Zero Stars. Phil Castello proved to me last night he had no intention of following through on work…read moreI hired him for once he was paid in advance for the last half of it. Nor, will he make the time to stand behind work he completed, some of which is already failing. To avoid having to return, rectify, or refund, since May, Phil has ignored my emails, text, and a message submitted through their website. When I finally managed to find and get a response from his wife yesterday through Facebook Messenger, she said I should have kept in touch if I wanted Phil to return, because now he's booked until sometime next year. In addition, she reported that he claimed "time and materials" ate up the cost. I had not gotten receipts or explanations for these costs previously because Phil had not bothered to reconcile the invoice until I caught up with him last night. He said I actually owed more but he was willing to let go of the difference. In the end, they resigned themselves to giving me a refund for half the amount they said I owed them, far less than the work he still owes me.
Acknowledging it was my fault for trusting him enough to give the money in advance, I gave up out of sheer frustration, and told them to send me the meager refund check. While the couple refuses to discuss matters of dispute in-person or over the phone, requiring that all be in writing for the record, I had already been blamed more than once for lack of communication and misunderstandings. There was no way I was going to type my way through to a satisfiable resolution when it was clear this couple is not professional, let alone, mature enough to take any accountability without first attempting to ghost, deflect, and gaslight their customer.
Yes, I agree one should never pay outright prior to completed work. Still, that doesn't give the Castello's the right to take advantage of the situation. I took a chance, and learned that their way of doing business is precisely why that norm exists. My fault, completely. However, I was in the unique position to be able to pay him off early, and Phil had expressed more than once that they were trying to finish up work on their own house, too, and that they were tight financially at the time because of it. As a young local couple with little kids, trying to grow their business, and my being pleased with what he'd done to that point, I chose to be supportive in that way for both our sakes, and I explicitly said in an email that I trusted him to return to complete the work. The last thing he said to me with his father sitting next to him was, "See you in September," which made it clear to me that I was already on his calendar to return. Apparently, no more time was scheduled for me. Soon after that, I noticed some problems with his work, and couldn't get ahold of him to tell him anything about my needs for September, let alone, about the issues around what he'd completed.
Not only do I not recommend Castello Contracting & Home Services, LLC, I'm actively warning the community and local businesses that they took my money and ran, and hid right behind their screens.
