Joe is a friendly, hardworking, and resourceful contractor. When it comes to managing the projects…read moreand schedules, however, he wasn't very reliable.
1. Incomplete work to date
I hired them for two separate projects: one indoors and one outdoors. I was impressed at how quickly he started and made good progress at the beginning. But as the project reached about 85% completion, he stopped coming and started getting busy with other client projects. After 1.5 months of trying to schedule his time, I finally decided to stop expecting him to come back. It's disappointing because they are "almost" complete but not "fully" done. He promised me it'll take just one more full day to finish everything up, but that "one day" never happened.
Outdoors agreed scope of work
- Fix the open gap from the chain link fence: incomplete (original ask)
- Fix the retaining wall drainage system: complete (added scope)
Indoors agreed scope of work
- Replace all baseboard heater covers: incomplete
- Renovate the bathroom: mostly complete, but he didn't reattach the door trims, window trims, and other finishing.
2. Clumsy scoping and invoicing
I asked him to replace all baseboard heater covers at the house. He counted every piece in every room and ordered the items for me, for which I paid. But he missed taking corner pieces and end caps into account, and also missed one whole section. Fine. He ordered the missing pieces. I paid him immediately (worth $431.04) but haven't received any of the additional items yet. It's been over a month since the invoice. He told me he'll ship them to me, but I'm not sure when (whether) I'd ever receive them at all.
As part of the bathroom renovation, he included $600 in the invoice for waste removal. But then he told me to call a dumpster company directly to dispose of construction garbage. When I asked for a refund of the amount, he refuses because he "loaded the dumpster" which counts as waste removal service. OK. So, a dumpster rental service cost me $380, and loading it cost me $600. This waste removal is more expensive than my lawyer and accountant combined.
When my wife text him to set a schedule. Joe argued that according to his invoices everything has been delivered. Well, while all his invoices have been fully paid, and the physical items on the invoices have been purchased, not everything has been installed and finished. Where's this disconnect?
Yes, the drywalls and tiles have been replaced. But the door trims that had been removed while working have not been reattached. Since "door trims" are not on the invoice, don't they count?
3. Scheduling mishaps
The project started on April 17 and remained active for two months. During the period, Joe was very responsive and proactive. Starting in June, however, after I was told that "it'll take only one full day to finish up everything," it started becoming difficult to schedule a time with him. The last day he was at my house was June 14, and he promised me to come back the next day, then the following happened:
- June 15 (Tue): he didn't come because his car broke down. Promised to come on Friday instead.
- June 18 (Fri): he didn't come because he has endoscopy appointment. Promised to schedule another date.
- June 21-25 (full week): he didn't come because he was busy with other project. Promised to come on Monday.
- June 28 (Mon): he didn't come because he has a court appointment.
- June 29-July 16 (three weeks): he didn't come because he's busy and weather doesn't allow for outdoor work. Then he suggests that he come on September 30 instead. I declined as some of the incomplete work posed safety concerns for little kids and I couldn't wait two more months.
Life happens, I get it. But endoscopy and court appointments don't just happen--you have to schedule them. When I told him this "double booking" concerns me, Joe argued that his personal matters don't concern me. Right. But, failing to show up at "work appointment" because of schedule conflict with "personal matters" doesn't seem very professional and thus concerns me. Even then, I waited for a full month without complaining. Unfortunately, "the one last day" never really happened.
BOTTOM LINE
Would I hire him again? Maybe. Only if it's a tightly scoped, clearly defined task, which can be done in one setting. But probably. not.
Would I recommend him? Probably not for big scale projects. Maybe for smaller one-day tasks. In any case, not as the first choice.
I actually like him as a person. Joe is like a great handyman friend I wish I had. But I didn't seek friendship but a business relationship. It's where the expectation failed.
