JIM BELL CONSTRUCTION INC

Went badly. First meeting May 20. Sat down and described the kind of work we wanted done, (husband and self). Several days later received a not-to-proportion sketch that showed our house and the areas around it. Second meeting, had to be rescheduled. We talked about requirements and plants. Said we wanted to spend around $3,500 for enclosure area, surround of enclosure, and clearing two side yard areas. Looked through plant catalogue. Third meeting: still no plan for our house but saw a plan he had done for another house. Bell said that $3,500 would only cover enclosure area. Scheduled fourth meeting. Delayed by one day. My husband expressed concern that it had taken so long to get a plan and would Mr. Bell be timely on doing work. Mr. Bell explained that he was having business problems with some properties he owned, although it was not clear how that affected his ability to perform the work on time. Then Mr. Bell lost it, frankly. Stated that my husband would be difficult to work for, that he could NOT make any money on this job and did not want to do it. Told my husband that he had too much time on his hands and did not know what stress was. I asked why he had not simply told us that the could not do the job for the money and given us another estimate. But it was too late - he was already extremely upset and walked out. My husband and I were stunned, particularly at his hostile verbal attack on my husband, who had been quite calm and business like. I think Mr. Bell must have known by the third meeting that he did not want to do the work, and It would have been much more professional for him to have called us and stated that he could not do what we wanted, to his standards, for the price. By the way, as a combat wounded USMC veteran, my husband does, indeed, know what stress is.