My Handyman

Scott belongs to a group of trades people who make referrals within their group for various services. Scott was recommended to me by a very reputable electrician in the group who replaced electrical panels for me at both my houses last summer. The electrician is a highly rated Angie's List service provider. I was told that Scott is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, which had a bearing on my decision to hire him. I have had Scott do various projects around my houses over the past 10 months, or so. To his credit, I was generally satisfied with the work he performed, with a few exceptions. One exception involved his hiring a painter of his own choosing to paint the side of my house (from within their trade group) following some siding replacement he did. I had already asked my own painter complete the painting. Scott was only asked to replace the siding. Since Scott's painter had already purchased paint because he was told he had the job, I felt obligated to hire him, but was not pleased to be put in such a position. Scott's painter was more expensive than mine. I felt that Scott overstepped his bounds. The lack of communication turned out to be a pattern. He also has a habit of not billing for his work until weeks later, which makes it difficult for a client to remember what work is being billed. Several months ago, I asked Scott to help me organize a large project at my other house involving the replacement of a collapsing retaining wall and installation of a driveway and paver patio. I felt too overwhelmed by the scope of the project to handle it on my own. In addition, I asked him to install some raised garden beds in the backyard earlier in the spring so my daughter could have a garden this year. The raised beds and several other projects I requested were never completed. I emailed him twice about two severely leaking faucets at my own house, and he never responded to my emails. I finally had to hire another repairman. He did hire a gifted landscaper to install the block wall. The company did a beautiful job. Scott told me that he would only charge me 2% to run the job instead of the 10% other brokers would charge. I have no way of knowing if this is the case. He ordered a giant roll-off dumpster for $225 which was used minimally for a week during demolition of a storage area. I paid Scott a total of $14,625 for the block wall and excavation and an additional $2,126 to him for the contractor to replace carport supports. Scott also told me that he uses a man who is down on his luck for odd jobs and for whom he does not pay worker's comp or insurance, He asked it I would permit the man to work on my property to keep the cost down. I declined. During the time that he was supposed to be supervising my job, he went on a extended fishing trip to Canada and left me a voice message that I had 24 hours to call him so he could answer any questions I had regarding the project. The message said that if I did not call him back in that time frame, he would be out of cell phone range for more than a week. I was also told that he needed $7,000 down payment from me. During the time he was supposed to be supervising my project, he also organized a family reunion and spent weekends at his cabin out of town in addition to the fishing trip. I do not begrudge a working man spending time with his family, but he was not supervising the project or communicating with me. Text messages and phone messages were not returned, and excuses were made. I had to insist, at the 11th hour, that I be included in the decision regarding the color of the block for the wall,. I called the landscaper directly because I could not get ahold of Scott, but I was not permitted to meet with the landscaper directly. Scott dropped off the samples himself and the house for me to view. I also spoke directly with the licensed contractor who obtained the permit for resetting the carport posts. I asked if he would be willing to pour some additional concrete. I told him I would cover whatever cost this entailed. I had to ask the contractor directly because, again, Scott was not available. Scott told me later that he had spoken to the contractor and that the contractor would NOT be doing the work I requested. I finally confronted Scott about his lack of communication and he said he would try to do better. Still, he was always in the middle of hanging drywall, etc., when I called. I didn't call him all that often, but he rarely took my calls. I then asked him to investigate the best, least expensive options for a driveway, concrete pad by the front door and a patio. I received a text from him on July 14th that stated he had not had any time to look into this. The block wall had been completed for some time, and I was eager to move forward to project completion, so I began to do the research myself and solicited bids. On July 24th, I received a call from Scott, and he chewed me out for moving forward with the project on my own. He felt that I was out of line in talking directly with the people he had hired and for seeking bids for the driveway, patio, and concrete pad. He said that I should expect this project to take the entire summer, when I knew this could have and should have all been completed in a month's time. I was furious that he would have the audacity to speak to me the way he did. I explained that had he been better at communicating with me it would not have been necessary to speak with them directly. It should be noted that the estimate Scott gave me several months ago included the block wall, excavation, replacement of the carport supports, and installation of a paver patio. In addition, he and I also discussed installing a security door and a screen door, what to do with the old flagstone from the backyard, gutter repairs, shed construction, and a driveway, but none of these items were bid or completed. During our conversation on the July 24th, he said he wanted to complete the paver patio himself, at a cost of $3,500, but when I told him it would have to be started by July 31st and completed by August 8th and that I wanted a contract from him, he informed me that is not the way he runs his business. We agreed that day to terminate the agreement for him to work for me any longer. I wish I could attach pictures of the gutter downspouts all askew. Even though I paid all this money for the project, he did not budget in for the gutters. He told me that he does not have to proper tools to fix them, so he was going to hire a gutter company. I declined to have him do so. I will have a new handyman fix them. On August 4th, I received an email and was told that he was in the process of selling my flagstone and had found a buyer. He said that he would not charge me for all his trouble to do this. I answered his email and told him that he did not have the authority to sell my flagstone, and that his buyer could contact me directly, if he wished. I received the following email reply: "Actually, Kathy, we DID discuss me selling your flagstone, You seem to conveniently remember only the things that are convenient for you to remember. Nevertheless, the ball is entirely in your court now. My final invoice to you is in the mail." I reminded him again via email that his relationship with me terminated effective July 24th. The driveway, concrete pad, and patio were completed August 6th. Sprinklers, shed, fence and landscaping are to follow shortly.

He took off in the middle of the job after sending me his promise dates in an email. He installed the initial cabinetry improperly and refused to do it over. He returned and admitted that he was unable to proceed with the installation without instructions from another installer. So he was not to proceed until I get instructions from another installer. I made an appointment with the granite installer and went down there. They looked at my drawing and said my drawing was perfect and I didn't need to change anything. I called him on Monday and told him I didn't want to do this anymore and he called back in 15 minutes and said my kitchen was done. He sensed he was going to be fired so he showed up without permission at midnight on a Saturday night to finish the job and give me an invoice for payment. He did that behind my back without my authorization. I asked him if he attached the island cabinets to the floor and he said no. They had to be attached to the floor because the granite counter top that was going to be installed would tip over if it wasn't attached. He is doing numerous electrical jobs throughout Colorado Springs and he is not licensed for. He has instructed me how to pull a permit myself and lie to regional so he could do the electrical job himself. He is a con artist and has no ethics. The person doing my electrical work referred him to do the cabinet installation. The whole time he was trying to steal the electrical job from the licensed electrician that referred him and got him work.