contractorsfromhell.com

While our experience pales in comparison with others who have posted their home improvement debacles, we thought we should let fellow consumers know that one can experience problems wherever they go for home improvements. We contracted with the Matthews North Carolina Home Depot [HD] store [No. 3602] to remodel our master bathroom on February 23, 2008. We thought that HD was reputable and that we would not encounter any hassles or have to do very much to get our remodel completed. While we didn’t know it at the time, we were lied to from the beginning by one of the associates and did not receive adequate information from another. Our project included a new: vanity, countertop, mirrors, tile floor and a tiled shower. The project totaled in the $12,000 range — we did some of the tear out and had other companies perform work that HD contractors would not. When our tile was delivered, there were three different die lot numbers for the tile, the bull nose and the border. Obviously, the colors of the tile varied and would not look proper if used. The associate told us that we would get the die lot number that we had seen in the store — obviously a fabrication. After considerable complaining and a visit to the store, we received consistent die lot numbers. There were many other problems [far too many to discuss here] that we encountered during the entire project the major issue is discussed below. When the tile installation started our problems began. [as we understand, all HD stores in/around Charlotte NC use the same tile company] — don’t know if this is the case elsewhere. It is our understanding that this tile company then contracts with self-employed installers. The installer that was sent to us was supposed to be the best this company had to offer. Oh boy, was that an illusion on the part of the owner. After complaining to the Customer Care Line, a manager from the company came to look at the job, along with the HD Area Services Manager Some of the problems we encountered were: the tile on the shower walls was not level — the company manager said our tile was level but we had to show him that he was evaluating plumb and not level. Surprisingly, the HD Area Services Manager who was also on-site did not know the difference either. the tile was not tall enough to allow for the shower head to be within the tile the front riser was not level the tile pan was not level the grout lines did not match from wall to wall – the installer built one wall and then built the other. He should have built both walls simultaneously and used spacers to assure all grout lines were equal there were also problems with other parts of the tile work around the garden tub. After the tile company manager and the HD Area Services Manager visited, the owner and another manager came to our house. The owner could readily see that our concerns were valid. Ironically, while they were in our bathroom walking around, floor tiles began to come up. What a day it was for us — he could not weasel out of the situation even if he wanted to at this point. Ultimately, the owner realized the job was so bad that all of the tile was removed and other installers redid the job. Before and during the tile installation, we were not given adequate information by one associate concerning plumbing products. We had Moen plumbing trim that was installed by the builder. We purchased Kohler trim which is incompatible with Moen rough-ins. Had we received adequate advice from the HD associate when we purchased the trim, we would have purchased the proper Kohler rough-ins, hence saving much time and frustration. In summary, I advise you not to place your faith in Home Depot just because it is a huge company. After talking to folk from Texas, Canada, and even within the company itself, Home Depot has major problems with its home improvement departments. If you want to get the run around, sub-standard service, being called a liar, ignored: just contract with Home Depot. A word of advice if you encounter major problems, don’t settle for their standard $500 gift card —hold out for real dollars as we did. We finally settled with Home Depot on July 8, 2008, but only then after threatening a
lawsuit.

Tags: Admin Comments by Jimbow Walker
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Hi Again Jodi
Boy I wish that I would have found this one out sooner.

Riverside and San Bernardino Counties now have their court records
online. Both Civil and Criminal.
If your jurisdiction has this, you should definitely search for your
contractor before hiring him.

Had I done this before, I would have found that my contractor had been
sued for:
Abandoning a project
Poor workmanship (a couple of times)
Embezzlement and Fraud!
All things that he did to me.

The CSLB says “well we don’t have any record of violations”
But the courts say otherwise.

Please let people know that this option is available to them.

Thanks - Bill

Tags: Uncategorized by burned23
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I am in the midst of a court battle with a handy-man who decided to pass himself off as a General Contractor and construction worker.   He hired subs who never pulled permits, and ended up in a physical confrontation with one.   The police were called to my home on two occasions.   He was supposed to put two porches onto my home, and my structural engineer and also my inspector state that the back porch needs to come off and be done over.   Walls are not aligned, the floor is at the wrong height, the posts are at and over the edge of the cement piers, and the studs are different heights around the room.  The workmanship is shoddy in every way.
I can see that his attorney is doing everything possible to waste my money to fight this.

