My way of venting...
Contractor: I’m trying not to nickel and dime you to death.
Meaning: I’m sending you a big invoice without detail.
Contractor: I should be back probably on Thursday morning...
Meaning: I’ll be back Friday afternoon.
Contractor: I’ll “swing through” in a couple weeks.
Meaning: See you in a couple months.
Contractor: I’ll be back after I pull the required permits downtown.
Meaning: I won’t be coming back.
Contractor: I’m here to do the yearly maintenance.
Meaning: I’m between real jobs.
Contractor: I’m still waiting on a part.
Meaning: I’m still waiting to go get the part.
Contractor: The labor is included in the parts
Meaning: And the markup as well. Good luck solving that equation for two unknowns.
Contractor: All in all you’re looking at 12 grand, but I’ll start the project for 4 grand.
Meaning: The “labor” on the parts is 8 grand.
Contractor: It’s a “contractor grade” part.
Meaning: Google is useless on this part.
Contractor: Looks like somebody pulled a real MacGuyver here.
Meaning: “somebody” refers to any previous contractor, aka “a real piece of work”.
Contractor: Well without doing a full bid, I’d say you’re looking at 5 to 10 grand, depending.
Meaning: Let’s see how you react to these random numbers being thrown out, then depending, it’ll actually cost:
Shock = 6 grand
Slight hesitation = 8 grand
Relieved = 12 grand +
Contractor: Well if I were you, what I do is x...
Meaning: Well if I were you, but you were still paying...
Now I feel much better :)
Additions, corrections welcome!