Anecdotal evidence can prove anything, and is usually the tool of choice of fear-mongers. Certainly there are fly-by-night builders who make a quick buck and leave town, but this is not representative of 99.99% of the building industry.
My family has been home builders and contractors since teh mid 1960’s. I worked this for years. And I have seen the lack of quality on the new houses built in the past ten years. I have talked to my father, who for the past decade or so before his retirement last year was doing cad, scheduling, and estimating for a large residential home builder and contractor in the Houston area. He has told me many a horror story and he for one echos my opinion to the nth degree. When a man who has 40 years of experience in something and has run jobs with over 1000 hands on them tells you something is bad you might want to listen.
You get what you pay for. An honest contractor has a right to earn a fair living as much as anyone.
Hubby helps people overcome their inate distrust of contractors by being totally transparent. If your contractor isn't willing to show you exactly where all the money is going, including their own salary, then they are hiding something from you for a reason.