Mays General Contracting, Building & Home Construction in Ashland, KY

Nimmo posted a comment

A neighbor accidentally hit our stone mailbox with her car. On December 30, 2014, we received an estimate from Mays General Contracting in the amount of $2365.00 to 1) Install new stone faced veneer mail and paper box to match our driveway light posts, just as the original one did, and 2) Install new matching lights. Contrary to our typical way of paying contractors, we paid him $1500 on January 20, 2015. We saw or heard nothing from him for several weeks. We called to inqire and he said he'd had a death in the family and he hadn't been able to work. He finally showed up and cleaned up the mess from the busted mailbox. After three or four more weeks of no show, he came back with a story about some kind of foot injury he'd sustained and again, hadn't been able to work for weeks. He took some measurements that day and left. By two months later, he'd completed only the cinderblock base with mail and paperbox installed, which is how it sits to this day.

To make an extremely long and exhausting story short, this pattern of extended periods of no show, then showing up or calling with excuses continued for months. We called him repeatedly during this time, and he would say, "I'll be there first thing in the morning," or "I'll come over Monday," then many weeks would pass with not a word from him. It wouldn't have been so bad if he'd only called to touch base with us every now and then. But the fastest response we ever got from him was when we called him to say we'd gotten the insurance payment, and to come pick up the check. He was "able to get over there" instantly after that call.

Finally, my husband called him and left a message stating that if he did not have the job completed by a certain day, he would want the name of his licensing outfit and bonding company. We were rewarded with a phone message expressing "disbelief" with the "heated message" and insisted in 30 years, he'd never left a job unfinished. He suggested that my husband think about reporting him before he does it because "this thing goes two ways." Unless this was some kind of threat, this statement makes no sense.

Ironically, throughout all this time, no less than 6 people in the Ashland area told us that Mays is known for not completing jobs and dodging clients. We googled him and found terrible reviews on his company. I only wish we'd checked them before I handed him a check for over half of the estimate. Typically, when we have contracting work done, we will pay them half up front, then the rest at completion of the project. But Mr. Mays insisted "the materials are awful expensive", and he would have to have $1500. (As it turned out, he didn't have to worry about those expensive materials because he did only the cheapest part of the job.)

In all fairness, initially there were periods with typical winter and early spring weather to contend with. However, there were also long periods of good weather, and especially later in the spring and summer the job could have been completed and wasn't.

We mailed him a certified letter which outlined possible remedies to the situation. He was given an opportunity to finish the job. But the letter was returned because he apparently refused to pick it up at the post office. We have saved the certified letter, still sealed, to prove we were willing to work with him.

We were extremely patient for a really long time, but I don't believe we are alone in thinking that eight months is an entirely ridiculous time frame for this job to be completed. My husband approves multi-million dollar construction projects, so we are well aware this is a ludicrous amount of time for a job this size. I don't understand why he was so surprised about our eventual reaction.

That said, the work that has been done seems to have been done well. I have no doubt it would have been a really nice job had it been completed. I would not recommend Mays General Contracting to anyone thinking of hiring a contractor due to the above-mentioned reasons. The risk that he'll take your money and abandon the job is too great.

We have definitely learned a few things from this interaction, and things I would suggest everyone do when hiring a contractor. First we will pay no more than 50%, possibly even one-third, of the total estimate at the start of the project. In this case, Mays would have received $1182 as opposed to the $1500 I now feel I was rooked into paying. Secondly, we will draw up a contract with specific dates for project completion. When we started this thing in December, 2014, I never dreamed that the job would still not be finished the following September.

Beware and thank you.