Contractors: ARRGH!!

Back in November, I hired a local contractor, A,  to replace some siding, fascia boards & paint my house. Nice guy & helper, paid in full.  I was satisfied with his work & recommended him to a coupld of friends. 

First he painted the inside of my friend K's new house & according to her, did a good job except he didn't prime the door frames & paint is peeling off.  She called him to fix it...said he would, has not yet showed back up.

I also gave his name to my neighbor L for some work...nothing done yet.

So this week, I noticed bubbling on at least 3 spots in my fascia boards & called him back over.  He did come by, said was water damage (We'd had some actual rain!!) & the problem was the shingles don't reach far enough off the roof.  I then called a roofing guy to give me an estimate to correct.  He's getting back to me.   

A said they'd be back that afternoon or next day to fix & all I'd have to pay for was the paint. This was on Tuesday.  No show,no calls, not texts. If he'd called & told me it would take a couple of weeks to fix I'd be fine with that.  But not communicating with me ticks me off. Dont' tell me you're going to do something & stand me up.  It's as simple as a text message.

So on Friday afternoon, I sent A a text:

Don't worry about fixing things. I'll hire someone else.  I'll stop referring & chalk it up to typical contractor. Not surprised, just disappointed.

THEN I got a text:  Compilation of 2 texts

Why would you say that?  This is our busiest time of the year for our other business (bouncy houses). This wasn't even caused by me but I was willing to fix it.  I thought you'd be understanding about me saying I'd do it as soon as I can.

Me:

You told me 2x that B (helper) would be fixing & nada. No calls,no texts. I would pay you if I needed to. Just saying making promises & not showing up is not good.  I'm very understanding.  A "something came up" & I can't make it later would have been fine.

No response.

I do understand it's a roofing issue but it is something they could have noticed putting up the fascia boards so I would not have to pay 2x for those fascia boards.

I think a lack of communication & sometimes a tendancy to promise more than they deliver is built in contractors' DNA.  And my DNA is different...communicate with me & don't promise if you can't deliver.