{"id":20379,"date":"2024-10-20T22:28:59","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T20:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/?p=20379"},"modified":"2024-10-20T22:28:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T20:28:59","slug":"my-contractor-left-the-job-half-done-i-showed-him-why-you-dont-mess-with-a-single-mom-of-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/?p=20379","title":{"rendered":"My Contractor Left the Job Half-Done \u2013 I Showed Him Why You Don\u2019t Mess with a Single Mom of 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eliza, a single mom of three, trusted a contractor to remodel her kitchen, but he vanished mid-job, leaving her with an unusable kitchen. Little did he know, Eliza had a clever plan up her sleeve to make him regret ever crossing her.<\/p>\n

I always wondered why people said being a single mom was difficult because my friends and family members always supported me whenever I needed help. I learned the real reason when fate put me in a situation that left me fuming with anger.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nA woman in her house | Source: Midjourney<\/p>\n

Before I get into what happened that day, let me tell you a bit about myself. I\u2019m Eliza, a single mom of three. My ex-husband cheated on me with his old school friend.<\/p>\n

He gave me all the usual excuses: \u201cI won\u2019t do it again,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s not what you think,\u201d \u201cWe were just having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

I gave him a few chances, but he just couldn\u2019t change.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nA woman talking to her husband | Source: Midjourney<\/p>\n

The last straw was when I caught him in our bedroom with her while he was supposed to be watching our kids. It was such a dumb move on his part.<\/p>\n

Long story short, I kicked him out and filed for divorce. That lousy man didn\u2019t even bother fighting for custody.<\/p>\n

I guess he knew I\u2019d win because my case was rock solid.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nA man in his house | Source: Midjourney<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been living alone with my kids, Chelsea (10), Trevor (8), and Kayla (6), for about two years now. My world revolves around them, and my days are a juggling act of work, chores, and parenting.<\/p>\n

At first, living without a man in the house felt weird since I\u2019d always relied on my husband for the heavy lifting. Although I was working and contributing to the household financially, I wasn\u2019t the one fixing leaky pipes or rewiring switches. That was his job.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nA man fixing a pipe | Source: Pexels<\/p>\n

So, I often lean on friends and family for help. My brother Adam usually drops by to handle those things. But this time, I had no choice but to hire a contractor.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s when I learned how some people treat single mothers when they realize there\u2019s no man in the house. I know it sounds horrible, but it\u2019s a harsh reality that hit me hard.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nA woman looking outside a window | Source: Midjourney<\/p>\n

So, it all began a few months ago when the kitchen drain had a blockage. I was doing the dishes when I realized the water had started accumulating in the sink.<\/p>\n

Mind you, I\u2019m very careful while doing the dishes. I always ensure no food particle goes down because I know they always clump up and cause blockages.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I quickly tried a few hacks, including pouring a mixture of baking soda and vinegar, but nothing worked. Ultimately, I had to wash the dishes in the bathroom. Imagine!<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nA woman washing a bowl | Source: Pexels<\/p>\n

Later that night, I called my brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam, I think you\u2019ll need to come over because there\u2019s a problem with the kitchen drain,\u201d I began. \u201cThere\u2019s a big blockage and I can\u2019t seem to solve the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, Liz,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll be there tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, when Adam came over, he realized there wasn\u2019t much he could do to solve the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeems like a serious issue,\u201d he said, scratching his head. \u201cI guess you\u2019ll have to look for a professional.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, I talked to my friends about hiring a contractor, and one of them recommended this guy, Mark. She said he was \u201cone of the best\u201d in town. I wish I hadn\u2019t listened.<\/p>\n

A few days later, Mark finally showed up because, apparently, he was swamped with work. He was in his thirties, seemed friendly, and gave off that \u201ctrust me, I\u2019m a professional\u201d vibe.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you tell me what the exact problem is?\u201d I asked as he examined the drainpipe.<\/p>\n

\u201cA blocked drain and seepage,\u201d he told me. \u201cYou should consider remodeling your kitchen. It\u2019ll save you from more headaches down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remodeling? I thought. That sounds like a whole lot of work.<\/p>\n

Then, Mark explained why I needed to get it remodeled, and he even quoted a very reasonable price. He also promised to get it done in about six weeks, which seemed pretty quick.<\/p>\n

Talking to him made me realize the guy was a real pro and knew his stuff. I told him I\u2019d give him my answer the next day.<\/p>\n

That evening, I called Adam to tell him about Mark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s right,\u201d Adam said. \u201cYou should go for the remodel. The price sounds good too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d I agreed. \u201cI\u2019ll call him tomorrow to start the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds great,\u201d he replied. \u201cDo you want me to be there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks, Adam, but I\u2019ll manage,\u201d I said. \u201cThe guy seems solid and doesn\u2019t look like a troublemaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam had always been there for me, and I didn\u2019t want to keep relying on him. He had his own life, and I figured it was time for me to take charge.<\/p>\n

