The handshake deal that fell apart on a Sunday morning

About 3 years ago I hired a guy from a Facebook ad to pour a small concrete pad behind my garage in St. Albert. He quoted me $900 cash, said he'd do it on a weekend to avoid the city permit hassle. We shook hands on it, he took a $300 deposit, and then he just stopped replying. Last week I drove past his ad again, same photos, new name, and I recognized his van in the background of one of the pics. I called the number and asked if he still did concrete work, and he said yes, but he hung up when I mentioned my old address. I'm not trying to trash talk the whole trade because I've had great crews, but this pattern of unlicensed guys taking deposits is getting out of hand. Has anyone else here had luck getting money back from a no-show contractor, or do you just write it off as a lesson?

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the_avery2mo ago

That "lesson learned" line hits close to home, I lost $400 the same way to a guy who changed his business name twice. I got nowhere with the cops since it was a civil thing, but I did file a small claims case and he suddenly showed up to settle before court. That said, if the deposit is under $500, most guys will just walk away and the paperwork isn't worth the headache.

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margaret_williams52mo ago

That small claims scare tactic works more often than people expect, I had a contractor pay me back $300 the same week he got the court notice. But you're right about the cutoff, I now treat anything under $500 as tuition for a lesson in trust rather than a legal fight. If I need to put down a deposit these days, I ask for a receipt with their full legal name and address on it before handing over a cent.

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