Reds Concrete

November 8, 2013, I signed a contract with Red?s Concrete. At that time I gave Mr. Johnson a deposit of $6,000.00. Work was to commence on November 11, 2013, time was of the essence in this contract. The possibility of inclement weather delays was discussed and it was agreed that under no circumstances was work to begin later than March 1, 2014 or completed later than March 15, 2014. During the discussion on November 8, 2013, Mr. Johnson showed me colors and stamp patterns available. Mr. Johnson stated he had some colors on hand from previous jobs. One of the reasons I chose the colors I did was because Mr. Johnson could start sooner and charge less if I chose some of these colors. On May 5, 2014, Mr. Johnson finally began work. Mr. Johnson arrived at 7:30 am with a crew of two men, and hand equipment only. Mr. Johnson informed the homeowners, he required an additional $1,000.00 to rent a jackhammer and dump truck. I gave him a check and he left. His two workers removed the front and back walkways, and began to remove the garage apron. Mr. Johnson returned at 1:30 that afternoon, it was determined that a jackhammer was needed to remove the rear stoop and the remaining garage apron. Mr. Johnson stated he would rent one and be on the job site at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. He and his crew worked until 2:30 and left. On May 6, 2014, Mr. Johnson called at approximately 7:15 a.m. and stated he was in Joliet, Ill but could not rent a jackhammer because he did not have a major credit card. He asked Mr. Berry to rent a jackhammer from Menards and said he would reimburse him for the rental fees when he arrived later that day. When Mr. Johnson and his two man crew arrived they still had only hand tools. After some very brief instruction on the use of the jackhammer, Mr. Johnson left almost immediately for an appointment. His crew attempted to contact him several times during the day because they were having problems removing the apron and back stoop. Per his crew Mr. Johnson never responded. Mr. Johnson arrived back at the job at 1:30 p.m. After removing apron and backdoor stoop, Mr. Johnson and his crew left at 4:15 p.m. Mr. Johnson informed the homeowner, he might not be on the job site at 7:00 on May 7, 2014, but he had given his crew instructions for the day?s work. May 7, 2014, nobody from Red?s Concrete showed up to work. That evening I received a text message stating he would be at the job site the next day May, 8th. May 8, 2014 once again Red?s Concrete did not show up at the job site. I received a text stating they would be at there in the morning, May 9, 2014. May 9, 2014 once again Red? Concrete did not show up at the job site. Received yet another text stating they would be there at 7:00 a.m. on the dot Saturday, May 10, 2014. Mr. Johnson arrived at 9:30 that morning. He did not have a crew with him nor did he have a dump trunk. At that time Mr. Berry informed Mr. Johnson he could not tolerate any more excuses or delays. He told Mr. Johnson that because he had long since breached the contract he wanted the money he was owed and told him he would find someone else to do the job. Jeff Berry asked Mr. Johnson to bring a check to his home by 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. Mr. Berry sent Mr. Johnson a text message on Tuesday morning as a reminder. At 7:50 a.m. Mr. Johnson phoned Mr. Berry to tell him he did not have the money, but would like to meet to discuss payment arrangements.