me???
Tell him to go get an hourly job…he is not going to make it in roofing if he can’t go without making a mistake on such an extremely small job
That is some balls, or pure stupidity.
wasnt going to comment but wcayor kinda pi$$ed me off a little lol. I own a small roofing company I am the accountant foreman estimater. Have 3 employes and we stay busy in a competitve market where weather is only suitable for roofing mabey 7 monthes of the year. $1000 woulnd’nt break me but i would feel it. As for ordinary its up to you what u want to do. Getting a roof done for half prices is a good deal to me. Your whole roof matches your happy with the workmanship. in ten years shingles may be discountined, dump drices and material prices will be higher. I think you got lucky i wouldnt complain and work out a deal even pay half
LOL…come on roofer J…you can’t expect a homeowner to eat your mistake???
If I take my car to a mechanic, and he replaces the whole front end suspension, instead of the wheel bearing that I agreed to, then should I pay his bill??? Hell no.
Maybe my post was a little harsh, but seriously? People down here wouldn’t go for that.
Then again, I do a lot of roofs, and I have to expect that some will bring about unforeseen charges. If you are doing a small amount of biz each year, then I guess I could see how that $1000 would hurt you.
I still can not ethically say that I would ask someone else to cover my mistake. Period. If they offered that would be different, I could NEVER feel good about requesting it though. Right???
Your in business for yourself. If Walmart sold you something that was broken, would you not take it back?? Or would you be okay with Wally world asking you to help them out??
Be empathetic, put yourself in the homeowners shoe’s.
As well, dollar amounts do not override principal’s.
It’s the principal that should be focused on, not the dollar figure.