All the shame and sham of some greedy contractors is
hereby unveiled. I feel particularly compelled to write this article because,
among others, there is a wave of
confusion among our esteemed clients and high-level of distrust. They have lost
all trust for contractors even
though there may still be those who are genuine and does not exploit their
clients. Following are the different techniques counterfeit contractors employ
to dupe their clients:
1.
Deliberate increase of cost of materials:
when they observe that you have little knowledge of the prevalent price of
materials in the market place, then they are set to put a big hole in your
pocket and just put a bowl beneath it so that it pours into it. About four
months ago a friend of mine related to me how a London based Nigerian citizen,
precisely a lady in her mid-sixties who have spent well over twenty years in
London, came back to her beloved country Nigeria to erect some structures. She
contacted her lawyer and informed him of her plans. Thus the lawyer contacted a
seemingly honest but wolf –in- sheep-
clothing friend to handle the contract. Having realized that the client was
well loaded with cash coupled with the fact that the client lacked the Nigerian
blood flowing through her veins (she had complete trust on the contractor ) the
so-called contractor swung into action. A bag of cement that cost about 1800
naira became 20,000 naira and he bought plenty bags at this rate. Worst still
the client fell for it and kept bringing out more money. Later on the son of
the client came around to see how the project was going and was horrified to
see the mind-blowing charges. He screamed. Immediately the contractor and
lawyer were arrested and the case was about to be charged to court. Even in
this situation the advanced lady felt pity for the contractor on the reason
that he might have been very poor to act in such dubious ways. In the end, they
were let off the hook but with the innocent lawyer’s image badly damaged.
2.
Purchase of substandard materials so as to realize
high profit margin. Hmm, this is a crazily popular trend. Substandard materials
are flowing everywhere. These contractors know just where to buy them and go
for them. In fact, every building material has a fake counterpart. Indeed, there are fake
cement, fake rods, fake pipes and every goddamn thing used in building. They
simply purchase large quantities of these and build your desired home with
them. Then give your building a very beautiful painting, thereby heavily
concealing the imperfect material used. In the long run, you see cracks on the
wall. Worse, this situation is largely responsible for the widespread report of
collapsed building with lives lost. You don’t want to risk your life and that
of your family members, do you? The Bible says: “you will know the truth and
the truth will set you free”
3.
Closely related to the practice above is the habit of buying cement
whose quantity has been deliberately reduced. Some cement dealers greedily take
some quantity from different bags of cement to form another bag and then
carefully seal it back. Some contractors patronize them, and still buy the
cement at the same prevailing rate or price. The result: the same bag of cement
but with a reduced quantity now also required to give the same number of blocks
per bag. Step on the block and it destroys, rain also washes it away.
4.
Recruiting low paid workers or quacks to do the
job and maximize profit. The cost of hiring real experts is usually higher
because of their level of experience. To avoid this situation, they simply opt
for quacks who accept lower pay. Now think of this: have you ever passed
through a building whose seeming lifespan is far into the future but which has
visible cracks on the wall? Have you wondered what caused this? Well, when
quacks handle a building projects there are cracks later.
5.
Stealing materials. This ugly practice is common
among the greedy class of contractors. Right now I look back at the experience
I had many years ago. I visited a particular
work site to participate on a building project. But behold! The
contractor in charge was seen making space in a heap of sand where he could carefully
conceal a bag of cement. The truth is when left unmonitored, many items are
diverted for personal use. In the case of cement, when some bags are missing
they still try to produce the same quantity of blocks expected from a standard
filled bag. But this time with a higher quantity of sand and reduced quantity
of cement. Thus making the resulting blocks less strong. And could easily be
washed away by rain.
6.
Outright lies and deception. Assuming a tipper
is to supply ten-tipper load of sand, the greedy contractor connives with the
driver to only supply eight or nine. With the effect that the remaining money
for the unsupplied sand is put in his pocket.
7.
Poor monitoring of projects because of too many
engagements. In fact, even veteran contractors commit this crime. They handle
many building projects at the same thereby reducing the quality and quantity of
monitoring attention. You see them running like a headless chicken from one
project to the other. Sometimes before they come back to inspect the project
the damage is already done, necessitating adjustments. This situation also
leads to a shabby execution of projects.
8.
Conniving with workers to misrepresent facts. These greedy contractors appear smart and knowing
very well that property owners will sometimes seek confirmation of facts from
the workers, they proactively intimate the workers in this regard and tell them
what they have to say when the situation arrives. The building owner is
completely DECEIVED.
TERRIFIC SOLUTIONS
1.
Get informed. Always survey the market to know
the current price of building materials.
2.
Consult other experts in the field to confirm
the originality or quality of materials.
3.
Frequent the site to know when projects are not
handled properly.
4.
Only patronize contractors (as we are) that have
track records of honesty and quality delivery.
5.
Dig deeper into facts, go extra miles in
ascertaining the truth.
6.
Keep records of materials bought.
REMEMBER: HE WHO TELLS YOU THE TRUTH IS
YOUR FRIEND.
Contact us today:
07031384722,
07054107283
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