Some years ago, I made perhaps the biggest mistake ever. I contacted AHS and Herp Penrod to…read moreprovide a price for the repair and replacement of some wood gates at my home. An individual calling himself 'Carmen' came out, looked over the job, and sent out a price sheet; no contract was ever offered. My wife and I agreed and sent the entire asking price to Mr. Penrod to start the job ASAP. My wife and I are both over eighty, and we're considered old school, as Carmen pointed out the two times he spoke to us. The 'old school' was his answer to not replacing the gate handle, the house numbers, the gate spring he tore off, the flag holders on the fascia board and the discarded wood he threw over the wall. He and Mr. Penrod basically approached the job as a paid-for project that was finished. Tongue-and-groove slats were replaced with the cheapest knot-filled, and now, unrequested, spaced wood. The screw heads ranged from Phillips-head to power-tool-only acceptable. To no avail, I contacted the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, the Atty. General's office, the Tucson Better Business Bureau, they had given AHS the A+ rating I relied on, and influenced our decision, and Pima County Age Council. Their response was, "What do you want us to do?" The Tucson BBB replied that they didn't write the reviews, and the Registrar of Contractors was relieved after two appointments, both canceled, didn't address a resolution.
The nearly $4,000 job was approached with a hostile age basis attitude of contempt and scorn. The check was cashed so we can do as we wish, and they did. My email request the day after the job was considered done by AHS, and only AHS, as no walk-through was offered or ever took place, to meet with Mr. Penrod and Carmen at my home was less than a five-minute conversation. It seemed it was more a pretext to appease the state's requirement. It ended with Mr. Penrod shouting across my drive, in front of my home, that he considered my email request "a much of bullshit". He later called me from what I believed was his Cell Phone, as it didn't come in clearly and I could not understand him. It was the last attempt either of us made to contact the other. The Tucson BBB continues to have an A+ rating for AHS; Angie's List, on which AHS is considered a vetted and worthy contractor, said "sorry" and was never heard from again.
There is much, much more, but as I will soon turn 86, I don't have the time or energy to deal with this 'elder abuse'.
