[jtm60]

Before I blow 50 bucks on a 'people search'...I had a guy come over and install a section of fence..seemed on the level.

My first concern was that he asked me for money up front on the day of the job "for materials"..then he started working, and I let him go for a while..when I came out, he had the fence backwards from the way we discussed it, including having the gate opening the wrong way. Both of these items will make it fail the inspection, as this is for a pool.

After I got him pointed back in the right direction, he basically needed to start over and I agreed to have him do it differently to save him some aggravation (costing me more money)...

He showed back up while I was at work, and threw it together...and my wife made the mistake of paying him in full because 'it looked ok'....

Well the gate barely closed, the lock mechanism is backwards, the gate construction is poor...gate is 'racked', multiple pickets barely attached, various other hacked up things..

He told my wife he would fix anything that was not right or would cause it to not pass...not answering his phone when I call, but answers when I call with a different # or unlisted...didnt show for our 6pm meeting tonite.

I want to find out where he is so I can send the cops or inspector his way. If anyone can help, I'd greatly appreciate it. PM me and I will give you the #. I have his name and know approximately where he is. This is pretty irritating.

 

[furball8994]

Did you try Google? Works quite a bit unless they submit a "do not list" form to Google.

Also. If you have his name and number, That should be all the cops need to track him down.

 

[jtm60]

I will try it now..thanks

 

[jtm60]

no dice....

 

[furball8994]

Sorry. If he's licensed, You may have luck with the BBB.

 

[jtm60]

he's a scab...doubt he's licensed...

he was definitely the second or third option, but he was courteous, and showed up, seemed legit...

nobody else seemed to want to even come out to give an estimate...called many places..this guy was more of a 'handyman' type.

 

[manganos]

I always take down license plates of anyone doing work on my house. You never can be too careful. Good luck and I hope you get what you paid for.

 

[jtm60]

yeah, i almost did that...and I thought I was being a little paranoid...

don't know why i didn't go with my gut on this, but I really needed the work done and didnt really have time to do it myself....now it looks like I will be fixing all his mistakes, I know he's not coming back.

is it worth it to call the cops?

 

[Dave Birdwell]

Maybe talk to the inspector? See if he has some sort of license for a contractor? If no license, you're SOL.

 

[bb1966chevelle]

To the best of my knowledge, you cant do a reverse cell phone look up. All that will do is tell you a general area and the cell phone provider name.
I think his name would make him much easier to track down, unless its Smith or Johnson or something else common.
Anyway, try using the name here ...... http://www.whitepages.com/reverse-lookup
Good luck!

 

[DOUG G]

Do you have a full name ? (first and last)

 

[jtm60]

i tried the reverse white pages look up..and it comes back with some close names...also, i will have a cancelled check that he used to buy materials, so that ought to tell me something.

i havent talked to the inspector (yet), but I can try that too. I know he has no license.

I do have a first and last name (actually 2 first names!) and the cell # (well it seems like a cell #, that came back with his name each time he had called me)..

 

[70ChevelleRagtop]

Try www.anywho.com I've had good luck with the reverse lookup option on there when Google comes up empty handed...

 

[bowtie6872]

stop payment on both checks

 

[jtm60]

too late on the stop payments..this whole issue dates back a week or so..

not unexpectedly, his cell phone # was disconnected today...i called at 6am or so and got that message. nice guy.

my wife said she was able to find an address on this guy somewhere, using the info we had.

i really don't think I will get any satisfaction out of the inspector or the police, and the $$ involved really not worth my time in small claims court. just really aggravates me that this guy basically beat us for money and wont honor his word ( and worthless written receipt).

you know, with all the talk about the illegal immigration problem in this country...the mexicans i see working around here bust their asses and do nice work...myself and my next door neighbor have now both been beat for $ and shoddy work going with the nice english speaking guy...neither one knew what the hell he was doing and took off never to be seen again. its a sad state of affairs.

i helped this guy carry the lumber, hell i would have still paid him and helped him do the job the right way...too bad i was at work and my wife is clueless when it comes to basic construction. if i showed you guys pictures of what he did, you would laugh..."hacker" and "butcher" are the two words that come to mind.

add to that the fact that he thinks he can ditch me...i mean honestly, this can be rectified in about 4 hours with minimal material costs. i guess i shouldnt even get worked up over it anymore and just start fixing it...chalk it up to live an learn.

my wife is in disbelief that someone would do this...she can be pretty naive sometimes, as a lot of women are...but it is hard not to take people at their word when they have a good line of BS.

 

[DOUG G]

It's really funny when they think they beat you, and you call them on their home number and tell them who you are, state their address, and tell them to fix it on the Cops are being called.