Home Improvement Scam?
Dear Mr. Magidson,
The following letter is from Mr. Haywood Galloway. He is a custodian at the elementary school in which I work. He has been having a problem with getting some work done at his house. I read the article Peter Ortiz wrote about you for azcentral.com. and thought you might help him. Mr. Galloway is at his wit's end trying to contact the person whom he hired to build an addition to his house. I told him that I would email his letter to you. I am using my home computer. If you would like to email Mr. Galloway through me, I would be happy to pass it on. He has included his phone number and address also.
I hope you can help him. He is thinking of selling his car so that he can get the money to have the work finished.
Sincerely,
Virginia Cox
Mr. Haywood Galloway
4520 E. St. Catherine
Phoenix, AZ 85040
602-438-9283
February 22, 2000
Dear Mr. Magidson:
My name is Haywood Galloway. I'm a husband and father of four. I would
like to tell you about my experience with a local contractor I hired to
build an additional bedroom and do some repairs inside our home.
I used the classified ads from a local newspaper to find someone to give
me quotes on how much money and time it would take to complete the job.
After meeting and talking to three different contractors, I decided to go
with Parliment Builders, owned and operated by Mike Passini. It is
located at 6507 E. Alder Ave., Mesa, AZ 85206. Mike's price was
affordable for the job that my wife and I want done.
On Thursday, January 27, 2000, we went over details and signed a contract.
I gave Mr. Passini a check for half the amount ($3,040) to purchase
materials needed for the job. He started the next day, Friday, January
28, 2000, about 12:30 pm. He took down the front door and replaced it
with a new door that is not secured to the hinges. He had a crew of three
and they started digging the footings for the concrete slabs for the
additional bedroom that was to go in the back of the house. That evening,
Mike said that he would be back early Saturday morning to hang the doors in
the other rooms and pour the concrete.
He was late and got here about 12:00 noon. He did bring the doors with
him, but did not bring his crew or the cement. He explained that they
were busy and that Sunday is Super Bowl and would be back early on
Monday morning. Mike and his crew did not show up. When I got home from
work, there was no sign that that any work was done. I phoned him but
there was no answer. I left messages, but they were never returned.
I hope you can help me with this problem and alert others of the
possibility of a scam. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Haywood Galloway