Dream On Contracting

Ervin Rodriguez approached me in a Menard's parking lot because I had a cart full of paint.  He gave me a VERY low quote for painting.  The painting was okay and he did some drywall repair and a bathroom vanity installation that was fine.  I asked him what he would charge to finish our basement.  He quoted $2000 (!!??) and we hired him.  He never put anything in writing - my fault!  I recommended him to some friends and he proceeded to make all of our lives miserable for the next six months.  He would rarely show up when promised, ruined my friend's hardwood floors, did a shoddy job on parts of our basement refinish and at one point took another job in Chicago for a MONTH and disappeared, making all of us thing he had taken our money and ran.  My friend has many tools missing.  He wouldn't pay the workers he hired, and once the workers returned to my home asking me for payment.  The same happened with my friends.  Eventually he came back and finished all of our jobs.  He had quoted $850 to put in a bathroom in our basement, which I told him I couldn't afford to do.  He said he already had the materials and he wanted to do it for me because I'd given him referrals and because he'd handled the job so badly.  I agreed (when will I learn?) and when he finished, he demanded the $850.  Finally, he promised to put carpet in and we gave him cash for it but he ever returned or called. 

This individual is very charming and he really gives you the sense that he is sincere and you can trust him.  The funny thing is, I think he really intends to do what he says, but he appears to have some sort of learning disability that causes him to overpromise and underbid.  he's secured some jobs with other neighbors and we are hearing their compaints, too.  His confusion about his own abilities is inherent in the name of his business.  I told him that "Dream On' means "doubtful" rather than "dream big" as he intended.  He kind of laughed and said he'd had that name for 7 years and wasn't going to change it.  It sure fits.  If you think he is going to do what he says, when he says,  dream on.