Description

Michael DePola responded to my handyman ad on NextDoor. When he arrived, he looked at the job: A broken window pane and a couple of small rosebushes to plant. He told me that the fixing the window pane would be $75; he could check and seal the other 2 windows for $25 each. He asked for money up front, and when I protested, he said "I am poor." He estimated the cost of supplies at $200; I paid him a check for $325; he asked for the labor cost ($150, but he was giving me a break at $125). A little while later, he came back and asked me for cash for the materials because he didn't have time to go to his bank and cash the check. I gave him $200 cash to buy window repair supplies from Home Depot, and he left, purchased them, and returned with new gasket material and some window screening. He took the broken pane off and glued the new gasket along the channel in the pane. He then leaned the window pane against the wall and said that the glue needed to dry and that he would be back after lunch to finish putting the pane back. I told him that he keeps asking for money before he does the work, but I gave it him. When I asked for my $325 check back so that I could write him a $125 one, he very casually said that he still needed something else, and that he would return whatever he did not use. When I asked what it was, he said he needed a tool to push the rubber gasket inside the window track and kept walking out as he was talking. It rained later that day and the rain came in through the window, wetting the carpet. I placed a towel on the carpet and tried to reach him via email again. I now had lost the $200 cash AND the $325 check, which he cashed. I am having trouble uploading the PDF receipt for at least one of them (I can attach only one file). Scammed, that's my experience.