I engaged this contractor to renovate my elderly mother-in-laws bathroom. The contract was on the high end of the estimate I gathered (approx $27K) for a small bathroom to remove the tub, widen the door and install a handicapped toilet but I was swayed by their participation on PBS this Old house show in Boston area. I had to manage this project from another state and had to get done in a 2 elapsed time month window so a premier fee for outstanding project management and execution was warranted in my mind. The contract stated the job was to be done in 3 weeks. At 3 weeks we had a gutted bathroom with no tile delivered yet. They started on April 8 and 6 weeks later we arrived at the house because we had been told it was almost finished. It was not complete at all.
Their workers left my house in shambles - materials and construction dust everywhere, garbage on floor, old food in my refrigerator, no railing outside for safety as promised, they had been living there for weeks according to my neighbors. There were enough building materials in the yard and stored inside on our screen in porch to assume they had launched multiple jobs from our home.
We called the project manager. They did come back and remove building materials. They also finished much of the job, except the glass shower door installation, grab bars, soap dish and a some punch list items like a chipped vanity and repaint work. However, they also stole materials that were in the house and we had paid for in the contract on the way out like the grab bars and soap dish. They cancelled the order of the shower door at Cape and Island glass and never attempted to return - abandoned job.
We called the owner and refused to pay the remaining 5% awaiting resolution. The owner Rick Castino then threatened me with bodily harm, sent a mechanic lien letter to my elderly mother in law and a 93A letter threatening her with tremble damages and then filed a lawsuit for an amount thousands of dollars over the original contract amount on a job they abandoned. I spent over $12K defending this lawsuit but agree to settle in mediation because I could not risk another $10K on the trial when I only had a 50% chance of recovering my legal fees.
Here is a primer- simple contract breach does not mean you will be made whole. You win the lawsuit but you lose the war (thousands of $ in legal fees that you cannot recover). A Threat of violence does not equal to egregious behavior according to mediator. During mediation Rick Castino lied repeatedly but that is not binding in arbitration. This project had a payment schedule for $8000 up front, $8000 at rough plumbing, $8000 at final inspection and a final payment of the balance at walk though. I would never agree to an upfront payment. The contractor either has cash flow issues or is dishonest. If they say they need it for materials - buy the material yourself.
A search of MA court database shows that they have filed lawsuits against other people and have received judgements against those people because they didn't appear, maybe that is because their clients are elderly and/of handicapped and could not afford to engage legal counsel to defend themselves from these predatory contractors.
If I could give this company minus stars I would. OI victimizes the vulnerable, elderly and handicapped while claiming to act their interest and gaining their trust only to sue them later. I frankly could not think of any more despicable. read more
