Laborman - Gale Herr

I was initially quite happy and paid him more than he quoted (he quoted $12/hr. and I always paid him $15/hr.)  We worked on small and large projects for about 2 weeks and I still had more on the summer to-do list, and hoped to keep him happy with steady work & income. He got calls for quoting other jobs and needed to build his clients, and I was glad for him, and he promised he would be back in a week or so to keep working on my list.  Over a month went by and it was hard getting a hold of him.  When I did finally speak to him, he said he could only give me 1 or 2 days next week.  When he arrived, I realized we would have to re-power wash the deck on day 1, (he had already done this & was paid for it just before he 'disappeared') let dry, and paint it the next day since the weather report said no rain the next 2-3 days.  So I apologized for not thinking of it sooner and asked him if he'd mind getting his power washer (on the 'clock" plus $10 for gas as he lives 20 min. away) while I went & purchased 'deck over' paint and brushes.  I also picked up a couple burgers in case he hadn't eaten, as I always tried to feed him too.  At the end of the day, I showed him the brushes and he said he was fussy and would rather pick the brushes himself (I'd tried calling him from the hardware about brushes but got voice mail).  So I gave him the brushes & receipt and the plan was he'd exchange them for what he wanted (I'd pay for his time there too) and he would be here very early (his preference) the next morning. 

I was up at 7am and when I hadn't seen or heard from him by 10:30 I called to see if everything was all right.  He said he was in my driveway at 7:30am and the radio said it might rain, so even though I had pre-arranged with him about other chores to do, he left.   He verbally abused me, accusing me of intentionally giving him a receipt that I had paid for with a credit card so I wouldn't have to pay for the brushes!  I apologized for not remembering I'd paid with a cc and thinking they'd just do an exchange for him, my bad, and of course I would reimburse him the $11 for the brush he paid for out of pocket.   I was trying to ask what would be a good day to come back and do the deck, but he turned belligerent and accused me of lying about the weather report, about being up early, even saying my apology was a lie, insisting that the credit card receipt thing was intentional... and something about the Burger King I got him for lunch even got warped into me doing something bad, but I couldn't understand what he meant on that one.  When he did let me talk, he kept twisting my words before I finished a sentence and then arguing over and above me trying to defend myself which was very bizarre and frustrating almost to the point of tears.  I tried to stay calm and on point, but it escalated when I said he should have communicated to me that he wasn't coming that morning. He yelled loudly that I've told him not to call me too early.  He has a cell, but doesn't use text, so  I said if you couldn't send me a text, you could have left me a note, or called me after 8 or 8:30am (my normal time - I work nights) and he really blew up.  He just argued and argued and argued and I could barely get in a word.  I think he wanted me to fire him - maybe he had higher paying projects in the works and when I said "I just want you to complete the deck project" he said "You can do yourself, I'm NOT doing it!"  So I said ?F? you? and hung up.  If he was making better money elsewhere, good for him, but I thought I was more than fair and easy to work with by paying him more than originally agreed upon and he  could have just let me know that he wanted a 'per project' price rather than the $15/hr. and I would have considered it. He didn?t have to insult, anger and upset me!  It was a very bad experience.  I'm a single woman, so he might be more professional when dealing with men.