Last June, I went on thumbtack.com to find a professional to repair two steps in the common staircase of my condo building in the South End. A man who presented himself as Jerry McNulty, owner of Repair and Renovate Now, reached out to me through the website expressing interest in doing the job. He came to do an initial estimate and said that he would need to take apart the two stairs to get a sense of the damage. After taking apart the stairs, he determined that the stairs needed more extensive repair and requested a deposit for an architect's consultation. He then asked for more money for a steel deposit based on the architect's plans. These payments were made out to the "lead carpenter" Jeremiah Gagnon. Some initial work was done to secure the failing steps and remove the original balusters from the flight of stairs undergoing repair. These balusters were allegedly removed for refinishing.
At the beginning of July, Jerry provided our Condo Trust with a contract and set the start date for the project for early July. When this date arrived he pushed the start date back, saying he was waiting on the permit. He used this as an excuse for two weeks then began work, removing the treads from many of the steps and replacing them inadequately. I became concerned about the quality of the work and asked to see the permit, architect's plans and evidence of the steel order. He admitted that he hadn't secured a permit and came up with excuses for his failure to produce evidence of the architect's plans and steel. At this point, the condo trust had paid him $11,700 in deposits and payments for material and labor.
As I asked more questions, it became clear that the man I had been dealing with was not Jerry McNulty, but Jeremiah Gagnon. He had been intentionally vague about his identity so I would not look up his name on the internet. Research revealed that Jeremiah had been using aliases and renaming his company to dodge clients who he had ripped off. It seems that Jerry McNulty, owner of Repair and Renovate Now, likely doesn't exist.
The condo trust gave Jeremiah two opportunities to meet with the trustees to explain himself, and he didn't show for either meeting. Following these attempts at resolution, we terminated our agreement and asked for a refund. He provided us with a refund proposal of $9,000, but wasn't able to return the balusters he removed so he eventually agreed to refund us the entire $11,700. However, he claimed he wasn't able to secure a loan to pay us back in full so asked to set up a payment plan. The condo association offered him a payment plan whereby he would pay $2,500 on September 30, November 1, December 1, 2015 and January 1, 2015 and a final payment of 1,700 on February 1, 2016.
Jeremiah agreed to and signed this payment plan. He wasn't able to meet the deadline for the first payment but eventually produced a check for $2,500. When the date for the next payment came I asked him to send me a photo of the tracking number for the certified mailing of the check. He sent me a photo, and when I went to pick the check up at the post office, I instead received a money order of $300. He sent me an email saying that the Child Support Division of the Department of Revenue had frozen his accounts because of a glitch in the system that inaccurately reported he had not been paying child support. He said he would be sending $300 every week until he could write a check making up the balance. He failed to follow through with this, and put off sending the payment until 11/13. On this date he said that he had dropped the money order for the remainder of the payment in the mail but that he didn’t have time to mail it via certified mail. I never received the mailing. After several emails requesting the payment, he sent me a photo of a check for the November and December payments and the certified mail tracking number on November 21. We received the check, however, the check bounced when it was deposited. Before I could contact Jeremiah to request the payment again, I received three money orders from him in the mail in the amount of $2,200. This completed the overdue payment for November, but he did not send any payment for December. By sending these money orders, he acknowledged that he wrote the check knowing it would bounce. When I emailed him requesting the December payment, he said that he had had his appendix removed and would not be able to work for 3 weeks. He said he would do his best to send me the December payment by January 1, but asked for an amended agreement for the remaining money he owes us. I responded that I would not waste my time writing another agreement, as he had yet to meet a single deadline set in our original agreement. I told him that if he could make the December payment by January 1, I would grant him a three-week extension for January’s payment. Since then, I have heard nothing from him and he has not responded to any of my emails.
My condo association was forced to make a second capital call to pay for another contractor to repair the stairs. All of the contractors that came to give us estimates were appalled by the work Jeremiah and his workers had done, and the condition in which he had left the stairs. He had used pressure treated wood for portions of the framing, which is not appropriate for indoor use, and left exposed screws and unsecured planks on the stairs.
