NEW CREATIONS CONTRACTING

The owner of New Creations stalled giving an estimate and suggested doing the job on time and material. He told me his hourly rates. The rates seemed fair, he was openly religious and I have never been cheated by a contractor so I agreed and signed his multipage time and material contract. The workers were cordial, tried hard and completed the work . I like them so much and was so pleased with their work that I gave each of them what I considered to be a generous tip. About a month after the job was completed I received a bill from New Creations. The bil was a shock to me because it contained what I thought to be wildly exaggerated worker hours, material lists and extra charges. I expressed my surprise with the bill and asked him to simply have the workers sign the material list so that I could be sure that the materials he listed were actually used on my job. I also asked him to have his workers sign off that they actually worked the hours that I was being charged. He responded with an angry eight-page letter. He refused to allow his workers to sign off on the hourly charges or the materialist. Since I have never disputed a contractors charges before, I found this to be a very disturbing experience. I finally just wrote him a check so I could get some peace of mind.