A very good friend of mine, whom I’ll call Anna, hired a guy I’ll call Denis (a neighbor of her parents) to renovate an apartment she owns and intends to lease. There was no written contract — just a verbal agreement based on trust, since they’d known each other for years. The deal was that the renovation would be done in stages, and she’d pay him after each stage was completed. Everything went fine at first: Denis finished three stages and was paid in full for each. But on the final stage (mainly involving the bathroom — plumbing, fixtures, tiles, etc.), he only completed about 90% of the work. Then he told Anna he might not be able to come back to finish it, as he had to start another project.
Anna paid him 60% of the money for that final stage and told him she’d pay the remaining 40% only if and when he finished the job. Then Denis ghosted her completely — no replies, no explanations — for two whole months. Now, out of the blue, he’s messaged her via WhatsApp, said he won’t be coming back to finish anything, but demands she urgently pay him another 30% (so that he gets 90% of the money for 90% of the work). Anna doesn’t agree with this and believes it’s only fair to deduct certain expenses and losses she incurred due to Denis withdrawing from the project. These deductions amount to about two-thirds of what Denis is asking for. She’s planning to write Denis a calm, respectful message explaining her position and offering one-third of what he’s asking for.
But here’s the twist: Denis still has a key to the apartment. And based on his earlier behavior — disappearing for two months, reappearing with this demand, and seeming emotionally unstable — Anna’s worried he might react badly to her message and raid the apartment to cause damage in retaliation, or take something as “collateral” to pressure her into paying in full. So she needs to change the lock before telling Denis she isn’t going to pay what he’s asking for. But she’s totally swamped with urgent work and family obligations and says she realistically can’t manage to replace the lock for three days from the day Denis sent his message.
So Anna wants to send a short, vague message now to acknowledge receipt of his demand and buy time to replace the lock, and she’s asked me to help her word the message. I can't refuse, because she has done a lot for me in the past.
Question: What’s the safest way to word such a message — one that doesn’t promise to pay, but also doesn’t make Denis think she’s stalling or planning to refuse to pay? Denis is unpredictable, so the message has to be as low-risk as possible. Or is it better to stay completely silent until the lock is changed?
Anna’s goal is to minimize the risk of Denis raiding the apartment before she changes the lock — and also to minimize the risk of retaliation afterward, including the possibility of physical assault. Unfortunately, in Russia, where Anna and Denis live, physical violence that leaves no lasting injuries usually isn’t prosecuted as a criminal offense. Denis has no legal way to recover the money he’s demanding, especially as there’s no contract and no written evidence — so Anna’s only concern is the potential for personal or property-related harm.
I’ve tried to persuade her that she absolutely must change the lock immediately rather than three days later, but unfortunately, she’s prioritizing work and family commitments. To help Anna, I’d much rather replace the lock myself than write a time-buying message, but I currently live outside Russia.