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.

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We recently hired a contractor in Dallas to replaster and paint our entire house…approx. 6500 sq. ft.  He said he would only do it on time and materials basis and it would take about 3 weeks.  Our mistake to accept those terms.  His entire crew were Mexicans..only one spoke English.  they took 3 1/2 months…at $41,000 until we kicked them out for Christmas.  We found numerous empty liquor bottles amongst our Christmas decoration boxes, under sinks, and in cabinets, closets etc.  He said they’d be back to finish the work.  After the holidays we tried to schedule him to finish.  He no showed repeatedly.  Then to our amazement, when we went to relocate an oil painting to another room, we discovered they painted around the pictures without removing them from the walls.  They took all the paint, and sealers and we have no idea where they got it or what code to use to get touch-up and finish those areas they didn’t complete.  He provided a fake tax ID, a phony address.  Upon doing a background check for $40 after the fact, I discovered the guy has a history of ripping people off and has done jail time for such offenses.  So, not only do we feel stupid for allowing this to happen we feel foolish for not following our instincts when we suspected something wasn’t right the first week. 

In Dallas, it is virtually impossible to get English speaking Americans to do this kind of work.  Even if you hire an American contractor, the workers show up and none speak English.  They grew up in a third world that have no standards of contruction and craftsmanship as we do in the U.S.  I fear everything they’re building in the border states will collapse from shoddy workmanship. 

In addtion they stole my 6 foot ladder, used my step stools and got paint all over them, tracked paint all over the patterned concrete driveway.

I’m tempted to place a sign in my yard that reads, “willing to hire Americans.” 

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I had roof damage from ice and heavy snow. It broke 11 rafters. My insurance company hired this company. (pemco). The entire roof had to removed to replace the broken rafters. During this process several bad things happened. First of all they were continually stepping through my ceiling. Not once, not twice, not 4 or 4 times, but 5 times all over the house. One hole in the ceiling was so bad that the guy actually fell through in the kitchen!!! So I had insulaton all over the place under these holes. Under the area where they fell through in the garage was alot of clothing on a table. It was covered in dirty, black insulation!! Yhe biggie… They have the tarp tied down but not good enough. The wind came up, it started pouring down rain….. well the tarp came loose and it was literally raining in my house!! The ceilings were filling with water and making them sag all over the place. They did fix most of it, but it wasnt a very good fix job. Kinda half assed. There is a large crack about the sliding glass door where someone broke a large support. Brown water stains are still on the ceiling in the spare bedroom. Only repaired part of the ceiling in the bathroom so now it doesnt look the same. Small holes in many areas of the ceiling. I never knew when I came home from work what was going to be wrong. It was not a happy experience.

