The work this year was performed in a timely fashion and done well. It's after this that things went bad, to our surprise and anger. My mother paid the invoiced amount ($500) as soon as the work was finished (she handed the check to the worker directly). The check was cashed promptly, but my mother received more than one nasty phone call from Rick, the owner, himself. He asked where her payment was and why he didn't have it yet (this is two weeks after the work was performed). He wanted proof of payment. My mother said the check had been cashed by Gray's and had the cleared check, the number of the check, and the date it was cashed. Rick yelled at her and said he would take her to small claims court to sue her. He wanted her to provide proof from the bank. My mother had told Rick she was sick (Lupus) and elderly (77 years old and widowed). He did not let up and continued to harass her, yelling at her on the phone.
I called Rick and left a message, telling him to contact me to clear things up or I would file a claim with the Better Business Bureau and write a harsh review. He yelled at me and said that asking my mom to help him get proof of payment was like he had, "asked her to kill someone." (verbatim what he said to me). I asked him what his payment process was and if he had an accounts payable department. He stated that he deposited them himself every week. He said he failed to mark my mother's invoice as paid and called her to get proof. I asked Rick pointedly why the burden of proof rested on my mother when she had paid him, told him the check was cashed and had the check number and date. All this because he couldn't keep his records straight. He made excuses that mortgage companies ask for proof of payment all the time (and I asked him if this happened to him after his checks were mortgage checks were cashed... and he admitted "no"). I then asked him, "Did you check your own bank records to see if my mother's check had cleared," and he responded, "No, I didn't." Then I said, "So, let me get this straight, Rick. After my mom told you that she paid right after the services were performed and informed you that she had the check number and date, and that it had cleared, you STILL threatened to sue her rather than check your own bank. Is THIS what I'm hearing??? You're not even contrite about it. I haven't once heard an apology."
He continued to yell at me, so I told him I'd follow through on my promise to contact the BBB and file a formal complaint against him, as well as write a thorough review. There you have it. What kind of vendor treats its customers this way? I was an Operations Manager for a 1.2 million square foot Class-A office building downtown and dealt with multiple contracts and vendors. I've never had this kind of experience in my life or career, and his behavior is reprehensible. Never use this man's services if you can help it. read more