Top Job Restoration and Construction Emergency Services

On April 19th, we secured the services of Top Job Restoration and Cleaning, LLC to replace our upstairs shower and repair drywall damage on our main floor. After multiple emails and text messages concerning the specific details of the work, the owner, Mr. Michael Cowdrick, received $520 cash, deposited into his personal bank account on May 12th to cover the expenses of a custom made shower from a distributor that he said he would use, using an example of a Home Depot shower as a guide to what we wanted.

On May 23rd, the first day of the job, after being in my home for only 15 minutes, Cowdrick asked if I wanted to go down in shower size from a 32X32 shower to a 31X31 shower. When I asked why, he said that the tiles in my bathroom may be affected. Then he said that he could replace the tiles but he would have to do the entire bathroom over because he wouldn’t be able to find the same tiles. When I asked him why he did not consider the tile work in the beginning so that he could include that in his estimate, he blamed his associate “Walt” stating that Walt did not tell him about the tiles. I questioned why Mr. Cowdrick was placing blame on Walt when Mr. Cowdrick was standing on the tiles himself with Walt when they came to do the original estimate. He could look at them, feel them, and test them on his own. I asked him how much more money and after returning from his unmarked van, he gave a rough estimate of $350. I was not convinced that I needed the tiles done at this point and asked for other options. Mr. Cowdrick then stated that that the measurements for the replacement shower were wrong and that it was my fault because he just went with what I told him. I challenged Mr. Cowdrick on that statement and asked him was he trying to say that my husband and I did not witness him in my bathroom with measuring tape and diagraming on a clipboard? Mr. Cowdrick then offered that we could just go to Home Depot or Lowes and purchase a smaller shower right then. At this point, I grew more concerned because Mr. Cowdrick was supposed to have already purchased a shower from his distributor by now, however he never mentioned that he had it in his possession. I would have expected him to be speaking to me about that shower and how we would have to go about exchanging that one with his distributor for a smaller shower. I advised Mr. Cowdrick that I was placing a call to my husband so that my husband could speak with him and that is when Mr. Cowdrick walked off from the job. He said he was uncomfortable now and didn’t want to do the job. He said that he would send my money to me via a certified check, asking him to notify him when I received it.

5 days later on May 27th, I received a non-negotiable personal check for $520 that the bank could not cash since Mr. Cowdrick failed to sign it. I called Mr. Cowdrick immediately from the bank and he was upset that I was at the bank with the check. He said that he wanted me to wait 3 days because he didn’t have the money in his account due to Home Depot having a three day hold on a shower that he returned. This was the first time that we heard anything concerning Mr. Cowdrick having a shower from Home Depot. This was perplexing because on May 23rd, Mr. Cowdrick was offering that we could go to Home Depot or Lowes to make a purchase for a shower. So what shower was he returning? He then promised that he would send $520 via PayPal on the following Tuesday. When we reached out to him on Tuesday, May 31st, he then said that he did not have all the money but he would send us $420 now and then send us $100 by the end of the week. We refused because we could not trust his word since we already received an intentionally bad check and he was growing increasingly difficult to work with. Then he said that he decided that he was going to keep $100 due to having to Home Depot charging him a restock fee to return the shower. This was yet another new development as he never mentioned any restock fee until we demanded that he make good on the entire amount due. We refused to accept that offer and asked that he fully refund us the money that we paid to him, $520, which was the original agreement, further confirmed by the bad check that he sent us. In addition, we never asked Mr. Cowdrick to make any purchases on our behalf to Home Depot. Our money was given in good faith that he was going to purchase a custom shower from his distributor that was supposed to be better quality than Home Depot. Furthermore, I never saw the shower, and though requested repeatedly, Mr. Cowdrick never presented any proof of purchase of a shower, proof of receipt of return of a shower, and proof of restock fee charged to him from Home Depot.

We have had much communication with Mr. Cowdrick trying to resolve this matter. He refuses to handle anything over the telephone, and only responds with short, abrupt texts or emails that are very difficult to understand or decipher. He still refuses to reimburse the $520!