Painting Contractor Ripped Off My Mother

by Seth K.
(Downers Grove, IL, USA)

I'm a college student who lives more than a hundred miles away from my home. Over Fall term, my mother hired a contractor to paint the house for my sister's wedding which was planned for early December.

I had wanted her to wait for me to get back for Fall break but she is stubborn and as usual decided to take matter into her own hands.

She didn't ask around for opinions, she didn't do her research; basically, it was a recipe fit for disaster and as much as I love my mother, this was basically her own doing.

She asked one of our neighbors about someone that she could hire to paint the house. The woman told her about some out-of-state guys who "worked for a really good value here"(for them obviously).

My mother called one of them and afterward she called me in an excited state. I have very little experience or knowledge of house painting. My mom told me all these things that they were planning on adding to the house: better paint for texture, and other materials, rich coating and other things. My mom relayed all this to me and I was happy for her. They had said they would come over on Sunday and take a look at the house and project an estimate on time and cost.

The painter and his buddy show up on Sunday, only an hour late, and they proceed to walk around the house and jump into the backyard over the fence without even bothering to ring the bell or tell my mom they had arrived. My mom noticed them only when they came into the backyard and started looking around. She was surprised but didn't say anything about it.

The painter was very confident that he could get the entire exterior done within 3 days. Mom was thrilled. She was already seeing the wedding reception in her mind and everyone admiring the outside of her beautiful newly painted house.

Right. So he gave her an estimate on the price and it was $1750 for the work, along with whatever supplies. Before the guy left, he asked mom if she could put a down payment on the work so that he could buy the supplies necessary for the work. She gave him $500.

They were supposed to show up on Wednesday at 5pm with all the supplies. Guess what? They never showed. They pocketed a sweet $500 for just driving over, how's that for a good value?

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