My wife and I entered into an agreement with Johnson Contracting in mid-July 2008 to perform minor remodeling based on our understanding of an hourly rate of $20 for labor provided and an overall “cost-plus-20%” for total labor and materials purchased by Mr.Johnson. Specifically, we wanted 120 square feet of tile installed in two bathrooms and a short set of stairs from our back deck to our yard. However, there was no written estimate and no formal contract, so we proceeded on good faith that Mr. Johnson would adhere to the conditions we discussed. Unfortunately, the invoice he submitted did not reflect that good faith.

We made several efforts (8/1, 8/3, 8/6)to contact him regarding apparent discrepancies between our understanding and the funds he was requesting. We scheduled a meeting for 8/7, but Mr. Johnson choose not to show (without providing notice) and instead submitted his invoice via mail which we received on 8/9.

The material costs appear to be fair and accurate. However, we contend that Mr. Johnson misrepresentated his fees during the initial discussions to convince us to agree to his services. Subsequently, it appears that he deliberately and without notice inflated those fees on his invoice - a version of “bait-and-switch.” Our secondary complaint is that Mr. Johnson included in his invoice services which were not agreed upon in the initial discussions (e.g., an hourly rate for “supervision”) and labor costs and hours which were inflated given the services provided (e.g., two people and 15 hours of labor to install grout for less than 100 square feet of tile and three people and 6 hours of labor to install grout for less than 20 square feet of tile and approximately 10 feet of molding.).

Finally, we believe that Mr. Johnson is not licensed and, given the amount he is charging, is in violation of State law (§43-41-1) requiring all General Contractors, as well as their sub-contractors, to be licensed in order to perform work exceeding $2500. This law went into effect on July 1, 2008.

We believe our experience offers an opportunity for your viewers to learn (again) the importance of ensuring that any contractors being considered for remodeling are licensed and to get all information (fees, costs, etc) in writing. In addition, it will help educate your viewers regarding the new Georgia law requiring all general contractors be licensed if the work to be performed will exceed $2500.

I hope you agree that our experience is worthy of sharing. I look forward to hearing from you.