Complaint Review: Brian Matthews

I have been thinking that I need to respond to this rebuttal in the most accurate way as possible. This is so ironic, because it's like when people blame victims for their circumstances (i.e.: That girl deserved to be assaulted because she was wearing a short skirt and had a drink --- Um, no it doesn't). Sure, I am super emotional because some d-head stole our money. But, not everything is black and white; No one is completely right and no one is completely wrong (that doesn't mean you can't be mean-spirited and have bad intentions - both of those accurately describe Brian Matthews). 

I am an educated person and know I should follow certain rules when engaging with Contractors. Through a series of events, including miscommunication, trusting in someone and thinking everything would work out, I broke the cardinal rules of hiring contractors.

1. I DID MY RESEARCH. Brian suggests that I should've done research. Sure, I saw negative reviews from folks. But, I had my own service-oriented business for a few years. I got tons of glowing reviews online, but I had a few Customers who couldn’t be made happy, no matter what I did. As a result, they posted a semi-negative review. Does that mean I’m completely inept if I get a couple negative reviews out of 100? No. But, I always read every part of a review. And, I saw the majority of reviews were very good. I went to the Maryland Home Improvement Commission to verify active contractor licenses (which were there) and I got 5 estimates for the work. It is a fact that Alan told me that Brian would call me. And, it is a fact that Brian came to our home. But, that's where they differ on their stories. Again, ALAN SHOULD HAVE MADE IT CLEAR THAT BRIAN WAS NOT AN EMPLOYEE, BUT REFERRING ME TO HIM. I wasn't clear on that and thought Brian worked for Alan. Brian used Premier Home Pro's signature in his email and used PHP's contract. No one cleared that up. In my opinion, Alan is moving to Florida and is trying to sell his business at some point. He values his good standing on places like Angie's List, so he didn't explicitly say that he was referring Brian to me. I wish he would've told me this. That is my one issue with Alan. 
2. I SHOULD'VE GOTTEN THE SIGNED CONTRACT BACK BEFORE BRIAN'S TEAM STARTED WORK. Brian came over to see the job with his foreman. I thought he would have had the contract that day, but he said he needed to see the job before he had his guys start. We agree to the final price and that his team could start demo the next day. He got there bright and early the next day and went through the contract thoroughly. I gave him the 1st of 3 payments and he noted it on the contract, showing the balance due and when it would be paid. I thought he was going to sign the contract right there so I could make a copy, but he said he needed it to be countersigned by Alan and then he'd get me a copy - WHICH WE NEVER DID. So, that was my receipt of the 1st payment. 

• But, I will say his guys started work immediately. They were cordial, and efficient. They never left the place a mess. They put down tarps everywhere so they wouldn't track dirt around the house. Brian gave them clear instructions and so did his foreman. They were friendly and respectful. That’s why I just assumed I’d get the contract back soon.
• Everything was moving smoothly, and I got complacent. THAT WAS MY FAULT. I should've asked for the contract again, especially since it had been a couple of days. But, things were moving, so I assumed that Brian's team was honest and that I had no reason to worry. I know -- ANOTHER BIG MISTAKE.

1. MY HUSBAND SHOULD'VE COUNTED THE MONEY BEFORE HE HANDED IT OVER TO BRIAN. As I mentioned originally, my husband and I had a HORRIBLE miscommunication. I was out of town when he gave him the 2nd (and inadvertently 3rd) payment. My husband had been working 12-14 hour days and didn't ask for receipt. He probably assumed I would get that. I know, you should never assume..... So, we take full responsibility for not counting before handing it over. And, truth be told, we knew we couldn't prove the extra money was in there. Sure, we were going to ask several times to verify, but we were actually going to chalk that up as a tough lesson that we had to learn. We made a mistake. But, we paid for the job and Brian and his Team should've finished. But, we never even got to this point. Brian became defensive, yelled at my husband then refused to take our calls. That is the definition of a crook.
2. WE USED CASH. I know, I cringe as I write this. We were in a circumstance where we had cash and I was too lazy to go take it to the bank and get certified checks. Again, I was so stupid and that was my fault. But again, they started working and things were going along very smoothly. 