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I, too, had a journey with SEVERAL bad contractors who caused unthinkable damage to my home; were argumentative and irrational in their skewed brains; overcharged for shoddy workmanship; ignored their own contracts; denied liability; fought “tooth and nail” to avoid responsibility and to not pay for damages…. and the list goes on and on! Let us not forget the PSYCHOLOGICAL element that these bad guys play on your brain. They use every unethical tactic that they can muster to “trick” your logical thinking into somehow believing that it was your fault that they could not honor their agreements and just do their job correctly.All that any homeowner asks is that the work be done professionally and that the contractor simply behave in an ethical manner.Is this too much to ask? Apparently so, especially when the VAST MAJORITY of contractors are criminals, or were the “bad kid” in school who had to be shipped off to vocational school to learn to be a painter because the school system did not want to deal with his emotional outbursts, classroom disruption, and bullying..That same “bad kid” is now in your home.Thus, the problem with these bad guys is that they learned how to be manipulative, liars, and “street smart” THUGS who do not care about the very meaning of the word “ethical” because in their warped minds this is only for the “sissy white collar” people.NONE of the societal boundaries apply to them as far as they are concerned. They can ignore their promises, cause dangerous structural conditions to someone’s HOME and they can rob you blind of your savings… and they know that the legal system does not have the gumption to chase after all of these bad guys.And a reminder: MOST are bad. So, they know that they have the wave of big numbers of complaints working FOR them.My story:Phase I: the first contractor, Carl of “Morgan Clark” contracting located in Connecticut, was a smooth-talking, soft spoken, Con Man who came off as a “nice guy.”He lied his way into our lives after he put together a slick ad campaign in local newspapers depicting himself as a craftsman who truly cared about the quality of work he produced. He told us, in so many words, to ignore the fact that he did not have a lot of RESIDENTIAL experience because he was looking to change careers from being a “Commercial builder” to a “Residential builder.”HMMMM. That should have been a big red flag. But guess what? The homeowner is ALWAYS conned into believing the cunning words of such monsters and when they finally wake up from the trance that they have been put into…. it is often too late with time, money, and damages already a big factor.This is what happened to us. This horrible con man brought unqualified workers into our highly specialized and unique addition to our home where there was very little room for “rookie” carpenters. This was an expensive and highly skilled project and we needed good people to build to the architectural specifications.He then started to commit Larceny by overcharging us for projects that were not complete or not even started but he would sneak them into a complicated “flow chart” hoping that we would not notice or even know if something was not yet complete.To add to our expenses, we moved out of the home at his request so that he could get the project completed “faster.” No, this only gave him an excuse to go slower and without any oversight to the project [he apparently was NEVER at the job site.]The structural problems were so big, and the timeline he gave us to be complete in “16 weeks” was totally ignored. No framing was complete, and the roof was not installed– so we now had water damage over the course of the winter. After 8 months on the job, and being “led along” for way too long, I finally brought an architect in town to look at the mess that he was passing off as acceptable. The architect was appalled and I then fired this horrible, HORRIBLE con man in person [who refused to remove his dark glasses when I confronted him].We had paid this con man nearly $300,000 for work that was faulty, and most of it needed to be ripped down and re-done completely!To add insult to injury, after his much needed termination, he then puts a lien on our home for another $295,000!!!!!!!!This lien far exceeded the total cost of the job when added with the wasted $300,000 we had already paid him.He owed US a refund for overcharging us illegally for work not even done yet, and for certainly the bad work that needed replacement…. and now he wanted to really ‘twist the knife’ and shoot us the finger by putting a fraudulent lien on our home!We were stunned at the audacity. This was a retaliation in the worst order. Unthinkable abuse of a system that this web site has proved to be outrageously broken and causing harm to the economy but our legislatures are ‘bought off’ by a corrupt building system that pays no attention to ethics.Two of the four attorneys we approached to help us remove this fraudulent lien were so unconcerned and lazy regarding this matter that we were astonished once again. We were told to ignore the issue because the lien “goes away” after one year, and then we had one attorney drag his feet in filing the paper work to get the hearing in court to drop the lien…. the abuse by the very legal help you are seeking is frustrating beyond belief and is yet another insult to the homeowner/victim.After we fired the attorney we hired to help us, we then searched to find a young, aggressive attorney who would at least be motivated to help us. We did not know that we could appeal to the Title company [as one other writer told in his story.]We finally found a decent attorney who came to our home and did a walk through and was so angry at what he saw that he called the attorney who put the fraudulent lien on our home and demanded that his client drop the lien. This new attorney was forceful and convinced that this was outright fraud and told the other attorney