Business is so brisk in The Villages that trusted companies often employ subcontractors to keep up with the workload. So while you may have had a particular company recommended to you, that does not mean that the person actually doing the work will be as good as you are expecting. You did the right thing in sending him packing, and reporting his actions.

As always, just because we are relaxing in our retirement, that does not mean we can let our guard down and trust everyone to "do the right thing".

Ya know...sometimes the OP actually knows what they're talking about and is just trying to inform us...and, not everything requires a humorous response. These people are upset and trying to give us a heads-up. No harm in just being understanding or moving on to the next post. (Like I probably should have :( )

I remember someone posting something about an $85.00 fee and I thoughT at the time that was weird because we went thru Home Warranty and there was no charge, even though we are out of warranty. So has this person tried this on others?

So true. But there are those that soooo disagree with you, Lovey.

My point which might have been lost in translation is: if someone tells you that they will only do work for you at a no charge from the business that they represent IF you give them money under the table, red flags should be going up all over the place. It was repeated twice so that there were no misunderstandings.

I only wanted to warn other members in case this happened to them, or if this already has happened to them that they should call the Villages Warranty Dept.

And you are 100% correct, you handled it well, and thank you for warning the rest of us.
Now for the $64,000 question:
Were you sooo upset, sooo distraught, sooo devastated by this incident that you would take tremendous offense if a few people made a joke about the repairman trying to scam lunch??????

Pikes replaced 7 of ours due to recall. No charge

I also have had Tracie do work at our house. He is a very nice guy, does his work very well, and is actually BETTER than many of the other electricians we dealt with that really did try to scam with their outrageous pricing. And ..No it wasn't under the table deals. He did warranty and none warranty. we were very happy with his work and would use him again without question. He has also did work for neighbors and friends with no issues. He does have a dry humor though and perhaps since you saw him there and he left, that it didn't set well to begin with on the right foot? Odd how I have heard from contractors how they are berated and demand something be fixed or else. Just saying.. Maybe more than one side to the story? Unfortunately he is not here to defend himself

I know, and it's a shame. Because some of the posters lately are sooo damn (can I say that here?) funny, I love to read their responses. But not every OP wants to be responded to that way, especially when they are hurt or disillusioned. Humor is a BIG part of me, but I try hard to rein it in when it's inappropriate. Thanks for understanding. I wasn't trying to be mean, or condescending.

What made you think I took tremendous offense to a few jokes? I have been with this message board now for over 4 years so if there is one thing I have noticed is that so many posters have a great sense of humor. Sometimes that is needed when one is so upset to break the ice so to speak. If I offended anyone, I never meant to.

Seems like it's always one poster defending the :1rotfl::1rotfl:

After this post I had to go back and re-read your others. I didn't find anything offensive at all.

Tracie has done some work for us. I was very pleased. Also, I am currently taking a course to become a ham operator (all true).

I think Tracie picked a bad situation in which to joke. Why not give The Warrantee Dept a call and see if they would send Pikes back out. I hope your situation is resolved soon.

And I've used a nom de plume so none of my neighbors know what I'm doing.

Oh, no--you got my question all wrong. You certainly did not offend anyone. I didn't think you, or most people would take any offense at a joke, especially when the repairman "feeds" me a great line like scamming lunch. I posed the question, almost rhetorically, to address two of the posters that are above on this thread, who on other threads have expressed a dislike for jokes and humor. One of them wants to "ration" jokes, and then only as long as they fit his definition of humor. I have no idea why the other one jumped on his wagon.
And that's fine, I harbor no ill will to them, and will defend their 1st amendment rights to express their opinion (no matter how wrong it is:1rotfl:). Sorry it wasn't clear--I can see how it might have been confusing if you hadn't seen the other threads. This has become kind of a running "joke" between the two of us, if he'll excuse the term

Warranty has determined that the Eaton Breakers are going off because of ham radio operators and they are replacing them. I built my home in 2012 and they will be replacing mine.

For more information on Eaton breakers tripping -> ARRL Helps Manufacturer to Resolve Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter RFI Problems