So I get molested and ripped off by a hired worker...

OK so my ex is useless and left my house in need of a bunch of work. I go ahead and hire a guy to fix and repair a bedroom, that was supposed to be done yesterday.
Im going to cut to the chase here, he spent more time trying to hit up on me than doing the job I paid him to do.
He spoke so damn highly of his self and had me fooled into thinking he was a godsend. So I was 'nice' but not nice like a come on. I even told him that i am not the kind of woman that cannot be without a man and that I am not interested in a relationship of any kind at this point. I even told him on day 2 that i still loved my husband just to get him to quit pestering me for whatever he wanted.
He asked me to go away with him for a weekend to Chicago to meet his Mom and sis, and I couldn't believe it! NO! So hes offering me things like to buy his Mercedes, and talking about his lake house and 3 boats etc.. ...
He tried to kiss me (he stands about a foot shorter than me), I said, no I am not interested. I met him in my hall he tried again by first putting his arms around me... I SHOVED him back so hard he almost fell over. Well I said you need to go and just come back tomorrow to finish, well he had me convinced that he was going to do a bunch of jobs around here., so I trusted him although he is a letch. I have always attracted men that like to give it a try and the harder I say no the more they like me...
Well I paid him 1/2 of the money for the job he was doing and he never came back. I am so pissed, now i am up to my eyeballs in mud and tape and dry wall,,. paint, and I am NOT good at it at all. I have to get this job done so I am doing it myself w/ my sons but none of us are very good.

Drywall is not as hard as it looks.

home.howstuffworks.com...

Just go slow. You can do it!!

Sorry about the letch. Makes us all look bad.

reply to post by antar


I can't for the life of me understand why you didn't just kick him out of your house the first time he tried something with you! He probably thought you were just playing hard to get.

Cut your losses, and find somebody else to do the work instead. Get a team to do it so that you aren't left alone to be cornered by some other jerk.

If that guy was in some sort of union, you should call and complain. He might have done this to somebody else, and could quite possibly do it again if nobody complains.

OMG! I think you hired the same guy I've been dealing with for a month now. Same scenario. After a few days of dealing with his come-ons, I was helping him pick up 2x4's out of the yard (quicker the job is done, the quicker he'll go away). He made some grossly inappropriate remark while picking up one of the boards and I casually said, "hold that board out, will ya?" He wasn't quite sure what I was up to but he held the board in both hands like he was offering me a present. I side-kicked it and broke it in half. He dropped the 2 broken halves with his jaw hanging open and his eyes like saucers. I went back to picking up the spare boards and said, "Yeah, I just wanted to see if I could still do it." He quit hittin' me up for pooty after that.

Still hitting me up for more money and could I buy him a 6-pack of brews and do I have any drugs he can buy off me. I called one of the agencies that regulates his type of work and reported him. An inspection was done by the agency and they said that I can sue his insurance (more of a hassel of me than him I think) and that he will not get another license to work until he does the job as it was contracted to be done. He also has a 10,000$ fine waiting for him for EPA violations.

Moral of the story: there is remedy and recourse if you know where to look. It really chaps my a$$ when repair guys act like single women are too stupid to know how to handle themselves and are job "bonuses" to their job. You don't have to put up with such a deplorable work ethic or harassing/intimidating behavior from the hired help. You can even get him to pay to have a PROFESSIONAL finish the job. Harsh measures but maybe he'll think twice about doing this to someone else.

Btw, he put his hands on you in a threatening/intimidating manner after you'd refused his advances. That's assault AND battery as well as sexual harassment. You can have this guy put in jail, served with a restraining order, sued for breech of contract. I could go on but this should get you started. Don't get mad. Get even.

Thanks so much for all of your replies, wow whitewater, you really tell it like it is! I hope that you go over to DgTempes bad girl thread and join up. You are an inspiration.
As far as allowing him to come back into my home Noway, he's Fired! I almost hope he does not come back so I can tell him so.
I am not meek and mild, he just thinks that women are all pigs or something, or the types he hangs out with.
He does not belong to a Union or he would be in serious trouble as I do have connections there. I dont have the kind of money to pay a real contractor so I guess I got what I paid for.
It has been so secure for the past 10 years being married, none of this garbage did I have to deal with, I hate being single in a way because I could totally let my guard down unlike this my first experience out since the separation.

Did i hear my name in vain?