I have questions about this person’s insurance policy, and how to find success in the court system.  Our local licensing department is corrupt, and they only work to cover their own mistakes in passing work that does not meet code.
I do not trust my attorney to be on top of things.  I live in Minnesota, and wonder if you can advise where else I can turn for support and ideas to be able to win my case!   I feel that there is much I could learn from others who have been in this awful predicament.   I fired my contractor, and he put a lien against my home.

————————————————————————————-
Jody,

Thank you for taking time to think about my problem.   I should have been more clear to tell you that the guy I hired WAS actually licensed, but clearly was ONLY a handyman, and had gotten in way over his head to take on my porch projects.   I am pursuing this in a lawsuit, but now have no faith in finding real justice via the court system.   I have already spent over 20K on experts, attorneys, etc.!   The guy was insured, and my attorneys both acted like there would be some real money there.   Neither would ask for the policy, and I went through the trouble of getting it from the state myself.   I then presented it to my attorney, and asked him to decifer what it meant, which he either could not or would not do!   He insisted I had to show up for a 2nd mediation, even though the other side scammed, and spent my money for a 1st mediation, only to show up and say it was impossible  for them to be prepared to mediate as they hadn’t received a report from their expert.   I had tried over and over to tell my attorney that we should not be going to a mediation until WE saw a report from their inspector, or were told that there would be no report.   After the horrible letdown at the mediation, not to mention mistakes by my attorney, I left that attorney, and hired another!   So, upon arrival at mediation number two, my  second attorney told me that the insurance company would only cover negligence, and NOT shoddy work.   He withheld that information, and also the offer from the insurance company until I arrived at the mediation!  I would never have gone to a second mediation if he had disclosed the information prior.

I feel like I need to bond with people who have been through this type of lawsuit, and I greatly appreciate all of your ideas.

Tags: Uncategorized by burned23
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I found this wonderful company that designed and made custom iron doors for exterior and interior. I wanted these iron doors in my formal foyer to keep children and dogs out of the formal areas of my home. The contractor came to my home in New Orleans on his way to install doors in Florida. I got to see the quality of the work and he took measurements and I gave him a piece of my wallpaper to incorporate into the door design. In October 2007, I sent him the signed contract along with $2300 for the deposit. My doors were going to be ready the first of the year. Well, that came and went, along with many excuses. Now we were going into February, but the doors were going to be made, AND I was going to get a discount because of the delay. So, now February comes and goes, and at the end of March I was told the problems with the manufacturer were resolved and the doors were going to be made. Okay, so now April, and May have come and gone and I finally filed a complaint with the BBB of San Antonio against Patrick Wethington of the company American Custom Doors. In previous emails and cell phone conversations he had told me he does not give refunds. I guess he also figured he would not make the doors and keep my money. I searched online for any other complaints and couldn’t find any. I found him on Reunion.com and emailed him there and finally got a response. I was emailed and told he was going to refund my money but have not heard anything in a week. Considering it has been since October that my money has been in his account, I am ready to press forward to the next step. Can’t figure out what the problem was, but other industry companies have told me the doors should have been ready in 6 weeks. Additionally he has listed on his website (since shut down) that he was an authorized dealer for 2 companies that have never heard of him. He listed their pictures and name illegally. They have contacted him and he has removed their images and his website is inactive.Do yourself a favor and don’t make the same mistake I have made. If you have had any problems with the same company you can contact the BBB of San Antonio. Tammy Lindner is the dispute resolution agent I am dealing with.

Tags: Uncategorized by 1angryhousewife
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I would like to share my story as my experience may help someone else avoid a similar nightmare. I hired a contractor in Panama City, Florida and it has been an absolute nighmare experience. Maybe your readers can learn from my mistakes.

1. I DIDN’T DO A BACKGROUND CHECK, and apparently neither did the State of Florida as this contractor never should have been given a contractors’ license with his history of felony convictions for grand theft and burglary.

2. MY FAMILY WAS TRICKED AND LURED INTO DECEPTIVE AGREEMENTS BASED ON THE CONTRACTOR’S MISREPRESENTATIONS AND FALSE CLAIMS THAT ARE NOW THE BASIS FOR HIS MALICIOUS LAW SUIT.

