Contractor took down payment and fled

[Wil Reichard]

Was getting my kitchen remodeled. We were going to do concrete and had a contractor come to give us a quote

And YES I KNOW, we should have checked him out before trying to use him. He estimated $2800 for the job and 50% down.

We gave him 2k to round numbers and asked for a sample before he started.

Sample looked NOTHING like the pictures he showed us. The concrete was bubbly and rough. It looked nasty. He told us he'd make another sample. The 2nd sample looked the same. We ended up going with another guy. When we asked for the down payment back he wrote a $600 check and said the rest of the money went to his costs...

$1400 for gas and a 6x6 inch block of concrete?!?! is he serious??

We took him to small claims court and won. Problem was he didn't even show up. He has a lien on his name but the judge said this isn't the first time he's done this. He said we will most likely not see that money again. Anyone experienced this before and pulled a fast one to get the money back?

P.S. the check wasn't even good. No funds available