• Brian sent his guys for the next few days after my husband gave him the cash. That's the thing: HE DIDN'T CUT AND RUN WHEN HE GOT THE PAYMENTS. HIS GUYS STILL CAME AND WERE STILL WORKING AND THINGS WERE MOVING JUST FINE. They even ran into an issue that took them longer than expected and handled it (I thought they did, but it turns out the problem is still there).

It was not until I returned from vacation that I asked my husband where the envelope with the final payment was. I told him that I was looking for it because there was an extra $500 for overages, etc. in the envelope. That's when we realized our terrible mistake and my husband called Brian. This is when it went all downhill fast.

• His foreman and other men were on the way that morning. After my husband talked to Brian, he refused to send his crew. As I later found out, it was a crew that was fired by others and was not a crew used by Premier Home Pro.
• Brian said we challenged his integrity. We asked him about the contract and he still claimed that Alan should have sent it to us. Alan said he never received any contract and wasn't even aware that Brian took the job. Alan said that Brian did this on his own and was trying to trade on PHP's name and reviews to get clients. Again, this is where it's murky to me. Alan claims they were supposed to split the money from these jobs, but Brian told him he never booked any. So, Brian must've lied and took the jobs but didn't tell Alan. And, Alan was a bit distracted by his impending move to Florida. So, again, there was just enough gap where Brian could get away with this.
• He only stopped coming once we confronted him about the money. He said at first: "Well, I thought you were just paying the whole balance at that time instead of giving me a 3rd payment. Sometimes people do that, so that's why I didn't question it." But, when we said there was extra money in there, that's when he flipped. He claimed he didn't need to steal money from us, but that's what he did. 
• As a note, I got a call from his foreman. Apparently, he also stiffed them for this job! The Foreman apologized and said Brian never told him what happened. He only said that we were bad people and not to go finish the job. But as it turns out, Brian didn’t pay him for the job either. So, not only did he steal from me an Alan Stevens, he stole from his Foreman.

So go ahead, Mr. Matthews – please refute the things I’ve stated here. You need to get ready because you’ll have to explain it again to the Maryland Home Improvement Commission and the State of Maryland in a court of law. 

Its a shame that this customer did not research Alan R. Stevens and Premier Home Pro.  There are many disgrunted customers that have dealt with Alan R. Stevens and Premier Homepro.   As Mr. Stevens wife suggested about doing a judicial case search on Mr. Matthews, please do a judicial case search on Mr. Alan R. Stevens.

Mr. Matthews did not falsely represent himself as working for Premier Home Pro.  He has no access to Premier Home Pro's referrals from Angies List.  Your name was given to Mr. Matthews by Alan Stevens and with his permission. 

Alan R. Stevens did receive the signed contract and did receive his portion of payment. Unfortunately, as this rebuttal is being filed Alan R. Stevens and his wife are on their way to Florida.     

As to this disgrunted customer:  Why would you not verify how much you gave Mr. Matthews and ask for a receipt at the time you gave the envelope to him?  Why did you not get the signed contract back before having Premier Home Pro start the work?

I am happy that Alan did complete the job for you as he should have since it was a Premier Home Pro job and he did receive payment for the work.  The money he used to finish your job was the money he received to do your job so it should have come out of his "pocket"

Shame on you for trying to smear Brian Matthews name.  Your husband claims he gave Brian a certain amount of money and Brian disagrees.  This all could have been avoided if your husband took the time to verify how much he was giving Mr. Matthews. 

Shame on you Jan Briddell Stevens.  Brian Matthews was a faithful employee of Premier Home Pro and without his skills, talent and years of experience your company would not have had the volume of sales it had.