Wm Gillespie & Son Gillespie Aluminum, Gillespie Gutters. Unlicensed Contractor refuses to refund $3000 deposit. No work performed. Ormond Beach Florida

On 10/21/16 I contracted with Brian Gillespie of Wm Gillespie & Son to replace soffit, fascia and gutters around my home. These were destroyed during Hurricane Matthew. Brian Gillespie requested a $3000 deposit for the $4835 job proposal. Stated work would be started in 10 days to 2 weeks.

1. A week later, it came to my attention that this job required a permit and Brian Gillespie had not provided me with an NOC.
2. A call to Volusia County Licensing revealed that he was not registered with the County and was, therefore, considered to be unlicensed and not able to pull a permit. No permit would mean that I would be liable for any possible problems with the work which could be extremely costly.
3. A call to Brian Gillespie to discuss this was met with such absurd comments about permitting that I just told him he was not licensed to perform this work and to provide me with a refund of my deposit.
4. Conversations ensued regarding the deposit and he finally agreed to refund $2500. I asked him to send a check and was told I needed to meet with him to get the refund. A refund does not require a meeting and I found this alarming. I did not want to meet with him and again requested he send refund.
5. I was out of town for the holidays and was sure he would send the refund. Nothing on return.

I have called him 3 times since then, leaving a message each time, and he has not returned any of my calls. It is now mid Jan 2017 - 2 1/2 months after date of signed proposal and he still has $3000 of my money with no work performed.

I am also of the understanding that Brian Gillespie had no Workers Comp or Liability Insurance.

I would strongly recommend you require proof of insurance (I made the mistake of not doing so) before hiring this Company. Also recommend you do not provide any deposit to this company. The company who ended up doing the soffit, fascia and gutter work never even requested a deposit.