Scott Builders, Inc.

My Business provided rental equipment, set up and maintenance services to Scott Builders. [redacted] has refused to pay the invoice in full.

I had been performing contract work for Scott Builders on a project in Western North Dakota over a period of 3 months. I had several changes to my contract in that time period and performed this work without written change orders and was always paid for the work I completed.

After I had completed all required work in the scope of my contract, I was contacted by a Project Superintendent for Scott Builders with a request that I quote rental, delivery, and set up of a temporary heat source for their building project 400 miles from my shop.

I emailed the superintendent back with the costs associated with the rental and set up of the furnace. He agreed to the terms, and added "get it coming ASAP". There were several site conditions that had to be accounted for in the set up and maintenance of the rental equip and I went over and above to keep the furnace running and heating their project. Next day delivering parts directly to the site and driving 400 miles one way in the middle of the night to get the furnace running when the on site power supply caused damaged to the furnace. All of this was done at the request of Scott Builders Superintendent.

I billed the rental conservatively. Scott Builders had the unit on site for 1 month and I billed for 2 weeks. Additionally I reduced my labor rate while traveling to and from the site, and only billed actual cost for my fuel. And yes, I incurred these cost and provided my services in good faith without a written change order, because the superintendent and project manager for Scott Builders had earned my trust through past dealings with my business.

Now, the reason for my compliant.

After sending the first invoice for my services I was contacted by Scott Builders' Project Manager and told that I would be paid but he had to come up with some creative ways to bill this to their customer because the temporary heat was not covered by Scott Builders Contract with the owner of the project. He told me he would get me paid but that it would take some time. Again because of the excellent track record that I had had with Scott Builders field personnel and the project manager I had no reason not to trust that I would be paid for my services in full. After a month went by I again was in contact with Scott Builders Project Manager and was told that he came up with a way to bill the project owner so that Scott Builders would be paid, and then they would pay me. So again I sent a statement, with no finance charges and waited for a check to come in the mail. Still no check and I was starting to become a little frustrated so I began to call the Project Manager more often, however this time the response I was received was different. Now I was told that He (Project Manager) was surprised that I had not received a check yet, because they closed out the project with the owner and they had been paid in full and that [redacted] was supposed to have issued me payment in full as well. While all this time was passing Scott Builders had no other work so they fired their project superintendent and refused to pay his vacation time earned. The writing was on the wall, I probably wasn't going to see a check. But again I was still in contact with the project manager and he said that my payment was in the hands of [redacted] the owners wife. [redacted] had always paid my invoices before so I assumed I would be paid again. I tried several more times to contact Scott Builders and was unsuccessful. I learned that they fired the project manager I was delaing with. Now I have been dealing directly with [redacted] and his wife [redacted]. [redacted] found my invoice in the desk of the project manager and gave it to [redacted]. I have spoken with [redacted] a few times and have heard that work is slow and he didn't have the ability to pay me. He was going to review my invoice and get back to me with any ?'s. He mailed a check for less that a 1/3 my bill and said that all he would pay. That amount doesn't even cover my costs.

The letter I received along with the partial check for my services stated that he was willing to pay the standard industry charge for this type of rental equipment and the associated delivery and set up charges. [redacted] claims that the approximate cost for the heater is $750 per month. I have the Quote from the renal yard at $1800 for two weeks, I billed $1500 for the rental. [redacted] writes in the letter that it would cost $600 for delivery and set up charges, probaly not at 400 miles one way.

I picked up the heater from the rental yard, loaded and strapped on my trailer. I drove 400 miles one way to unload and set up the furnace at the job site. I billed for 16 hours at $60/hr for my time, pickup and trailer. My fuel cost was $273.34

When I quoted the heater rental and set up on 11/30/11 I included the cost of the needed hoses and duck work to supply natural gas from a high pressure source to the furnace and the additional cost of duct work to get the hot air from the furnace to the building. All of the costs totaled $728 and were agreed to by [redacted]'s Project Superintendent.

The onsite electricians hired by [redacted] supplied the wrong voltage electrical connection to the furnace and it caused a fan motor relay to burn out on the furnace. This part cost $139.84 to replace.

A step up transformer was needed to boost the line voltage from the building to the furnace in order to operate the furnace properly and with out further damage to the unit. the cost of this was $655.10 also ordered and approve by the Superintendent. Delivered to site and installed by electrician hired by Scott Builders.

The unit quit working and the site electricians tested the fan motor and assumed that the motor on the furnace was damaged due to the previous improper line voltage supplied by them to the furnace. So I was called to bring up another blower motor. I bought a blower motor and drove overnight again 400 miles one way to install the motor only to find that due to a bad power supply on site, a saftey reset button had been tripped on the furnace. I reset the button and drove home. This resulted in a fuel cost to me of $228.61 I returned the motor at no cost, and billed 12 hours at $50/hour for my time and vehicle.

I also left my trailer on site for 1 month at no charge, so that [redacted]'s superintendant could return the unit back to me when they were finished and not incur more expenses to have the furnace disconnected, picked up and driven back 400 miles.

I billed a total of $5084.89

[redacted] decided to pay me $1350

I would like to be paid in full for my services.......

On another note, [redacted] had a Scott Builders company pickup driving through Fargo in the middle of an ice storm this winter at 8:00 at night. The alternator went out and the driver was stranded on the side of the Interstate and called me for help. I went and bought a new battery and a new alternator, met [redacted]'s employee on the side of the road 30 miles from my house and helped install the new battery. We then drove the truck to my shop where we installed a new alternator into [redacted]'s pickup. We were done around midnight and I only charged [redacted] for the battery and the alternator. I did this because I had a good working relationship with Scott Builders. I hope that [redacted] will resolve this complaint with me and that he can show me that I can have a good working relationship with him in the future.

Update 3/17/14
I have been trying to Contact [redacted] about setting up a payment plan for the amount he owes my business. He has not returned my calls, he has blocked my emails, and he has had his attorney contact me to tell me that [redacted] is not going to pay and that If I contact him anymore it will be considered harassment.