Charlotte Outdoor Living

I hired Chad Black and Charlotte Outdoor Living to extend my existing concrete patio and build a porch on the back patio of my residence. The initial part, which was extending my concrete patio went great. They performed the job on time and the quality of work was good. The second phase, building the covered porch, was started on September 28, 2013. We were initially told our porch would be started the first week of September but got pushed to the end of the month. Chad completed most of the framing and roofing in one weekend. My wife and I told friends and neighbors about our project and they asked us if our contractor got a permit for the work. After asking Chad, he mentioned that he "usually doesn't get permits when building in SC." I instructed him that we wanted to get a permit for the project and I handled all of the details of filing forms with the county and obtaining the permit. After the initial weekend of work, there were numerous delays with Chad and a total lack of communication. He would go days and weeks without returning phone calls and messages. When he finally got back in touch he would say things like "my phone wasn't working" or "I was out of town with my family" or "I was in the mountains and had bad signal." I understand cell phones aren't 100% reliable, but any message I sent him confirmed delivery so I know he received messages. There were at least 5 occasions where Chad promised he would show up the following day to continue work where he failed to show. In the midst of working on the porch, Chad also did some landscaping in our back yard using several tons of rock. The quality and design of this work was very good. Chad finally finished MOST of the construction on the porch 11/8/2013. I submitted the final balance of $5K to Chad that day and he deposited the check immediately. The remaining items he needed to complete after that included a few pieces of touch-up work, a free "high-end" fire pit, AND the installation of a storm door on our porch. He finally added the fire pit several weeks later after I messaged him and asked for a partial refund if he wasn't going to do the work. Our "high-end" fire pit was just a replacement of the fire pit I built in our yard using the standard blocks from Lowe's. The storm door was another story from Chad. He confirmed with me that he ordered the door from Lowe's on 11/9/2013; since it was a custom color, it would take 7-10 days. I contacted Chad on 11/21 for a status and never heard back. I left several voice messages and sent numerous text messages and finally heard back from Chad on 12/11, when he claimed he couldn't install the door until January. At the end of the day, Chad returned the door he supposedly purchased to Lowe's. He claims he will send me a refund (which won't even cover my new cost for the door). Chad initially said he would send me a refund if, and only if, I removed my outstanding complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I can't believe he, or any other business owner, lacks the common sense to say something like that. The main reason I chose to hire Charlotte Outdoor Living was for the price and PROMISE of good communication. The price was still good but the whole process was a complete disappointment. Chad's wife is actually listed as the business owner on BBB's website, but I never had any communication with her and the main number listed for their company goes straight to voicemail. I would b very cautious of working with this company. Chad makes big promises upfront, and he looks like a believable guy, but he lacks follow-through and professionalism.