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3 On Your Side: Contractor Nightmare

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― They wanted things like backyard decks and hard wood flooring, but the man they hired promises the world and just doesn't deliver. 3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan has a warning about a crummy contractor that's making the rounds.

Last October, 86-year old Rose Rivelli gave contractor George Garaffa $1,500 to replace her kitchen floor. Rose says Garafa was very nice, and she even made him lunch.

But faster than you can say, "What's for dessert?," he took her money and ran!

"I fed him, and then he ripped me off," said Rose and she hasn't seen him since.

According to Rose's son Gary, "We kept calling him and calling him, he would say it was raining one day, the next day the flooring wasn't in, the next day he left his tools at another job."

The excuses sound familiar to Colleen Gedratis. She says that she was given excuses like, "I'm sick, one of my workers died," every week it was something different.

Colleen and her husband say they paid Garrafa and his company, Philadelphia based Giorgio's contracting, $1,250 to build a back yard deck. But now over a year later, Colleen says all she has is half-built deck, and she joins a long list of people with complaints contacting 3 On Your Side.

Dave Cox hired Garaffa too and says, "He pretty much gives you a run-around."

According to customer Anne Shackleton, Garaffa is "a very smooth talker."

Philadelphia Consumer Affairs Director Lance Haver says he's heard it all before. Haver says Garaffa is "an expert in conning people, that's his expertise."

Haver adds that customers are often on there own because "there isn't a contractors law that requires contractors to be licensed and there is no victim compensation fund."

When Scott Johnson and his wife sued Garaffa, they won a $4,500 dollar judgment but according to Johnson, he hasn't received any money.

It was 18 months ago when Garaffa was hired to build a backyard deck for the Johnson's. All they got for their money were footers that were barely in the ground and wouldn't pass code. Johnson says, "I think it was intent to deceive from the beginning because he never got a permit to do the job, so he wasn't going to do the job right from the beginning."

When we tracked down Garaffa at his home he wouldn't respond to my questions, but Scott Johnson has advice to any consumer who is thinking of hiring him. Johnson says, "Don't trust him, don't trust him."

If you have complaints about Garaffa, or any crummy contractor you should file a report with the police, the Attorney General and also register your complaint with the economic crimes division of the District Attorney's office.

The police and district attorney have limited resources to investigate and prosecute crimes like this unless it involves big bucks or lots of victims. That's why it's important to file complaints with the proper authorities.

Also, Pennsylvania doesn't require home improvement contractors to be licensed, and we don't have a victim's compensation fund which would help

The best advice is to get on the phone to your state representatives in Harrisburg and tell them to get their act in gear.

For more information on what to look for when hiring any home improvement contractor, click on the link to the right of this story.

For more information on what to look for when hiring any home improvement contractor visit the Better Business Bureau's website at www.bbb.org

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