DON’T FALL FOR THE FOLLOWING LINES:

“tradeoffs don’t need to be put in writing”, “only things that I am charging you for need to be put in writing”, “I can only charge you for things that you sign for”, “tradeoffs and offsets aren’t chargeable change orders”, “I am an honorable man, trust me”, “I will give you an extra or upgrade at no extra charge for homeowner labor”, “I will do this extra or upgrade at no extra charge to attract more customers in the neighborhood”, “I need a payadvance to be able to make payroll”, “I am having financial problems and need your help”, “I am having maritial problems and need someone to talk to”, “if you don’t give me a payadvance then I will foreclose on your house.

3. DON’T TRY AND BE THEIR FRIEND, KEEP IT ALL BUSINESS!!: I baked muffins and brought pastries to the construction site to show my appreciation for their hard work. The sub-contractors appreciated the effort. However, the general contractor misunderstood my intentions and started telling me all about his marital and family problems. He really creeped me out and I stopped baking and avoided the construction site. He then harassed me by phone, when my husband was at work. He makes my skin crawl!

4. BEWARE OF A SMOOTH TALKER: My husband and I were absolutely played like a fiddle. I can’t believe that we were so taken in by him. But, he did all the right things to earn our trust. He always returned our calls, he would fix errors and problems with out complaint (at first anyway). He offered us upgrades that he claimed were to show his appreciation for money that we saved him and upgrades that he believed would help him secure additional contracts in the neighborhood. My husband asked that they be put in writing but he laughed and said. “Oh, I only need you to sign for things that I am charging you for, I didn’t ask for you to sign anything did I?” Now, those items that we accepted as they were clearly offered at “no extra cost” are now the basis for a big money lawsuit at way more than their actual value. ALWAYS GET CONFIRMATION IN WRITING OF ANY EXTRAS OFFERED TO YOU AT “NO EXTRA CHARGE”!!!

5. DON’T BE BULLIED OR INTIMIDATED INTO GIVING IN TO PAY ADVANCES TO YOUR CONTRACTOR: We were bullied into giving in to demands for pay advances early on. He begged and pleaded and claimed that he couldn’t make payroll without an advance, and would have to “walk off the job”. He also guilt tripped us by reminding us of the things that he was doing at “no extra charge”. Each time we refused, he stepped up the temper fits until it turned violent. Criminal charges were filed but the trial was cancelled as the sub-contractors wouldn’t testify against him. (no surprise there)

After the guilt tripping tactic was used, my husband told the contractor to forget about any extras that were promised and to “stick to the plans”. He did them anyway and now claims that we ordered the upgrades and then refused to pay him.”

6. DON’T BE FOOLED BY RELEASE OF LIEN DOCUMENTS: These are often given to induce a payment and may not be worth the paper that they are printed on. We were given one that said that the the sub-contractors and suppliers were paid to date to get his payment. He also claimed that was also confirmation of the extras being paid in full. Later when bullying for yet another pay advance he informed us that the lien waiver was no good and he held the unpaid sub-contractors and suppliers up over our heads until the final payment was made. This was used a leverage against the homeowners to prevent termination of the contractor. Homeowners were never late on a payment and we had the lien waiver but before the next payment was even due he filed a lien anyway. He went to a lawyer and claimed $25,000 in “oral directed change orders” for the “no extra cost items” that he had provided that were worth far, far less than that amount!! IN YOUR CONTRACT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING “ALL CHANGE ORDERS HAVE TO BE APPROVED IN WRITING BEFORE WORK BEGINS” FOR CONTRACTOR TO BE ABLE TO COLLECT!!

7. DON’T PAY ALL THE MONEY UNTIL ALL THE WORK IS COMPLETE!! We made the final payment with the agreement that the contractor would come back and finish the repair items. We held out only ten percent of the final payment to be given to the contractor when the work was completed. As, soon as the contractor received his money, we received a nasty letter from his lawyer saying that he would not be doing anymore work, we were bamboozled again on the $20,000 repair job and the retainage is part of the law suit.

IF YOU MOVE TO PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA I SUGGEST THAT YOU RENT OR BUY A PRE OWNED HOME. BUILDING YOUR DREAM HOME MAY VERY WELL TURN INTO A NIGHTMARE!!

