Mr. Antonio Dery is a theif. I am a small business owner from the same area as Mr. Dery, I provide quality and professional painting services. I had heard of Mr. Dery, as we are in a small community and you see other business's trucks etc., and we all seem to know one another. Working for this "contractor" seemed safe enough right? He hired my company to paint a home that he was remodeling, the job came at a great time, in the dead of December, when painting companies can sometimes slow down, there is no exterior work being performed at that time of year in Michigan. I prepare my crew of workers that things will be getting slower and to save your money, as I do the same, with that being said, I normally ask that contractors pay for the painting supplies, etc. Before I start the job, this is NORMAL practice from one business to another, payroll for my helpers is on me, in which, I use my own funds to cover their pay, and then once I am paid for my services, I pay myself. So, I was advised by Mr. Dery that he could not pay for the supplies as he had received no monies from the home owner, should have been a red flag, ecspecially since the house was about 7,500 square feet, with major drywall repairs, alot of wall paper removal, cracks in the walls etc., the house needed substantial work, this was not a simple custom paint job, this was a minor construction project. So I checked with my sources, figured out the cost for supplies, and I entered into a contract with Mr. Dery that I would start the work on the home, and that he could pay me in 4 payments, this way, I would not have so much out of pocket costs. I purchased in excess of $6,000.00 worth of supplies and my crew and I got started. A week passed, and we were getting things done very effectively, and making alot of progress, we were there daily from 7:30 A.M. To 6:00 P.M., and of course, you know where this is going, when it came time to pay us for our 7 day week, at 10.5 hours each day, YEP we could not reach Mr. Dery via telephone, nor was he never around the job site. I had myself to make a decision, I paid my crew out of my pocket, which now I am into this job for $8,000.00, easily, and should I continue working or should I cut my loses and leave? I continued to try to reach Mr. Dery for 4 days, (I did not return to the job site in the meantime, to risky, and wasn't sure if he was in jail, dead or what), finally a return call, he'd meet me that day, pay me my 1st installment and we could resume work, he did meet me, and he did pay me $800.00. Well, he was suppose to pay me about $2,000.00, these are all just rough figures, he begged me to return, said he'd give me more money in a few days, and made a ton of excuses, why he didn't answer the phone, he even claimed that his father was in the hospital. Turns out his father had been passed for years!!! Needless to say, more supplies purchased out of my pocket and another week on the job, and of course, no money from Mr. Dery, he would answer the phone, but just give excuse after excuse. I had no choice but to pull my crew off of this job, and again, pay them out of my pocket. Now at this point I am pretty financially messed up and Christmas is fast approaching. My family is upset, I have to explain why Christmas isn't going to be very good, bla bla bla... FINALLY a call from Mr. Dery, only to advise me that I HAD BROKEN A CONTRACT, and that he would see me in court. What a joke. OUr conversation became heated, and my favorite was when he laughed and said "Well, I'm going shopping for my daughters Christmas presents, I don't know what to tell you"... I also want to add, I did try to contact the homeowner, I felt horrible for having to leave them with an unfinished paint job, but I never reached them, not even sure if I had a correct number for them, (they didn't live there yet, it was a new purchase for them). I have been in business for 18 years, and have never experienced such a blatant display of a contractors con-artist, arrogant sob in my career. My crew and I went back to the job site to collect our ladders, paint sprayers, tarps etc., and GUESS WHAT? They were all gone... Now he stole my property that allows me to run a business on top of not paying me. I filed a police report. Just insane. I never heard from Mr. Dery again, I filed a law suit with the Court, which cost me more money and really found myself having a hard time recovering from the financial strain. I judgment was entered against Mr. DEry, and as anyone knows, a judgment and collecting are 2 seperate things. I knew I 'd never see any money from him. (He just never appeared in court) He conviently owns nothing in his name, yet he drives around in this fancy truck, lives in a huge house, all very suspicous activity to me. Of course, I started to ask around town about him, and he had been doing this to alot of people and companies for along time... But how did he remain in business I wondered? How hadn't this "word" gotten around? Well, he changes company names frequently, he moves frequently, but yet he still likes to stay around his "area"... Karma came to him, I ran into him at a local family dinner, his face looked allitle surprised, but yet he did not appear to be worried in anyway, why should he, was I going to make a scene in the resturant with my family in toe? Of course not! I wrote a letter and placed it on his windshield, and of course I never heard anything. Then oddly enough I see him across the street from my home, he is "dating" a neighbor girl that just happened to rent a house across from me, and our kids play together... Now what is he going to do? Hmmm... Well, he saw my work van in my driveway, and probably wanted to make himself look good to this lady he was dating, so he walks up to me, shakes my hand and says, I see your going to be doing your driveway, as some payment towards the $10,500.00 judgment you have against me, let me help you with that, I will do al lthe work and provide all the supplies... I told him forget it, just pay me my money, I didn't care if he paid me at $50.00 a month, at this point anything was better than nothing... The neighbor he was courting thought that was nice of him??? Yes, o.K.?? I thought, well, maybe he will make good on this promise, and I agreed, and told him that I would send a reciept to the Court showing how much money the driveway costed him, and deduct it from my bill... Well 4 appointments later, now it is the end of the summer, and excuse after excuse, as to why he hadn't even come and taken measurement on the driveway... Anyway, you are getting the point here, he never did show... My neighbor quit dating him, as she heard to many horror stories, and once again he seemed to vanish from the planet. Then oddly enough, a local resturant around the corner from my house that me andmy family frequent, inform me that Mr. Dery was in there with a few guests, throwing money around like a big shot, buying drinks for everyone etc., running a huge tab, and then proceeded to try and WALK OUT the door without paying... He was grabbed at the door, literally, and stopped, he didn't have enough money to cover the bill, and the police were contacted... This is a true con-artist at his best! This takes serious practice and a serious mental problem to do what he does. I see so many reports about him, leaving poor helpless customers with torn up homes, thousands of dollars they have been taken for, and I just can't believe this guy is not sitting in a prison somewhere... Please beware! He is a terrible contractor, and person. He has no conscious...
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