Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  04/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  In Feb '23 we entered into a contract w/ Wade Murphy that included remodeling our kitchen, master bathroom and installing vinyl plank flooring throughout the entire upper level of our home, with exception of 2 smaller bedrooms- for a total of 5 rooms and an adjoining hallway. The problems began the evening he brought the contract to our home for signing- and he didn't realize there was a small guest bathroom and master bedroom to be included- even though we had discussed "flooring throughout the upper level, with the exception of the two small bedrooms." He stated he had a crew- he didn't. He showed up to work and was instantly mad as he had forgotten he had to remove the carpeting from the living room and bedroom. That was just the first of many temper tantrums he threw during the over 5 weeks he was in our home. He blamed us daily for his mistakes. He waited til the last minute to order our countertops- then we had to choose different ones because it would be another 6-8 weeks to get the ones we wanted. The flooring is not installed properly. He didn't want me home if he was going to be there to work- he was adamant about that. He stated he had "anxiety issues" and couldn't work if I was home. What he had were true mental health issues, violent tendencies and was a convicted felon who was awaiting trial for a violent crime he committed while out on parole the previous summer- none of which he divulged to us. We didn't find out about any of this until just a couple of weeks before he supposedly finished our job. I also had to call my husband home early from work one day as he became very out of control, screaming obscenities and acting out in a very threatening way. The following week we found out about his criminal history. We were afraid to end his job as we had no idea what he might do. Aside from this, his work was very shoddy and poor quality, he left things a mess daily. My husband ended up paying him just to get him out and we are finishing up behind him.

  Customer response

  04/23/2023

  Mr. Murphy misrepresented himself to us right from the beginning by stating he had "a crew", when, in fact, he did not. What he had was a woman who had done painting for him in the past but had since taken a job at a retail store. He finally talked her into painting our kitchen cabinets on her days off, which never happened as the day he stopped to pick her up he found her "stoned off her gourd" and stated he couldn't bring her in that condition. Another day he brought his "new employee" to work on installing the new vinyl plank flooring, which we soon found out he had never done before. Half of what Mr. Murphy had already installed had to be torn up and re-installed as it was not done right, so he put this man to work doing that. Within 10 minutes he was yelling and swearing at the guy- he had told me several days earlier that he had "anxiety issues" and therefore he didn't want me home while he was working here. So I would take my small dog in my bedroom and stay in there daily, only leaving to use the guest bathroom as he was also working in the main bathroom. It wasn't long before I realized he had more than anxiety problems. On a Friday my husband called me on his lunch break and asked me to find out if Mr. Murphy thought he might get the flooring done up to a corner of our kitchen as he doesn't work on weekends and we knew he wouldn't be back until Monday and we were trying to go behind him and do either what we could do, or he had asked us to do in order to help him. He had just come back from lunch and hadn't started working again, but when I asked him if he thought it was possible, he blew up on me- screaming and cursing, throwing around the F bomb. He was out of control and I was very happy his worker was with him. This went on for about 7 or 8 minutes- to the point I went in my room and texted my husband, asking him to Please Come Home! It was so scary that I locked my door and kept 911 on my dial pad, just in case. My husband made it home in 20 mins- an almost 30 mins drive! From that point on I left every day- I spent the days of the next week at my brother-in-laws and it was during that week we learned that he was a convicted felon- burglary among other charges- who had just last summer, while out on parole from THAT confinement, had been arrested/charged/indicted for holding a local woman against her will, strangling her until she passed out and then beating her severely with a boot. He was awaiting trial on those charges. This was all per the DA of our county. They encouraged me to visit with the Sherriff's office, which I did, and after I told them what had happened, was told by them that it would be best to not have him in our home or anywhere around. He had actually already told me he didn't want me here while he was working, and that he would leave and not come back to work until I told him I had left!! Due to his work being very substandard, his coming and going to suit himself (to the point of his not even showing up some days. or arriving @ 10 am and finding excuses to leave @ 1 or 2 pm), his violent outbursts (as there were several), we would have loved to send him packing. My husband and I spoke of it often! But he had our cabinets at his house, we had already given him 1/2 of the money up front ($12,500) and now there was the very real concern that, if we fired him, we had no idea what he might do: he knew my husband worked days and that I was home alone, he knew we had pets and that they meant so much to both of us that we were afraid he might do something to them- they are all small- three of them were inside, but the other two stay in the fenced in back yard 90% of the time. We were literally afraid to fire him. Would he burn the house down some night? Stop when I was home alone and kill me? Stop when there were no cars here and throw poisoned meat over the fence to our ***** and ****?  We decided to just do as much as we could nights, I left the house every day the last two weeks he was here (and worried every minute) and just get him out as soon as possible. We never told him that we knew of his criminal history or that he was awaiting trial. The flooring has many, many flaws which were pointed out to him several times and will most likely lead to it needing to be re-worked yet again. The cabinets in the kitchen, which he said he ended up repainting, himself, have rough, raw edges that are splintered. We're working on covering them w/wood trim to try to fix them.The countertops were not what I had ordered because he waited until the last minute to order, only to find that the right ones would take 6-8 weeks to get in, so we were stuck with ones that we plain do not like! The island top he had to make, himself and did a horrible job- there are rough edges/corners and parts of the side of the top where there is no edging at all, or it's burned- we're not sure! The stainless steel backsplash he put behind the drop in cooktop won't stick to the walls, so we're trying to find a way to fix THAT. There are so many things he either left unfinished or in unacceptable condition that they are too numerous to mention. My husband worked everyday at his job, then came home and worked behind Mr. Murphy every single night AND weekends, for well over a month. We made a list of things that needed to be addressed before he left- he kept trying to get out of them- blaming everything/everyone but himself for them. He had left a huge pile of demolition materials (wood, carpet and padding, cardboard, etc.) on our front porch, in the front yard and in front of our garage rather than bringing a dumpster in the beginning and using it as he went along. He had also left our old stove and toilet on our front porch. My husband told him he needed to clean up his mess before he called it 'finished'. He was not happy!! He finally did it on his last day- but left the toilet as a final farewell. So he made our lives miserable the entire 5 weeks he was here- the BS was daily- his vicious temper- shoddy work- the whole thing was an ordeal we never want to repeat. We even wondered if we fired him, kept the remaining $12,500- would that be enough for new cabinets and labor for someone to finish installing the new appliances/cabinets/countertops and island....? We didn't think so. So we cut our losses, paid him off to get him the heck out of here and are trying to fix/finish things ourselves. No- we do NOT want him to come back! If we never see him again it'll be too soon! But what WOULD be nice is to get something back from him for all the work WE did and still have to do! Everyone wants to come see the new rooms and floors- and we just have to keep saying "We're not done, yet." These floors are so messed up I just know they will need to be redone! 1900 sq ft @ $5/sq ft....they're not cheap! And that's not even the countertops/island that I hate- to get the ones we wanted is another several thousand dollars! So, yes- $5000.00 would help! If you have methods to help that happen, that would be great! I'm sure he has no cash on hand- he asked us for money before the job was done (the contract was 1/2 at the beginning and the remainder on completion) which my husband actually gave him $3000 a couple weeks early as he told us he was scraping change together for gas money- although he always had enough money to keep himself in pot- which he reeked of every single day- something I told him I wasn't happy about. As a nurse of over 25 years I can tell you that pot wasn't the only drug he was doing and 'anxiety' is not his only mental health issue he has! No doubt!

