F & B CONTRACTORS

We were completely ripped off...we were young and fairly new home owners. Zack Fielder, that would be the 'F' of the F & B, beat our lowest quote by approx $1000 so we chose him. We didn't sign a contract because he "had never needed a contract"..we had met him through a mutual friend whom he had did work for so we thought he was legit. We paid him half of the agreed amount upfront. His crew came in immediately and framed up the basement quickly...so far so good! Things went south from there. The gas fireplace we wanted would be extra because that wasn't included. The bathroom would not have a standing shower along with a tub because there wasn't enough room or it would be extra because of the necessary digging for plumbing. We wouldnt see or hear from Mr. Fielder for weeks at a time or he would just not show up. He dry walled over the junction boxes and the main water shut off valve. He had a painter come in and paint before the drywall was finished. He never got a building permit! I wanted oak treds on my stairs and when it became time to finish those it would be extra. The cabinets that he included in the bathroom and bar area were so horribly cheap, nothing like what we had discussed. The tile work was incomplete. Fortunately we became wiser and did not pay him the remaining amount when he requested it, but we had to start contacting and then paying the electrician, plumber, and trim guy he had brought in initially because Mr. Fielder had fallen off the face of the earth and we needed the job finished. The 2 month process ended up taking 10 months. To sum it up..we were screwed. We hadn't signed a contract and we couldn't go to court because we had no clue that if he did not get a building permit it became the home owners responsibilty, therefore the county could send a home inspector into our house and have everything ripped down...the result would then be us having a completely unfinished basement AND being 25k poorer. We were clueless and unfortunately he knew it. Fortunately we have recovered financially and are now having our kitchen remodeled correctly by a fabulous contractor. The last thing I heard, his house was headed towards foreclosure & he was we working at a hardware store. Karma is so sweet.