Mike (Tiny Sandman owner) is the first contractor I've ever had to fire. I didn't want to do it, it's stressful and normally if I get a dud service professional, I'd just finish up the current work and politely never hire them again.
Mike redefined my expectations on how truly unprofessional and rude a contractor could be if they really put their mind to it.
Ok, I should detail out what you could probably expect working with him (based on my experience):
No written estimate ever
Verbal estimates (that he's obviously lowballing)
Damage to your property
Time estimate promises that he doesn't even use as rough guidelines (weeks or months late on every single thing)
A show and dance starting with a lecture about how ?things happen? and in his industry it's typical to not complete jobs on time and finishing with a lecture about how you're impossible to deal with and not worth the stress if you tell him you expect him to finish when he committed to finishing.
Your neighbor pulling you aside to let you know that Mike's drunken workers are throwing away their liquor containers in the his recycle bin.
Paraphrasing my final experience with him:
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?Yeah, I can get it done before this weekend?
?Yeah, It'll be done tomorrow? ? the following Wednesday
?I don't know where my tools are, I won't be able to do it until tomorrow? ? the next day
?I'm leaving my house now, we'll be over there in 30 minutes? ? two days later
?(One of my workers) will be there within the hour, he's leaving now? ? four hours later
""You know the big one was emptying those big boxes of wine into his cup and tossing them in my recycling"" <--- my neighbor, the next day
During the firing process:
?But, I did great work for you, doesn't the front look great now?
?You killed my grass? <--- this one was me (Imagine a giant brown stripe of dead grass, 1-4 feet across, running the full length of the lawn where he ""oopsied"" the plant killer)
?Just water it twice a day and It'll grow back?
There was a bunch more but I figure this is getting really long and that line pretty much sums up everything you need to know. Do you really want your lawn care professional to ever utter the words ?It'll grow back?. The poor scheduling and estimating are unprofessional. Rudeness can be put off to our society. But, seriously ? I want to hear ?It'll grow back? from the dude I hired to handle my lawn about as much as I want to hear it from the hairdresser.
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