Thompson Construction and Concrete

Our neighbor had some minor concrete work done to his driveway. We asked him about the contractor, Thompson Construction and Concrete and he recommended him. We asked Keith Thompson, the owner to come and give us an estimate. Mr. Thompson came quickly and produced an estimate that was e-mailed to me. I searched the internet, the BBB and Angie's List to find any background on Mr Thompson, but could find nothing on him, good or bad. Since he had gotten such good reviews from our neighbors, we decided to move ahead with the job. We reviewed the bid, proposed a few changes and then confirmed our interest in moving ahead. 11/21/13 ? Entered into contract with Thompson Construction and Concrete (owned by Keith Thopmson) for removal of our old concrete driveway and sidewalk and installation of a new concrete driveway and sidewalks. The contract was for $16,000 for the job with 50% paid as a deposit. On 11/21/13, Tasha Thompson, as associate of the company, picked up the check for $8000 and signed the contract for Keith. After some weather delays, the contractor started work the week of 12/9/2013. The old concrete driveway in front of the garage was demolished The grass was cut out in the the backyard for a walkway to the deck and a pad for garbage cans. While excavating the old concrete the contractor damaged the aluminum trim around the garage doors. We had several delays after that because Keith told us that the contractor he used for hauling had problems with his truck. A few days later, he came back and removed the concrete (about two truck loads) but Keith asked if we could pay the truck driver $2000.00, which Keith assured me would be deducted from the amount we still owed. We cut a check for this. Just after Christmas, we received a call from the person who worked with Keith on the proposal telling us to ask Keith to pay him the $4000 dollars that he owed him, or he would put a lien on our house. No more work was done until after the New Year when Keith started working with another subcontractor. On 1/13 the new crew demoed the rest of the upper driveway and installed forms. The pour was scheduled for January 15th. On the morning of the 15th, the subcontractor called us and said he hadn't been paid and couldn't do the pour. I Called Keith and got no response. Finally connected with him the following day, and he said his father had died, and he was in Virginia. Keith Assured me it would be handled. We discovered later that his father had died earlier in the month. After this I texted Keith to say we expected the job done and done soon. Again we were assured that the job would get done. The next day, a representative of the equipment rental company from which Keith had procured a Bobcat and Trailer, came to our front door and notified us that he was taking the equipment because it had not been returned. They had been looking for it for over a month. Finally we had good weather again and the pour was rescheduled for Feb 1st. The sub and Keith came out to the house on Friday, Jan 31st and confirmed it all looked good and they would do it the next day. I asked Keith directly, "You are going to pay the sub and get this done?" to which he answered, "yes". The next day the sub called me and said he hadn't gotten paid by Keith as promised, and he couldn't pour the driveway. Keith had told him that he had a check outstanding that hadn't cleared, but it would by the end of the day. At 4:30 on that Friday Keith called the sub and told him that the check didn't clear. The sub told Keith that he needed to contact me and let me know that they wouldn't be able to pour. Keith never called me to cancel. In both cases of not showing up for a scheduled pour, Keith did not call us to let us know that the pour had been cancelled. We had to call him to find out what was going on or found out from the sub. On Feb 3, I sent Keith a text telling him the driveway needed to be done that week (by Friday) or I would start taking legal action. He replied that he would. Once again no action occurred. On Feb 5, I sent another text message to Keith telling him explicitly that the driveway needed to be done by the end of the week or I wanted my money back. He responded the next day that he would get it finished or give my money back. As of today, Feb 9th, the driveway is not poured, and I have no refund. I texted Keith telling him that I was terminating the contract and starting legal action. We are out $10,000. I will be filing a lawsuit against him in the next few day and will investigate criminal charges that I may be able to file. In addition, I am sharing my story so no one else has to go through the nightmare that our family has gone though for the last several weeks. AVOID THIS CONTRACTOR AT ALL COST!