Melissa- Depending on your state, you might get somewhere contacting the BBB and the Attorney General's office. If you've paid the GC by credit card, you can usually challenge the costs, too. Normally, there's at least a 60 day window, in which to do that...but since this has been an on going remodeling job, you could argue that the job is not completed and any charges would link back to the original payments to the GC.

So, if you're using a credit card and have paid him on three separate occasions...maybe 11 months ago, 5 month ago and one month ago...you could argue that your service has not been completed, those charges are all for the same service and should be refunded.

If you didn't use a credit card, you can file a lien against the GC personally, and try to get in line for a refund, but if he goes bankrupt, there usually isn't much money returned.

I'm so sorry this has happened and I hope things improve, soon! :)

I'm sooo sorry you are going through this nightmare. It makes my own construction problems seem like a hangnail compared to your profuse bleeding! I hope you can get some restitution or at least a finished project soon. Good thoughts coming your way!

Ditto on sending you lots of good thoughts and lots of strong hugs as well! It's truly amazing the stuff some of us have to go through just to get a darn kitchen built. Sigh. I know your case has been especially fraught with all kinds of outrageous delays and other dramas on the part of your GC and his crew. So, by all means make it a point to file that complaint against your contractor with the state HIC. Even if you don't recover your money, that act alone may save some other poor unsuspecting homeowner like yourself from suffering the same misfortune.

The silver lining in this cloud, I suppose, is that you're not that far from the finish line! So, although you might have to bring someone else in for the final wrap up, hopefully, this shall all pass shortly and you will have a wonderful completed kitchen to share with the rest of us.

(((HUGS!)))

Oh Melissa, what a nightmare that just won't end. I am so sorry you have to go through it. I don't have any advice, just sending good vibes for strength in dealing with this to the final end.

Hang in there. I am sorry.... Hope things improve soon.

Ugh, that just sucks really bad. REALLY bad. I'm very sorry that it has taken so long and you still have to deal with their criminal behavior. AND that a bonehead painter yelled at you. What a meanypants.

I don't have any advice besides that already given, but am sending you positive vibes that you will get some satisfaction and get your beautiful new kitchen finished.
((((HUGS))))

I had a thought. Marcolo has has some interesting trip or another with some interesting items planned for those people and/or companies that he is dealing with that aren't cooperating, you should send him the name of everyone of those idiots you're dealing with. He could pay them a "special visit" too!!

And I'm sending stink eyes to your painter for yelling at you. My fireplace guy (aka Mr. Jerk) yelled at me too last week. The nerve.

thanks for the good wishes and cyber hugs all. Tonight I came home to discover that the painter had used a roller to paint the new metal back door. I had come to grips with it being metal, figuring the durablity and efficiency made up for the lack of grace. But now it has the horrible orange peel texture too.

Sometimes I fear it will never end...but it helps to know that others understand and sympathize. Thanks again.

I have no words of wisdom. You get to feel righteous anger, but that's not fun or helpful. I believe that you're a strong and resourceful person, but needing to undergo a situation that proves it is an unnecessary trial. I sure hope that things go better for you. And I hope that the jerks get their just rewards.

Girl, I SOOOOOOOOO feel your pain. We are on week 30 of an 8 week job. No embezzlement though. Bless you. Be strong. We should have a support group with daily meetings to vent all the woes of the forum folks where GC's are concerned. It'd be cathartic. Good luck!!!!!!!!!

If a contractor, ever yelled at me, in my own home. He, would be out the door, with his paint brush, right behind him .Who do these people think they are going into a person's home, and yelling at them. Very unprofessional.

Condolences! And I so get it; so over it. What was I/were we thinking?

I have a new appreciation for general contractors though! (would've been OK with me to die without comprehending this, but no need to look a piece of gift-knowledge in the horse's whatever).

When I decided to remodel my condo (I am now remodeling my first house) a couple years ago as a busy medical resident, it was a disaster. My father swore his b-i-l was a great contractor. Not so! The wood floor was not installed correctly. All of my expensive tile had to be torn out of the baths as he had used NO shower liner! This was despite me asking multiple times and even buying a book to show him! He painted half the hallway in semi gloss paint and half in flat! He painted over a dead moth which is still embalmed over the stairwell. He mis-wired a light bulb in the bathroom that was always on. I kicked him out.

