A UNIQUE HOME CONTRACTOR

This company is the worst. Rick quotes a fair price, then hires workers off of Craig's list so he can pocket 75% of the money as profit. He doesn't do background checks, doesn't pay for good labor, and then "wonders" why the project goes wrong. On July 19, we contracted with "A Unique Home" for remodeling work on our upstairs bedroom and sitting area, and four downstairs ceilings. Rick agreed to start work the next day. We had found Rick on the Better Business Bureau website, and we chose him out of five other reputable contractors, because he had listed 25 employees on the BBB website, and he told us that we would have a "crew" of 3-5 people working. We had a deadline, and we chose him as our contractor because he told us that he understood the time constraints, and had the work force to get it done. We gave him a check for $3000.00, with another $3000.00 due on completion of the work. Four days after the scheduled start date, Rick showed up with one worker, and represented to us that this person was going to complete the entire job. However, the next three days demonstrated that the worker did not have the proper tools, and he did not have the experience needed to do the work. He was put into a situation that was out of his depth. He had never stained or clear-coated trim. He had never put down a laminate floor. He told me he had "watched someone installing a laminate floor," so he felt he could do it with no problem. He had limited experience with wiring. During conversation with the worker, we found out that Rick had an ad running on Craig's list, looking for "carpenters." Rick had hired this guy from the ad on Craig's list without even a background check. We also found out that the worker was promised only $2000 to complete the entire job. He worked for three days, decided it was just not worth it, and did not to come back. We emailed a lengthy complaint to the contractor, outlining our issues. We stated we felt our trust had been broken. Repeatedly, we had realized that he had been less than honest with us. First, listing 25 employees on the BBB website, then we observed the listing was changed to one employee. He told us he could not start on time because his crew was not finished on another job. Instead, we found out the real reason was that the person he hired off of Craig's list never showed up to work. The number of workers required for the job had slid from five to three to one. We stated we were ten days into the job, very little had been accomplished, and there was virtually no way that new workers would be able to do quality work, and still complete the contracted work on time. We were also aware that the first worker was not paid for his three days of work. We stated that Rick really had no money into the project at all, and had only invested a small amount of time. We asked him to refund our money, and cancel the contract. Instead, he made excuses about why he had sent only one person at the outset, and sent two new workers. On July 30th, we again wrote Rick because the new workers were also going to quit, because they were only getting paid $1800 for two people. No capable worker would accept the amount of work in the house for what Rick was paying. Rick agreed to increase their pay to $3000. They came back to work. On July 31st, we emailed the contractor again, ?Our only wish is to have this job done on time, with the level of quality you guaranteed us. We own a small business. We know that when you low-ball your workers, you are risking a sub quality job. We would never have hired you if we had known that you were gouging your subcontractors, because we know there would be no way to maintain quality workers- and that is exactly what has happened. We strongly suggest you rethink your business model.? We didn't hear from him or see him at all for the next two weeks. On August 16th, the contractor showed up, demanding that we change the terms of the agreement. He complained that he misquoted the job, and he felt his workers were taking too long. He said he wasn't going to pay the workers anymore if we didn?t agree to his terms. He told us he was pulling his workers, and he refused to refund our money for the unfinished work. He left, after telling his workers to pack up, because the job was ?finished.? He kept the entire $3000 deposit, and did not complete the work. We are now stuck with having to find someone else to finish the job. We are hopeful that we can get our money back through the BBB, but we may end up going to small claims court.

Headaches, heartaches, totally horrible.