We hired Ivan and his company, Work Time Service LLC, for a full-house renovation- and what…read morefollowed was an incredibly distressing, expensive, and traumatic experience.
Partway through the project, Ivan issued a surprise $43,000 change order- for installing faucets, drains, vanities, outlets, lights, and other basic finish work that we reasonably expected to be included in our original agreement. These items had already been roughed in, and at no point prior were we told that installation would require additional charges. When we refused to pay this unjustified amount, Ivan threatened to stop work entirely.
We attempted to compromise by reducing the scope of work, but Ivan continued to insist on payment for the disputed change order items. The ongoing stress became so severe that I ended up in the ER, where I was diagnosed with migraine with aura. Ultimately, we no longer felt safe or comfortable allowing him or his team into our home. After we formally terminated the contract, Ivan threatened to file a mechanic's lien against our property -despite the fact that we had already paid well above the value of the work completed.
We deeply regret hiring him. If you're considering working with Ivan or Work Time, please read every line of the contract carefully, assume nothing is included unless explicitly spelled out, and think twice before trusting this contractor with your home.
Reasons We Would Not Recommend Work Time Service:
1. Unjustified, Excessive Change Orders
Ivan created a vague contract and ignored multiple clarifications we made during the walkthrough. Initially, the work progressed with acceptable quality and pace. But once he secured the majority of the payment, he began reclassifying almost every remaining task as a change order -including installing faucets, lights, and even basic drainage.
For example, the contract clearly included vanity installation in one bathroom, which also required major plumbing changes such as moving the toilet and replacing a shower with a freestanding tub. When it came time to install the vanity, Ivan claimed additional plumbing work was needed and tried to bill it as a new change order -even though vanity installation was explicitly included. The same happened with faucet and drain installation; we weren't told these were extra until after we had already paid 80% of the contract, with only about 50% of the work completed.
Many of these items had already been completed by that point. Ivan later claimed they were done "in good faith," yet never communicated any additional cost until after the fact -a clear misuse of the change order process.
2. Threatening Behavior (Both Verbal and Written)
We invited Ivan for an in-person meeting to express our concerns and resolve the change order dispute. Instead of working toward a resolution, he threatened to "cut the wires in the house" if we didn't pay the change order amount.
The threats didn't stop there - they continued over email, where he warned us multiple times that he would file a mechanic's lien against our property.
3. Poor Communication
From the beginning, communication was a challenge. Ivan refuses to take phone calls and insists on texting only - and even then, he often dodges questions and gives vague or no answers.
His crew does not speak English, making in-person communication nearly impossible. At the same time, they expected us to be available on-site at all hours to answer questions and make clarifications.
Ivan also charged extra to pick up cabinets from our vendor, but his crew failed to bring the full order -- the laundry room cabinets were missing. When we asked about it, they said, "That's all the vendor gave us," and accepted no responsibility for confirming the pickup. We were still billed the full amount.
4. Subpar Quality of Work
We are extremely dissatisfied with the tile work. We had specifically requested 1/32" grout lines. While the crew showed us they used the correct spacers, the actual grout lines ended up being over 1/8" in most areas and were noticeably uneven.
We provided the grout ourselves and gave clear instructions on how to mix the grout and color. Despite confirming these instructions twice, the grout color on the bathroom walls came out patchy and mismatched -the crew ignored our instructions and mixed it incorrectly on their own.
5. Disrespectful and Unprofessional Behavior
One of Ivan's crew members was openly disrespectful toward me on-site. When we brought this to Ivan's attention, he dismissed it as a "communication issue" and refused to take it seriously.
We experienced the same lack of accountability when we confronted him about the grout issues. Rather than accepting responsibility, he deflected blame and ignored our concerns.
6. Mishandling of Client Materials
We found a crew member loading our flooring into his car during an unannounced site visit.He gave no explanation and claimed not to understand English. Ivan later excused it as a misunderstanding.
