Well I was supposed to get my slab leveled today but,,,,

I was scheduled for today but got no appointment confirmation since signing a contract and putting half down on 6/26.

So I called this AM at 9 and asked when they were planning on coming to do the job. The dispatch said she'd call me back in a few minutes and she did. An hour later.

Here's the gest of it,,,,

Dispatch, "Mr DG there was a scheduling problem and "Justin" wont be able to make it there today."

Me, "That's to bad"

Dispatch, "We apologize and will send Justin out Saturday on his own time."

Me, "I don't think so, I have other plans. Just refund my money and I'll get someone else that values my time."

Dispatch, "I'm sorry about this and will speak with the owner about your refund. We'll get it out to you soon. Again we apologize for the inconvenience. Have a nice day.

Me, "You have a nice day too."

Mind you that the contract only said that they'd be out between the hours of 8 AM to 6 PM. I guess they broke contract if they can't make it today. Lucky me.

The salesman had told me that I would be hearing from "The technician Mike" the night before to confirm the appt. and might even call me sooner if he gets a break. My job is a small one and shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.


After about 5 minutes the phone rang again and its the salesman Chris,

"Hi DG, It's Chris." "I spoke with the owner "MIKE" and he said he'd send "JUSTIN" out on his own time Saturday."

Me, "No, I'm busy Saturday."

Chris, "We can be there Monday" and then the rattling off of excuses. "We've been real busy" "We're one of only four companies in Florida that does this." We only have one truck." "I don't roll like this, You know that. I spent a lot of time going over this with you." "Bla bla bla"

Me, "You seem to put great value on Yours and Justin's time yet no value for mine. You took ten minutes going over the job and a half an hour going over my car. It took you over 20 days to get my appt. who are you gonna screw to bump me up so quickly? Is that what happened to me? If so I don't want to be a part of this. You indicated that MIKE would be doing the job and now I find out that he's the owner of the company, Not the company I contracted with but a sub-contractor with one truck and at least four employees. I've been in sales and know how it works. If someone in your chain isn't keeping up with the jobs, you get these kind of headaches. That's why when I was in your shoes I made sure things happened as scheduled even if I had to do things myself. It's called follow through and if you wanna be in sales you better get with the program."

At least my porch is clean.

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Dum vivo cano

Hope you get your money back.

Unfortunately, operations like this are often hand to mouth: paying for the last job with the money from jobs not completed.

A bit of a ponzi operation that works as long as new customers keep making deposits.

These guys are dangerous to the homeowner not only because the work may not get done if the scheme crashes before the work gets done, but primarily because the material men and workers (subcontractors usually) don’t get paid for work on your house so commence mechanic’s lien proceedings against the home.

Worst case: you pay twice: first to the company you contracted with and second to the matirial suppliers and subs that did the work.

Run, don’t walk from Mike and his buddies Chris and Austin.

Never pay for work on your house without getting lien releases and evidence the material men and subs have been paid.

The other thing I asked Chris, "When were you gonna call me and let me know you were gonna be a no show? You didn't seem to know anything until I made the first call."

The company they sub with is a larger company that's been in business here for a decade.

They advertise threw the mail. They also have good reviews on Home Advisers, So far.

I wonder what the equipment cost? There might be some on the used market soon.

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Dum vivo cano

You don't need that money back quickly, do you?

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Release the Kraken

I hate to be one of "those guys" but, zero $ until the job is completed (WHEN they say it will be completed by & TO MY SATISFACTION), stand over their shoulder & watch their every move, NO tips for a while until you know they did the job correctly, the way they said they were going to. Is the guy giving the estimate with 30 years experience going to be on the job site doing the work??? Or someone hired that AM at the depot, or on work release? BE clear & upfront about it. A few bad apples made me this way, SORRY. Glad you stuck to your guns. In a job where word of mouth & reputation is so important, it's a wonder many are in business at all.

Deathgrip,

Thankfully I can still do MOST of my own work around the home however with a concrete slab I would be right with you because Concrete work is not one of my specialties.... lol! I know, it sucks! As we speak we are contracting to get a new Roof, new Gutters and Shutters installed next month or so. Fortunately one of my friends is in the Business and does great work (in business 40 years) - so I can let my guard down a trifle. Not only am I familiar with his quality from other friends that have used him, but he actually gave a a price below the going rate around here. He saved me about $2,500 buck of which I will use some of it to take him to The Capitol Grill after all is done.

I can sympathize with you because I know that with specialty work like this good contractors are few and far between. Hope you finally make out OK in the long run!

