RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Margaret Cummings wants her back yard, to look as green and lush as her front. She thought a well would help.
“I wanted a well so that I could save on the costs of a water bill here in the city of Riviera Beach,” she said. “Sometimes I save about $200, depending on how much water you use.”
A neighbor put her in touch with a West Palm Beach contractor.
“And we agreed he’d put the well in for me,” she said, noting that on March 10, she wrote a $750 dollar check as a down payment, believing he’d be on the job soon.
Cummings said he showed up once in early April and worked in a section of her back yard.
That area is now covered by a flower pot, beneath it is nothing but a hole in the ground, about a foot deep.
Cummings said that was the last time she saw the contractor, though phone and text records show she’s kept in touch with him, trying to get him to finish the job.
“He just gave me different reasons why he didn’t show,” said Cummings. “But he always apologized, and said he was coming.”
After waiting since the spring, Cummings said she had enough, as she was tired of looking at her parched back yard and tired of waiting for the well.
“I still want the well,” said Cummings. “But I don’t trust him, but I do want my money back, yes, most definitely.”
We called the contractor, and tried to talk with him at his West Palm Beach home, but he wasn’t in.
When we were trying to track him down, Margaret says he called.
She says she asked for a refund but instead agreed to give the contractor another chance.
She said the man spent much of Labor Day weekend working on the well.
Cummings asked Contact 5 not use his name, saying he made a good faith effort to resume work.
According to the website Angie's List, homeowners should check to see if contractors are licensed. In this case, the contractor is not.
