Problem with tradesman

Problem with tradesman

I have lived for over five years in this beautiful country
which I love from the depths of my heart.

I have a nice little family with a beautiful wife from Malang
and two children, and more than one reason to be proud of them.

We also own a small house on the outskirts of Jakarta. We are
very happy there. Here starts my story.

It happened that we wanted to close our terrace in order to
enlarge our living area and to have a comfortable place for
breakfast with a view into the green of our small garden.

So we employed a tradesman to do the work for us. This of
course, was under the guidance of an architect. The work was not
satisfactory. The architect was very unhappy with the quality of
the work and suggested that we should not pay the worker for such
a poor job.

After meeting with the worker and architect, I offered half
with the balance to be paid after completion. The architect
advised me to leave the matter to him and await the project's
completion. I took his advice and kept quiet.

One night we heard a loud scream followed by a pounding on the
newly installed door, threats to our family, and demands for
payment. I was scared to death and felt helpless. Who can one
turn to for help in such situations?

A neighbor's quarrel ended in a payment to workers for fear of
more serious consequences. I finally paid my bill for the same
reason.

My wife said I should put the safety of my family above all
else. What sort of situation is this? We are not a well-off
family. We can only live in comfort after hard work. Advice and
comments from readers would be appreciated.

Name and address

known to the editor