Tags: Uncategorized by panama city homemaker
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We bought an old farm and wanted to remodel the farmhouse, which included demolishing some additions, remodeling the original house and adding a new addition. The man we hired (Tony Courtney) went bankrupt and joined another company (Carrington Homes), promising that everything would remain the same regarding our deal, with the exception of a better warranty through the bigger company. He was wrong.  Work was supposed to start in December, but when the Health Department insisted on a new septic system, the contractor washed his hands of that aspect and left us on our own to sort through it, pushing us all the while because “my guys are starving.”  Work began in February, on a rush schedule because we wanted to be in by April and *needed* to be in by May because of livestock arriving.  Work proceeded slowly. Communication was worse. We were doing part of the work ourselves and scheduling certain things related to the work ourselves, so we needed to know when things were happening. But the PM wouldn’t communicate and was always behind; it was a frequent source of contention.  The PM ranted, raved, yelled and cussed whenever we pointed out something wrong that needed to be fixed. He constantly lectured me about scheduling, mistakes and contacting him. He asked that all communication go through my husband. However, my husband travels for work frequently and was not always available, while I was not only here in town, but often on site. When one sub called me to complain about not getting paid, I was forced to call my husband to relay a message to the PM, who then relayed a message back through my husband to me. A ridiculous waste of time that caused considerable problems for my husband at work.  The PM was rarely onsite, even when he was supposed to be. When the appliances were delivered while my husband was out of town and I was at work, the PM was supposed to be here to see that they were set in place. I popped in that night, didn’t see them, contacted him via email. He ranted and raved because I was interrupting his night out at the bar, but I wanted to know where our very expensive appliances were and why he wasn’t there to do his job as promised. The appliances were found the next day, but his lectures continued. He began contacting my husband to complain about me, telling him how sorry he was for being married to me, etc. Highly insulting coming from the “hired help”!! Although the contract specified that all change orders must be between the contractor (no subs) and us and must be in writing, not a single written change order exists. However, we got charged for many. Some involved items that were planned from the start, but the contractor argued that point until we found a drawing with the PM’s handwritten notes to prove us right.  We had more trouble with other changes. The PM insisted we make our own deal with the painter. The painter agreed to an exterior re-paint (due to wrong color) for $500. We were later charged more than double. The painter said he wouldn’t charge extra for the great room color, but because the contract specified a charge for deep-base color (which we were unaware that was), we were charged. The PM promised one exterior color and one trim color for one price, but charged us more, per the contract. In short, they relied on the contract when it was to their financial benefit, but even though the company president (Carl McIntyre) admitted in writing to the BBB that he shouldn’t have charged $500 for a verbal agreement to repaint the exterior, he did charge that and will not refund our money.  The last week that the builder was here, the painters lost the key to the house, so everyone switched to using the garage door opener. When, 3 days later, we found the garage door and back door wide open, lights on, and MY radio blaring at 8:30 at night, we informed the builder that we would secure the house and he would have to notify us when his crews would be there to finish up work. They never came back; we had to finish the final touch-ups — and the builder didn’t want to give us much credit on the bill for doing so. Plus, he wanted us to chase after “Mike the Plumber” for a credit for work we had to finish. He did not provide Mike’s surname, company name or contact information. When we complained about leaving our house open and vulnerable with the appliances and some of our personal and very expensive tools still in the garage, the PM again cussed us out and then threatened us. He swore we would “never f***ing live in that house!!!” and promised to tie it up in court for years. He refused to schedule an inspection for the certificate of occupancy, even though the mortgage lender he sent us to informed him that having a c/o would help secure financing. The lender also informed him that a lien could slow or stop the whole deal. He didn’t listen.  We scheduled our own inspection, fixed the issues ourselves, had a second inspection and moved in. We continued to work on financing the mortgage so we would be able to make the final payment, but the builder made that as difficult as possible by not helping us acquire the c/o and by filing a lien.  After weeks of negotiation on the final bill, the president emailed to say he had signed a final bill that was being hand-delivered to my husband’s place of business since we no longer allowed the PM on our property. We found out a week later that just hours after leaving a signed agreement to one amount, he filed a lien for a higher amount.  We managed to get the loan and sent the builder’s attorney a check for the final amount. We did not include attorney’s fees and filing costs they requested. They promised to release the lien once they received payment. Nearly three weeks later, the lien (for a higher amount!) stands.  We did file complaints with the BBB and the local builders association, which sent letters, but closed the case as soon as the builder replied, no matter that his response was filled with lies and no offer to compromise in order to settle the deal. The sad thing is that there is no public record of our complaints against the contractor, so anyone searching the local builders assocation for a contractor will assume he’s in good standing and have no knowledge of the offenses he committed. We also contacted the Health Department when we discovered that, because the contractor was being cheap and didn’t pay for a portable toilet, the sub-contractors used my barn as a toilet. We were appalled!!  So, if you’re looking for a contractor who doesn’t schedule things properly, is rarely on site, lies, cusses you out, lets his workers sh** on your property, files a fradulent lien and won’t release it after being paid, pads the bill with charges for things you were told would be no extra charge, then call Carrington Homes. If you want an honest, reliable builder who behaves professionally, I’m afraid I can’t recommend them.   Lori L.

