History Main / CrookedContractor

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'' that does a retelling of the Three Pigs, the Pigs turn out to be this, building an entire town of houses made of cheap materials that collapse at the slightest touch which they intend to sell at high price to make a profit, with them using the Big Bad Wolf as TheScapegoat for their houses falling down by claiming it was due to his "huffing and puffing".0

* The ''VideoGame/Hitman3'' Elusive Target Terrence "The Liability" Chesterfield is a building inspector who falls under the plain criminal category. However, while this variety does a very poor inspection of the sites for reasons of being hired on to fix them, Terrence does a poor job with his inspections because he's a LazyBum who just can't be bothered. This negligence led to an explosion that killed more people than ''Agent 47'' ''''himself'''''. He got off due to the various landlords that loved him[[note]]He didn't collect bribes from them to look past their crappy work, he just rushed his inspections because, again, LazyBum.[[/note]] putting together a legal dream team for him, thus leaving 47 to whack him.

* "Room For Improvement" by Music/TheStupendium is about a handyman who's both crooked and incompetent and destroys peoples' homes while cheating them out of large amounts of money with all the unnecessary "additions" he installs (like tiling a person's ceiling) and all the mistakes he makes (which include things like destroying light fixtures while painting or [[EpicFail somehow installing their bathtub on their desk]]).

The plain criminal flavor includes scammers who e.g. "inspect the roof" and leave behind holes so large you have to hire them to fix them, or uses the cheapest, shittiest materials they can find, cuts corners at every opportunity, and does astoundingly poor work, then dissolves their business and skips town whenever you go to sue them. On a bigger jobsite, they're usually some fly-by-night operation that a subcontractor (or, less favorably, the general) got for dirt cheap, and they usually roll up with a crew of independent contractors working for well below market value (and, of course, no benefits), then go on to do such a horrendous job or do something so astoundingly foolhardy or dangerous that they have to be kicked off before they cause major property damage or kill someone.

* Terminal entries in the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' {{DLC}} ''Dead Money'' reveal that the surrounding villa was built by a different construction crew than the Sierra Madre Casino proper to save money. The villa crew's manager, Mr. Yesterday, intentionally built everything slipshod to squeeze every penny he could out of the casino's owner Frederick Sinclair. He embezzled money from shipments and covered up construction accidents. It's also implied he murdered a subordinate who tried to blackmail him into getting a higher cut and [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident Made It Look Like an Accident]]. He was also in cahoots with [[spoiler:Dean Domino]], who was smuggling in hard liquor and drugs for the construction workers.

* Terminal entries in the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' {{DLC}} ''Dead Money'' reveal that the surrounding villa was built by a different construction crew than the Sierra Madre Casino proper to save money. The villa crew's foreman, Mr. Yesterday, intentionally built everything slipshod to squeeze every penny he could out of the casino's owner Frederick Sinclair, covered up construction accidents, and threatened to withhold supplies from the police chief unless he turned a blind eye to Yesterday smuggling in hard liquor and drugs for the workers. It's also implied he murdered a subordinate who tried to blackmail him into getting a higher cut and [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident Made It Look Like an Accident]].

* Terminal entries in the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' {{DLC}} ''Dead Money'' reveal that the surrounding villa was built by a different construction crew than the Sierra Madre Casino proper to save money. The villa crew's foreman, Mr. Yesterday, intentionally built everything slipshod to squeeze every penny he could out of the casino's owner Frederick Sinclair, covered up construction accidents, and threatened to withhold supplies from the police chief unless he turned a blind eye to Yesterday smuggling in hard liquor and drugs for the workers. It's also implied he murdered a subordinate who tried to blackmail him into getting a higher cut and [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccdent Made It Look Like an Accident]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Terminal entries in the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' {{DLC}} ''Dead Money'' reveal that the surrounding villa was built by a different construction crew than the Sierra Madre Casino proper to save money. The villa crew's foreman, Mr. Yesterday, intentionally built everything slipshod to squeeze every penny he could out of the casino's owner Frederick Sinclair, covered up construction accidents, and threatened to withhold supplies from the police chief unless he let the workers use alcohol and drugs.

The Crooked Contractor comes in two flavors, the Criminally Lazy and the Plain Criminal. The criminally lazy is paid an hourly wage, shows up late -- if at all -- and doesn't exactly rush the job, is usually full of excuses whenever you inquire about the completion date, and gets work primarily by quoting unrealistically low costs that they cannot possibly break even on (let alone make a profit), then does everything in their power to maximize cost overruns. The plain criminal flavor includes scammers who e.g. "inspect the roof" and leave behind holes so large you have to hire them to fix them, or uses the cheapest, shittiest materials they can find, cuts corners at every opportunity, and does astoundingly poor work, then dissolves their business and skips town whenever you go to sue them. On a bigger jobsite, they're usually some fly-by-night operation that a subcontractor (or, less favorably, the general) got for dirt cheap, and they usually roll up with a crew of independent contractors working for well below market value (and, of course, no benefits), then go on to do such a horrendous job or do something so astoundingly foolhardy or dangerous that they have to be kicked off before they cause major property damage or kill someone. There's occasionally also a third flavor in the form of "dude who bit off more than they could chew" -- this is what happens when contractors who are inexperienced or who specialize in one field but are trying to learn the ropes of another take a job that's well beyond what they're capable of. The difference between the two is that the well-intentioned ones will generally own up to their mistakes (that's not to say that weasels don't exist), while the crooks will disappear and leave you with an uncollectable judgment if you manage to sue them.

* Pipe Fitter in the ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'' fanfiction ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/368928/three-hundred-and-sixty-degrees-of-saturation Three Hundred and Sixty Degrees of Saturation]] (part of the ''FanFic/TriptychContinuum'') hits pretty much every point of both the Criminally Lazy and Just Plain Criminal version of this trope. On the Lazy side of the spectrum he is chronically late, singularly uncommunicative and when he does actually start work he is prone to wandering off for extended breaks that can last most of the day. On the Criminal side of things he has a tendency to overcharge, tries to double bill both Rarity and the Ponyville Town council for one lot of work and threatens any would be competitors from settling in Ponyville (or have established plumbers in Canterlot attempting to travel out to Ponyville).