Should I still hire this guy? *Updated*

[beefcheeks]

Hi everyone! Looking for some help, perhaps even a wake up call or slap in the face :-)

We are replacing our carpet with hardwood and found a contractor who we liked. We hadn't signed anything or paid him any money, but we did tell him we wanted him to do the job and talked about a start date, etc. The last time we talked was Dec 18th and at that time we discussed starting the last week in Jan or the first week in Feb. He said there wasn't much to do at this point, we'd order the wood in Jan so we'd talk later. Okay, no problem. So I called him yesterday morning to arrange for the wood to be ordered/delivered and I got a message that his cell phone was "temporarily disconnected".

So I kinda freaked because that does NOT sound good! Dh thought maybe he just got a new phone and there was a mix up or maybe something innocuous like that. However, DH did do some sort of google search on him and found some court records indicating several small claims cases against him. A couple looked like credit card companies, one was an individual person, one was a local flooring company...you see where this is going. The cases are dated from 2003 until the most recent, which is June 2011.

So DH called the guys cell again today and it rang. So his phone is back on, which is good. DH says maybe this guy just has a problem paying people, doesn't neccessarily mean he does crappy work. He feels that if we purchase the flooring ourselves and we don't pay him for labor until the job is done, then we won't be risking very much. I just feel like maybe there are too many red flags and it would suck to ignore them. Are we being totally stupid for even considering still going with him?

What do you guys think?

ETA Update: Thank you so much for the responses so far. So I called the flooring distributor where we would be purchasing the flooring, and they said they know our guy (let's call him Jim) and said he does good work. They said Jim subs for several builders in the area, including one that they consider one of the best in our area. The guy was like, "If there was a problem with Jim, Best Builders would not continue to work with him, I can guarantee you that, because they build tons of Parade Homes, blah blah blah." So then I called Best Builders and talked to a guy there. he, too, vouched for Jim and said they do indeed use him on a lot of projects and have never had an issue with him. Oh, and I also verified with the flooring distributor that they will accept payment directly from us as long as we get the price from Jim. He said this is actually becoming a lot more common because a lot of guys don't want the flooring on their books, they just prefer the client to pay for them directly.

Ok, does this change any minds? DH says we should still go with him and just be sure to pay for the flooring ourselves and not pay Jim until the work is done to our satisfaction.

[peach]

HEEEEll no.

Find someone else.

[SusanBAnthony]

If he gets good reviews on Angie's list, I would still use him (if there were no other good options, anyway). But be careful about payment, like you said.

If there are other good options, run fast from this guy.

[sierramist03]

Heck no move on to someone else you are paying them!

[emoflamingo]

Nope.

[my4girls]

I don't know, our flooring guy was apparently kinda the same way. We didn't know it at the time. He came very highly recommended to us and we both liked him so we gave him a shot. He did AWESOME work, awesome awesome awesome. I was/ am so thrilled with how the floors came out but he really sucks as a business person- in no way should he have his own company. at all. He pretty much sucked at all things on the business side. In fact we still owe him $500 and we called and texted him 4 times now about it and heard nothing back!

While he was working I was home one day and talking to him and he was telling me how his house was foreclosed on and such things like that so similar to your guy. but I could not be more thrilled with his work and have since recommended him to several other people with the disclaimer that his business side sucks but he shows up when he says he will and does awesome work

[kaylie]

To me, it wouldn't be worth the risk.

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2013 12:19:31 GMT -5 beefcheeks said:

Hi everyone! Looking for some help, perhaps even a wake up call or slap in the face :-)

So I called him yesterday morning to arrange for the wood to be ordered/delivered and I got a message that his cell phone was "temporarily disconnected".

So I kinda freaked because that does NOT sound good! Dh thought maybe he just got a new phone and there was a mix up or maybe something innocuous like that. However, DH did do some sort of google search on him and found some court records indicating several small claims cases against him. A couple looked like credit card companies, one was an individual person, one was a local flooring company...you see where this is going. The cases are dated from 2003 until the most recent, which is June 2011.So DH called the guys cell again today and it rang. So his phone is back on, which is good. DH says maybe this guy just has a problem paying people, doesn't neccessarily mean he does crappy work. He feels that if we purchase the flooring ourselves and we don't pay him for labor until the job is done, then we won't be risking very much. I just feel like maybe there are too many red flags and it would suck to ignore them. Are we being totally stupid for even considering still going with him?

What do you guys think?

Jan 8, 2013 12:22:26 GMT -5 peach said:

HEEEEll no.

Find someone else.

OMG, this! Don't even think about hiring him!

[beefcheeks]

Thanks so much for the responses so far. I updated the post because I ended up talking to the flooring distributor and a builder who works with this guy...

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2013 15:22:51 GMT -5 beefcheeks said:

Thanks so much for the responses so far. I updated the post because I ended up talking to the flooring distributor and a builder who works with this guy...

What did they say?

[beefcheeks]

Jan 8, 2013 15:26:46 GMT -5 downtonali said:

Jan 8, 2013 15:22:51 GMT -5 beefcheeks said:

Thanks so much for the responses so far. I updated the post because I ended up talking to the flooring distributor and a builder who works with this guy...

What did they say?

Oops, sorry, I should have said I edited the OP:
I called the flooring distributor where we would be purchasing the flooring, and they said they know our guy (let's call him Jim) and said he does good work. They said Jim subs for several builders in the area, including one that they consider one of the best in our area. The guy was like, "If there was a problem with Jim, Best Builders would not continue to work with him, I can guarantee you that, because they build tons of Parade Homes, blah blah blah." So then I called Best Builders and talked to a guy there. he, too, vouched for Jim and said they do indeed use him on a lot of projects and have never had an issue with him. Oh, and I also verified with the flooring distributor that they will accept payment directly from us as long as we get the price from Jim. He said this is actually becoming a lot more common because a lot of guys don't want the flooring on their books, they just prefer the client to pay for them directly.

Ok, does this change any minds? DH says we should still go with him and just be sure to pay for the flooring ourselves and not pay Jim until the work is done to our satisfaction.

[my4girls]

I stand by my yes I would hire him, and now I am curious where you are and if my guy is your guy lol

[FoxInFiji]

Beefcheeks!!

OK since I know the flooring distributor you are talking about and they are the exact same people we bought our floor from I'm more inclined to say yes. I like the idea of going through the flooring distributor. Do you want to e-mail me their name? There is a chance I might have come across them during my flooring refinisher search.

OTHERWISE I have some guys I can hook you up with. Like 3 different people I can recommend for you. But it would mean going through the whole interview process again and I know you want to get on this project.

[emoflamingo]

I guess if the distributor AND those other people vouched for him, he's probably okay. I woudl definitely get a) a written contract detailing when the work will be finished and that you will not pay in full until all of those things are met, b) not pay him until the work is done and c) pay for the flooring directly (and be sure to put it in your contract with the guy and also get a receipt for your payment so that no one gets confused and you get double charged).