Complaint Review: Out of the Box Services

 Eddie Harris of Out of the Box Services was hired to replace a vinyl kitchen floor and to help move me from one house to another. 

Originally it was just to replace the kitchen floor, we agreed to meet on a Saturday morning, he came by Friday night after calling.  We talked about the work needing to be done, the price and came to an agreement.  The price was 300.00 labor and then I buy the materials.  He would check a couple of places for best price and call me so I could pay for it and he would pick the material up and deliver to the house for install.  Work needed to be completed by the following Friday as the landlord wanted the keys returned by then.

He then asked if I had help moving and I said I wasn't sure.  He asked to be shown what was going so I walked him around the house, the yard and the garage.  He gave me a flat rate of 300.00 to move everything plus he would help take down and setup the dog kennels in the yard.  I told him I only had the truck from Friday to Monday and he said that wouldn't be a problem, he would bring his trailer for the furniture and we would use the UHaul for everything else. 

He showed up Saturday and we went to work.  In the afternoon he started hinting about being paid in cash.  We had not discussed that and I thought I would write him a check.  I told him I didn't have cash but would write a check.  He did not want that.  I explained the only thing I could do before Monday was to go to Walmart and get an amount over my purchase, that I could do that several times to get him the cash.  He didn't want me to do that.  I gave him the cash I did have, offered another check.  We agreed to meet again at 1:00 pm on Sunday to continue the move.

He never called or showed up on Sunday until 6:30 at night.  He came to pick up a check.  He said he didn't show up to work on Sunday because he wasn't going into his pocket as he had been ripped off before.  I told him if that had been the issue he should have said something, I would have given him a check yesterday or gone to Walmart to get the cash. 

He helped me load a couple more things into the UHaul.  I had taken down my kennels (five of them 10x10 with roofs plus exterior fencing to enclose the yard) by myself plus loaded all but one and some misc items in the truck by the time he showed.  He refused to help unload the UHaul stating it was against the law to unload a UHaul at night.    He agreed to meet at 11:00 am the next morning Monday, after going to the bank to cash the check.

He never showed or called at all on Monday.  I had to hire someone else to help me finish loading/unloading because I was exhausted by then plus injured from moving the kennels by myself.  He did agree to install the floor Tuesday via text message.

Tuesday he arrived, started the floor installation as I finished cleaning and packing the last of the items.  He left in the early afternoon stating he would be back after 8:00 pm that night with a helper to finish laying the floor.  He said I did not need to be there.  He smokes and left crushed cigarette butts outside on the front door entryway. He never cleaned them up.

Wednesday I arrived to a kitchen floor bubbled up everywhere, a huge tear in the middle of the floor, glue on the cabinets, walls, baseboard, entryway floor, no trim installed and the vinyl cut so poorly that the quarter round would probably not cover it.  I called him and he said it would lay back down not to worry as when he left the night before it was flat.  He did not show up again until 10:00 pm Thursday night with a roller to try and fix the floor.  He did not buy any trim that he said he would supply.  Of course the roller didn't work as the glue was dried.  I asked if he had a glue fight and he explained the floor got glue on it and it hit the cabinets and wall.  I asked why he didn't clean it up, he said he wasn't worried because the glue came off with soap and water. 

He left stating he would have the store where I purchased the vinyl replace the vinyl because the 10 inch tear in the middle of the floor was like that when he unrolled it.  He would have the job completed by Saturday morning.

I didn't hear back from him until late Sunday night after calling his wife asking her to contact him so I could find out what was going on.  He yelled at me on the phone, said he was done and he would take the 200.00 loss (which was the balance I was to pay once everything was completed).  He then hung up on me.

He did not complete the moving help or fix the floor that is so badly messed up.  I lost my deposit on the rental house 1400.00, the 400.00 I paid him and the 400.00 in supplies purchased to replace the flooring as well as 300.00 paid to hire some else to help me move.  Plus I have months of recovery for the injuries I received trying to move everything by myself.

Not only is he shady in his business dealings he then uses God, being a Christian and blessed when trying to get me to hire him.  I find he is like a snake oil salesman.  All charm and good tiding but the product doesn't work.  He refused to honor even the basic business code of doing the work he was hired for and then fixing the work he messed up.