MARK WILLIAMSON CARPENTRY

I was not on premises as I was living and working in NYC when he began and did the work. Although his agreed to verbal estimate included certain things, his written estimate left things off. By the following weekend, he had demolished the frames of 2 closets but his written bid only required him to do 1 (the verbal agreement was for 2). I had to pay an extra $1000 to have that work completed. The TV cabinet design had not been submitted to me, but he began building it without drawers for the remote controls, etc and, it was made of 4 or 5 different types of wood as he decided I was having it painted white, whereas it was always my intent to have it stained. Regarding the doorways that were widened, the door knobs were brushed stainless but the hinges were brass. It looked terrible. The saddles were removed for the floor to each and they were not replaced (including a marble one for the bathroom), The doors were hung 2 1/2 to 3" up from the floor. Unfortunately, Mark thought this was all acceptable. He accused me of being difficult/impossible to please, and demanded more money (he had already been paid 2/3 for the job). He appeared nervous that I was out to screw him. He told me "this is just a weekend place, why are you being so fussy?" He told the electrician to not come and do his work. I finally got my brother involved (who had originally recommended him) and the door issues were finally fixed but, I had to pay Mark the full balance less $500 to get this done. The one piece that remained was the doors to be hung on the TV cabinet. He delivered ones that were painted white, which had to go back, then ones that had terrible grain which had to go back (they were the white ones, sanded down). Finally he delivered acceptable doors but, he never returned to hang the doors, I had to find and pay someone else to do it. The written bid also required a pull out garbage/recycling unit installed. He claimed he could not find the hardware until I sent him the addresses on the internet. He left the receipt for the hardware expecting me to pay extra for that as well, although it was clearly indicated on the bid. His bid is one large, rambling paragraph. This makes it a bit difficult to realize that things are left out - and, it was given to me at a family barbeque on Monday and he began demolition the next morning. Mark's influence over the electrician (Vartulli of Greenwich/CosCob area) was also felt. Vartulli is NOT an electrician you want in your home. His work was also incompetent (one of the overhead fans spit and crackled when I turned it on - he blamed it on Home Depot's remote device being bad) and left his work unfinished and untested but, of course demanded full payment to correct his mistakes.

Mark was very helpful and coordinated all the other workmen, such as the plumber and electrician and tiler. He listened to what I wanted and kept the job moving.