Concrete Connection

I requested bids from 4 different companies. I was most comfortable with Larry and his estimate and hired him to do the job. During our initial appointment, he said the work would take 3 to 4 days to complete. I told him that I needed the job done this summer. I feel he took liberties with my flexible time and this ended up causing me unneeded stress (note to self: don't share time flexibility, the job needs to get done right away). He started the job on Thursday, July 8. Said that he was unable to make it out Friday, but would be out again on Saturday/Sunday/Monday so that it was finished before we left for our vacation. I was fine with this and paid him the 50% check deposit. He didn't show on Saturday or Sunday, so Monday morning I called. He was unable to make it because his babysitter didn't show, but said that he would be out the rest of the week and would get the job done before we left on Friday (July 16). The job wasn't done before we left and he said that he would try his best to get it done before we returned (Wednesday, July 21) but couldn't make any promises. We returned and very little work appeared to be done. I figured that approximately 5 hours of work was completed over two weeks time. I wasn't satisfied with the progress. I didn't appreciate the lack of communication on his part, the many unanswered/returned calls to follow up on the status of the job. Then there was a runaround for getting the concrete truck out here and that delayed work even more. Finally, after the concrete was poured, the rest of the job went quickly. After the job was complete, I wrote him a check for the remaining balance. I had noticed a couple of details that I wanted him to address (a few spindles at the end of the railing) and he said that he would come out the next day if I really wanted them to be installed. I told him I'll look at it longer later and decide if that's what I wanted and if so, I'd call him. Looking the fence over in closer inspection there were several details I wanted modified (the top rail wasn't the same width as the stair rail, a few more missing spindles, the top rail of the gate was short about an inch, and they used two pieces of wood rather than a full piece to attach the gate to the fence, little things, but I wanted them corrected). I called, but haven't heard from him. We will make the changes ourselves, but it is disappointing that Larry wouldn't return my call and left the fence slightly incomplete (note to self: don't pay balance until satisfied with the completed work). Each time we hire a company to do work we learn lessons. The last thing I've learned from this experience and will insist on for future jobs will be to include a start and finish date on the contract. Even though I told him that I wanted the job done this summer, I figured once he started he would work solid hours to get it done in 3 to 4 days as he initially claimed. In the end, I am very satisfied with the quality of the concrete work. The steps, driveway, and curb are beautiful. There are other concrete projects that need to be done, and I would hire this company do the work because I know it would turn out great. However, I don't think the quality of the fence is equal to the cost of the fence, so I would not hire this company to do any more carpentry. If I did hire this company again, I would learn from the lessons from this project and avoid the same mistakes. However, I'm hoping to be able to find another company in the area that can do concrete just as nice (without the extra headaches) and no longer need to do business with Concrete Connection.