that he would arrive in court with an ‘army of professionals’ to give detailed explanations of the damages to the Judge and that the bad contractor would most certainly be cited for fraud.The lien was dropped that day. After our waiting on a stupid attorney for FOUR months to drag his feet in simply filing paperwork [rather than bothering to look at the damages and become educated enough to make a forceful phone call].Thank God for the young, aggressive attorney we finally hired. We had a construction loan, and so we were really backed into a corner with the fraudulent lien because the loan payments were stopped until we got the lien dropped or ‘bonded out.’The homeowner suffers immeasurably with fraudulent liens. They get screwed on every side of the coin. The day that that good attorney got the lien dropped was a day that I will always remember. I slept well for the first time in several months. The stress that a bad home contractor can cause a person and a family cannot be emphasized enough.The local governments need to wake up and realize that this is costing the economy way too much in lost revenue. The money wasted on bad contractors [who don't bother to pay taxes] could be spent shopping in town, or properly contributing to the economy rather than being wasted.We took the bad contractor to court, and were given a judgement of $100,000. Guess what? The bad contractor then filed Bankruptcy and it turned out that the two spec houses he was building [by stealing money from us] also went into foreclosure. His own personal home is now in foreclosure. We were notified because the judgement was against him personally for fraud and we were able to put a lien on his personal home and his spec homes.We have never been able to collect. He has no assets as the homes in foreclosure have no equity in them.I was an Insurance Adjuster for a few years out of College, so I knew that I had to make a claim against his GL policy right away after we fired him.Thank God I did take the time to insist on filing a claim. However, a GL policy does not pay for shoddy workmanship or any mistakes whatsoever. It only pays for the ENSUING LOSSES [or secondary losses] that arise from the shoddy workmanship, such as water damage from water infiltration due to a roof being put on incorrectly, etc. The GL policy won’t pay for the shoddy roof job, but it will pay for all of the damages that result from that such as water damage, etc. Lesson learned: DEMAND “Errors and Omissions” Insurance coverage from EVERY contractor who wants to do work on your property. Also, demand that the contractor obtain a Performance Bond to protect you should he not give you good workmanship or skip out on the project all together. This is one sure way of ‘weeding out’ the bad guys because there is no way that they will be able to obtain such insurance.Now onto the horror we faced with REPLACING, REPAIRING, and FIXING every problem this horrible con man left for us to discover.To be brief, I will give you a small snapshot of the problems to be completely repaired:Illegal and dangerous electrical wiring… Illegal and dangerous plumbing work…. Illegal and violation to building code framing… Multiple areas of water infiltration…. Ignored the architectural plans and built things that were in violation of both the plans and of the building code…. Illegal and violation of code masonry…. Unfinished work that languished for months…. Every existing bathroom ripped out and destroyed without homeowner consent…. NO progress in the new addition, yet demolished the existing structure of  existing home rendering it unlivable and ‘condemned’ by building officials until completely repaired…. No roof put on over new addition causing unspeakable water damage over several months….. Then the bad contractor rips off sections of existing roof for no apparent reason [and without homeowner knowledge] which causes even more water damage to now the existing home…. Un-grounding of the home electrical system which is both illegal and dangerous… Working illegally with power tools plugged into the existing home outlets that are not designed to have power tool loads…. Steals electricity from home existing electrical panel to heat a giant trailer on the property without the consent of the homeowner….. Wrong materials [cheaper substitutes] used without the consent of the homeowner….. Overcharging the homeowner in order to ‘float’ cash to his pockets before the homeowner realizes that the framing was not complete yet paid for in full; the chimneys not even near complete but charged in full…. and the list goes on and on and ON. Be forewarned! This can happen to any good citizen.We thought we had the right Engineer watching out for us, and we thought that we had hired all of the right people to protect us…. but it turned out that EVERYONE, and I do mean everyone from the Engineer, the new architect, and ALL of the new builders brought to our home to REPAIR the obvious damages left behind by the bad builder, were OUT FOR THEMSELVES AND TO MAKE AS MUCH MONEY FROM THIS TERRIBLE CIRCUMSTANCE AS POSSIBLE.I was at my wits end. And to add to this, please make note of the fact that ALL of the subsequent carpenters, painters, builders, etc., who were hired to HELP us would turn around and USE this terrible incident AGAINST us whenever we questioned any work that they did!Be careful here. The seemingly “nice” guy can turn caustic, nasty, and manipulating when he sees it to be in his best interest.We had many of these new people hired to help us use this horrible scene as a means to making money off of our train wreck.This was the most horrifying thing of all.We had a couple of people in particular who were terrible: the garage door maker had a signed contract to make and install the doors within six weeks. But he took six months! Six months!The same old sly manipulation was used: Give a big deposit, then another “installment” prior to the doors being delivered with a fake delivery date set