Carpenter Contracting

Carpenter Contracting Patrick Carpenter Took my money and didn't finish the job Garland, Texas

16th of May, 2011 by User614962

My wife and I hired Patrick Carpenter to put in a stone border for our garden on April 25, 2011. He seemed to understand exactly what I wanted and said he could have it done by the end of the same week. It was "completed" the same day he began construction, April 27th, finishing late evening in the dark of night. He wanted to be paid immediately, so we did. On April 28th, after seeing the "completed" project in the light of day the next morning, I knew there were some serious quality issues with it. The stone was not level as discussed going up the driveway, it was not level on the east side of the house meeting up to the house, all corners were pointed and sharp where someone could be hurt if they hit a corner, the mortar was slathered all over the stonework between the stones (which they had said they would come back to clean up after it had two days to cure), the lawn around the stonework was littered with mortar residue and rock debris (which they said they would clean up when they came to clean up the mortar on the stonework), the small separate square border against the house was unfinished. I called Patrick, told him we had concerns and he said he would be out to the house in the evening. The evening came and went, and Patrick was a no call, no show. We called him that night, April 28th at 9:15 p.m. and he said he had some projects he was working on and didn't make it out. He said he would come over at 9 a.m. the next morning to look at our concerns. On April 29th, he sent one of his employees in his place to speak to us, who immediately started addressing our concerns and was making progress on it. Apparently Patrick was not willing to spend his employee's time fixing their errors, and finally made an appearance himself, 3 hours later, where he was extremely defensive with our concerns. He admitted he didn't realize what exactly we had wanted because of a lack of communication. We said it probably had to do with us not even being home during construction to ensure it was what we wanted the first time to save everyone's time. He agreed. Patrick said he would fix the problems but that today he already has another project that he needs to work at with his employee and that we would return the next day in the morning. The next morning he called and said it would be in the afternoon before he could work on the wall. In the mean time, we cleaned up their leftover debris and residue around the stone wall as it was predicted to rain later that evening and we didn't want the construction trash to wash into the rest of the yard. He no call, no showed again in the afternoon. Four days lapse and no communication from him at all, so we called him on May 4th. I said "We missed you on Saturday" and he explained he had some equipment malfunction and had to take care of and he was behind on a couple of other projects before he could work on our project. I explained to him that I understand he has other clients but this lack of communication and not showing up when he says he would is unacceptable. I reiterated the communication was the piece we were upset about, if he had communicated he would not be available, at least we would know he hadn't forgotten about us or that he actually had a plan to finish our project. He acknowledged this and said he would be out in the morning the next day. I specifically said "Patrick, do me a favor and if for whatever reason you will not be able to come out tomorrow, please give me a call so I have a heads up that you will not be here." He agreed and said he would be out the following day. The next day, May 5th came and went. No call, no show. At this point I was extremely frustrated with him. I called him and asked what the deal is and got the standard answer of "We have another project we are working on and will be there tomorrow." I responded with "I don't believe anything you say at this point because you've said this each time and not shown up at all. Your words mean nothing to me." He then hung up on me. I called him back and asked why he hung up and he said I was being rude. "How am I rude?" He said "it was rude of you to attack my integrity." I asked for a refund of the labor costs so we could hire someone that could come finish the job he was struggling to finish. He said there were no refunds. I responded that I'd take him to court over labor costs. He said "I quit then". He was very arrogant and then said that he has the right to quit. I said then I'll take you to court. He then hung up on me. An hour later he called me back and asked me to listen to him rant. I listened to him explain how we didn't understand that he is a small business and had other projects going on. He said he was a Christian so he would keep his word. He said he had built it the way he thought we would want it since we did not have a construction background like he did. He said it was the beginning of the season for stonework so they were extremely busy with other projects. He once again claimed he would be out to fix it because he's a man of his word and he's a Christian. He said he didn't want to hear from me anymore that evening. Without giving me a chance to respond, he once again hung up on me. After the dust settled a few days, I reached out to Patrick one last time by sending him an email on May 10th. In the email I outlined exactly what we had discussed in person on April 29 saying that the project would be complete once they were taken care of. I listed in detail the exact issues to be addressed so that there was no confusion and both parties could have the issues in writing. I gave him a one week deadline starting from the time of the email (completed by May 17th). I also stated that if they were not complete at that point, I would file with the Better Business Bureau and other review websites. I also gave him an out that if he was quitting, that I would expect a refund of half the cost of the labor charges (half the labor was $325). Patrick replied via email a few hours later claiming that he "fully intend(s) to fix those issues." Then he says that he could leave me an additional bill for labor charges not originally agreed upon. Then once again he tells me how rude I have treated him. That he did not like the way I have addressed him personally. He did not say when he planned to fix the issues in the email. I wrote him back and once again reaching out the olive branch to Patrick saying that I understand about the additional charges since neither he nor I could have anticipated concrete skewed that would cause him to rent a saw to fix it the way we originally agreed upon. I told him to send me an estimate for this fix. I also reiterated the fact that from our prospective that it appears he has left us with an unfinished product and are just blowing us off. I also mentioned the fact that four times already he has said he will be out the next day and then the doesn't call or show up. I asked him how else I should interpret this. Patrick never responded to my second email and there has been no further communication with him. I really wish I had come to this site and seen all the negative reviews that he has got from others. He is also hiding his legal address so that you cannot serve him legal papers. Please save yourself the trouble and do not hire this man.

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