John Faulkner General Contracting

We hired Mr Faulkner to build our restaurant years ago, so when we needed an addition to the house we called him, along with three others to give us estimates. Mr Faulkner was not the cheapest (somewhere in the middle) but we felt most comfortable with his company. Yes, he was busy, but I suppose most good contractors are this time of year. He finished, on Schedule, and we are thrilled with the results. Any small questions or concerns were addressed immediately. Hard to combine folksy wit and humor with knowledgeable professionalism, but he pulls it off.
Not sure what previous reviewer had going on, but we were not asked for an estimate fee. Perhaps because we had used him before. Sounded like some miscommunication there. we had no such issues.

My husband and I are no strangers to being the subject of a cautionary tale or two, but our experience with this general contractor was especially terrible. Here’s what happened…
We own an old home in desperate need of renovation. John Faulkner came up in a Google search (note to self: don’t rely on Google for a contractor reference) and a quick glance at his website confirmed that he had good testimonials, a variety of industry certifications and seemed competent and trustworthy (note to self: don’t rely on marketing content to draw conclusions about someone’s character). On the phone John seemed competent and trustworthy, and when he stated that he charged a minimum of $ 300 for a detailed estimate — a fee which would be credited toward the project’s total — I agreed that was fair and we set a date for him to come by the house and take a look.
John spent two hours at our place looking over the project and making general comments… not notes; not measurements; not photos… comments. I’m no contractor, but I have to assume that a detailed estimate requires detailed notes? At that point John told us that our (admittedly very strange) home required a 2^nd meeting with an architect. Okay, fine, we said we’d pay him his fee after the 2^nd meeting because we were in it for the detailed estimate. John disagreed and demanded his fee right then because, «that’s what we agreed to over the phone.»
It’s at this point in the story that red flags were waved in our face like the opening ceremonies at the Olympics, but did we pay attention? No my friends, we did not. Instead we dutifully paid him for the visit & the estimate and crossed our fingers that he would hold up his end of the deal.
Spoiler alert: he didn’t.
Let’s see… that night we sent him an email with a request for a receipt and written confirmation of the $ 300 credit toward our pending project. Never got so much as a reply. Followed up with him for a 2^nd appointment, which he said he needed. Nope, no reply. Followed up with him for the detailed estimate. He told us he’d get it to us that day. Yeah, no. Followed up with him later that week for the estimate and were told that we’d get it. Yeah, no. Finally, when we could no longer stomach the fact that we’d paid a stranger $ 300 to walk around our home with us for two hours, we called to let him know we’d like a partial refund and to please lose our number. (We’ll pay $ 150 for a stranger to walk around our home for 2 hours, but not $ 300. We’re nothing if not fair.)
How did that conversation go, you might ask? Well, not amazing. John admitted he’d gotten too busy to give us what we’d paid for (although he had managed to find the time to cash our check) and said he’d «arrange for a refund.» We’re not holding our breath. This is a man who couldn’t find the time to reply to an email, I sincerely doubt he’ll be sending a check. But, hey, if we do get a refund, I’ll update this review. In the meantime, if you’re tempted to write a check to a contractor for an estimate… don’t.