Jose Costillo J C Countertops & Remodeling

We were having our kitchen remodeled and we had a floor installer recommended to us via the Granite installer. Jose Costillo of JC Counter Top and remodeling (based in Fort Worth, Texas) came out to see us in March 2012 and quoted a very good price to take up the existing tile floor in the kitchen, breakfast nook, entrance hallway, corridors and guest bathrooms. He also quoted to take up the laminate floor in the lounge and dining room and install bamboo flooring. Jose is pleasant, charming and claims to be a devout Christian working 6 days a week and goes to Church on Sunday. We agreed the price, paid him 50% upfront with the balance on completion and went on vacation (leaving our adult son at home to watch over things) under the agreement that when we came back, our floors would be installed. 6 days later the flooring had been removed but nothing laid down. After several telephone calls, we have flooring in our breakfast nook, kitchen, entrance hallway, corridors and guest bathrooms but nothing laid in the lounge or dining room. The tiling itself is good and as Jose charmed us with his excuses of being a man down, we forgave him and actually became friends with him. He even brought his children over to meet us. We wanted our master bathroom remodeled so he quoted for that project and again the price was very good. We agreed he would remodel the bathroom and then lay the last of the flooring. He also agreed to repaint the kitchen as we had orginally painted the kitchen ourselves and we didn't like the final color. He also agreed to do our backsplash. We paid him 50% upfront again and he confirmed it woud take him 2 weeks to paint the kitchen, install the backsplash and remodel the bathroom. It took him 4 days to paint the kitchen and install the back splash. We were going on vacation for 6 days and he told us he would be 90% complete by the time we got back and therefore could we give him some more money. As we viewed him as a friend, we gave him more money. We came back from vacation and the only thing that had been done, was the demolition of the bathroom. Jose apologized but had taken other jobs in advance of doing ours but continued to promise to finish our job. Work was very slow for the next 2 weeks and he then asked again for more money and we told him no more money until he finished the job. He had been paid for 70% of the work but we were not even 50% completed. Since telling him there is no more money, his crew (1 or 2 people) turn up periodically maybe 2 or 3 times a week, Jose doesn?t return phone calls, we?ve left him messages pleading with him just to finish parts of the job so that he can move on to other jobs as we now know our neighbors have just given him a check for 50% of the work that he?s agreed to do for them. Our neighbors have told us he is due to start work on their house this week even though our house isn?t even 50% completed. This person calls himself a Christian. We asked him to pray long and hard today when he visits the Lord today with his family because he is clearly unable to live by Christian standards as he takes money under false pretenses and makes promises he can?t deliver. He even took a tool that we said he could have once he finished the job so he steals as well. To summarize he started the bathroom demolition on 04/10/12 and it is now 05/13/12 and we have a partially tiled but unusable bathroom, that is not fully plumbed, no toilet and no flooring in the lounge or the dining room. DO NOT USE THIS CONTRACTOR IF YOU WANT WORK TO BE COMPLETED AND YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR TOOLS OR MONEY STOLEN.