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"I give him a fair rating because he did pick up the phone and continue to engage. There is a bad pattern of contractors in this region ghosting you for better jobs. I have remodeled multiple properties and own rental units in the region so I am familiar with the process. I contacted him by phone and he shut me down pretty quick to just text him the specs of the job. I provided him very concise description of the work involved via text. He quoted me a price of $875 to set 46 blocks, labor only. I thought this was an extremely high price compared to the $150-600 quotes I had received for the same job. The reason I continued to engage Steve was because the other contractors had a longer lead time and time is money. After that he asked me to drive 45 minutes to a job he was at to sign a “contract” for the work. When I called him to set the meeting place he asked if I “brought my check book”. This set me off a bit. As a background and complete transparency, I am a degreed engineer that has been responsible for the bidding and construction of multi-million dollar projects. I recognize that this does not make me qualified to truly judge a small residential job like I was asking Steve to do but it does give me perspective. My issue with Steve beyond his incredibly high price was that he wanted almost 80% deposit on a labor only job with a large window to completion in his “contract”. He did say he hoped to finish much sooner than that, but any down payment on a labor only agreement should be at 25% or not at all. When I pushed back he tried to tell me it was “standard practice” which I can assure it is not. I was done at this point. He did back off this, but acted like he was doing me a favor. I then asked about the quantity of mortar I had purchased was sufficient (it was in the bed of my truck) and he told me it was way too much. I agree that it was more than needed (it’s $10 a bag, does it really matter?) but to fill the cores it was not too excessive. He told me that was not part of the deal and would cost $150-300 more, now a $300 job for $1,200. In his defense I did not spec the block fill, but for almost $900 I figured he would plate it in gold for me. After reviewing the “contract” I had to drive 45 minutes to see I decided it was best to talk away from a contractor like this. I understand trying to protect your self and your business, but this was excessive. As I was getting in my truck I hard Steve say something along the line of “I have time in this”. I am guessing he is referring to reading a text message, typing a bs contract and spending 20 minutes trying to collect a check. He never came to the site, I had to come to him, I know he doesn’t want to pay my hourly rate. I quoted “contract” several time in my comment. I deal with construction contracts every day and what Steve gave me was not a contract prepared by a Tennessee attorney. It would be easily defeated in court, I say this if you have been wronged by him. I will never deal with Steve again because of the way he acted. His work may be great, but dealing with bs is not worth it. Steve, reading your other review responses I assume you will leave a detailed response as to why I am uniformed and not knowledgeable about your process. I promise that I am both informed, knowledgeable, and ready to defend myself and my statements."