I was asked by one of my tenants, Mini Merkel, who is the General manager of The Derby if I would like to make some extra money perfoming maintenance around the club. I said yes. But I can only work Sundays because of my regular job. I was given a list of tasks and completed them. Sent a bill and I got paid. Then I was asked to cut out a section of the wall by the back bar to add a doorway and service bar. I told her I would need to bring someone else in and she said no problem. Met with the owner, Dana, and he told me what he wanted done. When we started the job we realized that the wall used to be an exterior wall with a window and had been covered over. We immediately notified Mini who was there. We told her it would take more time & money because we now had to cut through wire reinforced concrete, put in a new frame and relocate a drain pipe that was also in the wall. She gave us the go ahead so we continued.
The next Sunday I showed up and no one was there. Got ahold of Mini around 10am and she said that I hadn't confirmed everySunday and that the day was almost over (at 10am) so I'd have to come next week. Showed up the following week with the drywaller and my partner. Got the drywall done and puttered around fixing a few minor things that I didn't charge for. From this point on it was a nightmare getting in there do try and finish the job. She didn't return calls and didn't show up to appointments.
Finally I decided to let the work stand and just bill The Derby for the work I had done. $950 for the wall and $76 for some plumbing and installing a hinge on the bathroom door. She said she would have a check for me that Friday. A week later and no check. Called again and got no response. Finally she called to have me do some more work (even though she hadn't paid me). Showed up with another invoice and asked about pay. She said she was going on vacation that weekend but would try to have a check for me on Friday. Two weeks passed and she never contacted me. I called and left a couple of messages and finally got a call back. She said Dana (the club owner) wanted to discuss the charges with me.
My son had an appoint ment but I wanted my $1026. So I rescheduled his appointment and showed up at the Derby at 5pm as requested. I had to bring my 10 month old with me because my wife was working. When I get to the club it's all locked up. Mini's cell phone isn't taking messages and she doesn't answer. I called the main line and Dana answered. He didn't have the invoice and since Mini wasn't there we'd have to reschedule. At this point I've spent 20 minutes on a cold loading dock holding a baby. The following week (after I'd left 2 messages) I get a call from Mini saying to meet them on Friday at 5pm again. I show up and they are there (SURPRISE!).
We start arguing and Dana says he never gave permission to do all of this. He was unaware there was any dispute going on. He also said that he never gave Mini the authority to make these decisions and that he wouldn't pay me. He said he figurted it would be a few hundred dolars (to tear down a wall and install a doorway). Since he never approved the extra work he refuses to pay. After arguing for a while and going in circles he finally offered $550 (the exact cost of materials and the drywaller). I wouldn't even be able to pay my helper! I siad that was unaceptable and that I'd see them in court. About an hour later I called and made an offer of $750 for the wall and $76 for the other work I had done. Mini called me today to say that my wife was fired because she didn't think it was right to have my wife handeling money when they owed me money! She also lowered the offer to $500.
When I told her this was incredibly illegal and that we would be taking this to court, she said that my wife never worked there. Then said she only filled in once during an emergency. Then she said show me a time sheet. When I question her on it again she said "F&%k You" and hung up.
My wife has been working there for 2 months. She never got a break. We've hung out with security and they told us they also never get breaks. Most employees are paid under the table. My wife worked 6 hours on Fridays. Security works 8 hours. No one gets breaks.
Looks like I'll be in court on this one.
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