This story is going to sound similar to the other report for James Allen Jordan on this website. That's because it is very, very similar...
I researched through Angie's list and Craigslist for home/kitchen remodelers who were licensed contractors and had references. At the same time, I was looking for a legitimate cabinet store or distributer. I found various contractors for remodeling, but all bids were quite expensive. James Allen Jordan had a post on craigslist for brand new cabinets. After contacting him through email, he replied he was a distributor who dealt with cabinets from China. We made an appointment for him to stop by my home and see what we were interested in doing. When he arrived, he was dressed business casual, and brought cabinet door samples and granite countertop samples. He saw that I had already stripped my kitchen in preparation for the remodel. Whild discussing cabinets, he asked if I had already received quotes for the remodel work. I said I had one and the others were coming in this week. He said he could also provide a quote for the remodel work as well as cabinet installation. I said I would entertain that if he was licensed and had references. James Allen Jordan said that would be no problem and provided me with his contractors license number from CA. It's the same number as the other report here on this site. He offered to provide a copy of the license as well. I should have taken it.
James emailed me photos of several kitchen remodels he claimed to have done. They looked very nice. He also provided me with two references in the local Phoenix, AZ area that he said were the remodels he showed photos for. I called both. One never answered. The other did and claimed to have received great service, a good product. The only issue he had was that the remodel took an extra weekend to accomplish. All else was good.
James quote was $5,750 for cabinets and $1,000 for the granite. He quoted another $7,000 for the labor. I would reimburse for all materials.
The timeline was this:
11 Feb (Monday) - cabinets/remodel quoted
18 Feb (Monday) - job awarded
19 Feb (Tuesday) - James helped me finish the kitchen stripping
20 Feb (Wednesday) - James and Larry (his worker) began to build up the temporary supporting wall. James left Larry to work while we went to Home Depot to purchase the new 20' support beam for the new support structure.
At the end of the day, James said he and three workers would be back the next day to continue and he would sit down with me to design the layout of lights and plugs, etc.
21 Feb (Thursday) - Neither James or his workers showed.
22 Feb (Friday) - I had to work, so I locked the house and left.
James drove a 2002 Silver Nissan or Toyota pickup. I should have paid more attention, since I even rode in it to Home Depot. I didn't get the license plate on it.
When James and his worker Larry left on Wednesday, they left several power tools and tool belts, etc as well as a tool box behind. Originally, I was only going to be able to be at the house from Mon-Thur. Friday, I was considering leaving one window cracked in the kitchen of the back of my house for them to get in and continue the work. When no one showed up on Thursday, I called James cell number but received no answer... Only a voicemail. I left messages but received no return call. So, Friday, I locked up the house and left for work. I have no idea if James came by... But he certainly never called. I called again and left messages on Friday but received nothing in return.
Saturday, 23 February, I received a call from Larry, who was James worker the previous Wednesday at my house. He said that he had not heard back from James since Wednesday. Larry said he knew James from a few years back when they worked construction on the East coast. Larry said James had called him about a month ago and said he was coming into Phoenix to set up a cabinet distributorship. He asked Larry if he would be interested in working for him occasionally for installs. James then asked Larry if he had an extra cell phone he could borrow for the first week while he got established. That was the cell phone number James had used for all of our business transactions. Larry said he didn't hear back from James after Wednesday and found the cell phone he lent to James on Saturday. Larry said James left it on the front porch with a note saying, "I went back to Cali for cabinets."
Larry said he had recieved a ride from James on Wednesday for the 1st day fo work at my house. However, after James left Larry at the house most of the day on Wednesday, Larry felt that something wasn't quite right. When Larry was talking to James on the way home, James was acting strange as well when Larry asked questions about the job, etc. So, Larry grabbed papers that provided identification info on James. These papers were under the truck seat. Larry finally called me today (Saturday) after finding the cell phone on the porch and seeing that I had been calling and leaving messages. Larry appologized... Told me he had no idea of what was going on... That the cell phone was the one he lent to James... And that he didn't know what James issue was. Larry said he never knew of James to be this way before. Larry said the tools in my home were actually Larry's tools... And James didn't have any there.
... I kept the tools for now.
Other messages on that cell phone were from other customers who have paif for cabinets and not received them.
I'm still trying to sort all of this out. The large support beam arrives at my home on Monday. I am already pressing on today with a police report. I'm crossing my fingers that James arrives back on Monday to complete this install and has my cabinets.
Thank you.
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