Cross your fingers, eyes, toes and testes for me

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And hope I get paid.

Did a flood repair job (fixed walls). Sent quote in advance with fixed flat price, awarded contract a few weeks later, completed the job over 7 trips in ~1.5 weeks in time for them to get their carpenter in next and painter after that.

Client asked (in advance) for a specific insulation type - Ok, no problem. It's less than $100 more I'll just eat the cost. During work I discovered one wall was a fire separation wall (everyone overlooked this) and required additional materials to restore -> told him there would be a bit higher material cost, only added Actual material cost to invoice.

AFTER completing the job the client texts me to thank me for a job well done (truly, it looks fantastic for repairing the bottom 2 feet of walls, especially since I ran all 5 corner beads all the way up vs. just replacing the bottom 2' like insurance companies do And I Know exactly how to finish drywall for a ~flawless finish.) & for cleaning up. (decided to vacuum and mop so it wouldn't leave a bad impression seeing mud splatter on the floor.) Then he immediately sends me another text saying that the insurance company revised their payout for the drywall repair portion to Half of what I charged and that he hoped that a detailed invoice would help him argue his case with them to pay more for it.

I didn't reply to that text at all. I just wrote up the invoice, included every material used but didn't list material costs since I quoted an all inclusive price, added $100 to pay for the extra materials as agreed, no tax since I don't legally have to charge it so he doesn't have to pay it and sent it off via email a couple days ago.

No e-transfer received, no email reply, no additional text.. for all I know he hasn't checked his email I dunno tbh. Really, I should shoot him a text and say I hope the emailed invoice + my advanced quote and any other quotes he received help him argue the market value of the job with the insurance company. I know I wasn't the only one to quote it. In the grand scheme of things, whatever his negotiations with the insurance company are aren't my problem.. he contracted me to do a job and I did it - didn't even have him send me $ for materials. (Many guys do so they don't get burnt, but so far on working direct for homeowners I've never been burnt and funding the job myself shows I'm not desperate or broke and not going to run away with their deposit money -> instant trust and relationship builder.)

I certainly hope this guy isn't expecting me to drastically reduce my price AFTER he contracted me to do the job AND I completed it on my dime. He hasn't said that.. but still, it's a bit of an anxious wtf situation because between materials and gas it cost me about $1100-1200 to do his job and he owes me $3600 as agreed. HOPEFULLY I shoot him a text about the stuff I mentioned above and he responds favourably and lets me know when he'll be making payment or if he's mailing a cheque instead of e-transfer due to $3k/day limits or whatever. WAY too many people still owe me money (contractors etc) and I can't afford to accept half or zero and I really don't want to have to think of what I'm going to do next if this guy decides to ghost me.

edit: Sent him a text just now and said hope my invoice/quote and other quotes you collected help you case with the insurance company and included that 1/2 my price would be impossibly low - you wouldn't be able to find a contractor to complete the job for that price. No one is going to spend nearly 1200 and drive somewhere 7 times to make a gross of $600. That's ridiculous. IF someone got that job done for $1800 they'd have skimped on materials, done a super fast and dirty slap together job, threw some tapes and partial beads on it and gave it a one coat job and left - incomplete job Not done up to the level where it's ready for paint. Zero chance they'd wait for anything to dry to do the next steps in the process properly nor return to complete it. People can't afford to work for free.

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed for your payment to come in soon. I can’t cross my eyes and I am fresh out of testes.

It sounds like you have everything documented in writing, including what he had agreed to pay you, so if it comes down to it, if he just refuses to pay you what he owes you, you should have a strong case in small claims court. Hopefully it won't come to that. Best of luck!

While true, it’s a pita, costs a couple hundred bucks and a day in court, and then even after you win a judgement getting paid is still a challenge. Could put a builder’s lien and sue him before it expires.. but same thing - payment is still almost voluntary based on one’s own ethics.