Empire Craftsman

I hired Empire Craftsman upon recommendation from another owner who had used that company several times for various jobs in homes and condos..I did not check further...I'm a mature active woman, with no relatives around, and I was going to be out of my condo for 7 nights but still be around everyday to follow the progresses.. Chris Herno came to assess the job, did not take any measurements, did not give me any suggestions nor advice, sent me to his wholesale tile and floor provider and told me to figure out what I wanted, with which materials, so he could give a proper quote, which he did..His sales rep at prosource was of no help at all..,Fortunately I had taken measurements myself to be prepared with some kind of square footage, checked out both Lowes and Home depot for alternate tile provider..I was running out of time and went with Chris' s quote which was the most affordable..They showed up on the decided upon day to tear the small bathroom apart which took about 3 hours between 4 men. They continued the job and I was watching and asking lots of questions which seemed to annoy the workers, and they would make faces and sighs and comments etc...I was already regretting my choice, but it was but too late. One day nobody showed up, Chris never called to explain nor did he return my phone calls...the next day they returned trying to catch up on the lost day....Chris did finally explained that the younger worker was going to be fired for not showing up to work the previous day, but in the mean time tiling had to be done without him...48 hours later, the tiles were on, crooked on one wall ,but worst was the shower floor which was sloping and water was accumulating in the 4 corners..A major construction flaw that Chris fixed..as well as numerous other smaller mistakes..For instance the plumbing under the sink was also wrongly done, the painting on the walls was superficial and some of the grout was already cracking....Before he retiled the shower floor I had to draw his attention to the fact that some parts were still sloping towards the walls rather than the drain..he acknowledged my points and reassured me he would fix it..To his credit he did not want any payment before the job was finished and after I was satisfied, which I thought I would be...I was without a shower for practically 2 weeks, without a toilet for one night..Overall my experience was frustrating, overwhelming and negative...Chris is certainly an honest handy man who can do lots of stuff but not tile laying.....he is more than willing to please, he does everything on the cheap, but shows horrible communication skills( does not call nor return messages nor emails)..his electrician was very good ,but his other 2 employees are handy men and not professional at any thing...to this day I still do not have a license number for Empire Craftsman The shower floor is very uneven and rough, the grout is cracking everywhere, it smells like cement in the shower, the shower head arm is not properly secured inside the wall...I got what I paid for: cheap, sloppy, and unprofessional craftsmanship..