In Australia, a team of construction workers decided to dismantle their own work after a disagreement over payment with a homeowner.
The incident involved tradesmen who had laid a new driveway for a customer. A conflict arose when she declined to pay the full agreed amount.
Jesse Crowe, a construction worker from Logan, Queensland, had arranged a fee of $4,012 ($6,000 AUD) to complete the job for Viola’s home.
This project entailed concreting a substantial driveway connected to the house. However, upon finishing the task, Viola allegedly did not pay the total amount.
She provided a payment of $1,670 ($2,500 AUD) but reportedly withheld the remaining $3,500 AUD ($2,340) due to a dispute with Crowe regarding the work’s quality and debris removal.
Viola shared her side of the story with 7News, asserting that Crowe threatened her after she complained about the driveway.
“[They said] ‘you pay now, now or we will smash the concrete,'” she claimed.
Viola maintained she was willing to pay the workers, but they ‘refused to finish the job’.
“They did what they wanted, not what I wanted,” she commented.
After realizing he would not receive the outstanding payment, Crowe recorded a video showing ‘what happens when you don’t pay for works carried out at your place’.
Crowe, along with a colleague, used a pick-axe to dig into the concrete, creating a substantial hole in the newly laid drive.
The duo continued this action along the entire driveway, leaving it marred with dents and uneven patches.
In the video, the person recording could be heard saying: “You should have paid. And it’s going to cost more to get it all dug up, taken away and poured again.
“Didn’t want to pay? This is what happened.”
Crowe explained to 7News that he had extensive experience in the trade and had always aimed to ‘do the right thing by people’, questioning: “They don’t want to pay, at the end of the day, what are you going to do?”
As a small business owner, Crowe expressed frustration at being taken advantage of but admitted he disliked destroying his own work.
“I take pride in my work and I love concrete, I love doing it,” he stated.
The household at the property plans to repair the damaged driveway themselves after Crowe’s actions.
Meanwhile, Crowe expressed his main concern: “I just want to get paid.”
Although the altercation occurred late last year, both parties remain firm in their positions after the video surfaced online recently.