Tags: Admin Comments by burned23
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Sorry to have taken so long to write to you about my experience with a contractor from hell.

Now that Mr. Jones has been fined by the state contractor’s board and I have recouped damages from him in a small claims court and finished my remodel contract using licensed contractors, I can share my story with your readers.

I can assure you that the situation was much worse than I describe here. And I have shortened it for brevity’s sake. It was one of the most agonizing situations I have ever dealt with.

Here’s the recap:

Re: Jonathan Blake vs. Michael Jones, A.K.A. Carpentry Concepts of Upland, California.

Here’s the story for your web site contractorsfromhell.com. I only wish I had known about you before dealing with Mr. Jones because he is truly a classic  example of a contractor from hell.

Allow me to describe the events that took place . . .
_ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I was referred to Michael Jones by a business associate who Mr. Jones had done work for so I naturally “assumed” that Mr. Jones was a licensed contractor.

I met with Mr. Jones at my house on or about May 10th of this year to discuss the remodeling job I had in mind. I wanted to remove the carpeting from my den and family rooms and install hardware flooring. I wanted to remove the tile counters and marble flooring in my kitchen and replace it with wood flooring and a granite counter top, then restain the kitchen cabinets and tile a portion of two walls in the kitchen.

Over the course of the next two weeks, Mr. Jones arranged for me to visit a Granite slab distributor and a tile store to pick out the granite and tile that I wanted to use. These were vendors he regularly  worked with. Mr. Jones also provided me with a sample of the hardware flooring he recommended. After I selected the granite slab and tile, Mr. Jones provided me with a written proposal for him to do the remodeling project at a cost of $10,210.00.

Mr. Jones asked for a 50% deposit ($5,105.00 ).

I was reluctant to give him that much upfront, but finally gave in and wrote him a check for that amount.

Work was scheduled to start on Tuesday, May 27th, the day after Memorial Day.

So over the 3 day Memorial Day weekend I dutifully packed up everything in the kitchen, family room and den and moved all furniture (tables, couches, lamps, home theatre system, food, pots and pans and dishes) into my Living/Dining room. That’s 5 rooms of furniture piled into one large room.

I can tell you that preparing for a home remodel project is just like moving but without changing your address!!

On Tuesday morning Mr. Jones and his  crew of two workers showed up about 8:30a.m. to start the demolition of the kitchen tile and removal of the carpeting in the family room and the den.

I asked Mr. Jones when he expected the job to be completed as I had four separate vendors waiting to deliver new furniture and a new home theatre system.

Mr. Jones said 3 or 4 days at the most. He said they would be finished by Friday and if necessary would work on the weekend to finish the job.

I said fine, I’ll arrange for my vendors to deliver the furnishings on Tuesday giving us a cushion day in case of a delay. I then left to go to work.

When I came home that night about 7:00p.m. I couldn’t believe what I saw! To my horror, everything I owned on the first floor of my house, all my furnishings from 5 rooms, even my packaged groceries was covered in tile and cement dust!

Mr. Jones and his crew failed to put up a plastic sheet barrier on the doorway and hallway to the  kitchen to keep the dust of the demolition from covering everything I owned!

The dust cloud was so thick that it had set off the smoke alarm which Mr. Jones’s crew had broken to stop the siren from blaring! They had also broken one of the motion sensors of my home security system and removed part of the alarm connection on the glass sliding doors to the patio off the family room.

I was so upset and angry I could hardly sleep that night.

The next morning, Wednesday, when Mr. Jones and his crew showed up I took Mr. Jones aside, out of ear shot of his workers, and showed him what they had done.

I said to him, “What the heck were you thinking? Why didn’t you put up a barrier to keep the tile and cement dust from getting all over everything I own?”

