Donald McDaid

Do not do business with this person

Conman and Liar. Don?t let this man near your house! I asked Donald McDaid to give me an estimate for a patio at a cottage I own in Rhode Island. When I asked if we could arrange a time to meet there, he told me that he would be in Rhode Island for the weekend anyway and would stop by to take a look at the property, a two hour ride from Hartford. We met there several weekends later so that we could discuss the job in person before we started. We agreed that he would begin with building a stone wall for the foundation. The price was $1300. He had drawn up a contract with the price and I gave him a deposit of $1000 so that he could buy the fieldstone. He was to start 2 days later and was to sleep at the house while doing the job. He did not show up at all. When I called him, he said that he was on the way, and would be there in a few hours, then stopped answering the phone and never showed up. When I called his cell, the mailbox was full. He contacted me the following day and said that he had a family emergency and his cell phone was locked in his daughters' car so he had not been able to call. This was the first in a series of "the dog ate my homework" stories as to why he never managed to start the job. After numerous commitments that he would be coming and numerous times waiting for him and calling him, he finally left a message saying that he was not going to be able to do the job. I called him and asked for my deposit back and he assured me that he would get it to me. Unfortunately, he had cashed the check and spent the money, so he would not be able to bring it until the following Thursday. Needless to say, Thursday came and went and Donald did not come. This game went on for several weeks. After calling him numerous times, he finally arrived with $500, not $1000. He promised to return the following Thursday with the rest of the money. He couldn't come until the end of the day because he was working on another job. Of course, Thursday came and went. Numerous calls did not help, so I finally went to the police and asked them to contact him. When the detective called him, he agreed that he would bring the deposit back, but said that he was keeping $250 because he had driven twice to look at the job. When I called him and questioned why he felt entitled to any money at all, he responded that he deserved to be compensated for his labor. I asked him what labor and he responded that he had twice looked at the job to give me an estimate and that he should be compensated for the time he spent researching where to buy the materials that he never actually bought or used. He asked me, "Don't you expect to be compensated for your time?" Yes, I would like to be compensated for my time. Clearly it has not occurred to him how many hours of my time were wasted because of his dishonesty and lack of integrity. I would steer clear of this man. There are lots of honest people on this list who respect their customers, tell the truth and actually "work" for their money like the rest of us.