If you are thinking about hiring someone out of the phonebook, think again!
I hired this company on 4/25 to fix a window that was hard to open. The owner came by, said he could fix it, charged me $25 and said he would come back in a few days.
On 4/28, he came and fixed my window and asked for another $50. After work, I tried to open the window and it was broken again.
He came back, looked at it, and said he would contact Harvey for a piece (I believe this to be the balance) and would get back to me in a week. He never did.
I called him the next week and he said I'll be there next Tuesday. He never came or called again. I called him again, and this process repeated for 7 weeks. Every time I called he said he would be there the next week and never showed or called.
It is now 6/8, and I am frustrated at this point, so I just want my money back so that I can call another contractor, because I don't believe he ever planned on coming back.
And why would I, it's not like he called me to let me know he wasn't coming or to reschedule. Anyway, I called again and he promised to come on 6/6 and this was my final date. He did not show or call...again. So I texted him Wed morning and he said he would definitely come tomorrow between 6:30am and 7am, because he knows i go to work at 8am.
Well, it's tomorrow and I had to leave the house in 15 minutes (and...I'm finally at my breaking point), so I texted him that I would be by his house to collect my money. I only said that, because I didn't believe he would ever drive back to my house to return money. He called back and told me that I was not getting my money back and that he was actually on his way but sitting in traffic and that he did me a favor only charging 75 dollars when it usually would cost 150. Well, I gladly would have payed 150 for a fixed window, but now I payed 75 for a broken window. If he was really in traffic and not going to make it, wouldn't he have called so that he would not continue to drive to my house when I'm not going to be home?
Also, so what favor did he give me? Except the stress of thinking he's burning me for 7 weeks.
Anyway, after a few texts back and forth he finally said it wasn't worth the aggravation and that he would mail my check out tomorrow. I texted back,"Thanks, that would be a great gesture, since I still have a broken window." Anyway, we will see if he really returns the money. I doubt it, but If not, paying 75 dollars so that someone else doesn't have an experience like mine is going to have to suffice. Maybe I can help someone else to avoid this in the future.
Update: never sent my money back! read more