Decks Unlimited

This company almost finished my $55,000 deck on January 25. They just needed to do some minor fixes and clean up the job site and driveway. But then, a worker's truck parked on the sloping driveway slipped out of Park, ran atop a creekstone retaining wall, crushing the shrubs adjacent to it, destroying a metal archway and ruining two light fixtures. The crew removed the truck after seven hours of work without calling for a tow, but left broken glass, truck parts, nails and large amounts of oil on the driveway. Nobody ever returned to finish the deck job or clean up the crash scene. I kept back 5% of the amount still owed ($2750) but the repair estimates are more than twice that amount. The average of four estimates is $5375, plus $400 for the arch, $100 for the plants and $40 for the lights totals $5915. I already have $2750, leaving him owing me $3165 (not including restoration of the driveway). I offered to resolve this for $2300 but he refuses. The owner won't communicate further about this and says the $2750 is enough compensation. He refused to give me the name of his insurance or the name of the worker whose carelessly parked truck did the damage. He has never met with me to inspect the damage. No one contacted me during the crash or afterward; all contact was initiated by me. The owner dunned me for the remaining payment for weeks, denied my estimates, threatened to take out a lien and accused me of attempting to scam him, blamed me for having a fragile wall and finally refused all further communication. I have photo documentation of this entire event and the damage. Before getting estimates I had proposed a smaller amount of compensation, but several masons gave me estimates much higher than I had anticipated because the foundation of the wall has been compromised. When questioned directly, he does not admit any responsibility.