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Updated by user Jul 29, 2016

My wife and I had discussed removing the carpet from the master bedroom and the bedroom hallway prior to Mid-July 2016. On Sunday, 17 July 2016, in the early afternoon, I entered personal data at the โ€œthumbtack.comโ€ web site looking for a flooring contractor.

We received a telephone call in the early evening from the subject contractor who said he was a flooring contractor and got my name and telephone number from the โ€œthumbtack.comโ€ web site. We set up an appointment for an estimate the following day.

On Monday, 18 July 2016 the contractor arrived at approximately 2:45pm to measure for the flooring estimate. He also indicated he could do a small repair to the dining room floor which had boards that had come loose. The contractor had a business card, name, telephone number and an address.

Review of the business card at a later date revealed the business at the address is closed and the telephone there is out of service. I was unable to find a business license for the contractor, however Virginia law apparently does not require business licenses for small independent home repair and remodeling contractors. After leaving, the contractor called to indicate he would return at 10:30am on Tuesday, 19 July 2016.

On Tuesday, 19 July 2016 the contractor called at 6:34am but hung up before we could answer. He called again at 10:30am to say he would be there shortly.

He arrived at approximately 12noon. The contractor provided a proposal for $3800.00. The proposal included $800.00 for the purchase of laminate flooring and $300.00 for white oak shoe molding. The proposal included extra money charges for moving furniture in the master bedroom because both my wife and I are disabled and unable to move the furniture.

After leaving, the contractor called back to indicate he could do the dining room floor repair on Friday, 22 July 2016. We spent Wednesday and Thursday preparing the master bedroom for a flooring remodel.

On Wednesday, 20 July 2016 we gave the contractor a check for $2650.00 as an advance for the work he would be doing and to cover the purchase of laminate flooring, a flooring pad and white oak shoe molding.

On Friday, 22 July 2016, the contractor called about a new flooring choice, other than was in the proposal. The contractor showed us a sample of the new flooring which he said was 14mm thick and much better than the original flooring choice. However, the new flooring cost an extra $680.00 over the original cost of $800.00.

We agreed with the updated flooring choice and gave him a check for the additional amount to purchase the new different flooring. The new flooring based on the sample was never delivered. The contractor should not be allowed to sell one type of flooring based on a sample and then deliver a different brand. The contractor indicated he would deliver the new flooring at 8:30am, Saturday, 23 July 2016 and that he would fix the dining room floor at that time.

In addition, the contractor indicated he could start the flooring replacement on Wednesday or Thursday, 27 or 28 July 2016. However the proposal did not include a start date. We are unsure how valid verbal statements that apply to the proposal are, but we do feel in this case they were a deliberate attempt to mislead us on promptness of service. On the basis of those verbal statements we re-scheduled our maid service to the following week.

The contractor arrived here at 12noon on Saturday, 23 July 2016 with a partial delivery (15 cartons of Cherry laminate flooring, each carton contained 26.1 square feet of flooring for a total of 391.5 square feet.) of the required 450 square feet of laminate flooring. At least 3 additional cartons are required to have the required 450 square feet of flooring. This flooring was not the same as the sample he showed us on Friday, 22 July 2016. it was 8mm thick as opposed to the 14mm sample he showed us on Friday, 22 July 2016.

I objected to the flooring not matching the sample. The contractor immediately started a long winded discussion of how great the flooring is, ignoring the fact it did not match the sample he showed us. I believe this was a deliberate effort to defraud us. Furthermore the contractor has not delivered or installed 150 feet of white oak shoe molding for $300.00.

During a followup telephone call to the City of Virginia Beach attorneyโ€™s office an office representative indicated they were not interested. I was told if I have a problem, hire a private attorney. This is an entirely a separate item for discussion with the state and city governments. The problem here is Virginia is allowing Theft by Deception to occur without doing a single thing to protect the public.

Following the discussion of the flooring, the contractor removed the faulty boards from the dining room floor, consisting of two 4 inch strips of wood about 12 feet long. The contractor scraped the glue off of the underside of the boards. After cleaning up, the contractor left our residence at 3pm. He indicated he would be back on Sunday, 24 July 2016 to complete the repair.

He was never seen again. The contractor failed to show up on Sunday, 24 July 2016. He did return my telephone call and indicated he was unable to get some specific floor glue. Why another manufacturerโ€™s product could not be used escape me.

I suspect it is just a line the contractor uses to get out of doing work. Note, a Thumbtack web site review of this contractor indicates the glue line has been used more than once and appears to be a common excuse. The contractor also appears to be avoiding showing me a bill of sale for the new flooring, perhaps he does not have one. I believe he is trying to push some cheap product on us and now is engaging in activity to avoid us.

On Monday, 25 July 2016 the contractor called to say he cannot obtain the required glue. I view this as a bogus excuse to avoid doing the work. On Tuesday, 26 July 2016 the contractor called with another excuse why he could not start the repair of the dining room floor. He also indicated he could not start the flooring installation until Tuesday, 2 August 2016.

While the proposal did not include a start date, he had verbally indicated he could start by Thursday, 28 July 2016. We never agreed to the change but the start data was not in writing, as stated earlier. On Wednesday, 27 July 2016 i called the contractor at 9:44am and left a message for him to call. I also sent him text messages in an attempt to get a response.

At 1:44pm received a text message indicating he would call. Turns out he was working another job which obviously was scheduled at the same time we expected him to be working on our floors. I believe he deliberately misled us about the job to get our money, I got mad and called him a liar, which I believe he has clearly demonstrated. He got upset that I called him a liar but as far as Iโ€™m concerned he deserved it.

He has indicated he will deliver the remaining flooring product on Friday, 29 July 2016. He did not indicate what time of the day the delivery might occur. As of Friday, 29 July 2016 the contractor has not delivered the remaining laminate flooring nor has he completed the repair of the dining room floor.

I believe the contractor never intended to do any sustained work related to this proposal, just enough to get our money. We recommend Thumbtack consider removing this contractor from its listing of available Pros before he misleads and/or defrauds additional customers.

Original review posted by user Jul 27, 2016

I entered my name, address and telephone number with Thumbtack in search of a flooring contractor. A contractor (Daniel McQuitty) called me and set up an appointment for an estimate.

He performed the estimate and delivered a proposal the next day. He started to perform a small side job but has repeatedly failed to finish the small job. Also he delivered a partial supply of laminate flooring but has repeatedly fail to start the job as stated. How did this person get my information from Thumbtack.

How did you fail to find out about the person.

Let find a way to prevent complaints, oh, I know lets establish a limit of at least 100 words. This has all the earmarks of a bogus service designed to extract money from someone without regard for the harm it causes to the general community.

Reason of review: Bad quality.

Thumbtack Cons: Unable to determine quality of lead.

Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia

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