Mr. Jones mumbled sheepishly that he just forgot, that he usually would put up a barrier.

I said to him, “you mean over the course of the entire day that it never  occurred to you or your two workers that “Hey! we’re getting tile and cement dust over everything this guy owns!”

Mr. Jones said he was sorry and would pay to have maids come in and clean it up.

I left to go to work, but later that afternoon, Mr. Jones called me at my office and said, “I’m afraid I have bad news” the granite stone cutter that had been out the day before to take measurements of the kitchen counters for the granite counter top has lost the measurement templates!

I said to Mr. Jones, “how could he lose them in only one day”?? Mr. Jones replied that the stone cutter would have to come back out and measure all over again and that would delay the job.

I reminded Mr. Jones that he had promised to finish the job in 3 or 4 days . . . that I had four vendors coming the following week to deliver furniture and that he had to have the job completed.

After a few minutes I took the initiative to call the granite  company myself to find out what was what.

I spoke to an employee who told me that a really big job had just come in and that everybody had been pulled off all the other small jobs to work on this big project.

So Mr. Jones was lying to me and covering up for his vendor the stone cutter.

That night, when I came home I found that Mr. Jones crew had begun laying down hardwood flooring in the family room, but to my dismay I could see they had not left enough room around the fireplace hearth to run wires and cabling for my new home theatre system.

I had given Mr. Jones specific instructions that morning to leave at least a half inch of space around the hearth area for the cabling for my new home theatre system.

On Thursday morning, I left him a note before I went to work reminding him of my instructions.

Mr. Jones called me at my office that morning (Thursday) and said he was sorry, he forgot to tell his worker to leave the extra space and that he would try to cut it out.

Then Mr. Jones said he had some more bad news.

It seems that one of his workers, John, has a son with diabetes, the son had a diabetic episode and they took him to the hospital and that John would not be able to work that day.

I told Mr. Jones that while I sympathize with his worker’s situation, it wasn’t my problem! I told Mr. Jones he should bring in another worker if necessary, and reminded him he needed to finish the job on time as promised!

I told Mr. Jones that I would try putting off my vendors for another day or so but that if he didn’t finish the job by Tuesday, a full four days after he promised to finish the job, that I would begin applying a penalty of $500 per day for every day he was late.

When I got home Thursday night I could see that very little work had been done. There was a message on my answering machine from Mr. Jones, that was time  stamped at 2:17p.m.

The message from Mr. Jones was that his worker John was not going to becoming back to work any time soon and that he did not know when they would be able to complete the job. And because I was going to apply a penalty of $500 a day if he didn’t finish the job on time that he was walking off the job and keeping my 50% deposit.

I did see that Mr. Jones and his one remaining helper had begun stripping the varnish off my cabinets and sanding the doors. Apparently, Mr. Jones does not know the difference between real wood and laminate sheeting because some of the cabinet sides had laminate sheeting and Mr. Jones or his helper had torn pieces of the laminate off the cabinet sides when they tries to sand it.

The cabinets were ruined and unrepairable. My only alternative was to have them replaced at a cost of several thousand dollars or to have them painted.

I was now faced with no kitchen, no family room and no  den and five rooms of furniture covered in tile and cement dust. And four vendors ready to deliver furniture, a home theatre system and a satellite dish installer wanting to deliver and install a new dish.

I had the furniture and the home theatre system delivered and put it in my garage until I could get my house put back together. The home theatre system and satellite vendors said they would come back out (at an additional charge) to install and hook up my satellite  and home theatre systems.

A week later, I received an outrageous statement from Mr. Jones with trumped up details of expenses for materials and salaries for the hours he and his crew had supposedly worked. Mr. Jones actually had the audacity to say I owed him an additional $693.00!

Due to the negligence of Mr. Jones and his crew I incurred the following damages.

I paid Molly Maid  to clean up the tile and cement dust Mr. Jones and his crew sprayed over  5 rooms of furniture and personal belongings.

I paid a “licensed” plumber to repair the damages Mr. Jones and his crew did to my kitchen sink (drain pipe) plumbing during their demolition.

I had to pay a licensed electrician to repair the 2 electrical sockets that did not work after Mr. Jones exchanged them out.

I had to purchase a new garbage disposal because Mr. Jones and his crew discarded the parts necessary to put the old one back together with the new sink.

