Thanks everyone, that makes me feel a little better. I'm not sure what to expect from contractors... I've never hired anyone to do any work.
I just couldn't believe this guy... immediately after he said he charges 2K a day and it'll take longer than 2 days, I asked "Well have you built many ponds". Just to let him know that I'm not going to pay a lot for a rookie. That's when he said he never has. This guy wants a premium price for something he's never done. If he wants to get into the pond building business, he needs to do a few relatively cheap to make sure he can do them. Then to boot towards the end he told me "Oh and I can't guarantee it'll hold water, my grandpa always told me tell someone you will dig them a hole, not build a them a pond". That's just what you want to hear from a contractor. I'm glad he doesn't build houses... I'd hate to see what is he would tell potential home buyers lol.
Then I told him I wanted the dirt spread around the north/east part of the pond and slope it so water runs towards the pond. On the west side of the pond, I have a bunch of trees that I want to keep. He kept insisting that he takes down ALL those trees and just pile the dirt right their. Then he told me that he will have at least a half day cutting down all the trees and burning them. I repeatedly said I don't want to cut down any trees. I want the dirt over their. We went back and forth about this.
Well that's my rant for the day =) This guy is 100% off the table... I don't care if he does come back with a better offer. I do have a larger company that's coming out tonight and they did say they have dug ponds.
