Dirt Cheap Concrete/Construction

Ben has moved his thief of services to South Texas, gave me a bid site unseen, after a I requested that he come look at the job he uped the bid, after 2 draws no concret and sub contractors refusing to do the job because they have not been paid, BEWARE, BEWARE BEWARE, STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS THIEF

We contracted Ben Cassis, Dirt Cheap to do concrete work for our Patio. We got his contact through Facebook Advertisement. My original contract was 120 Square foot of Stamped 4" Slate Stone Puter Concrete Form place finish for $1000. He took 50% of of this amount ($500) as an initial token deposit to do work. Later on, I requested for another 100 Sq. ft. totaling Approx. 220 SQ.Ft of Concrete work. The amount we agreed was $1700 for the total work (approx. 220 SQ Ft) and he collected additional amount of $600 as cash to the initial deposit. To summarize, the Total Contract value was $1700 and an advance of $1100 was collected as initial deposit for 4" Stamped concrete, with slate stone finish.

I wish I had read the online reviews on Ben Cassis on Revdex.com sooner, however, his mode of operation is similar to what others have explained in prior complaints.

My Primary concerns are as follows:
1. Quality of work:- He was not willing to dig up any layer of grass for concrete preparation. He insisted on pouring concrete on grass and mentioned that the grass will die over time. He refused to level the ground or add any gravel before pouring the concrete. On my insistence, he added a cheap C6 gravel for patio and did not bother to level or tamp the ground. He did not add any rebar or mesh for concrete and even the frame he did had enough gaps between the soil and the frame. The stakes were not fully inserted either and most of them could be easily picked with a hand.

2. Labor: He did not have the right labor to do the work. He hired two part time men, who had no experience doing concrete work before. They were more interested in any side assignments they got from the neighborhood. They assisted in cutting a tree and were asking for addition jobs in the neighborhood

3. Tools: He did not have the right tools to do the job. He had to make multiple store visits, to buy a pick. He once sent me to the store to get Nails and he never had a Temper to Temp the group.

4. Sticking to commitment: After he did the framing, we made several attempts to reach out to him to come and finish the job and he could never commit to a time on when he could come.

5. Scam: Looking at the work he did so far, he had no intentions to pour concrete or finish the Job. He also made several calls to the concrete company putting us on speaker but never really placed any order and always told them he will call them back. His intentions all along were to take the initial deposit and show some work. The work that he did so far was not even $200 but he has over $1100 of advance money from us. I also had it inspected by someone who is in this line of business and they also confirmed that we can never pour concrete with what has happened so far and we have to do a total rework. This experience is very similar to what others have reported on Revdex.com

His address on our contract is Dirt Cheap, 784 S.Locust St. Pontiac, IL 61764. Phone number - 309-750-7622

Hired Ben to do a concrete pad for a shed. Needed it to be 96”x121 1/4 4” thick. He talked me into adding blocks around to prevent erosion. Took 6 weeks to get him to do the work after paying him half up front. He calls me at 12:58 on Friday to say the concrete plant will not deliver to him so it will have to wait until Monday. I call *** to see what the problem is and was told Ben canceled to truck. In the end after I requested a full refund if work wasn’t done that day Ben did pour an unleveled slab then told me to shim my shed. We provided him the instructions that came with the shed that stresses a level surface. He said he’s been doing concrete or 30 years and has always poured slabs this way git rain last run off. He didn’t not dig out the area to make it level, he pour directly on top of river rock after piling sand on the rock. He also would take my check written to his business name had to write it to Emil Cassis. He then drove to Bourbonnais 60 miles from Pontiac to cash the check at my bank. He did not pull permits for the work from the city and I’m sure he is not insured.