Ace Concrete and Excavating - The owner of this Collinsville, IL business, Tom Emberich, wanted to bid on a foundation job and asked to borrow a set of plans.  He burned them up in a house fire and came back asking for a second set of plans to complete his bid.  After he received them, I never heard from him again, despite numerous messages to his phone's answering service. 

David Owen Contracting - This guy claimed to be a skilled plasterer in Caseyville, IL, and showed up with a "partner" who sounded very knowledgeable to pitch their bid.  On the day they were to begin work, the "partner" was nowhere to be found, so the guy enlisted his son and girlfriend to help out.  His original materials estimate was grossly inaccurate (only about 1/3 of what I had to finally purchase), and he had a habit of showing up late (11AM) and leaving early (3pm), when he showed up at all.  After several weeks of this, I demanded an accurate completion date, which was typically "this Friday", and he missed three deadlines.  I had to resort to confront him at his home to get him to return to work, where he SHOOK MY HAND and lied to my face that he was going to work full days and complete the job.  I never saw him at the jobsite again and after he failed to respond to a certified letter informing him he was in danger of Breach, I terminated his contract.  This contractor is neither trustworthy nor professional, and the partial plaster work he did is not journeyman-grade; it is thin or cracking in many places, and our home was left in shambles after the plaster residue was sprayed all over nearly every unplastered surface of the house: walls, floors, doors and windows.  I had to clean up his mess myself and hire a professional to complete a quality finish.

Nonster Concrete, Inc. - iThis one has me stumped.  Based out of Troy, Illinois, David Nonn contracted to pour all the flatwork and retaining walls for the project.  He actually did a decent enough job with the walls, footings and main slab, but when it came time to pour the patio and driveway, he kept stalling for some reason.  Then he wanted to raise the amount remaining on his contract.  Then he wanted an advance on the remaining work contrary to the contract's payment stipulation, despite having received 80% of the total payment already.  Then he wanted ME to order any necessary rock, and contact him when it was on site!  I wrote him a check for half the remaining balance and was informed that work would begin "ASAP."  After a week of excellent weather and unreturned phone inquiries - but no work - I cancelled the check and terminated him.  He still has not returned any of my messages.the footings, slab, retaining walls, patio and driveway.

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