High WaterMark Marine Construction

I informed the owner that I wanted the work accomplished in a timely manner and asked when the work could be started. He told me that he could start the next week. I asked how many crews he had to accomplish the work and he responded that he had three crews working on different jobs, but one had just finished up and could start on mine immediately. I asked how long would the job take because I needed to schedule some other activities and received that to be safe in case of bad weather, he would be finished within six weeks. I felt that it was no more than a three week job, but was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. We agreed to a price and I immediately started the process of sending an e-check to his for the payment. Over two weeks after he was paid and no work at all had been started, I sent him an e-mail stating that he had broke his promise of starting immediately and that if he couldn't accomplish the job, if he returned my deposit immediately, we would just walk away and forget it. He called me with an apology and stated that he was starting the next day. The following day, he brought a digging machine to the site and did a couple of hours of work and disappeared for another two weeks. After I sent him another e-mail threatening legal action, he showed up in the a couple of afternoons and a weekend. The following week, he asked for a second payment. After I e-mailed him and told him that we had aggreed on three payments based on an initial deposit, when the work was half finished and at the end. I pointed out that he was within a week of the agreed upon completion date and he wasn't close to being half finished, thus was not due another payment. I also told him that based on his work to date, The next payment would be no more than one-third of the total and that it would not be made until I was satisfied with the progress. Again he gave me multiple excuses about another job causing him problems and promised yet again to get my job finished. Again him, and at times, one other individual showed up until the progress was enough for me to feel comfortable. I provided him with another check and to my horror, he cashed the check and I didn't see him again for two weeks. After informing him again that I would take legal action if the job was not completed in a timely manner, he showed up again offering excuses and started working in the evenings and on weekends. It looked like he was going to finish, but I went on vacation for a week when he told me that he had two to three days of work left and when I returned, I saw that he had done nothing while I was away. I called him again and asked about the work and just recieved more excuses. After no work had been accomplished after another week, I sent him an e-mail stating that he had six days to complete the work and remove all his equipment off the property. I told him that after midnight of the deadline, if I caught him on my property, I would file trespassing charges against him. I also told him that I would find another contractor to finish or redo the job the following week and file a lawsuit against him for the entire cost. He finally showed up every day and finished the job prior to the deadline, which was six weeks after he promised the job to be completed. He had promised to remove all waste material off the property and provide backfill by the new retaining wall. I had to force him to clean up after himself and no backfill was provided. By the end of the job, I was so dissatisfied with the job and I just wanted him gone. I would never recommend anyone get involved with this company for anything.