You begin a project expecting your contractor to A) not create a disaster and B) not explicitly lie…read moreand C) not attempt to steal from you.
Charlie Sullivan could have easily gained our endorsement and won more business down the road. But Charlie seems to feel that bidding on work he can't competently do, blatantly lying, and attempting to bilk his clients is a clever way to do business. Even in the face of photographic evidence, detailed transcripts and contracts, Charlie responded with increasingly sloppy lies.
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CURRENTLY:
In violation of our privacy, Charlie Sullivan is still using unauthorized video images of our property on his business website https://www.sullivanandsonlm.com/
Charlie Sullivan - You do not have our permission to use the hazardous mess that you created at our home, to promote yourself. Continued use of our images is a violation of our rights. You promised last year to take our unauthorized images down off your site but you lied. We demand that you take them down now.
SUMMARY:
My wife and I solicited bids from Fairfield County landscapers to clear some trees, build a retaining wall and level our back yard. Of all the bids, Charlie Sullivan was least expensive. We awarded him the job without checking his references or qualifications.
Charlie trashed our yard. He left hazardous conditions all around our property. He destroyed lamps, trees, shrubs, landscaped beds. Just incompetent work. Garbage and debris and stumps. Charlie kept promising that he would eventually make right all the things he was screwing up, but he never did.
More harmful and expensive though, were Charlie's pure breaches of our contract: Bait-and-switch of materials. Unapproved shortcuts leading to major problems. Failing to deliver as our contract clearly stated. Nonstop lying and evading. Incompetence and half-assed effort.
Most alarming of all was Charlie's fraudulent attempt (thankfully discovered and exposed) to extort 3X bogus charges with fabricated invoices and extreme price gouging.
After months of trying to get Charlie to perform in good faith, referring him back to the contract terms, and providing documents and photos and transcripts of his lies and false numbers, we hired an attorney. Charlie continued his lying, evading, giving and breaking his word, and ever-changing his position with our attorney as well.
We determined that the cost of suing Charlie to recover our money for all the work he'd botched and the hazards he created, would be greater than the cost of just hiring other contractors to fix all the aspects Charlie screwed up.
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Charlie Sullivan:
* Attempting to bilk extra money for never-approved, non-existent "overruns". Making up fraudulent claims for three times the contracted amount. Shadily changing his story with evolving lies when exposed and asked for documentation.
* Multiple violations of clear terms of contract: I.E. Failure to chip logs as stated, instead creating a massive, hazardous log pile.
* Deceptive practices. Bait-and-switch. Hiding nonperformance. Destroying, then not keeping word to repair property. Endless incompetence. Blatant lies and unaccountability.
* Continued unauthorized use of our private images on his website.
CONCLUSION:
Charlie's dishonestly and incompetence led to significant extra cost for us, far beyond the original bids of any of our other landscapers for this project.
Charlie Sullivan was made aware of every one of these issues multiple times, both by us and our attorney. Time and again, Charlie chose to lie and play games.
Charlie is still invading our privacy and using our images to misrepresent his abilities, without our authorization and against our clear wishes.
If you are thinking of hiring Charlie Sullivan to do more than mow your lawn, think again.