A Rescue

About a month and a half ago my parents got an estimate for a new front porch.  Our old one was starting to fall away from the house, and before we could have a new roof put on, that needed to be fixed.  My mother called one person, got a price, and hired him.

He started working, and almost immediately the old man was furious about his work.  He threw a massive screaming fit that had us thinking he was just being difficult, and so later that day my mother and I got out of the house in order to have a bit of a break from him.  I then found out that my mother hadn't looked up the guy, nor asked for addresses to see examples of his work in the area.  I went to look him up, and couldn't find anything under his business, or anything that would put him in a more positive light.

Later that week, when the guy was done for the day, the old man came in and said that absolutely everything was wrong.  He was afraid to speak up because he didn't want to be the bad guy again, but my mother asked the guy to listen to my father the next day.  The old man tried to talk to him, to which the guy effectively told him that he didn't care, and was going to build whatever he wanted.

The day after that was when I went with Puppy to the renn faire, and came home to find out that two contractors had come by the house, and said absolutely nothing that he'd done was up to code.  That he'd done a ton of things including not getting permits, and so if the wrong person drove by, we could have wound up with major fines.

So I spent the rest of the weekend doing research on the guy.  Using breadcrumbs, I found his wife, where he lived, the school his kids attend, and the church they go to.  We prepared to confront him that Monday, where I would have the mission of getting a clear shot of his license plate in case he tried to run.  While I got that, my parents were in front of the house, and it quickly escalated.  It was one of the first times that I had the chance to listen to him speak, and realized that he was going to throw blame on everyone else.  We demanded his license and address before he left, because it would be necessary for permits, and he drove away.  

As soon as he left, I went looking up his license number, and there was nothing there.  So my parents hired someone who wasn't even licensed to do this job.  I also did more looking, and found that he had a criminal record.

When he called back later, I got on the other line with my father, but stayed muted while they spoke.  Not only did I notice that he constantly changed his story sometimes in the same sentence, but he would interrupt constantly, not answer questions or stay on topic, and you had to be loud in order to get any sort of a word in.  Once I jumped in, he wouldn't answer anything, and kept trying to find some way to create a pity party, or something that would get me to crack a little.

I realized he was like dealing with the gnome, and I have a lot of experience there.  He was trying to fuck people over, and potentially endangering my child in the future.  Sorry, he was fucked.

I found every hole in what he said.  I turned it around on him, and he had no idea what to do.  At the end of the call, he was supposed to talk to us the next day in order to finalize paying us back, so I spent the rest of the day going over the calendar, and the materials he'd bought.  I made fully itemized and priced lists of the hours he worked, and how much he spent on lumber.  

The next day when he called, he was intent on talking to my mother, because she's the easiest to manipulate.  I spent the morning telling her not to let it be a conversation, but just to tell him it would be so much money, or we would call the police.  She asked me to be on the other line again, and when he did call, she kept letting him talk, and not just laying things down.  She eventually got frustrated and hung up, but I was still on the line, hearing him talk.  So I hopped on, and he immediately tried telling me that I was being "very disrespectful" the day before, as though I was some kind of child.  I told him I absolutely was not, but only loud enough as I needed to be because he wouldn't let me speak.  I then told him that I didn't care what he had to say, that he was fired, and it didn't matter why.  I told him that we had itemized all the materials, and his hours, and so he would either bring us the check for a specific amount, or we would call the cops.

And he hung up, so we called the cops.

Before an officer arrived, he called back, and my mom picked up.  I grabbed the other line, and listened.  He said that he spoke to his wife, and she said to offer less than what we'd said, but more than their previous statement, and all the invoices, and we'd be done.  I told her no, but she took the offer.  She just wanted to be done.  He kept talking, and that was when I picked up two things that my mom didn't.  One was that his brother-in-law worked for the police department in a town a county north, and two, was the exact words "I didn't cover my tracks fast enough, and your husband saw."

So whether he realized it or not, he admitted that he intended to try and fuck us over all along.

The next day, while my mother was at work, his wife dropped off the check and the invoices, where we found everything accounted for.

But it ends on a funny note.

My mother is a hairdresser.  Part of her job description is having the latest gossip and news to share with her customers.  When his wife dropped off the check, at the salon, she asked to do the exchange outside so that no one would "know her business".

Like half the town didn't already know at that point.

If you're going to fuck with anyone, and ever want to work again, the last person you mess with is a hairdresser.