I had to purchase a new water filter system because Mr. Jones and his crew discarded the parts necessary to put it back together with the new sink when they removed it during their demolition.

I had to pay a Painter to repair and paint over the damages to my cabinets caused by Mr. Jones and his crew when they were supposedly stripping the varnish off the cabinet doors and the sides of the cabinets themselves where they tore the paper laminent off the sides of  the cabinets.

I also had to order a new home security system because Mr. Jones and his Crew broke one of the motion sensors and removed and discarded the magnetic connections that provided security for the glass sliding door leading to my back yard patio.

I contacted the California State License Board and found that Mr. Jones or his dba, Carpentry Concepts, were not licensed in the state of California.

I filed a complaint with the Board. They were prompt in response and after an investigation fined Mr. Jones on several counts of operating without a license.

I also sued Mr. Jones in Small Claims Court for a refund of the unused portion of my deposit and reimbursement of expenses for damages to my property by Mr. Jones and his crew.

Fortunately, Mr. Jones caught himself up in a couple lies in court and the judge awarded nearly all of my claim to be paid.

Ironically, Mr. Jones paid my claim by a check drawn on his  company dba checking account, Carpentry Concepts!

So this guy is still operating out there! Beware.

Tell everyone to check every contractor out with the state licensing board and (your city) building permit department. In most cities, contractors are required to have a license to perform work in the city.

Also ask for copies of their contractor’s license and for insurance covering damages to personal property and worker’s compensation insurance for employees!

I hope this helps save someone from all the agony I had to go through.

Tags: Admin Comments by burned23
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Hello,  I have had a fraudulent ‘mechanics lien’ applied against my property by a exceptionally dishonest and incompetent contractor. The contractor did not finish work, caused damage of my property and the work that was done is literally falling apart. The contractor refused to respond to any of these issues. Then a ‘mechanics lien’ is placed on my property. I went to my County (Putnam, NY)DRC (Dispute Resolution Office)to try to get an explanation of why I was not able to defend myself before this lien was placed. I was told the best I could do is post a ‘payment into court’, which I did. However, no one could explain to me what the next step is. Under no circumstances should the money paid into court be paid to corrupt contractor. Can you please explain the process I need to follow to protect myself from this corrupt contractor? What happens to the funds I ‘paid into court’? thank you. Jerry B.

Tags: Admin Comments by burned23
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How can we back out of a contract with our contractor? We signed a contract over 6 months ago and still have nothing to show for it. We live in the East San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. At this point no construction work has even begun on our project and we have yet to receive anything to show for our deposit. I’m ashamed to say that we have already given a deposit of 18% of our total contracted amount and had no idea that the state of California law is that an initial deposit is only allowed to be 10% or $1000, whichever is less. We, unfortunately paid a lot more than that. We have had little to no communication wi th our contractor unless it has been initiated by us and still do not have any permits due to incompetence in getting the plans corrected properly. How do we get out of this contract before we actually allow these people to start remodeling our home and allowing more serious problems in the future? More importantly how do we get out of this and manage to get most of our money back and without any legal repercussions? PLEASE PLEASE….any help and advice in this would be greatly appreciated! Sincerely, Charlene H.

Tags: Admin Comments by burned23
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My wife and I hired a contractor to do the upfitting for a business in a strip mall. After looking at his bid we decided to go with him since he had been involved in building other restaurants such as ours. We were to pay him 25k per a stipulated sum agreement and then pay the subs directly. Our first problem started when he misread what the landlord will provide and left out a 40k HVAC unit and duct work on his bid. There was no change order signed and we had to get an increase on our SBA loan. All in All the job cost us 80k more then his bid with NO change orders signed or alterations in the contract. He has already admitted to stealing from another business owner due to double billing. We have found out the he is President of this company and it is licensed however he was overseeing the project and he is not a qualifying party to oversee the project considering he has not passed nor taking the state exam to oversee a project. in the mean time he states that we still owe him money even though we paid 80k more with no change orders. The SBA and us did ask for a breakdown of all invoices which he impolitely refused. He has placed a lien for another 42k and we do have an attorney. Our problem is he NEVER provided any labor or materials. Is there a something that protects the consumer from a contractor the bids low and then increases the price without approval and then invoices you and says you don’t question just pay? We have paid ALL the subs and know the Electrician who is the HVAC as well sub and plumber are into his scheme.

Tags: Admin Comments by burned23
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