Chavez Fence

Description of Work: Old fence removed and new fence built

Description of Work: I entered into a contract with Thomas Chavez dba Chavez Fence, to install an entrance gate at our home located in Alto, NM. The contract required us to pay 50% down before the job was started, and we reluctantly paid this amount of $1,187.50. The job was supposed to have been completed by 12/15/2015, but Chavez never started the work.

Description of Work: Installed chain link

Description of Work: On October 26, 2012 we signed a contract for Chavez Fencing/Thomas Chavez to install fencing including three gates in three locations on our property. The price was $1384.96. A deposit of 50% was required to schedule the job and buy materials. We gave Thomas Chavez a check for $700. The work was to be started early in December. In late November I called Mr. Chavez and asked when the work would be started. He indicated he would be out on December 5 or 6 to start. He did not show up but the weather had turned cold. As Christmas approached we had snow. We were not concerned. We live in a small town and everyone knows Mr. Chavez. He had been a firefighter and had worked in code enforcement for the Village. My husband knew him on a professional level. In January we tried to reach Mr. Chavez by phone and just reached his voice mail. We left messages and he did not return our calls. We finally emailed him on January 16. On January 17 he responded to our email saying he had been out of town due to a death in the family. He indicated he would try and start the Job the following Thursday, January 24. We emailed him on January 23 asking if he would be coming out. He did not respond to the email . My husband stayed home all day. He did not show up nor did he call. On January 24, we emailed asking when he could start the job and stated that if he did not want to do the job to refund our deposit. On February 13 he emailed staring that he had to get a full time job and his phone had been turned off. He said he could do the job on weekends. On February 14 we emailed Mr. Chavez and told him that he needed to start the job by March 9 and have it completed by March 24. He responded on February 15 that he would get the job done. On March 10 we emailed him and told him to consider the job cancelled. We asked for a refund of our money by March 12. Nothing. We sent him a certified letter requesting the deposit be returned. He did not pick up the letter and it was returned to us. On March 14 we filed a claim in small claims court. Mr. Chavez had moved to another county by this time and we were unable to have the Sheriff's office serve him. We have since filed a criminal complaint against him and have been told by the officer that what he has done is a felony. Another individual also contacted the police department about Mr. Chavez taking a deposit and then doing nothing. Never once did Mr. Chavez contact us regarding the job. All contact was initiated by us.