What action should I take against bogus design consultant?

Question

I was contacted by a man who obtained my phone # from a Home Remodeling Show about some windows. He doesn't have a license, but business cards printed "Design Consultant" saying he does windows & more. He came to my house measured for windows, got paid 1/2 the money & also constracted w/me to do a bathroom. He hires people rather than do the work himself. There were & are still problems w/the bathroom job, but as that was being done he said he didn't have enough money to finish the jobs & asked me to pay him the remaining money. Well STUPID me, I did!! Now I have an unfinished bathroom & no windows. He met w/the death of his wife & I have tried to wait for him to come through. This all began in late July/Aug. & now it's April & he never mentions finishing the bathroom, & goes for weeks w/out any mention of the window installation. I don't know what I can do if anything. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Answer 1

Sue him....unfortuantely courts will not award specific performance ( tell him to finish the job)

Usually in this situation you tell him that you are going to get someone to finish the job. You pay the other person and when you file your lawsuit he owes you whatever you paid him that he did not use in the work he already did...and he owes you for the cost of the other person to finish.

Example: you paid the first guy 10,000. He used 4,000 dollars
You pay the second guy 7,000 to finish
The first guy owes you 6,000 as he only used 4,000 and he also owes you another 1,000 to cover the cost of the second contractor....hope that helps.

Answer 2

Get his card, a copy of the contract, and take pictures of the bathroom and your windows. Also a receipt (or cancelled checks) to prove payment, and depending upon the amount, sue the B@$t@rd.

You contracted him to do a job. He took the money, holding up your end of the contract. Now he has to hold up his end.

Look at it like this: You are a restaurant owner, and a man comes in, pays in advance for the meal, and then sits down and waits for the meal, and you don't serve him, what will happen? You will be paying back the money or giving the man a meal, and then you will have the worst rep in town as a restaurant, and business will severely fall off.

Answer 3

You can contact the better business bureau and get yourself a lawyer. The consumer protection agency might be able to help you too.

Even if you have a signed contract you might still be out of luck and have to look on this as an expensive lesson learned.

You should never do business with someone who doesn't have a license.

Answer 4

It sounds like you pretty well got screwed.

There is nothing wrong with him contracting out the work to other (hopefully qualified) people.

However if you paid him half up front - and he is jerking you around, I would first report him to the better business bureau, and secondly demand that he refunds the money you have given him for work that was not done. If he refuses, you may need to take him to court (depending on the amount involved you might not be able to do small claims court - and you may want to lawyer up).

Answer 5

Are you interviewing for a central authority or extreme protection place? nonetheless, why is she anticipating all the responses to be pristine? How did this place develop into available? till the corporation is increasing, somebody might desire to have been upset to create the outlet. If she does not understand what to do and is admitting it to you, how does she cope with different areas of accountability? She is the two in desperate pick of your help or satisfied as a "Peter concept" supervisor. Indecision is on no account a reliable trait in an worker and incredibly no longer in a supervisor. the different references, your resume and the interview qualify you for the situation. What greater does she pick? A spiteful injection via a disinterested third occasion does not deserve attention, no longer to show a rebuttal. tell her so and ask if she might like yet another assembly in the previous you withdraw from attention. additionally, in case you settle for the interest, this is going to probable be greater of the comparable. reliable good fortune.

Answer 6

You can go to the BBB or your state's Attorney General's office (usually in the capitol in your state - check your state's website). IMO, the BBB was more helpful and forceful in trying to get the matter I had resolved (had to do with furniture).

You can also see if your local TV stations have a "troubleshooter" division that helps people in situations like yours. The threat of public disclosure of his activities would probably scare this man into making sure your house got done. :) And it would hopefully teach him that if he's going to do business, he'd better be prepared to follow through on his commitments.

Good luck! :)