Contractor and pilot at odds over work done on house

Jan 17, 2018 News

---

 

A contractor is accusing a pilot of non-payment after he completed a paint job on his house. But the pilot, the owner of the house in question, is contending that the work done by the contractor is not only shoddy but it is very much incomplete.
The two characters at the centre of this scenario, which could reach the court of law for redress, are Mr. Shendel Myers – the contractor, and Captain Leary Barclay – a pilot attached to Roraima Airways.
According to Myers who claims to be a reputable contractor with 30 years of experience, he was contracted by Barclay to undertake a paint job at a property located in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
Myers said that although Barclay had offered him half of the total sum when the work started, he refused to accept any until the job was completed.
The paint job, according to Myers, finished on Sunday essentially spanning one day shy of a week. It was the very Sunday, he said, that he approached Barclay for payment. “I had to send my son at his house to ask him for the money…but he said he’s not paying,” said Myers. He went on to note that had it not been for the three workmen who helped with the job he would have been in a position to accept payment at a later date.
Myers said that Barclay premised his decision to not pay based on an unpainted spot near a guttering fixture on the house. But according to Myers, he has not seen the spot referenced by Barclay even after doing his own inspection.
The contractor said that he even took photographic evidence to prove that he has completed the job in its entirety. This was met with Barclay’s wrath, Myers said. “He threatened me yesterday morning when I was getting the photos taken…He tell me I can’t park by he gate but I tell he this is the public road and I does pay me taxes.
“He start tell me ‘You don’t know what I could do; I could go and get them boys from the Special Force to carry you up on the highway’,” said Myers who claims to have taken this to be a death threat.
According to Myers, Barclay’s continued refusal to pay, saw him reacting with some expletives since his workmen have since become very anxious about not receiving their payment.
Myers said he has taken his concerns to the Labour Department of the Ministry of Social Protection where he met officials who said that they can do nothing about the state of affairs other than place a call to Barclay. But the calls, he said, went unanswered.
According to Myers, he has been seeking help to secure his payment since the pilot continues to insist that he will not pay until an “already completed job is completed”. He said that Barclay is also demanding that he fix a leak in the roof of the very house before he pays.

Myers said while he had done other renovations on the house last year, all works were based on Barclay’s instruction.
“He just carrying me round and round but he ain’t paying. I did my work and he has to pay me for the work I did and I will not do anything more,” said Myers as he added, “I basically helped this man out.”
According to the contractor, although he was busy with other projects he decided take on Barclay’s work because of his close working association with one of his family members. In so doing he said that he charged the pilot a fraction of what the job would cost. The amount charged, he said, was only intended to pay his workmen.
“I personally ain’t make a cent on this work.”
But Barclay in response to the allegations made against him said that he is of the firm belief that moves are afoot to not only tarnish his good name but also to swindle him out of hard-earned money.
“He did shoddy work and he also has not finished the other work,” said Barclay as he spoke of barely getting a hearing from Myers to explain his position. “First he tried yelling and screaming, cussing and spewing and not listening and that didn’t work; now he wants to impugn my character. Since Sunday when he attempted to bully me into paying him for the painting until now I can’t get a word in to this man to explain what we need to go forward,” said Barclay.
But the only way forward, he said, yesterday is if the job is properly completed.
According to Barclay, he has video recordings to show the degree of shoddy work done by the contractor which isn’t limited to the work he now seeks payment for.
“Let him talk about the front concrete that he cast and left a whole pool of water in front of my door and had to do it back twice. He did work on the roof to stop the leak and when he was finished it leaked more. He made that roof and it is leaking like a tap…it is leaking tremendously into the house,” added Barclay.
The pilot in further sharing his conviction said, “These guys don’t want to be held accountable; they want to do whatever they like and take your money and materials and make a mess…What he wants is to see the back of me because the faults are being found and he’s having to correct them so he wants to bully me.”

---

---