in place… and now he has most of your money and “Voila!” he turned into the bastard that he truly is.Suddenly, it was my fault, the homeowner, that I was ungrateful for his efforts to make doors to certain specifications and that he had other ‘builders’ putting pressure on him to do big projects, etc. The excuses were inexcusable.But what did he do when I reminded him of his own contract and that he had violated it by not delivering within 6 weeks? He turned on me and accused ME, the homeowner, of ‘violating’ the contract for obscure, nonsensical reasons.He then demanded to be paid by “bank check” at the final delivery [which he kept moving up in order to play his con game]. His demand was for some idiotic reasoning that the homeowner might cancel the final check [which was a small amount and far less than what we had already paid.]This garage door maker, Gary of the Garage Door Company, AKA, The Automatic Door Company, was abusive, controlling, and in violation of any fair business law written.He knew it. But he used his knowledge of our having to fire the bad contractor a few months earlier as an EXCUSE that we must be the terrible homeowners because we had to fire a bad contractor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!This insane, outrageous, illogical ‘mind twisting’ is what happens when you come across yet ANOTHER bad contractor who will use anything he can [even when it makes no sense] to use against an unsuspecting homeowner.Outrageous is too soft a word for this horrible abuse of the homeowner’s trust.To boot, he delivered a faulty product that we had to have repaired by a different door installer on an emergency basis. The doors were at least 400 pounds each, and were dangerously installed by the bad door maker. He knew he had installed something incorrectly that could have KILLED someone.He still, to this day, is a nasty bully who reduces himself to calling me derogatory names as a defense and is STILL using the bad contractor dismissal as a skewed way of distorting the character of the homeowner!Unthinkable.Be forewarned. The problems left behind AFTER you fire one bad contractor should only make you more cautious in who you hire to repair your precious home.This long story could be longer with ALL OF THE STORIES I could tell you about the bad guys who came to prey on us AFTER the firing of the bad General Contractor. But be aware that I am writing this to help ANY homeowner out there who cannot imagine how prevalent the problem is with dishonest contractors.Here is a list of the bad guys we had to battle to get our home done after the first bad guy was terminated, and to please be aware: 1.) Garage Door Maker: Overdue on delivery and installed incorrectly causing great physical danger to people on the property.2.) Bad Roofer: Did not properly supervise roof installation after promising homeowner he had ‘many good’ supervisors to send to make sure roof installed properly. The roof had several leaks and continues to have a big, slow leak that the roofer has refused to acknowledge or properly repair. Remember, if I had insisted on Errors and Omissions Insurance, I could collect for such negligence.3.) Bad painters: We fired two painters who wasted our expensive, imported paints and caused huge delays in the final closing of our home. Improper painting and lack of skilled labor.4.) Bad carpentry to repair the damages: We fired a contractor who made big promises to us to properly repair the framing but in the end was compounding some of the original problems.5.) Over charged and “raped” by large General Contractor: This big contractor called me one weekend as we were looking for someone to fix our home after we had just fired the bad contractor. Big mistake to listen to the siren song of this big contractor. He was only looking to charge ‘by the hour’ or what is called ‘time and material’ for his services and rape us even more with HUGE bills.6.) Unethical Engineer: This engineer was on board from the beginning and should have come to the homeowner with and urgent message that something was wrong with the bad builder’s lack of skill in building our home. Never looked out for us but sent us big hourly bills for his supposed services.7.) Unethical Architect: Tried to make the sexual moves on me during the most stressful period of my life, then would bang on the door of our rental unit at 8am on a Saturday to collect for the few hours he had worked that week. He demanded to be paid every week and would track me down to be paid in cash or with a check made to his name only in order for the ‘check to clear faster.’A cast of characters who were ALL out for themselves.I could not have imagined this terrifying ordeal if I had tried prior to living through it.Please be careful, all homeowners out there. You are on your own if you start out with the wrong team.Get a strong attorney and and Independent Project Manager to protect you from day one, prior to starting any project. DO NOT appear to be a push over or a “nice” person to anyone. Put your Poker Face on and be ready to play the role of BOSS over unruly children who could not assimilate through the regular school system.I hope my story helps everyone who reads it.Local Governments, WAKE UP. TAKE ACTION. Stop ignoring this huge issue within our society.-The End.- P.S. We did, finally, after 1.5 years, finish our home. We ‘hobbled’ across the finish line with an “okay” but not an “A+” carpenter to help us. I ended up painting much of my own home, and we ended up staining our own floors due to the stupidity of so many idiots we had to terminate.The cost of such dishonesty was enormous. And we still have a good carpenter we found who has to re-install some exterior doors that were incorrectly installed, and to help us insulate an exterior wall that was uninsulated! How did any of this pass inspection? You need to always be vigilant and get the proper people to watch for your best interests.God Bless the innocent homeowner.   

