Q: Am I obligated to pay for third-party repair costs? NH subcontractor issue.

A: Your long-standing verbal agreement with the storefront carries weight, especially after 30 years of consistent business. In New Hampshire, a contractor generally has the right to repair defective work before the client hires someone else and seeks reimbursement. If you made it clear that you intended to fix the issue, ordered the necessary materials, and were simply waiting to schedule the repair, then the client may have acted prematurely by hiring a third party without giving you a reasonable opportunity to complete the work.

Without a written contract defining deadlines, dispute procedures, or repair rights, both sides are relying on the reasonableness of their actions. If the storefront can’t show that you were unresponsive or that an emergency required immediate repair, then their decision to bypass you could undermine their claim for reimbursement. You may still be responsible for the cost of materials you didn’t return or cancel, but the labor costs from the third party may not be your legal obligation if your right to repair was denied.

You should respond in writing, explaining the timeline, your efforts to resolve the issue, and that you had every intention of completing the repair. Make it clear you did not approve the third-party repair and that you were not given a fair chance to address the problem. If needed, offer a compromise on material costs to preserve the relationship—but stand firm on the principle that your repair rights were ignored. You’ve earned trust over decades; don’t let a single job rewrite that history unfairly.