No hurry. It'll cost him more to mess with me than he got.

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Dum vivo cano

Now THAT I >LIKE!!!

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

I like your idea of getting someone else to fix it better than what poor old hubby just got finished with. He saw several sections of my late mom's patio had lifted from tree roots and decided to have a go at it with a large pry bar.
The worst lifted patio sections were behind the bench on the left.






Finished.

Hey he did a nice job. Where did he bury that anaconda?

I got tired of waiting for my refund check and called Friday at 11AM. No answer. I left a detailed message. No return call.

Today I called again and after ringing for a while I got the answering machine again. I didn't bother to leave another message. I called the owner's cell.

"I'm so sorry and I'll bring you a check today". He also said he was on another job a little north of here. I say "OK".

A couple of hours later he knocks on my door and hands me a check. Apologizes again and asked me what happened. I tell him what I told Y'all in my first post. He was none to happy and says that this morning was the first he heard about it. I told him if he didn't answer the phone this AM the whole Treasure Coast would have heard about it. He thanked me and apologized again.

He seemed like a regular guy trying to make a living and I kinda felt bad for him, but not to much.

I hope his check don't bounce.

BTW, The other guy that drove 90 miles to get here and do the job was $150 less and asked for no money down.

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Dum vivo cano

Around here there's a few you don't do business with but some don't get the word. Pay half up front and when they sober up enough to call you it's some lame excuse followed by "but we'll be there Thursday."

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On the whistle draw and fire 6

Might be OT so if the mods move this OK. I had a septic system installed about three years ago. Good thing the owner had one of those tracked excavators. Digging in Louisiana clay. Anyway he digs down to get at all pipes, demolished the old 250 gallon tank.then trench from thehouse to where the new 1000 gallon system is going. Then instead of going out to the ditch he has to trench halfway down my property. Driveway would have to be replaced.While he's trenching the other two guys are assembling the PVC piping cleanout sections and waiting on the new concrete system to show up. Those guys worked through a bad thunderstorm to set the tank. And then put about 800 gals of water to make sure the tank doesn't float away. Anyway they finish late and gave them two cases of cold Bud. Fast forward last week. Was getting sewerage odor which usually there is a leak somewhere. Found out that one of the old cast iron pipes had just about rotted away. they ripped out the old pipe, did a replacement which included a PVC to cast iron coupling. I asked when done could he pull out an tree stump down where the system drains. trash tree so if you let it grow now you go a real problem. 4 minutes its out gave them each 20 bucks. That was something
I haven't seen as they did not charge me a single dime. they have a customer for life. Frank

Seems like we have a lot of tradesman like that around here Frank. I have several that have a customer for life.

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Forum consigliere

I lived in Broward for about 40 years minus my time in the army. I knew every type of contractor imaginable. Thus far up here in St.Lucie I've been jerked around more than I care for. Lucky I've caught every one of them before loosing my cash.

The original contractor made good on his flunkies BS and I won't continue to dog him. I won't recommend his company either.

The guys from Broward were great and I will and have recommend them to anyone who ask.

It kinda sucks moving to a new town and not knowing many people. It's like I have dollar signs tattooed on my forehead.

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Dum vivo cano

I always paid for materials when..................
they arrived on site !!

Never paid over 50% of total bill until the job was completed
and my visual check was done.

With 33 years of heavy construction, many a time I have told the forman.........
wrong, redo it, I don't accept that work. I don't pay for short cuts or shoddy work.

Also get the job, price and start finish dates on paper.......
plus make sure they don't down grade your materials.

Just to bad that there are a lot of poorly educated work being done or
fly by's that want to make a quick buck and leave people holding the bag.

A BBB or reference check will solve a lot of problems, if you have the time.

This is so true. Takes time to find reliable, trustworthy guys. Nowadays, when you do find a guy who takes pride in his work, keeps to schedule and price bid, it feels like discovering a rare gem.

Caj, bought one of the Kobalt Hot Dog air compressors but lost the instruction manual.Called the nearest lowe's I do business with and where I bought the compressor. Got customer service. Gave her the make and model plus serial number of the compressor. She mentioned that they don't carry the manuals but would open one and copy the entire manual for me. Sure enough about 4 days later I get the whole manual. These little machines must be run in and pressure set to max with the condensate drain open. And run for 10 minutes to break in the pistons and seat the rings.Small enough that I can lift it fill tires, blow out the crud from the radiator on the large Kubota tractor. Cause if you don't occasionally blow out the radiator it will over heat. So Lowe's and the septic system company have customers for life. Frank