Handle a dispute with a contractor — unfinished work, poor quality, overcharging, or a no-show — with a path that protects your money and your options. Use when asked to deal with a contractor dispute, my contractor did bad work / won't finish / overcharged, or how to get a builder to fix their work. Produces a read on your position (contract, payments, evidence), a firm-but-professional communication and demand path, documentation and payment-leverage guidance, and escalation options (mediation, licensing board, chargeback, small claims) — flagging that it's not legal advice.
“My contractor took the deposit and hasn't finished — what do I do?”“The work is shoddy and they won't come back to fix it.”“I think my builder overcharged me. How do I dispute it?”“Write a firm message demanding my contractor fix their work.”“Contractor's threatening a lien — what are my options?”
What to give it
▸The problem — unfinished, defective, overcharged, no-show, or gone AWOL
▸The agreement — written contract/quote, scope, and payment terms
▸Payments — what's paid, what's outstanding, any deposit/retention
▸Evidence — photos, messages, the defect specifics
▸Your goal — get it finished/fixed, a partial refund, or to end it and move on
✅ The bar it holds itself to
Every skill in this library self-verifies — these are this skill's own quality checks, straight from its definition.
✓Establishes the person's position from contract/payments/evidence
✓Emphasizes documenting defects against the agreed scope
✓Provides a professional written demand with a deadline
✓Explains payment leverage and its risks
✓Matches escalation options to the situation
✓Flags not-legal-advice for serious cases
⚠️ What it refuses to do
**An angry phone call** with no written record.
**Paying in full** for incomplete or defective work.
**Withholding payment recklessly** without understanding the terms/risks.
**No documentation** — gutting any future claim.
**Jumping to a lawyer** for something a demand letter could fix (or ignoring one for a lien).
Install
npx pm-claude-skills add --agent claude # or codex · cursor · gemini · hermes
# or one-line MCP (every skill, any client):
claude mcp add pm-skills -- npx -y pm-claude-skills-mcp