Complaint Review: Tim Gabelman

Timothy Gabelman is a man that appears to be your honest, kind, generous sort and he possibly is that kind of man outside his business but in his business, money is the bottom-line.  He drives two large suped-up trucks and has a very nice home so my guess is that he has to keep the money flowing however he does it.

I hired Tim in spring 2014 to finish re-habbing an apt. bldg. that I bought in 2012 and was totaly batched up by the first contractor.  In our contract together, he agreed to re-frame a rotten corner of the bldg., remove and fix the rot on the outside and put up insulation, new siding, and new trim around the windows. He was to finish the plumbing and the electrical, fix the sagging porch at the front, put in electrical heaters in each of the six apt. , fix doors, and other odds and ends to get the apt. bldg. ready to rent. We agreed upon a price and a payment method.

It started out well. The outside was quickly completed up to the final details and trim. Then things started to go downhill. Tim was all 'hurry, hurry, hurry' about it and corners and trim were slapped on with no regard to water-proofing. He also started to push for more money and it had to be in cash. When I pushed back about the details he was missing, he started to get mean.

Then the electrical got really complicated when he kept postponing it being done. He made excuses and kept pushing me to call his electrical guy to tell him to show up. This went on past the date that it was all supposed to be done. Finally, it came out that the electrician had taken some of the money he was supposed to use to do the electrical. Tim would not take the responsibility to finish the job.

I was from out-of-state, living in the apt. bldg. without water for a month and no electricity for the 4 months I was there, ALONE. (a 62 yr. old woman)  Tim never did come to get the water running. I hired someone else. I also hired someone else to do the electricity.  I had to put out additional money to buy heaters and have them installed. I didn't have the money but two times money unexpectantly came to me to cover the costs. Thank God-really.

Tim just disappeared with pretty much all of the money. He owes me $11,000+++ for what was not finished. He had the audacity to tell me that I owed him money. ( One of his ways, is to offer to fix something for free, and then when I pushed him about something he wasn't doing, I was charged for the thing he offered to do for free.)

I could take him to arbitration which is stipulated in our contract, however, the cost and time and travel involved makes it too complicated.  I also think he doesn't have the money because of his lavish life-style, and not reporting his earnings to the IRA.

That spring-fall was the most painful time in my life. His constant lying and excuses wore me out. I had to battle just about every day to make it through.

Just as a foot-note: the materials he used for the siding were not appropriate for outside siding and even a month after it was put up, it was starting to warp and come away from the wall. That is another expense that I will have to face very soon.  The apartments are extremely cold from the lack of real insulation and poor trim around the windows.  The tenants electrical bills are exorbitant for poor people. Another case of cutting corners and those coming after paying the price.

Don't hire him. He can not be trusted.