I'm so sorry, Antar, the louse will leave you alone now and you handled it very well. I once had a very similar problem with a cable tv salesman. He knocked on my door and he was in love. I found myself telling him i was married and had children and bla bla bla and it didnt sink in at all. I dont know how it came about that i told him May 1 was my anniversary...i said it just to keep him away from me and doing it with small talk...WOULDNT YOU KNOW...May 1 he knocked at my door with a huge bouquet of flowers, said, "Here, these are for you. Happy Anniversary" and left!!! Needless to say i had to give the flowers a prompt burial before my husband got home. Shortly after that we moved to Cape Cod (thank God) so the nightmare was over.

I learned you cannot be nice to get rid of someone. It doesnt work. That's too bad because its not my nature at all.


ANTAR: You will kiss a lot of frogs to find that prince, i'm sorry to say. And also, some people take these comeons as flattering, unless it happens to you, you know they're very uncomfortable and not flattering at all.
Good luck.

[edit on 12-1-2008 by dgtempe]

reply to post by dgtempe
[m
Well speak of the devil! Nah: I have been working all day to get it together and its coming along fine. The worker was all talk anyway as it has caused me alot more work to get the job done right. He talked me into mixing mud with the paint to give it a 'textured' look yeah right... So what I have is painted paneling. I hate that look but it is turning out ok anyway. If I really do not like the end result at some point in the future I will buy textured wall paper and that I can do proficiently. I miss you girlfriend! Long time no talk.

You can always download instructions on how to do stuff from HDTV.com, I think it is. I put in a fireplace hearth and downloaded instructions from there. They have pictures and simple instructions. The "skill" to perform all that stuff that they make look so easy doesn't come with the instructions but I muddled through. My hearth certainly looks like I did it and not a professional but it's functional and "rustic". Yeah, that's it, rustic. LOL.

Since I've been on my own I've pulled out the carpeting in the bathroom and put in linoleum. No, it does't look great, either, but it looks a lot better than the carpet. I've removed the carpet in the living room and put in hardwood floors. They're surprisingly easy to install. I've recarpeted the office and built wall-to-wall/floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in my office, wallpapered my sons room and put indoor/outdoor carpet in it as well, changed all the locks in my house and built a 16x32' roofed deck (had a lot of help on that one-sometimes you just need another pair of hands). Put up skirting yesterday. You can do anything you set your mind to do.

I once bought a cast iron heating stove that was so heavy that it took 4 grown men to load it into the truck for me. When I got it home I realized I hadn't thought it through concerning how to get it out of the truck by myself. Oopps. Me and my young daughters grunted and groaned and heaved and shoved and the blasted thing didn't move. I finally stopped and said, "Ok. Let's don't be men here. Let's think about this." We wound up disassembling the thing and carrying it in one piece at a time (much more manageable) and reassembling it once it was inside. Took about an hour total. You don't have to have muscles. You just have to understand some basic laws of physics. Helps to have a well-stocked toolbox.
Best of luck to you on however you decide to proceed and hopefully you and your sons will have fun with your home decorating project. Make a good memory out of it.
Oh dear, have I become a "bad girl"? Oh well, I'm in good company. All my favorite ATS ladies are there as well. May have to wander over and have a cup of coffee with them. Care to join us?

Sorry ..double post. Deleted this one.
Orangetom



[edit on 13-1-2008 by orangetom1999]

reply to post by whitewave



LOL LOL ,

Bats eyes at Whitewave...

Working hard batting eyes to get her to "Flashdance" me through my home repair difficultys.

Does not watch HGTV. Only know how to drink beer, drive pick up, and try to safely get down off my deck which is in such a state of disrepair. Razor is broken too!!!

Hey ..didnt you say that you know how to repair autos/trucks??

Bats eyes at twice the RPM!!!! "Thinking" about purchasing a razor!!!

It is hard work! YOU can do anything you want to do if you take the time and apply yourself. You just cannot often be in a rush. IF you do rush the job will often work you ..not you it.
I hate being in a rush but sometimes you cannot avoid it.
I must have been out of my blooming mind but I put a ship in a bottle years back. Read about it in a book. Not a class act the first ones..but I got them in the bottle. Got better at it later. Saving three special bottles around here for when I once again feel out of my blooming flippin mind.
Gotta find the right piece of driftwood to display them too.

Keep at it Antar......you can do lots of things yourself... just take your time. If you run into problems research them on the web or just ask folks like on this forum. Amazing what some people know which will help you or serve to change your thinking or approach to a problem. Sometimes it is just a matter of some missing piece of knowlege or holding your head right as the olde timers used to tell me.

Orangetom