Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  02/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired this man to do work at my home - mostly repair and finish work on sheetrock, insulation, scraping popcorn ceilings, remove an large built-in desk, and knocking out a small wall and door. While he was present maybe three times, he wasn't there the majority of the time. He sent two women employees (one of whom -named *****- drives an illegal van), instead of doing the work himself. These two had absolutely no idea what they were doing, other than scraping ceilings. One guy even drywalled over and outlet! At absolute best, the work was shoddy! I paid him $6k which was supposed to be half of the original contract amount. I asked for a contract to sign multiple times without success. When I returned home on Friday, February 10, 2023, they had performed work I told him not to do (verbally and confirmed by text!) in addition to the work being less than subpar. I fired him the next morning by phone - after getting a quote from another company for the unprofessional work that had been completed. I asked for a $2k reimbursement (very fair in my opinion for what was done). He argued with me over the phone, then sent me an email with a bill for an additional $1,900! I told him that I wouldn't pay him another dime. I got scammed, thinking he would be doing the work. He cannot be trusted. I have email and text communications.Is this something that you can help with?Thank you very much!

  Business response

  03/15/2023

  My name is ***************************, owner of the business stated in this complaint and in discussion, Manon Handyman services Llc.

   

  on January 23rd I submitted an estimate to the customer, in this document had a breakdown of every single item that need to be repaired and/or renovate, 

  1) Removal of ceiling popcorn in a layout of almost **** ft 

  2) The demolition of certain furnitures attached to the house structure,

  3)  Removal of 1 door and close up the opening, 

  4) An additional opening need to be created on the same wall to create access to an adjacent /room to the house,

  5)Removal of casing trim on a doorless opening

  6) Demolition of wall dividing a laundry room and an exterior utility room that were connected by a wall, the customer needed this wall to be demolished along with all the electrical and water components, before proceeding with all these items to be demolished I emphasized to the customer that an architectural engineer need to inspect the house structure and layout, the customer said that she had the plans and approval to proceed, 

   

  Before I started this project I asked if she needed more references which she denied then she asked if I was bonded which I denied but I told her that I was insured, so I submitted an insurance proof document that was outdated but I corrected the issue by emailing the correct in comply form immediately,  I asked her that if not being bonded was going to be an issue I understood, she proceed to hire me base on the business information and estimate provided.

   

  I also informed the customer of  my procedure with the project, that I was going to start with the popcorn removal and that I will make sure my team had all the instructions needed to perform the job, That I was not going to be present every hour due to self nature of the procedure, but I always make myself present at the job site/house every day , every time when that happen the customer was not at home but I made sure that  was reachable at any moment, the customer was persistent in me finishing this project as soon as possible, so , I explained to her that there is a process to renovations and I needed to wait  for the other contractors to finish with their projects before I could deliver the job, (cabinetry, electrical and plumbing).

   

  On Feb *********************** the property, prior to the starting day I asked the customer to have a check for the deposit of 50% , she was not there nor she left one, on this particular day I was to give her the contract to be signed but she was not available so on friday when I intended to have her sign the contract she came to me crying and sobbing that she had paid a contractor and got scammed, that she had lost **** dollars she keep crying, this situation move my heart and since she was was being refer from a previous customer and I trusted my instinct and I didnt want to bother her with this, then she proceed to tell me how to observe that she trusted people and that I could trust her as well, so I replied that she could trust me as well, so it was until saturday when she finally paid the deposit of ******* amount under the 50% I required, but she never insisted on a contract, I can provide emails stating that I was the one suggesting to sign the contract and not as she is saying that she insisted, that is not accurate at all, My mistake here is not having her sign a contract with, that I regret but moving forward,

   

