Same for me. Quotes competitively , saw he can start straight away. He wanted money upfront . I wanted copies of payment for materials and he gave me fake invoices. Gave me 43 excuses for not turning up to do work when he promised - most exhausting experience of my life. It has been over a year and job not finished. Concrete driveway got done, front fence got done but is now starting to lean and not constructed well. He painted it the wrong colour and then corrected with a single coat only. he said drainage not necessary but now my front yard is a pond where lilydale topping was put down. He said he got permits for work but didn't and when council sent me fines he said his Zio(uncle) worked at Moreland council and he would sort. I ended up paying the fine! I am gutted ! He gave me a one line quote and I insisted on itemised and he still didn't do the job to agreed specifications . All very stressful. I wanted to go local and burnt and now find it hard to trust any contractor. Not sure what to do - His mobile is now disconnected ?

Approximate cost: $9000

fraudd alert !!! dont do business with this person/company. I've sent him a legal notice. Stay away !!!. Sweet talker and took my money and never returned.

Approximate cost: $6000

He is very frustrating to work with. He is a different person until he collects his deposit and would surprise you with the total change of attitude he displays towards work and customer after. He will beat any quote with a very good margin which will entice you to hire him. His only condition is to pay almost 80% of the amount in cash as deposit; he promised to finish my job in 3 days. I was naive enough to give him that deposit of $1900 with total trust when many advised me against it. He swore on his kids that he was not a dodgy person and would keep his word.

It has been 5 weekends now and everything that followed from the weekend I gave my deposit has been a trauma. He has used all the possible excuses to postpone the work – need to babysit his kids, his car broke down, his car was still with the mechanic, his team was held up at work, it's too wet, need to do something with family, still stuck at work, something urgent has come up, could not make it today.
He has promised to do the job this weekend, failing which I am going to VCAT to get my money back as I have lost all my patience and am at wits end. I could have very well got someone else to have completed the job by now.

It has been over a month now and the job is still not completed and he has been demanding for more money and left the place exposed with the steel and other stuff making it very unsafe for my kid to play in my own backyard. He makes new excuses now to keep moving the completion date.

Approximate cost: $2800