$800 = $3700 in 1.5 years

If this were a stock investment, it would have been a pretty good buy. Awhile back, I mentioned a certain painter.... we'll call him Jeffery Wallace, who took our $800 down payment and never showed up to paint. He changed his number and moved. I took him to small claims court and won, but wouldn't see any money. So I got a lawyer to help me and took him and his bond company to Superior Court. We won the case and just got our settlement from the bond company last week. Our portion was $1800, the lawyer took the rest (we were happy to give it to her, she did an awesome job). We just wanted our money back plus the court fees we paid and damages. We are happy it's over, we can finally move on.

What we took from this experience was to always be sure a contract is involved when hiring someone (this was the key evidence which won our case) and ALWAYS make sure the contractor is both licensed and bonded. We were able to get money from his bond company since there was no way we'd get our money back from Jeffery Wallace. And lastly, don't give up. It seems like a small amount to fuss over, but it's the principle of the matter. Not fighting to get it back would be like supporting theft, he never learns a lesson and we lose hard earned money.