stubborn customer- is there something im missing

[huggytree]

i have a $4k plumbing project bid on in a busy area w/ no parking. its near a college and when i bid i had to park 2 blocks away.

the homeowner shares a drive way, but the very end there is room for 1 vehicle w/o blocking the other houses access. Street parking is non existant unless you get there at 5am..i think you can only park on 1 side of the street too!

I included 1 line in my bid to combat this problem....I must have a drive way parking spot and will only move my van 2x per day. Extra moves will be T&M

this bid is through a general contractor, so im not in contact with the homeowner directly.

the homeowner is very upset with that line....he said NO....i said id meet them 1/2 way and up it to 4 moves per day....he says he doesnt want any guarantee or limits to the driveway...he says it wont be a problem, but doesnt like the line anyways...

ive been over & over this issue with the general contractor....its down to the final signing of the contract.....i said i will walk away from the job unless i have a driveway guarantee....i agreed to let the homeowner write the line in my contract to suit him....the gen. contractor may have to call another plumber if the homeowner still refuses....he says he can see both sides to the issue....i said ' i cant see his side at all!'....he said i can park illegally on the wrong side of the road and accept the $20 fine per day...he said hed give me the $20....how stupid is that? my van will probably be towed if its in the same illegal spot for 2-3 days in a row....

if i have to move out of the driveway and cant find a spot how can i walk 2 blocks with each tool...i will be in/out to my van 50-100 times a day...he says if i cant find a spot i could just go home for the day....i said i would take the line out and add $2,000 to the job for me to walk for 1/2 the day back and forth...id bring my bicycle and a backpack.

is there something im not thinking about here?

i cant see a reason this whole issue..its got to be some control issue.

sad to lose a decent project, but its probably a very bad sign on how the rest of the job is going to go anyways.

[Steve B]

Walk away -

[Dan Furman]

Yup - walk away. They give you a place to park, or you don't do the job. Simple as that.

[greenoak]

i wouldnt want to sign that if i were the homeowner.... its a problelm...but not one they can solve very well either....and a pretty big unknown for them...its vague...
isnt there some way you can make it work? but maybe its too late with that homeowner....guessing a good solution on your part would have impressed the contractor...
ann

[huggytree]

since my suggestions werent good enough i told the general contractor to let the homeowner write that line.

i said a parking spot guarantee must be there...he can word it how he likes.

i dont know how i can bend anymore than that.

if he's being goofy about this item i worry how he will be about other items that have to do with the actual job....this shows that something in his head is not correct.

[orion_joel]

Did you ever stop to consider that the one parking spot at the end of the driveway, is a shared spot just like the rest of the driveway. Unless they have said that it is there own space and have full control over it, then it would be shared. If it is a shared spot then they do not have any right to guarantee that spot to you, and would pretty much not be able to do anything if a neighbor was parked, there when they had said you could use it.

Just because it is there does not mean they can guarantee it to you.

[huggytree]

spot right in front of the garage is not shared. the driveway Y's off 15' before the garage...so there's just enough room.

i originally gave him 2 moves per day....he would have to get up early to move his car to the street to clear the driveway for me....i was being nice and giving him 2 moves to get this done at 8am so he wouldnt have to get up early.

the general contractor didnt call me yesterday, so that means he didnt sign friday...he's been putting off the job for a couple of weeks...of course once he signs they want me there in a day....so i guess there's more than 1 bad sign here.........if he's that fussy with the parking i am scared what he will be like with the work....the house is falling down due to structural problems..he needs some beams and posts to hold it up...plumbing is in the way...he's also getting rid of some lead piping and adding a shower /laundry in the basement

[cocoy]

I wouldn't sign it as a homeowner either. Too many things can happen during a renovation. What if some delivery is a day late and they need to use the driveway and you already moved your van twice. The other contractors can be screwed or delayed. If one contractor is going to make it hard for other contractors to work with him I would pass on them...just from my experience in construction.

There are hundreds more plumbers out there who can use the job that probably won't care about the parking.

For a plumber you see this as a red flag problem home owner, but as a home owner I see this as a red flag problem plumber even though you may not be.

[bwat05]

I would be hesitant to sign the contract as a homeowner as well. I know it would end up costing me extra money.
It is rare that I get to a home being renovated that doesn't have electricians, plumbers, and roofers there at the same time. We have to share electricity and sometimes have problems getting water when we need it. Hopefully the general contractor is a good one and will take these issues along with the parking problem into consideration.

[phanio]

What about instead of saying he get's two moves a day - you set a time line for the space. Say that you will use the space from 10am until 1pm - and will do so each day until the job is completed.

Why is the gen. contractor dragging his feet? Does he not want to work with the homeowner either?

My overall thought is that you are already on edge about this - thus, if you still do the job, you will be looking for trouble instead of fully concentrating on the job. Maybe it would be wise to walk away - just let the gen. contractor know why.