Jeremiah Gagnon Reviews
Last June, I went on thumbtack.com to find a professional to repair two steps in the common staircase of my condo building in the South End. A man who presented himself as Jerry McNulty, owner of Repair and Renovate Now, reached out to me through the website expressing interest in doing the job. He came to do an initial estimate and said that he would need to take apart the two stairs to get a sense of the damage. After taking apart the stairs, he determined that the stairs needed more extensive repair and requested a deposit for an architect's consultation. He then asked for more money for a steel deposit based on the architect's plans. These payments were made out to the "lead carpenter" Jeremiah Gagnon. Some initial work was done to secure the failing steps and remove the original balusters from the flight of stairs undergoing repair. These balusters were allegedly removed for refinishing.
At the beginning of July, Jerry provided our Condo Trust with a contract and set the start date for the project for early July. When this date arrived he pushed the start date back, saying he was waiting on the permit. He used this as an excuse for two weeks then began work, removing the treads from many of the steps and replacing them inadequately. I became concerned about the quality of the work and asked to see the permit, architect's plans and evidence of the steel order. He admitted that he hadn't secured a permit and came up with excuses for his failure to produce evidence of the architect's plans and steel. At this point, the condo trust had paid him $11,700 in deposits and payments for material and labor.
As I asked more questions, it became clear that the man I had been dealing with was not Jerry McNulty, but Jeremiah Gagnon. He had been intentionally vague about his identity so I would not look up his name on the internet. Research revealed that Jeremiah had been using aliases and renaming his company to dodge clients who he had ripped off. It seems that Jerry McNulty, owner of Repair and Renovate Now, likely doesn't exist.
The condo trust gave Jeremiah two opportunities to meet with the trustees to explain himself, and he didn't show for either meeting. Following these attempts at resolution, we terminated our agreement and asked for a refund. He provided us with a refund proposal of $9,000, but wasn't able to return the balusters he removed so he eventually agreed to refund us the entire $11,700. However, he claimed he wasn't able to secure a loan to pay us back in full so asked to set up a payment plan. The condo association offered him a payment plan whereby he would pay $2,500 on September 30, November 1, December 1, 2015 and January 1, 2015 and a final payment of 1,700 on February 1, 2016.
Jeremiah agreed to and signed this payment plan. He wasn't able to meet the deadline for the first payment but eventually produced a check for $2,500. When the date for the next payment came I asked him to send me a photo of the tracking number for the certified mailing of the check. He sent me a photo, and when I went to pick the check up at the post office, I instead received a money order of $300. He sent me an email saying that the Child Support Division of the Department of Revenue had frozen his accounts because of a glitch in the system that inaccurately reported he had not been paying child support. He said he would be sending $300 every week until he could write a check making up the balance. He failed to follow through with this, and put off sending the payment until 11/13. On this date he said that he had dropped the money order for the remainder of the payment in the mail but that he didn’t have time to mail it via certified mail. I never received the mailing. After several emails requesting the payment, he sent me a photo of a check for the November and December payments and the certified mail tracking number on November 21. We received the check, however, the check bounced when it was deposited. Before I could contact Jeremiah to request the payment again, I received three money orders from him in the mail in the amount of $2,200. This completed the overdue payment for November, but he did not send any payment for December. By sending these money orders, he acknowledged that he wrote the check knowing it would bounce. When I emailed him requesting the December payment, he said that he had had his appendix removed and would not be able to work for 3 weeks. He said he would do his best to send me the December payment by January 1, but asked for an amended agreement for the remaining money he owes us. I responded that I would not waste my time writing another agreement, as he had yet to meet a single deadline set in our original agreement. I told him that if he could make the December payment by January 1, I would grant him a three-week extension for January’s payment. Since then, I have heard nothing from him and he has not responded to any of my emails.
My condo association was forced to make a second capital call to pay for another contractor to repair the stairs. All of the contractors that came to give us estimates were appalled by the work Jeremiah and his workers had done, and the condition in which he had left the stairs. He had used pressure treated wood for portions of the framing, which is not appropriate for indoor use, and left exposed screws and unsecured planks on the stairs.