Halbert General Contracting LLC. Gary Lee Halbert Will not finish work , He is Paid in Full Steelville, , Missouri

After Doug told me that he posted here and Gary replied back as well, I said that I would take care of the following response because of the headline. Before Doug made the original post, we have been having an ongoing discussion on what was going to be our next step: 1) suing in Small Claims Court 2) speaking to the Prosecuting Attorney Office for fraud or 3) simply having a chat with Gary's Probation Officer. 

After the last meeting on May 4, 2012, we discovered a lot of things about Gary via the internet, comparison shopping on prices, and speaking to other people. Gary and his family were going to be my first clients (class at cost for books and ammunition) but now a mute point even if Gary had completed the project. Since Federal and Missouri State laws makes it illegal for Gary as a convicted felon to have in his possession a firearm or ammunition. I located this information in public accessible records on Case Net, a web site sponsored by the Missouri Courts System. So how can Gary dare to call us liars when we have caught him in lies as well as the State of Missouri.

Taking on Gary points:

On May 4, 2012, I specify asked Gary on how we owed on the account and cost to finish the outdoor bathroom and 2 concrete pads when he was sitting in my living room chair. Gary stated $4,000 was owed on the account and $2,000 to complete the bathroom/concrete pads for a total of $6,000 would cover it. Doug wrote out the check #4133 for $6,000. This was the last we saw of Gary. There was no mention of an extra $6,100 owed until we filed a rip-off report. Anyone with a computer can create and print an invoice.

As for giving money saving ideas, the only one that Gary gave is when we got a price quote of $2,100 for a 6 X 6 mobile building that was going to be used as the bathroom. Gary stated that he could build it a lot cheaper than the $2,100. We talked several times about everything being completed in May, so I could start using the classroom and students having the usage of the bathroom. Now 3 months later, I am starting to use the classroom with plan B for students using the house guest bath. When Keith was doing the trenching work for the new electrical service and wanted to do the water line at the same time to save on machine costs, but was told that Gary would take care of it later.  Gary, you never had any intention of finishing the job did you ???

If Gary thinks we spent $20,000 on the electrical wiring the classroom, then he needs a new calculator. A new electrical service was much needed for our 108 year old home plus four outbuildings not just the classroom. I brought a 200 amp box because it was cheaper than a 100 amp box. We shopped for the best prices on our electrical, insulation, flooring, and plumbing fixtures which we brought on our own. I guess Gary was upset because he could not overcharge us for these items like one of many such as the gravel rock. We paid Gary 110/220 for small/large loads then discovered a different supplier that would have charged 50/75 for the same loads.  The gravel rock that was delivered was too large and not what we wanted or ordered. It is going to cost us more money to redo the rock. This must be done as a safety issue.

I guess that we have a better cell service than Gary's because after he received the last check on 5/4/12 our ATT wireless records shows 13 calls to his phone number. The specific dates and time are available if Gary wants a list or a pdf file sent in an email. We know several other clients that Gary would not return their calls as well.

Richard was our only sub contractor we hired and responsible for. Since Gary was in such a hurry and not wanting to wait on Richard to recover from an illness, sent in Jeff to do the drywall mudding. Words can not describe my anger and disappointment in the quality of the work that was performed. Photos were taken and will be posted on my web site jrdconsulting.us. As general contractor, Gary is ultimately responsible for the work performed by the employees. An extra trip to Lowe's and 82 dollars of drywall tools was purchased to repair the damage. In the purchased tools, it included a floor scraper to remove large dried clumps of mud material from the floor and replace Doug's missing 4" putty knife.

If Gary found this report so shocking is because he discovered that we were not going to roll over and play dead on his failure to complete the project. We were pleased with earlier work completed such as the metal roof and sewer but it was like a switch was flipped after he received the last $6,000 check. The golden goose and egg were broken after paying out over $50,000 in 10 checks for our firearms range project . He moved onto a chance to fleece other clients leaving us high and dry.

As for references, I know people who will not give him one and others simply will not hire him. We will not hire him again after this incident thus he lost a $100,000 plus restoration project on our home that we planned to do in several years.  As time goes by, we are finding mistakes in his earlier projects. For photos, click on rip off reports photo link in the upper right corner of my home page at www.jrdconsulting.us.

P.S. - By the way, Gary what happened to the old barn wood and metal recycling you took to sell ? We were to divide the money.  Do you think that we forgot about it?

When I was informed (by the customer) that they had run out of money there was an outstanding bill of $12,100 for work already completed. The customer could only pay $6000 of that final bill and still owes $6100. I have the invoices to prove this! 

Mr Dowler wouldn't take any of my advice on money saving ideas. He spent over $20,000 wiring a small classroom. There is enough power running to one small building to light up an entire neighborhood. Mr Dowler spent his large amount of money very poorly and  is now looking for someone to blame.

I agreed to do what I could to the bathroom (my labor for free), after purchasing the materials out of my own pocket. I cannot however work for free all the time. I had other customers waiting on me to start their projects and I told Mr Dowler when he gets his finances straightened out to give me a call and we would be more that happy to come out and finish the job.
 
My phone records will prove no calls have been received from Mr or Mrs Dowler. The sub contractors that I was supposed to pay have been paid. Any others are the responsibility of the home owner as they were hired by the home owner.

This report is very shocking to me. Other people have come up to me and informed me that the Dowlers are very pleased with our work. Mr. Dowler himself told me he was very happy with everything and would be calling us back to finish as soon as they received more money.

I have plenty of outstanding references to counter this report. Please feel free to call! We would be more that happy to give a few numbers out to check for yourself. 

Thank you!