Bad experience with contractor

[James H.]

So I recently paid to have a carport erected at my rental. I ordered the steel from a local steel supplier who has a good reputaion and who has always been very helpful with my questions.

The bad part is the contractor. I found this guy on CL. Everything was fine except he had to come back to put on the trim. Well, I made the mistake and paid him for the whole job. And guess what? Still no trim 2 weeks later. I am mad at myself for not at least holding back 200 bucks out of the 1000 I paid him (in addition to 1000 I paid for materials).

I had this happen with a blown attic insulation contractor once. He came with his crew and cleaned up the attic (not much to clean really), told me the HD machine that he rented was broken. Said he would need money to pick up the materials when the machine was ready. That time I did the right thing and told him I'd pay for the materials directly and pay him when the job was complete. The guy never answered the phone or came back out when I tried to follow up with him.

Lesson learned: NEVER pay advance for ANYTHING. It seams very difficult to find people with integrety nowadays.

FYI if you are in the local DFW area, the guy that screwed me on the carport is

Dion Reed and his number is 817-988-6823.

Avoid this guy at all cost if you are searching CL for a contractor for steel structures. If one more week goes by and trim is not installed, I will pick it up and try to install it myself. Then I will smear him as much as I can on CL and at the steel supplier.

[Jon Klaus]

Thanks for the heads up, Brian. Unfortunately this is a common experience. I look at screening contractors like screening tenants. It is critical to check them out and to not skip steps. Also to protect yourself all along. A contractor with real integrity is like gold. Work hard to find them, and then take care of them, because they are taking care of you.