• Initial Complaint

  10/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  Mr Murphy did not fulfill the terms of his contract with us. When presented with a stop work order, he has disappeared and has not worked to resolve these issues and complete the contracted work. The work he did complete was deemed not acceptable and of poor quality.

  Business response

  11/14/2022

  Response taken by phone:  She called for an inspection before the job was completed and was it not ready for inspection.  Her husband asked me to finish the job and she came out and said she did not want me to finish so of course it would not pass inspection.  She did not pay off the entire contact and still owes me for the materials that were left on the property.  I am taking a loss on this job.

  Customer response

  11/15/2022

  Mr Murphy is only telling one part of the story.  He had poor attendance at our job site, and poor communication.  When he failed to report to work as scheduled, I suggested we end our agreement. He did not discuss with me, only stopped showing up.  My husband reached out to him and convinced him to come back and work.  He came back one day, did a little work, and never returned.  At a friend's suggestion, I had the inspector come to review what was done.  It was found that some items were not up to code, and there was a lot of poor workmanship on the job.  Inspections that should have happened were skipped.  These items were noted by the inspector, and a stop work order was placed.  I reached out to Mr Murphy, and he did not respond at all to correct the issues or complete the job.  I now have to pay to have the corrections made and the job completed, at twice the cost of what I was left to pay him.  I do not feel I owe him anything at all, the materials purchased were to complete the job, and he has abandoned it.  I do not owe him money or product back.  Mr Murphy appears to believe he was only having one inspection, when the job was done.  I assure you, and the inspector can verify, that this is not the case.  If he had proceeded as he planned, the work would have had to been ripped out and done over.  I have attached the letter I sent terminating the contract, the list from the inspector of items in error, the stop work notice, and the original contract.

  Thank you for your attention to this matter.  I look forward to hearing from you.

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