Patrick Beals Damaged yard & Property, Constant Price Changes Folsom California

We contacted Patrick Beals to build a new fence for us after seeing a fence he erected at a friend's home.  Mr. Beals visited our property several times to get an idea of the length and heighth of the fence we wished to replace.  Each visit, he quoted a different price for labor, then settled on a price that we agreed to.  We purchased the wood ourselves and had it delivered to our property.

The day he arrived to dismantle the old fence, he brought with him his "brother," something that had not been previously discussed.  They proceeded to tear down the old fence and found that they required more assistance.  So, Mr. Beals called in a friend to come help.  That friend was very professional, clean cut, conscientious, unlike Mr. Beals and his brother.  However, Mr. Beals informed us that he would require further payment to accomodate his friend's labor.  We disagreed and refused to pay more because that should have been included in his original calculations.

Partially thru the rebuild, Mr. Beals notified us that he had mis-calculated the amount of materials required and asked us to purchase more boards.  We did so, as we agreed it needed to be ordered. 

 On the second day of construction, Mr. Beals notified us that construction was complete and requested final payment (we had previously rendered a 50% deposit).  We paid him on the basis that all work that had been quoted was complete.  Upon inspection, we found that Mr. Beals had not completed the job as quoted, he had used faulty product, he had installed a post incorrectly and the fence was warping and leaning (one of the problems we had originally hired him to correct).  We contacted him and asked him to return to complete the job, to which he informed us that we would be required to pay an additional sum.  We disagreed and notified him that the work he was to complete was part of the original quote, and that we would not pay anything more based on his original quote, imperfect workmanship, faultering updates, and financial loss due to his breaking yard items and destroying our lawn.  He promised to return to complete the job as quoted and to replace the items that he destroyed.

 Mr. Beals did return to complete the job on a third day (he had told us he'd be there at 8am and didn't show until 3pm) and invited us to contact him should we require any work in the future including any corrections to the fencing.  However, he noted that it would be an extra cost.  In addition, he did not replace the broken items as promised.

We really had a bad feeling about Mr. Beals shadey negotiations, but we summed it up to his youth and being newly independent in contracting.  However, the fact that Mr. Beals went immediately and directly to our bank to cash the checks with which we paid him caused us to reevaluate his performance, dimeanor and professionalism.

Upon discussing this with a mutual acquaintance, we found out that Mr. Beals has no contractors liscense or other business license and that he has several complaints filed against him with the Contractors State License Board and other agencies. 

 We WILL NOT hire Mr. Beals again, and we suggest that you don't hire him either.  He is unprofessional, crafty, shifty, and untrustworthy.