I found MagmaServices on Craigslist.com, and e-mailed the address listed in order have very simple, cheap repairs done.
The owner and (apparently) sole proprietor, Matthew T. Thurner ([email protected] // 8178081678) of Alvarado/Arlington, TX replied in a long rant full of extraneous info regarding his physical condition (he claims that he is deaf), his 'military service', and pretty much his entire life story.
Wishing to give the kid a chance, my husband and I gave him our address, phone number, and e-mail info. We promised a good price for the work done.
We never heard back from him. However, we did—and we still don't know how/why this happened—hear back from his mother, Barbara, and his son's mother. They somehow found our contact info, and sent us no less than half a dozen e-mails warning us not to do business with Mr. Thurner—among their reasons were that his business is NOT INSURED, that he is NOT A VET, and that his company is not REGISTERED AS AN LLC (although he explicitly claims all of the above). When we responded with our puzzlement, they claimed that Mr. Thurner had "stolen his son", Kade, and was now holding him "hostage". We believe that Mr. Thurner was bragging to them about how he was going to rip us off, and they took this opportunity to 'do the right thing'.
Frankly, this was the most bizarre interaction we have ever had on Craigslist, and so we had a background check done on this young man. As it turns out, he had his car repossessed, was kicked out of his apartment, and had been checked into a mental health facility twice last year.
The most disturbing part of this was that we *believe* that he was trying to hack into our e-mails during this entire period. Our accounts kept going into 'auto-lock', as though someone or someone's program was trying passwords at random, but without success. We also noticed a truck parked out in front of our house on some nights, but when my husband would call our neighbor (he is much younger than us!) to have a look, the truck would instantly motor off as soon as the driver saw the flashlight.
Needless to say, this is the first step towards a police report. Matthew T. Thurner is a very strange and possibly dangerous person, and Magmaservices is a total crock—stay away at all costs.
Lesson: be wary of doing business with strangers on Craigslist, and only use people who have been recommended to you!
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