In February, I came across an ad on Craigslist for a general contractor by the name of JOHN LOONEY with ON TIME CONSTRUCTION, in Austin, TX. I was in the process of building out a commercial space in Manor, and contacted him to get a bid on the cost of my project. He assured me that his prices were the lowest I could find, that he would do superior work, and that it would be done on time. After receiving bids from several other contractors that were well above his bid, I decided to hire him to do the job.
Once he and I discussed moving forward, he was very polite, called me and emailed me every day, and assured me he was ready to go. My first suspicion that something was wrong was that he seemed desperate for the money. We discussed me paying him the following week to get the plans started for submission to the City of Manor for approval. He called me several times during the week of March 17th, and asked when he could pick up the money. I told him I would not be in Austin until Saturday, March 22nd. When he called me that Saturday, I told him I was busy and on the way to do some other things, but that I could give him the money on Monday. He continued to call and insisted he would meet me, of course at my convenience. I eventually agreed to meet him on Monday to give him a check so he could get started.
He immediately took my check to the bank and cashed it. And then the excuses began. First he was out of town, then a family member was sick, then he had car trouble, then he had computer problems, then someone else was working on it and it was out of his control, then he had house/roommate trouble. The list goes on and on. I finally asked him for a refund in May, to which his response was that he had mailed the plans, and that if I didn't receive them it was my problem. He had no proof of mailing them, nor did they ever arrive.
To this day, I have yet to receive anything from him except excuses, and harassing, drunken calls.
I have placed many ads on Craigslist to warn people to be aware of him, his company On Time Construction, or anyone associated with him. I have received numerous responses from people who have encountered the same situation.
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