Back in April, I met an older man named George Gray at a local bar who said he was in the handyman business, "Gray's Handyman" to be exact. I hired this man to cut some trees down for me, which he did the very next day. I was pleased with his rapid response to my request, so I spoke with him about building a retaining wall in my back yard. We had a written contract that the project would begin 19 April and would be completed no later than 19 May. He required half of the $1500 up front. I paid him $750.00 on Friday the 16th. He had also previously told me that he found a man who would "give" us the railroad ties if I would pay $200 for delivery. I gave George $200 cash on that weekend as well. I also gave him $200 cash as a down payment for the dirt that was to be delivered. And another $320 for the various materials he would need ie: rebar, spikes, etc. I am now $1470 into the project.
George began to give me excuses as to why he hadn't started the job, blaming the man with the ties basically. Then he just started avoiding my phone calls all together. He finally contacted me a week ago stating that he was going to get someone else to deliver the ties and would get my money back from the other driver. He asked me for gas money for the guy. I gave him $60. George called me on Sunday, May 25th and said they were on their way with the ties. He showed up and we both waited for quite a while for the truck to show up. He finally called the driver (yeah right) who said he was lost. George said he was going to meet the guy and have him follow him to my house. An hour later they still hadn't shown. I called George and, surprise, surprise, the truck was broken down. He asked me for $100 to get the part. I told him that I would meet him at Auto Zone and pay for the part and he could pay me back. He didn't want to do that. I haven't heard from him since. I AM SO STUPID!
Today is May 30th and I'm out $1530 for having the unfortunate characteristic of trusting people. It initially saddened me that George Gray had taken advantage of me, because I thought he was such a sweet old guy when I met him. Now I would like to sue him but only have a cell phone number for him and no physical address. Oh, by the way, there's no Gray's Handyman in any phonebook around.
You can find George at just about any bar at any hour on the westside of Pensacola. To name a few: Big Bam Boo (his personal favorite), The Colonial, Rocky's and the Laugh Inn. You can't miss him... He'll be the drunk with 4" ears (no kidding) and a ball cap on.
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