Business ProfileforDan Black Excavating

We signed a contract with Dan ***** Excavating (Landscape) on May 15, 2021. We gave *** *****, owner/operator, of the company a large downpayment ( more than 50% of the total price) at that time. On May 17th he cashed the check . We were told by *** ***** that he would start our job 4 to 6 weeks after signing the contact. On June 28 we were informed by Mr ***** that his dump truck had transmission problems. He said " Looking like 2 weeks or so to complete the jobs before you on my schedule from when I get the dump back to then begin your scope of work" He also said on June 28, " Be in touch at the end of next week with update on dump truck and your start date." On July 20 we emailed him to enquire the about the start date, On July 23 truck still broke down. He said " I will be touch the first weekend in August with a confirmed start date." on August 2, he said " I will be contacting PA 811 to stop over and mark off any utility lines by the end of this week or the beginning of next week. Once I get my serial number and paperwork emailed back from them I'll forward you the info and be in contact with you with a start date after everything is marked off as it should be.." On Aug 9, They marked the utility lines. On Aug 10 he said "Great as soon as I get the info from the companies I will be in touch with a start date." On Aug 17 he said " Got ya on the list for 8/28 or 8/30 to begin as the rain all last week slowed me up plus rest of the week very wet again and had last minute emergency out of town with daughter's youngest horse and back tomorrow since things are looking up. Be in touch the week of the 23rd with a confirmation on the exact start date." (Which we never received) On August 19 he said "The rain this week has me a couple days backed up on the work schedule so I will be in touch mid next week with updates." On August 25 he said " I'm getting caught up with the dry weather... Im looking to be on your site next Tuesday or Wednesday... I'll be in touch Monday to confirm the start date." (AGAIN) On August 31, We emailed Mr ***** after several phone calls with no response from him. On September 1, We received an email from Mr ***** stating that he was having phone issues and also medical issues with this mother. He said " I explained to you in the previous email that I needed 2 dry days last at end of last week which it rained every afternoon and evening to finish the job just before you on the work schedule and only got 1 day in last week before all the rain we have had and this emergency arrived with mom. Hoping to finish her work Friday or next Tuesday since it has been raining all day today and since I can't work there Saturday Sunday or Monday due to the holiday then I will be moving right onto your site right after. If it rains the rest of this week and over the weekend it will delay finishing her job till next week then be moving onto your site just after. I will be in touch as soon as I finish this job and be over the following day. ( This is exactly what he said in the email) In response to his September 1st email we emailed to him the following: Mr ***** We were sorry to hear about your mother’s problem. Back in early May we signed a contract with you for work to be done around our fence. When we gave you the down payment of over $4,000 the expectation that you gave us was that the work would start either late June or early July. Now it is almost 4 months since we signed the contract and we still do not have a firm start date. I know that you have explained all of the issues you had with weather, equipment, Pa One Call and other issues. I think we have been more than patient waiting for you to start the job. But now I think it is time for us to request a full refund of our down payment and cancellation of the contract so that we can move forward. September 3rd He email us the following: Finished up this job I had signed a contract in January 2021 that was ahead of you, last week was a wash out with heavy rains and storms almost every day Have a helper lined up for next week to get your work done quicker and be onsite Tuesday after a zoom meeting with my moms doctor in the morning On September 4th We emailed Mr ***** the following: September 4, 2021 On September 1, 2021 we sent you an email about our job. Telling you that we do not want you to do our job. You ignored it and did not respond to it. You sent this email as if we never emailed you. We DO NOT want you to do your job. Again, you gave us a estimated start date of 4 to 6 weeks from the signing date of the contract 5-13-2021. You said in the email below a contract from January 2021 that you just completed. Had we known that you were so backed up with we would have never signed the contract with you. Maybe the the January customer thinks its ok to wait but we have been patient long enough. As we stated, we DO NOT want you to do the job. We do not want you on our property. If you show up on our property, the authorities will be notified. We want a total refund of our down payment and a cancellation of the contract. Please respond to this email. (WHICH HE NEVER RESPONDED TO) On September 6th We emailed the following: Mr ***** You still have not responded to our email of September 4th? Can you please respond?? On September 7th We sent Mr ***** a Certified Mail (which he signed for) with the emails he didn't respond to and also requesting the refund of our down payment. After not hearing anything from Mr ***** we went on September 17th to the Butler County Magisterial District Court to file a Civil Complaint against *** ***** and *** ***** Owner/Operator. The Butler County Constable tried on numerous occasions to serve Mr ***** the Civil Complaint without success. On October 29th we were notified that Mr ***** could not be served with the complaint. On November 2nd we sent a check to Magistrate's office to have them send the complaint Certified Mail. We do not know how to proceed and are hoping that this complaint with the Better Business Bureau can help us?