The Stone Mason Guy

Several months before I hired him, Bryce introduced himself to me as "B.A. Stone", DBA "The Stone Mason Guy".  I told him I was needing a landscaper and put Bryce Stone in my phone directory for future reference. Bryce was highly recommended by his friends, two professional men, Scott - a school psychologist, and Kurt - a city worker, whom he has coffee with every morning. I had met these guys as regulars at Starbucks where Bryce goes daily to drink coffee with them. 
I was intrigued and admired Bryce's professional friends as they invited everyone into their coffee klatch including the homeless who often wonder into the coffee shop to warm up in the winter. Bryce's professional friends described him as "honorable," "hard working," and "a gifted & talented landscaper" and said they were personally familiar with his work. I thought this was a great opportunity to hire a man who was working hard to better himself. Scott had even hired him to do work and said he "did a great job."
Bryce emailed me dozens of pictures of "his" gorgeous stone masonry work.  It was when I contracted with him that I realized he signed his last name as Berth, not Stone, and I asked him if he was B.A. Stone. Puzzled, he told me his last name was Berth and he did not immediately recall our conversation a month earlier when I put his last name "Stone" in my phone directory. He lied to me about his name and I should have run immediately!  Doubts plagued me about his integrity and work but I continued to work with him as Kurt & Scott kept reassuring me at Starbucks that he was "honorable," lives up to his word, and would do a great job for me. As Mr. Berth's work continued, I had concerns about the quality of his work and consulted with two A-rated landscapers on Angies' List for an opinion of his work. 
  
Landscapers from Serenity Landscaping (2/4/13) & Ortiz Landscaping (2/28/13) stopped by to evaluate Bryce's work per my request. Both landscapers expressed identical concerns about Bryce's work: 1) The siloane veneer steps were too uneven and unsafe for people to walk on creating a fall risk. Additionally, it was pointed out that the steps were leveled with wood shims when I hired one of the landscapers to tear out and re-landscape the steps & path.  2) The dirt around the siloane steps would erode and cave in as soon as it rains. They said the steps needed sides to prevent erosion. 3) Both emphatically stated that the Gorilla sand bonding agent Bryce planned to use to hold the steps together would fall apart and was not intended to be used as a mortar. 4) Both observed that the flagstone path edging should have been installed before the sand was put in in order to hold the sand & flagstone in place. 5) They noted that the tiny pieces of flagstone in the path would never stay in place even with the mortar and would eventually pop up creating a safety hazard. 6) Mr. Berth created a small two-inch high flagstone step to meet my driveway in lieu of gradually building up the grade of the path to the driveway. This step created another potential trip/ fall hazard if someone were not to see the tiny step.
In addition, Mr. Berth installed mulch in my back yard. He agreed in our contract, to remove dozens of Chinese Elm stumps to eliminate a hazard posed should playing/running dogs step on them. Instead, he covered up the stumps with the mulch. As of this writing, I am working on taking out the stumps myself.
I'm  mortified to admit that I continued to pay Bryce money even after I was told by experts his work was incompetent. When I tried to talk with Mr. Berth early on about getting a second opinion regarding his work, he became defensive and belligerent and called me "crazy" and "a nut case" and would not discuss my concerns. 
When I went back into Starbucks the next day, Kurt furiously accused me of demeaning a very "good" and "honorable" man. I felt so guilty for not trusting Bryce would do a good job that I paid him an additional $1300 for a grand total of $3500.00 on 2/6/2013 to have him complete his work.
 
After he was paid in full, Mr. Berth rarely showed up to work in spite of repeatedly reassuring me that he would do so. Piles of dirt and debris sat in the street and on my property left over from his work. A neighbor graciously offered to help me remove the debris from the street. On March 28, 2013, Miguel Ortiz of Ortiz landscaping stopped by and I hired him to completely tear out and rebuild Bryce's steps and flagstone path and clean up the mess. Mr. Ortiz and his crew completed the job in seven days.