Hi everyone,
I am not sure if you can help but this is what has happened or is happening. I just moved into a house and needed to have a 14 acre field tilled and seeded for hay/pasture for my horses. I was considering having a little boarding business, just to keep that in mind. My friend of 20 yrs husband said that he would seed it for me and since I saw her field and he had done that I thought OK. He wanted 50$ an hour for his time and the use of his tractor. I thought that a little steep for a long time friend but OK. He also wanted gas money, again OK. I had to pay for the seedthat was a little under 500$. Now when all was said and sone he said he wanted 2500$. What. For 10 hours work. He never put down weed killer nor did he fertilize and all I have is weeds on steroids. There is no I me not any grass. Maybe a little clover that was mixed in with the originial corn stalks. That by the way were only just smooshed to the ground but no grass. So this is the issue. No grass. Which he says there is under the weeds. Umm not,I looked and looked. He wanted to cut some timber out of my woods and this is where issue number 2 of 3 comes in. his son is putting an addition on my barn. After almost 3 months this is not done. It was only to straight the structure and add on 2 stalls. Total size of the addition 12' by 24'. In the process he has cut my main power line to the house while trying to run water to the barnstill not done (previous post)and I still have no electric going to the barn. The work is below standerd and not what I wanted but I was told I wold like what I get. I paid the son 5700$. I have taken pictures of this stuff and want to get what I paid for. Do I have to pay for the field if it is all weeds and not of use and can Isue for anything due to the fact none of this is done properly and I still can't bring my horse home? And as for him cutting my timber. Don't worry. He Will Not be doing nor will his family do any more work on my property. It is just ruining a 20 year friendship between his wife and I. I have know her since I was 14 and do a lot of things for her. She is an older lady. What can I do to make all of this all right?

apple tree, I think you got took.

He should have guaranteed the field, or at the very least not got paid until you SAW that grass come up. You say you took pictures of the barn ? Well use them in small claims court to get it done properly or your money back, but truth be told the money you gave him is already spend. And I can see that you may not want to take him to court because his wife is a long time friend. As for 5700 for the barn work. Well that was a lot of money spent on something that could have come in a lot less.

Bottom line. Don't pay for the field if you don't see the grass (I think there is a moral in all of this) and I think he saw you coming so get your lawyer to send the son a letter with copies of the substandard barn work and demand it be rectified.

Here's my suggestion of what I believe I would do in this situation:

I would arrange a meeting with you, your friend, her husband and her son at your place. In the field would be a good location so he could specifically point out the grass to you. It would be nice if you could have someone on hand "on your side". A friend or family member who is very calm and level headed.

I would start by thanking them for their friendship over the years, tell them that they mean a lot to you, and that you believe this all to be an unfortunate misunderstanding. SHOW the husband your problems with the field he planted. I would think it would be hard for him to refute what's right in front of his face. Ask him how he'd like to take care of this, etc.

Then move on to the barn. Same run-down.

I'd want to do it with my friend there so they'd have to basically lie right to your face, right in front of her. Give her a chance to intervene.

If that doesn't work and they're still insisting on full payment, and your friend doesn't help straighten out the mess, then you'll just have to decide for yourself how to proceed. If you've already paid, I'd recommend taking lots of pictures and suing them. If you haven't paid them yet you can withhold payment and see if they sue you or not.

Good luck. I recently had to let go a 20+ year friendship. It was very painful, but I look back now and see that it was really one-sided for a long time.