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I found this 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 information and  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 names 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.

UPDATE:  Patrick Wethington contacted the BBB on the last day he had to resolve the complaint and said that he didn’t own the company American Custom Doors and it went out of business, BUT that he now owns American Custom Doors, INC and he would make the doors. Now, I know his name was on the contract, he cashed the check, he faxed me the contract, BUT, he didn’t own the company and now  he owns the same company that has been incorporated.   This was after he emailed me and said he would refund my $$. So, now he is chickening out on the refund.  One of the companies that he listed on his now defunct shut down website - Glass Craft Doors, said they had never heard of him and that he had copied and put their images on his website.  He took them down since and his website is  “under construction”.  I will let you know if I get my money back, but I would not do business with him at all.

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This is a letter I wrote in responce to our situation. We have not yet been able to get an attourny to take our case either because of finacial reasons or they think that no payment will be recieved even if we win, therfore not only will we be out of the original money but leagle fees as well.  By the way Pictures are your best defense. Lots and lots of pictures.

We have also tried to contact the media and all were umresponsive. ” They felt it wasnt news worthy”

To the Office of the Attorney General, Vermont

 To Whom It May Concern: This is a brief summery of what our problem consists of. For a complete understanding of the situation I have enclosed all records that we have, including contracts and cancelled checks.         In December of 2007 my girlfriend and myself, entered into a contract to remodel our home with Gordon Hudson of T & G Contracting based out of Hoosick Falls, NY. The Contract was for and addition on our home with a completion price of $52,000.00. The original agreement was 1/3 up front, 1/3 at 50% complete, and the remaining 1/3 due at 90% complete. Work was to begin on or around the 15^th of December. We signed the contract on the 14^th of December. Some work began but weather was an issue and hindered the start of the project. Mr. Hudson said the concrete would be poured on the 24^th of December. On the 24^th there was a no call / no show. I called and left a message but no call back. On the 26^th again it was a no call / no show. I called and finally had a call back from Mr. Hudson. It was then that we found out he was ill, and said they would be there on the 27^th. This was a no call / no show again. They finally arrived on the 31^st. A few hours that day were spent preparing the form to pour the concrete. The foundation was poured on or around the 4^th of January. Around this time Mr. Hudson approached my girlfriend and stated that all of the money was tied up in the materials and he needed to make payroll. He was wondering if an agreement to make weekly payments of $5,000.00 a week to coincide with the progression of the project. She agreed with the stipulation that a new contract be drawn up stating these changes. He agreed. A week or two later I asked him about the new contract and he said that she never said one way or the other but would get one to us. We never received the contract. At this time work seemed to progress at an acceptable rate but still behind schedule. Shortly after the first of February the roof over the garage was taken off to prepare for the construction of the second floor. From this point on work seemed to start to trickle off. Ever since the time she began to pay weekly the workers never worked a full week, However Mr. Hudson still required a full weeks pay. With less than half of the project completed T & G was paid up with the balance remaining of $2,500.00.Mr. Hudson kept telling us that the weather was a factor but on the clear days no workers were found at our job site. Around the 14^th of February Mr. Hudson spoke with my girlfriend and stated that her and I had not decided between stick framing or trusses. After she had consulted with friends who were also contractors, she made the decision to go with the trusses. No mention of a price difference was made and she felt that since in the contract it called for stick framing that there was no additional charge for the trusses. Later we found out different. We were told a week after we finalized the floor plan that the trusses were ordered on the 18^th of February and would be delivered no later that the 25^th of February. The 19^th of February was the last day that any workers were on site. On the 21^st of February I called the truss company and asked the status of the trusses. They said they were waiting for Mr. Hudson to give final measurements. I told him that I was told they would be delivered on the 25^th. He stated they had not been ordered. I gave the information needed and ordered the trusses. They were complete and on the truck by the 22^nd of February ready for delivery on the 25^th. On the 23^rd Mr. Hudson came to our house at my request. He wanted to pick up the check and presented us with a bill for an additional $6,000.00. We then began to discuss the fact of the lack of work verses the amount of money paid. He still sited the weather as a factor. We then discussed our concerns of water damage due to the fact that we had been without a roof since the first of February. He stated as long as we had water standing we didn’t need to worry about it getting into the insulation on the floor. We then returned back to the amount owed and lack of work, and Mr. Hudson became irritated and raised his voice to my girlfriend stating that if we didn’t pay he would pull his equipment on Monday and he would see us in court. After he signed an agreement that the balance owed would not be expected until the 100% completion mark I gave him a check for $3495.15. As he left he said the trusses would be delivered on the 25^th. The morning of the 25^th of February he called the truss company and cancelled the delivery. When I asked him about this he said the trusses were not done. I told him I called the truss company and told him what they told me. He said they would be there on the 26^th. On the 26^th this was a no call / no show. When I called him he said the crane company wouldn’t release the crane. That Thursday the 28^th they would be there. Again this was a no call / and a no show. I called and left him a message, which he called me back and left the message that due to bad weather coming it would be another week. I went to an attorney on the 3^rd of March to find out our rights. He called Mr. Hudson and spoke with him and stated all we wanted was our project completed. Mr. Hudson told the attorney  that the trusses were to be delivered on the 10^th and he would have the crane and crew there on the 11^th. The 4^th of March he came to the job site and removed all of his tools and then on the 5^th he had the dumpster and portable toilet removed. When I called and asked him about his tools he simply said they needed the tools for another job. I said ok as long as they were not stolen. This was the last time I spoke with Mr. Hudson. On the 10^th I called the truss company and was told that Mr. Hudson said that we still owed him money and that the trusses were not to be delivered until he said to. I then called the crane company and found out that Mr. Hudson had cancelled the crane on the 29^th of February and never called to reschedule. This was done three days before the attorney called him. Since then I have contacted the Police Department and my girlfriend and I have given our formal complaints to them. We were then told that the District attorney who based on a phone conversation didn’t know if it was enough to get a conviction. The Police officer did call and ask Mr. Hudson to report to the station to give his side of the story. He said sure and never showed up for his appointment. To date I have contacted about 8 to 10 attorneys who are either to busy or didn’t feel like we would get paid if we won. In the meantime our home is experiencing more and more damage to the existing structure due to the negligence of T & G Contracting. On the 13^th of February The Reynolds group, a company sub contracted by Mr. Hudson contacted me and said they had not been paid. That unfortunately they had to come and take the fireplace insert and pellet stove back. We do not know where to turn from here. Please advise as to our options. Incidentally we have tarped the structure ourselves in an attempt to slow the degradation of our home. I have also contacted the building Inspector from the Town who when he visited sighted several building flaws and issued a stop work on our construction. We may have to completely tear the structure down and begin again.  Thank you for your Time and Attention in this matter.  Sincerely  

