Ml Contracting

I contracted to have a roof replaced. I was told they were in between jobs but could fit my roof in and it would take about a week. This was a nightmare from start to finish. They started work without a permit and knowing we were expecting days of torrential rain storms - they striped over 1/2 of the main roof and left with only a small tarp covering the wood. I had leaks in all of my second floor ceilings and all had to be redone - even leaks in closets! I specified a specific shingle in the contract, an 8 inch drip edge, 30 lb felt and a ridge vent. The only thing that (I think) they complied with was the shingle type - they put in a 4 inch drip edge, they put a cobra vent on the middle of the roof without cutting the hole, the reused the old flashing and they secured each shingle with no more than one nail. And each time I questioned them about something they had not done, the first response was to tell me I was wrong! After hours of conversation, LaForest would finally tell me that his lazy workers were responsible... He told me he ended up firing everyone and then doing the rest of the work himself, but even he had no clue how to put material on a flat roof. As you can tell, the workmanship was poor, but almost more frustrating is that they did not show up consistently to work. They damaged a fence post, dented siding and left nails and cigarette butts on the ground and discarded shingles in my bushes. I was fined by my fire alarm company because they kept plugging in their equipment and blowing my fuses - despite being asked not to - I finally got fed up and fired them 2.5 months after they started. Unfortunately I paid most of what they asked for because until I had someone else go up on the roof, I had no idea how much they had deceived me. I ended up spending over $2,000 to another contractor to have the most flagrant roofing errors fixed and another $2,000 to repair the inside leak damage. I can tell this is not the extent of the money I am out as I am going to have to get someone back this year as a bunch of shingles flew off the roof this winter. Please use someone else!

Mike took a hefty (illegal) deposit for a roof project which he should have done in the Fall of 2017. The weather got too cold for roofing faster than expected (certainly not his fault) so he promised we'd be his first job in the Spring.
After his jerking us around through July, he promised to make things right; he never did. Then he said he pay back 2/3 of the deposit, keeping 1/3 for no legitimate reason.

I've filed complaints with the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation/Licensing Division. Upcoming is a lawsuit in Pittsfield District Court where, if the court decides in my favor, he will be liable for double or treble damages.

He claims "thousands of customers", so it's puzzling how mine is only the 2nd review he's ever gotten. And the website he lists is defunct. He is a serial liar and you'd be well-served to STEER CLEAR from him and
ML Contracting.

The text below is lengthy, but it details all his BS over an entire year.
It's taken from the complaint letter filed with Mass Gov.:

He accepted a payment of $3000 in August, 2017 as a deposit for roofing work that he never performed.
When finally ready to do the work, he told us that it was too cold to do roofing, that we'd have to wait until Spring, and promised we would be his very first job. He emailed in May, 2018 that he was finishing another roof project which would be completed "in a couple of weeks" and we would be next. Then, he stopped responding to texts, voice mail and email messages until the end of June, 2018.

At that time, he told me that he had originally quoted a price for a portion of the roofing with a 5 year warranty, instead of 20. He said it would be more money for the 20 year warranty, but despite my asking for the price difference, he never responded until we posted negative reviews of his business online.

He allegedly:
- had his phone stolen,
- lost his contacts,
- had moved and lost his notes (he used the moving excuse for not
showing up months earlier)
After his phone was stolen, he said he also lost all his contacts as a reason for being unreachable and out of touch. He did however manage to find information about the roof job/contract on his old ("stolen") phone, where I assume his contacts were. He had the ability to contact us at any time by email, phone or text; he just didn't.

He contacted me on July 28, 2018 saying he wanted "to make this right" by doing the work for which he'd been holding the deposit. In return, he asked that I take the reviews off the websites, which I did.

He then told me that the estimate, which included carpentry, was a mistake on his part, and that it never should've been included. He said he'd have to re-evaluate the cost when he "opened up the roof." He was going to assess the carpentry required plus re-measure the roofs so you could order the materials and begin work. He promised to come on Monday, August 6, Tuesday, August 7 and again, on Thursday, August 8. He failed to show on any of those days with no communication as to why.

Mass GCL Section 2 of Chapter 93A declares deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce unlawful. He took a deposit for work he never performed with repeated, deceptive promises to do the job. I asked him for re-payment of the $3000 deposit, and offered the opportunity to make a written offer of settlement within 30 days. He promised to pay in installments, but never did.