W.P. Hicks Construction, Inc

What followed was the ten month nightmare. Nothing happened until 5pm on April 15th, when we received a phone call saying work would start on April 17th. We worked all day and most of the night shutting down the kitchen. No one arrived to start work until April 22nd. Our first indication of problems came quickly. On April 25th, Mr. Hicks informed us that, because of irregularities in the previous wiring, the electrical work, which had been quoted in the contract at $600. would now cost us $2,600. We asked for a breakdown of these costs based on the electrician's time sheets and hourly rate. WE NEVER RECEIVED ANY SUCH BREAKDOWN, AND VERY INTERESTINGLY, MR. HICKS NEVER MENTIONED THE SUBJECT AGAIN! Work proceeded very slowly. Many weeks we had one or two workers for only one or two days, we tried everything to speed things up but Mr. Hicks would always promise things and then fail to do anything. We have a dozen e-mails headed "another broken promise" By mid June it was obvious that by the time we left for our trip there would be no kitchen. We arranged for Mr. Hicks to have access to our condo and garage in our absence. His last words to us before we left were: "I give you my solemn promise that everything will be completed by the time you return" On June 14th While in China we received an e-mail invoice for $3,142.50 the payment due in the contract at "Substantial Completion" . Fortunately we did not pay this bill. We returned on June 25th. Virtually no work had been done in our absence. The cabinets were only partially installed, there were no counter tops, no appliances, no plumbing, no electricity and the floor was bare concrete. SO MUCH FOR SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION! We told Mr. Hicks that we would not be paying this invoice until conditions were such that we considered, not him, the work substantially complete. It was at this time that we had to confront Mr. Hicks, in front of witnesses, and ask him, several times "Did you or did you not, make this or that statement? HIS ANSWER WAS THE CLASSIC; I DON;T RECALL, I DON'T RECALL. When asked why no work had been done his response was "It rained a lot in June." Finally, the week of July 15th, we got some action. The granite was installed. but the cook top was not flush as was clearly shown in the drawings. When we pointed this out to Mr. Hicks, he blamed it on us saying we had not instructed the granite fabricator properly. We found this response to be unbelievable as the contract specifically forbid us to have direct contract with his subcontractors. He refused to accept responsibility and we had little option but to pay another fabricator $900. to correct his mistake. The fridge was installed but did not fit the previously installed cabinets. He again blamed us, saying we had ordered the wrong appliance. A somewhat bizarre response as we did not order the appliances, Mr. Hicks' company did! In the end we found it futile to try to reason with him, and after seeking legal advice, on July 29th we declared him in default of the contract. His response was to send us an invoice for $4,050. and threaten to place a lien on the property. Under the terms of the contract, we were required to give him 60 days to respond or correct the work. He did not respond and our last communication offering arbitration, a registered letter, was refused and returned to us. The 60 days is now over and we are proceeding to hire another contractor (this time recommended by Angie's list) to complete the work. The purpose of this review, which we feel deals only with specific facts and not opinions, is to try to prevent what happened to us happening to others. Michael & Susan Parker.

WE WOULD NOT RECOMMEND DOING BUSINESS WITH WAYNE HICKS (alias - W.P. Hicks Construction, Inc.) - YOU MAY WISH TO CONSIDER THIS A WARNING How do you catch a monkey? First you get a clear glass jar, very heavy, with a long narrow throat and opening. Then you put a shiny object inside the jar and wait. The monkey, attracted by the jar and desiring the shiny object, reaches inside and wraps his hand around that which he desires only to discover he can never escape while holding the shiny object, the throat you see is too narrow and the jar is too heavy to drag away. The shiny object has become an obsession and once within his grasp, the monkey will never let go. The jar is Wayne Hick's web site; it's top drawer and gives the illusion of professionalism. The weight of the jar, and the narrow throat, is Wayne's contract; once signed you may very well need an attorney to force him to meet his obligations. You should also allocate additional funds to cover the omissions in the defined work to be performed. Unless you have a long history and vast experience in renovating houses you'll never see those small detailed omissions until it is to late. The shiny object is your desire to own a beautiful updated home. Wayne Hicks spoiled our dream of retiring in south Florida; don't let that happen to you. At the end of the day all we really wanted was to escape from any further involvement with W.P. Hicks Construction, Inc. Signed, The Monkey

He is very rude. When he first meets you, he tells you that he will work with you. Once you sign the contract, it is his way or the highway. He will tell you that your ideas are stupid. It is very hard to get anything done with him. Work gets accomplished, but he spreads his self so thin with different clients that it takes a long time to get the work done. He said that the construction would take 4 to 5 weeks. He started the construction the first week of June and he is still working. I cannot pull out the drawers at the the kitchen door all the way because it hits the refrigerator. I have been told by the sub contractors that they are not allowed to talk to me. He will not take responsibility for his mistakes. His wife was even in a meeting with me and she walked out. He keeps asking me what I want and he keeps interrupting me. His work is fine but it takes forever. It is not worth working with him because of how poorly you are treated as a client. He is going to try to bill me for repairing the drawers that will not open more than 4 or 5 inches and continues to express that I contracted that work to be done. Why would I contract drawers to not be able to open all the way? Every single one of the sub contractors has been very pleasant to work with and provide a good quality of service. They are easy to get along with.