Little did I know that this would be the worst decision of my life.<\/p>\n

I should\u2019ve involved Adam.<\/p>\n

Mark started on the kitchen two days later. While he worked, my kids Trevor and Kayla would wander in to see what was happening. I thought Mark would be annoyed, but he was surprisingly kind to them.<\/p>\n

I was relieved to see that.<\/p>\n

Everything went well for two weeks until the day Mark didn\u2019t show up. I thought he must\u2019ve fallen sick or something, so I let it slide and waited for him to come the next day.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t show up again. This went on for three days and then I decided to call him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMark, where are you?\u201d I asked. \u201cI\u2019ve been waiting for you for three days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Eliza,\u201d he said casually. \u201cI\u2019m working on another job. I\u2019ll swing by later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Excuse me? I thought. Another job? What about the hanging cabinets in my kitchen? Who\u2019s gonna fix them?<\/p>\n

I was angry, but I decided to be polite and asked him to return soon. BIG MISTAKE.<\/p>\n

Another week passed and he still didn\u2019t show up. I called, but he didn\u2019t answer. I even left voicemails.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, I get that you\u2019re busy, but I need some kind of timeline here,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

No response.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I lost my cool because I knew exactly what was happening here.<\/p>\n

He thought he could take advantage because I\u2019m a single mother. No husband to chase him down. He figured he\u2019d disappear, and I\u2019d just let it go.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m not that kind of woman. I\u2019ve been through too much to let anyone play me. So, I got creative, and Mark wasn\u2019t ready for what came next.<\/p>\n

I took a few pictures of the half-done kitchen with a few cabinets hanging at odd angles, exposed wires, broken pipes, and everything else that made my kitchen look ugly.<\/p>\n

Then, I posted those photos in a couple of local home improvement groups on Facebook.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t post anything offensive. I just wrote:<\/p>\n

I hired this contractor named Mark on a friend\u2019s recommendation. He\u2019s great at his work and was almost done remodeling my kitchen when he suddenly vanished. Has anyone else experienced such delays?<\/p>\n

I let the photos do the talking. I knew exactly what I was doing.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long before the comments started rolling in.<\/p>\n

I know him. He was supposed to fix my bathroom and never showed up again!!<\/p>\n

OMG! I\u2019m sure this is the same Mark I\u2019ve been calling for two months because he left my place half-done. So glad I found a better contractor.<\/p>\n

Mark comes up with the best excuses. He vanished with my initial deposit, and I\u2019ve been chasing him for a month now. I\u2019m so sorry your kitchen looks like this.<\/p>\n

And the list went on.<\/p>\n

It seemed like the whole town was fed up with him, just waiting for an opportunity to vent. Even Adam was shocked when I told him. He regretted not being there with me.<\/p>\n

Anyway, as the post gained more traction, I was certain it\u2019d reach him, and it did. I got a call from Mark two days after I posted the photos.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, I\u2019ve been hearing some things online\u2026 People are saying I\u2019m not finishing jobs. That\u2019s not true, right?\u201d he asked, practically pleading.<\/p>\n

His shaky voice told me he was panicking. I\u2019d clearly hit a nerve by exposing him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Mark, I can\u2019t control what people say,\u201d I said calmly. \u201cMaybe you should focus on finishing the work you started.\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t yell at him or accuse him. I just wanted him to know that he was in this situation because of himself.<\/p>\n

A few hours later, I got a message from him.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be over tomorrow with the crew, and we\u2019ll finish everything. Please just help me get those reviews taken down.<\/p>\n

He was practically begging me now and I believed he must have figured out I wasn\u2019t some single mother he could ignore.<\/p>\n

The following day, Mark arrived at my place with his team. They worked faster than I\u2019d ever seen, scrambling to get everything done.<\/p>\n

It was almost comical how desperately he worked to finish, as if I\u2019d take the post down the moment he was done.<\/p>\n

Once the job was done, I thanked Mark, and he left with his crew. Then, he texted me asking if I could remove my post and leave a good review instead.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll think about it, I told him. But in reality, I wasn\u2019t going to take the post down or write a new one.<\/p>\n

I wanted him to realize he couldn\u2019t just get away after betraying so many people.<\/p>\n

He thought I was one of those people who didn\u2019t raise their voices, especially because I was a single mother. But I guess he messed with the wrong person.<\/p>\n

Now, I think I made the right choice by handling it myself. If Adam had been around, Mark wouldn\u2019t have dared to mess with me, and his actions wouldn\u2019t have been exposed online.<\/p>\n

Everything happens for a reason, and I finally understand why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eliza, a single mom of three, trusted a contractor to remodel her kitchen, but he vanished mid-job, leaving her with an unusable kitchen. Little did he know, Eliza had a clever plan up her sleeve to make him regret ever crossing her. I always wondered why people said being a single mom was difficult because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20386,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20379\/revisions\/20386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}