Victor Porter

I had Victor on the phone before I saw his F rating from only one other customer and I told him about it. He said it was false and that they were in court over it - they didn't want to pay him. He gave me a number of a reference. I called and he said Victor was a good mason, he didn't know anything about the other job or rating. Since Victor had my phone number on his phone, he called back and asked me to give him a chance to estimate - he was polite and very earnest, so I did. When he arrived he gave me a $150 quote and said he could start right away. The other 2 people who came to estimate took measurements and left saying they would call me with their estimate. It's a simple job, about 15' long and 3 blocks high - about 2 blocks had broken off. I had enough cinder blocks for the extra layer. I thought the price was right and wasn't really fussy about the aesthetics - just wanted it done, so I gave him a chance. I gave him money upfront for the mortar and he came back the next day to start. He had another man with him who did the mortaring while Victor hauled blocks and gave directions. When they were about 3/4 finished, they started cleaning up and Victor asked me to pay him. I said I'd pay him $100 and the rest when he finished. He agreed and left. I can't say they left a mess, but they left my shovel, hoe and mixing pan without rinsing them off. The work on the wall was not perfect, but sturdy. I didn't have a chance to have him make corrections, because he never returned, even though we arranged a 10:00 starting time on another day by phone. It's too bad - I was willing to give him a better report to counteract the F. I believe he needs the work, but he's hard to understand and maybe didn't understand me. Still he needs to learn a better way to run his business.

It was a terrible experience. They came in and used foul language, demanded to be paid and you wouldn't see them for days or even weeks. You can reach in and pull the bricks out as they were placed in there mostly with sand. If you sit on the wall it falls apart. We have tried to get them to come out and redo the job but they won't do anything. They were supposed to acid wash the bricks and they never did it. My husband had to do that himself. They left garbage, trash and food wrappers all over the place. Victor keeps giving us different phone numbers to call and no one ever answers. He has never left an address with us and we don't know what to do. We regret using this company and would warn anyone else from ever using them.