My friend and her family moved away for a year, renting their house out, but are now back - our dc go to the same primary school which is how we met. Shortly before they returned, they employed my husband to build their extension. My friend's h was the contact point (though still away at the time) and they have now come back.
The problem is that my h and hers have completely fallen out. Basically they still owe my h about 4.5 K but her h keeps on finding things not in the original quote for my h to do - but not expecting to pay the difference. Things blew up a few days ago but my h spoke to my friend (rather than her husband), and she paid over a lot of money - about £8.5K (they all sound like huge figures but h has staff and supplies to pay for) as they owed a large amount and wanted to keep loads of it back for the bits and pieces that had not been completed.
My h also said that he would come back and complete the last few bits but that he would like to do it when her h was out as he has been and continues to be very rude to my h - talking down to him and following him about as he works.
Roll on a few days, her h has now lumped a new thing on to my h (again not in the original quote). When my h said that he could do it but he didn't recommend it as not totally necessary and he was trying to save them money (which he has done all along, as well as worked incredibly hard and thrown in extras), her h said that it wouldn't cost them any money as they had already paid for it (in the amount of money already handed over) and that if he didn't do it he would "sue his arse" 
. When my h asked to see this item in the quote, her h said he had noticed that my h had "omitted it" (which doesn't even make any sense because surely at the time of agreeing the original quote he would have said something if this were the case - in fact my h says he considered getting this thing done but then decided not to as too expensive) 
.
So things got very heated and again nothing is resolved. They still owe my h money, and he can't get on and finish the now two things left because he doesn't want to be any near her husband who has turned out to be very unpleasant. He (my h) is going to email my friend explaining what has happened as she was reasonable last time it all blew up (and she also seems to value the extension that they have got out of my h's really hard work), but the question is, how long is she going to remain reasonable? He is after all her husband.
Am feeling kind of sick about it all as well as oddly fascinated (in a voyeuristic kind of way) to see what is going to happen next. When the plan was put forward ages ago that my h should work for them I advised him against it as not a good idea to do work for people you know but he didn't listen.
I am not saying my h is perfect, but my friend's h has turned out to be someone who wants freebies at any cost and who will find endless fault with everything (and tell endless lies) to get them. There are always going to be some things that don't go to plan or damage that gets done in the process of doing building work (and for example my h offered him a new £250 carpet for his front room after friend's h complained that "his front room" smelled of the people who had been working with my h) but my friend's h has basically treated my h as a slave he can talk down to since very early on.
Don't know what I am asking really... It is kind of sad that what was a nice family to family contact (we all used to go swimming together for example) is now not looking like it will be possible anymore.
I know people will say that I only know my h's side to the story and that is true, but I do know that my h - while he may be infuriating and is not perfect, has worked harder than hard for them, and provided them with a nice extension that has cost them less than it would have elsewhere.