Friday, April 11, 2008

Miracles Do Happen

You might remember this story.

Last August I had my bathrooms remodeled. Everything went fine until I hired this guy to do some work in the half bath. I paid him to build a custom vanity, which he did, then gave him a sink and $300 to have a marble top made to finish the job. A couple weeks goes by and I still haven't heard from him, so I called him. He told me the marble guy was supposed to drop it off and he'd call them. More time goes by and I call him again. Still the same story. This went back and forth and of course I got angry. We had some words and that was the last I heard from him.

I went by his shop numerous times, but he was never there. I finally in November I gave up and decided to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the county Department of Consumer Affairs. I received email from them both that they received my complaint and would look into it.

The Better Business Bureau sent me another email telling me that the contractor isn't licensed, so they have no jurisdiction and suggested I sue in Small Claims Court. I decided not to bother.
I didn't hear from the Department of Consumer Affairs for months, so figured and just write it off and find another contractor to do the job.

Now being the king of all procrastinators, I didn't do that either, but a couple days ago decided to finally make a few calls and a buy another sink. The next morning I got a call from the Department of Consumer Affairs. The man told me the contractor was sitting at his desk. I would get a certified check for the $300 and the contractor would call me in a day or two to drop off my sink. I just had to come down to his office when he received the check and sign for it.

To say the least I was in shock. It had been five months since I filed the complaint and I never expected to even hear from them. About 15 minutes later the contractor called and we made arrangement for him to drop off the sink that night. I expect to pick up the check early next week. Then I'll call a place to have the granite top made. This time I'm going to do what I should have done in the first place and check on the Better Business Bureau web site to verify they are licensed and how many complaints they have against them. Then hopefully I won't get screwed again.

7 comments:

jillie said...

Oh boy...I feel your pain. We've learned after getting the house painted. It's only been 3 years and we have to do it again...pfffft!!!

gab said...

How very lucky for you that you got something back. We are going to be remodling our bath and add one and Ive already looked into who I maybe hiring for the job. Ive been burned before. Good for you!

TUG said...

Hey, that's great! Glad it all worked out. Isn't it cool when things you've given up on turn out for the good?!

lime said...

glad to hear it has a happy ending. i remember when i was a kid how my mom got screwed by a guy who was supposed to do some roofing. she took him to small claims and won but still never got the money.

Wenchy said...

Wow.

Miracle indeed.

Tara Tainton said...

Wow! A surprisingly positive update to the story so far!

Monogram Queen said...

Yay good things happen to good people Tony!