I've had to use the legal threat method before and it works wonders. Not only will they take s*** from the land owners if you file for a lien but they take additional heat as they, I am assuming, are putting this through as under-the-table work'; which means they haven't done the taxes for it, paid WCB dues, insurances, etc (my best friend runs a landscaping business so I know how "fly-by-night" they really are). He probably is too poor to pay you but that doesn't make it right to not pay you. Put the squeeze on him and you'd be surprised where money can come from.

If threats fail, small claims is a great option and is really easy, just make sure you have all your ducks in a row before pulling the trigger on that one (talk to the owners, neighbours and so on).

Small claims court AND the labour board would be my vote. If you know anyone in the legal profession.. get them to write a really nasty letter on their letterhead.

Just keep in mind that $400 is NOT worth getting into any kind of legal trouble over... period. It sucks to write it off but in the grand scheme of things it's pretty small potatoes

As you have no written contract, I do believe it would be hard to put a lien on anything, especially for a few hundred bucks.

Personally as a small business owner, you can do 2 things

1.) go to small claims court

2.) decide to write if off, if you get it great, but if not, oh well... Personally you have to decide how much time is it worth to pursue, or just forget it and move on to the next project.

I guess you can say, live and learn, all us self employed have had this happen to us.

I don't start any work without a signed contract and without 50% deposit. I find if the potential customer complains, then maybe they won't pay anyways.

Good luck!

I've considered just letting this slide. $405 isn't A LOT of money for me, this is more about principals and the fact that I don't like to be ripped off. If I was more confrontational I'd just knock on doors until I found him... but I'd prefer to do this the proper way.

I've spoken with the home owner where we did the work and she has been helping me out. She says she paid him $600 so that he could at least pay his workers (me and two other guys). According to at least one of the other guys I worked with he hasn't been paid anything as well.

I tried City Hall today and was told that they have no record of a Benjamin Joe having a business license / general contractors license.

let me have a good pic at your frags and ill take care of this for you! Seriously.

heres a freebie --- its 2328 quince. dont say i never did nothing for ya!

What can ye do ? -indeed !

The reality is that you have limited practical options. As others have suggested, the *threat* of something legal (that may or may no be practical given the time it would take and the amount involved) is probably your best approach. Be sure to work the angle that you know he's working illegally (no business licesnce etc.) and it's unlikely he's got WCB and the like. These can all cause him SERIOUS issues and fines that the province WILL extract from him !

If you sound convincing and appear to know what you're talking about AND he's not well versed in this sort of thing, then he may roll over and pay you to avoid legal problems. In the end though, if he calls your bluff, I'd think that for the dollar amount, it's not worth your time to pursue -legally. If you're half as good a carpenter as you are aquarist, you can make more money in half the time it takes to chase this douche.

Frankly, if it came to that, I'd be looking to extract a pound of flesh in some form or another.

The moral of this is, unfortunately, that the days of handshake deals are largely gone. Some sort of written agreement would go a long way right now -but then, it'd only be really useful in court and you really want to avoid that hassle.

Best of luck.

I'm kind of a sadistic person so I'd like to see him suffer a bit. Reporting him to WCB, Revenue Canada and anyone else who will shut him down would probably be payment enough for me.

2328 Quince? Is that really his address? I've been googling every possible combination of his name and other key words trying to get his mailing address myself... I'll drive by and see for myself if you're right.

heres more
 

Call city hall and report him there also operating a home based buisness with out a license is a good one .. Get a friend that can talk really good have him call from a blocked number telling him that this is Insert a good lawyer firm representing your name if you have not have recieved payment by the end of the week we will be forced to start legal proccedings also the better buisness bureau ,prince george chamber of comerrence Ya im a ass to I collected 76,000 from ideration energy that way The cheque was couriered overnight to me ..... make his life a misarble hell you will get paid bailiffs are a good one to but they take 30% north central bailiffs are in pg

Totally illegal...
 

Well, what this employer is done is obviously totally illegal so I would put in a complaint to the Employment Standards Branch. I would also suggest looking into, and joining, a group called the Employee Action & Rights Network (www.earnbc.ca) which exists to educate people on their rights and help people deal with bad bosses like this one!