  We started with removing the popcorn in the entire lower floor and an A/c chase, Mrs ***** was the person helping me do this, We reported for work and started to remove all popcorn, the ceiling was then repaired from imperfections, it was primed (5 Gallons of primer) then it was painted (5 gallons of paint), after that the demolition started and when we reached the area where electrical needed to be done I left the necessary openings for the electrician to do his job, I spoke to the electrician about what he needed to have access to and I make sure I follow his recommendations, I also communicate this to the customer upon addressing the concern, so i had to stop,  when the laundry room was demolished the plumber and the electrician need to start removing all the pertaining components, I had to stop there as well, it was discovered that the insulation of that particular room was non existing and some was very molded, I also show the customer that the engineer failed to mark that wall as a low bearing wall, that I need to reinforce the framming in order to place a ceiling drywall sheets and insulation, she agrred to this as well, then she ask for a recommendation on what to do as far as the insulation, I suggested to replace it which she agreed, the ceiling insulation and wall insulation needed to be replaced, I specify to the customer that will be an add-on to the invoice, so she said that was to suppose to be in the initial quote, I explained that the insulation was never part of it because it was unknown to both of us that it neede to be replaced, so she ask me to buy it for a later reimbursment, then she complaint about a crack repair above the fire place, these repair was initially quoted as a crack repair on a drywall surface, so she compliant that was incorrect that I needed to replace an entire wall of approximate 6' L x 4' H, I asked the customer to refer to the estimate, but regardless I agreed to her demands and proceed to replace the wall free of charge, when the cabinetry crew came in they remove all the cabinetry and remove all the drywall behind the cabinets and a cabinet attached to the ceiling, so when this happened it created more repairs, I inmediately address the fact that more work and material was taking place and that I was going to submit another estimate for all the additonal items, insulation, framing of a low bearing wall and all the extra drywall installation that was created for the cabinet crew, so all the work was at a halt, several unfinished areas, a room with no walls, electrical and plumbing work need to take place before I could proceed so while I was waiting she call me on a saturday to tell me that I was not welcomed back that I needed to reimburse her money from the deposit because my crew and I didnt have any idea of what we were doing that the drywall was rough that there cracks on the drywall repairs, that all the wood and insualtion belong to her , that if I set a foot in her house that she was hgoing to take the necessary measurements to remove me from the property, so I was flabbergasted, I was asking for an explanation and also explaining that the job was not done, nothing was done, with the exception of the main ceiling surfaces, there were areas of the ceiling that need to be detailed specifically in the under contruction areas, that she could not judge my work if it was unfinished and undelivered, then she proceeded to accused Mrs. ***** to be an ignorant person about her job, that she was even operating on an illegal way driving an illegal vehicle, that she could not even speak english to communicate, that Mrs.***** was a plain ignorant person, to which I replied that why was that have to do with the situation on hand, that I was not my first time doing this and that that's why i insisted on providing her with references so she could have piece of mind that I care about my reputation and my work, so she started yelling at me, I have my wife as a witness on the actual harassment from this person, so I proceeded to invoice all we had done as far as the work and not including all the material that she refuse to give back, she even threaten to keep all my tools, so the the total of invoice was 7900.00,

  so she was asking for ******* back and I send the invoice but  so she could have an idea of all the work that we have put into this, she did not care, she proceeded to fire and tell me not to go into her house, My replied was that I was not a criminal and that I have ethics, as the matter of fact the harassment continue to today friday March 10th, she texted me asking for $****.00 back by threatening to take me to small court claims if I didn't pay, that she need to pay someone else to correct my unfinished job, which is kind of the point that I insisted to let me finished the job and then proceed to grade the craftsmanship, I asked her politely to stop the harassing but she continued to bring religion into the matter, very weird and unfortunate set of events,

   

  I hope this explains the events that took place and the claims made by the customer, please advise if there is any further actions I should take or how to protect my business from this particular situation,

   

  Thank you for the efforts in setting the facts straight

   

  Best regards

   

  Customer response

  03/15/2023

   
  I am rejecting this response because: The response from the business is not correct. A large portion of his statements are not truthful. He only replied here to my BBB complaint after I told him that I would take him to small claims court. He advised me that he would counter-*** for defamation, because I said he was illegal. That is 100%, absolutely not true. I NEVER said that ****** or anyone on his crew was illegal or ignorant, only that the vehicle Ms. ***** drives (a white ***** van) is illegal. I returned the two tools that he left (nail gun and air compressor), which he picked up. I did not harass ****** Manon *******; we had one conversation where I fired him and told him to not return to my property. He continued to argue with me not letting me speak, so I did raise my voice. He was disrespectful and accusatory.  The work that was done was sub-par. I have photos of all of it.  Anyone who knows how to do sheetrock work, especially on ceilings, knows that it takes three coats of dried and sanded joint compound BEFORE you prime and paint. Ms. ***** did one coat, then covered it with primer and paint.  It was not done correctly.  I will absolutely take him to small claims court.  I have photos, emails and texts between us that I can provide, if needed.  His facts are misleading and incorrect in his response.  He has now stated (by text) that he will take me to civil court. With the proof that I have of all that went on, he is sadly mistaken that he could win any such case.  
  
  

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