Starnes Construction Services LLC

I've spent over $20,000 on this project so far, nothing is even close to being done, and after 8 months he's blocked my number and won't actually finish any work. April 5th, 2021 we agreed on his estimate and he walked away with a check for $14,000 so that he would start work in a couple weeks. Shortly after, he 'accidentally blocked' my phone number and ignored calls, voicemails, and emails for a few months. Early august he finally called me back saying we could get started working. October 19th is when he finally made it out for an actual day of work, and he spent most of it off site making runs to the bank or hardware store while I, and the two guys he hired, did just about all of the work. The night before, he requested the plans for the work to be done, when I asked if he wanted the full project plans or just the garage slab, he said he only wanted to see the specs on the garage slab. The next day he showed up and claimed he thought part of the garage slab was the dimensions for the driveway (A 16x17 foot section) for a driveway that's 100ft long. None of the grading was finished that day, the frame that eventually went up wasn't square, or level, and he demanded more money that day to actually do the work, unlike what was written in his service contract which was half down to get started, then the other half on final pour. His service contract specifies meeting in person to discuss grievances before resorting to the legal system. In November I went to his house because he continued to just not show up to work when he said he'd be out there. He promised to be out the next day, Friday, with a crew to finish the work so we could pour the next week. No show, and no communication. Monday, he suddenly had a doctor's appointment, so nobody could show up. Tuesday, he hadn't shown up by 10am, so I called him, at which point he said he was on his way. 11:30am he still hadn't shown, so another phone call and he told me he was on his way, he just left a brush drop off site that he was dumping his trailer full that he had filled over the weekend. After that, he refused to answer any calls or texts. Needless to say, he never bothered showing up, or anyone else. I spent $600 to retain an attorney and send a demand letter that he finish the work he'd been paid for, and was completely ignored. The week after the demand letter, I hand delivered a copy of the demand letter to his front door, and left another under his windshield wiper. He refused to answer the door, but was visible in the windows. His girlfriend talked through their door bell saying they weren't home and to leave the letter in the door. He blocked my number again after this visit. Its now December, over 8 months after he was first paid, the attorney has sent one last demand letter to get money paid refunded. No response in the last week, so we'll need to be filing suit at the end of the week.