Rick D                         

CC: The Office of the Attorney General, New York

Vermont Governor, Jim Douglas, via email

New York Governor, David A. Paterson, via email P.S. On 4/14/08 I was notified by an officer of the Police Dept. and told that the States Attorney will not be perusing charges against the contractor. It was stated that since some work has been done that this was a civil matter. If this is a civil matter, does this mean that no criminal wrongdoing has occurred?         At this time I am doing what I can to try and save and prevent my home from further damage from the elements.  Thank you  

Rick D

To date  have recievedsome lettersfron the AG in Vermont. They have contacted te contractor two times and continue to move forward. The NY AG has sent me a letter that said they were in the process of contacting the contractor. No responce yet. I have als recieved a letter from Governor’s office of Vermont. They sid they were forwarding my letter to the Ag’s office with the letter sent t me as well. This is whati wanted because i couldnt get anywhere otherwise so nowte AG’s office is aware the Governor had been contacted. We wil see what happens next. Until then i am taking down the addition and will rebuild it according to code.

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In the mid-80s, we decided to expand our bedroom, add 2 closets, and a master bath, in our Decatur, GA home. We checked out several contractors & decided on Metropolitan Home Improvement, office on Lavista Rd. We got the contract IN WRITING. Checked references, including an atlanta television sports newscaster they had done work on his house. They started and done everything shoddy. They made crooked walls. did not put the electric outlet between the closet doors centered. The bathroom window was put in crooked and propped up outside with a rock. We came home from work in March to find a hole in our existing bath’s window and it was so cold we couldn’t bathe. They punched a hole in our roof, and the list goes on. They wouldn’t fix a thing. I was carpooling and the children’s dad was a lawyer. He got the best of us too. We had a 5-day jury trial and still had to pay the geiser $12,500 (contract price) and I don’t remember the lawyer fee, but I was paying him $l00 week till I told him we could pay him no more. Why is these rats and menaces to society allowed to continue.

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We are responsible, diligent, fair, talented, conscientious and creative contractors.  These past 6 months, we have dealt with  clients from hell!  

These people interrupt the work progress daily with unsolicited & misinformed advice, multiple phone calls and they are NOT PAYING for work performed. 

They try to hire our subs out from under us, are critical of methods they don’t understand and are RUDE to boot.  We can’t just pack up our bags with thousands in unpaid invoices in limbo. 

It’s all a matter of no communication possible with the husband.   He constantly rants & raves about nothing & tries to avoid the decisions crucial to the job progressing to the next level.

It is a shame they have spoiled the satisfaction of a job well done.  Makes us wonder about our career choice. 

I’m sorry contracting has such a bad reputation–but, it’s NOT always the contractor who is at fault in a dispute. 

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