I found a contractor to finish and also do the kitchen. I came home from work one day to find all the sinks and toilets gone. I could not get hold of the contractor or the subcontractor. I had no showers yet either. I had to move into an extended stay with my two parrots! The contractor called me back a week later to say he wasnt on the job...the subcontractor had lied about the contractor doing the work! He had pocketed the money and tried to take the job himself. I worked so much that I was never home during the remodeling. I didnt know who was there during the day, but assumed the ctr. was working.

I could not move into the house as it was unliveable. I contacted the registrar of contractors in my state who went after the guy. They got most of my money back. What they didnt get back, the subcontractor dropped off at the extended stay. But the check fell in between the counter and the wall at the hotel. The hotel couldnt get it out and had to hire someone to break down the wall! In the meantime, I had to go out of town. By the time I got back and tried to cash the mangled check, it bounced! So then I had to file with the state for the fraudulent check. I eventually got that back. Meanwhile, on my meager remaining funds, I found a handyman to finish what was left. That is until, he started sending me love notes! Then he ended up in jail! I still dont know what for, but I did have a lot of crime while he was here - burglary, $1200 in checks cashed, $500 on my macy card - but I really dont think he did these things.

Meanwhile, I had concrete counters put in over my ikea cabs. The guy was licensed and did the counters for a high end store. How could I go wrong? I thought. I contacted him individually. The counters were 3 inches of solid concrete. They cracked under their own weight. The faucet leaned at a steep angle because the seam was not even across the middle of the sink. The sink was NOT CENTERED n the base cabinet! Chunks of concrete were falling out in the first day and the concrete was full of millions of holes. He also tried to do the floor. By the THIRD try, I threatened to sue. He refunded most of my money. I was so over the whole experience, that I never quite finished the project. Now I go off doing it again in a new house. But this time I think it is going a lot better. Please hang in there Melissa. I promise it will get better.

mellistar - Sending you lots of hugs. I have total compassion for where you are at as I'm 1 week shy of a year with living without a kitchen (which I was told would be, and could have been, a 5 week project) while living with cabinets (old and new) in several rooms of my home. It has been utter chaos with all the problems I've encountered. There have been so many that I swear my house is jinxed - my aunt actually starting suggesting I spread Holy Water, and another friend said that the next time I want a new kitchen I should think about buying a new house instead (lol)

* the cabinet guy promise the world before getting my deposit, and later disappears and turns into a big (I can't even post the words I have for him!).

* So many things wrong with the cabinet order - 11 month+ battle to get it (almost) corrected ... was so close to going to court many times over this.

* Wall and ceiling cracked just before priming - found out the ceiling issue was due to improper install of the drywall that was cut out when electricity was being worked on.

* electric boxes for pendants put in crooked. Still hoping the hole can be covered in a way that they look even.

* guy installed tile and then disappeared before doing the grout work. He supposedly was in hospital but I later found out that he was most likely in another state with his side sweetie. A friend and I ended up doing the grouting ourselves.

* Guy installed some levor (sp?) doors - 1 was warped and they all fall right off when opened.

* Ordered bathroom counter (was perfect, so I thought) ... counter was totally cracked and side splashes were 2 different colors. Still have the toilet sitting on the floor - waiting for me to pick out another counter and paint.

... and so on ...

I finally got to the point that I am doing whatever I can myself to avoid the frustration - no matter how long it takes.

At least I have not yet been ripped off in a big way like some. I feel so bad for you. At this point I feel sorry for anyone that even tries something like that with me(lol)

rockybird - Sending you lots of hugs. You so deserve an all inclusive paid vacation!

shar-az - Amen! I actually fired a painter once that was doing work at my mom's house because, for some un-Godly reason, he thought it was Ok to paint things the colors HE wanted instead of what I selected, including putting gray gripper primer on her stained wood work because he "thought it would look better painted" - ARRRRR!

Rockybird and Little Italy....you win! Your horror stories are SO much worse than mine, that it really puts my troubles in perspective. When, and if, this job is finally done MOST of it will have been done right. The finish on the cabinets is a huge issue, but they can be stripped and redone by someone else if need be. Strucurally all is sound.

You've actually made me feel grateful for what I've got.
Thank you!