Does Your Office Design Contractor Owe You A Refund?

When you thought you were going to design your very office headquarters, a poor job was not what you had in mind. You wanted an office that was modern, intriguing and allowed employees to have their own space but also to congregate and have flowing conversations to solve issues in their respective projects. But something went wrong. When you thought your office was finished, there were a few problems here and there. Maybe the wiring was falling from the ceilings, the lighting was not that powerful, and the air flow left a lot to be desired. Maybe the windows are too small or the design is incorrect. And to top it off, you can’t find the contractor who did all this.

Can you salvage it?

Don’t panic, all might not be lost. You may still be able to fix the office. Can you replace a few things that would solve the issues? Maybe you need to look at getting more powerful bulbs instead of changing the lighting as a whole. You could possibly change a few of the windows or just the panes to give you more natural light in the office. There must be some way that the office can be salvaged. You can also call in another contractor to see if they can help you with ideas and some fixes here and there. 

Reach out

Okay so you can’t fix the issue, it’s best to contact the contractor and ask for a refund. But before you do, make sure you have the evidence to prove your point. You could link photos you take of the office to wording in the contract. If one of the stipulations in the contract was to have natural light in abundance in the office and instead, during midday when the sun is highest it still looks dark, then take a photo of this and highly the wording in the particular clause of the contract where this is mentioned. Make your point with evidence, quotes and infer to verbal conversations.

They go on the run

Did you think they were just going to roll over? Some contractors do not want to play ball, even if it means you leave bad reviews on rating websites which could hurt their future chances of business. So use a collection agency software where you can find data to any files or folders that were shared with the contractor. You never know they might try to clean a file to then say that a certain obligation wasn’t mentioned. They may be going under a different name now, so you want to find this out too. Use the right-party feature which will locate the correct person or business that you are after. 

It’s going to be another pain in the backside to find the contractor who left your office in a poor state. But, it’s going to be worth it, if it means you can salvage some of your funds back and start working on the fixes at no extra cost.