CAULKINS CONSTRUCTION CO INC

Now that I sent him the invoice for a balance due from previous and the invoice for the new job, he does not want to pay. Claiming the photographs were "trash", and he deleted them from his hard drive. Keep in mind: The photography was done and images delivered in February. At no point has he contacted me to complain about he images. Furthermore, he arbitrarily changed the fee charged for headshots. In the past I had charged him very little for the photography, also been very generous in letting him use the images taken at a non-profit build he participated in. For this new job he was orally informed that my prices had increased. And the price per image is on the web link I had sent him for selection: http://www.trishhamilton.com/Caulkins/MetroParkStore/index.html For all I see: He refuses to pay services provided to him.

I was looking for a contractor to do some work on my home. I am a disabled veteran and needed some work done such as installing a set of new outside flood lights and an some interior lights to allow me to better see my surrounding, especially at night. I am legally blind and my night vision is very poor. I also needed some work to get a new fence installed over a treacherous retaining wall and install a new sidewalk around my home to help me better navigate around my home. All the funding was to come from the Veterans Administration and a HISA grant. The amount not covered by those funding sources was to come out of my pocket. The funding source is through a turn key process so the contractor gets paid when the job is complete. Since this job was more than the amount of funds I receive from the VA and/or HISA, I put my own funds for this project. I paid the contractor as work was done as he had requested from me; the remaining balance of the contract would be paid by the VA and HISA. He initially sent me partial invoices for the work scheduled to commence and I paid him in draws as requested. This is where is started to get a bit taxing. Rod Caulkins started complaining that his funds were running low and he is having a hard time paying contractors for this part of the job and just struggling. Being a very generous guy, I agreed to help him out by advancing him some money to cover some of the remaining project costs. He asked twice and I advanced him twice. He agreed that he will dutifully refund me when he got paid money from the VA/HISA when the job was complete. The job was completed on October 23, 2012 and all the money from me and from the VA and HISA shortly thereafter. Well, I got an email that he wouldn't be doing the door frame/ door replacement. Unbeknownst to me, he had submitted an invoice to HISA for a total of $6,800 (my max grant total) for the electrical work only. He invoice the entire electrical for $6,800 and no where was there for the new door frame/door. He sneakily, behind my back, submitted to HISA the entire $6,800 for just the electrical work only. The original contract was for the electrical work and door frame/door. He sent me an email after he got paid that he was sorry but wouldn't be completing the door frame. What a totally unethical contractor !! I complained to HISA about this situation. Rod did acknowledged that he did in fact misrepresent himself to the federal government and he agreed to refund the portion back to HISA for work he didn't do. I suspect he realized I have all the emails showing in fact he did falsify his invoice and I got a copy of his invoice he sent to HISA from my case worker showing a total of $6,800 for just the electrical work. How convenient the invoice for the electrical added up to $6,800. Where was the door frame/door? I also suspect that the mere the threat of the federal government coming after you for fraud was a determining factor, but he did agree to refund that portion of the monies. It took over two months for him to refund me my portion of the money I advanced him. He had the money in his hands from the very beginning, but when I asked him when I would get a refund from him, he said he didn't know when he would do it.. he basically taunted me saying he would pay me back but he didn't know when. In conclusion, I would never recommend this unethical company. He is a cheat and a liar. He took advantage of a disable veteran needing work on his home to make my life a little bit more livable and enjoyable, took his money and then left the job unfinished. How could you live with yourself as a company and as a person? What company does this our veterans ?? !! He took advantage of my good intentions and help when I advanced him money for which he said he had little. He lied to the federal government by falsifying invoice records to get paid for work he did not complete. He got caught and confessed in so many words and he is in the process of refunding HISA. I haven't got confirmation yet from my case worker if they received his refund check. I am still waiting so I can hire another contractor to finish what Rod failed to do. For all those interested in using Caulkins Construction --- DON'T !!! This company apparently doesn't have any sort of extra cash on hand or any sort of a credit account from which to draw money if he gets short of cash. It appears his company runs on vapors; very little cash and is entirely dependent on cash flows from each project to get him through. I wouldn't recommend this company for any disable veteran program since they work on turn key process and this company cannot work on that model. And I would not recommend this company to any one else looking for a reputable company.. Mr. Rod runs a shady business and this is evident when you when he submits a false invoice to the federal government on behalf of a disable veteran for work that has not in fact been complete and takes the money and then writes to me that he won't be completing the job. Absolutely unethical !!!