Rickard's Painting

I contracted Brad Rickards to paint the exterior of my home. He asked for a deposit which made me skeptical from the beginning. I told him I would pay progress payments immediately by Paypal as work was completed. $300 after pressure washing, $500 when paint and prep materials were purchased, balance upon completion of the job. He promised to make my job a priority and get it done that weekend or early the next week. After two weeks of nothing but excuses he finally showed up to pressure wash. I paid $300 (even though he did not do the driveway as he had promised) Several days later he called me (suposedly from the paint store) saying he needed the $500 installment to purchase the paint. I stupidly made that payment. Then we went into weeks of excuses, phone calls and text messages about firing his crew, weather delays, having to have his girlfriend and other arrested for running a scam, broken phone, Paypal not working, having his kids for the weekend, etc. The excuses got more ridiculous each time and often conflicted with other excuses he had already made. After six weeks of this and at least 3 firm promised start dates that came and went , and a dozen or so promises to call me with a update - calls that he never made, and still nothing to show for it ,I cancelled the contract and told him I wanted my money back. He then stopped returning my calls and texts all together and I believe blocked my phone number. I strongly believe he is running a scam and is taking advantage of others.