Solidcraft Carpentry

In the winter and spring of 2012, Solidcraft Carpentry owner Mike Kirby did some electrical and plumbing work on one room of my house. I didn't need any carpentry done, but a friend down the street recommended him for my renovation as he is supposedly certified in electrical and plumbing, which he is very good at. I gave him approximately $2000 to get started, and promptly received a detailed invoice. Our arrangement was that he would come when he could, and I agreed and accepted. Every month or 2 he would ask for another $2000 and I naturally paid him and expected an invoice but he neglected to give any, and when asked, he would repeatedly assure me that 'it is coming', and that 'all of this is written down at home!' as he pointed to the wires and pipes. I trusted him because I thought that if he is certified in these fields and also from a family of carpenters, then surely he must have the old school honesty and integrity. After the $8000 mark, I started to get suspicious, as he was barely ever at the house and I couldn't imagine where all the money was going to, even at $55/hour. A month or 2 would go by, I would never see him, then he would come for 3 hours a day for a couple days. It was so frustrating for me because near the end of the project, he could have just worked a few long days and finished - but instead would do an hour or 2 and make an excuse to have to be somewhere else. But I remained patient and trusting because I really wanted the work completed peacefully without a disagreement, as the whole project involving other companies and workers took longer than expected and I was in a rush to rent the room for the approaching academic year. So I would keep paying, thinking that there will eventually be a partial refund and asked for a detailed invoice including all the receipts for materials, (which I was convinced must have been exorbitant). When I asked again about an invoice, around the time of completion, he chuckled patronizingly and assured me that he wouldn't take advantage of me, and not to worry about it. He also went to great lengths, more than any contractor I've ever known, to brag about his bookkeepers and how great they were. That should have been a red flag to me. Finally, about year later in March or 2013, after pleading to Mike for months to get an invoice for the approximately $12,000 of checks written to him- he finally provided one - and it was a joke, not surprisingly. it was very clear that he improvised it off the top of his head. It typically reported, page after sparse page: "work done over garage, $2000" with few other details. He listed no work hours or dates in the invoice, and included no material receipts. In the end, based on how seldom I saw him and based on the change in progress from month-to-month on the project, my expert friends and I estimate that he ripped me off for about 4K -6K, but I will never know for sure. If nothing else, Mike Kirby is very dishonest and lied to me all along about keeping detailed billing records.