Legendary Custom Metals

I had 3 downspouts that were leaking at the elbow. I spoke with Rob on the phone who said that all 3 would be $500 plus materials. This was a fair price so I agreed. Rob said he would schedule his son, Dalton. I later had a phone call with Dalton explaining the problem and that I was travelling for work and wouldn't be reliably near the phone for a few days, but asked if he could repair the leaks if possible to be more cost effective to get the price below the $500 replacement quote. If not, I said he could replace the downspouts. I gave him my wife's number just in case.

Dalton completed the work, sent photos, and an invoice on Dec 6 at 530pm. This is where it all went wrong. The invoice listed a "Minimum Fee" of $500+HST. I didn't like the surprise "minimum" fee nor the fact that Dalton used white caulking on our black/brown downspouts. I texted Dalton that I needed to discuss this with him when I was back from my trip on Dec 10.

Dalton proceeded to call text me every day on the 7th-9th. He called my wife repeatedly asking for the money: she told him I needed to speak with him. He called me 5 times on the 10th while I on the plane home. I finished work very late on the 10th and didn't get to speak with him, which was my bad. During my workday on the 11, he called another 9 times and continued to badger my wife while accusing me of ducking his calls.

I've never had a contractor be so aggressive in trying to get immediate payment. I called Rob that evening, and he apologized for Dalton's relentlessness. He maintained that he had told me about the minimum. I would have never agreed to a $500 minimum. None of my other trades works this way: even the licensed ones (HVAC, electrical, plumbers). Rob maintained this was because of the cost of gas and of the size of ladder and the size of his truck/trailer. We agreed to disagree about this, and Rob was able to get Dalton to trim $50 off the price. I should have insisted on a written quote (not verbal), but I never usually ask for one for small jobs like this. I paid the amount due immediately, but am not thrilled that I spent $450 for an hour's labour. Licensed trades are less than half that.

Rob offered to fix the white caulking by covering it in black. He also offered to replace the downspouts if that's what I really wanted. I declined the replacement, mainly because after all of Dalton's calls to my wife and I, I didn't want him near the property.

I have no problem paying trades or compensating people for their time or expenses. I do it regularly as part of my business. I don't like being misled about cost then being hounded for taking a reasonable time to ask questions before I pay the invoice. Dalton was paid in full 3 business days after I received the invoice.