So some senile schmuck terrorized LW in front of the children, essentialy emotionally battering LW to the point that a contract got signed, at which point, the guy turns even more venal and claims that there is no rescinding the contract after your paltry $50 changes hands.

So, LW calls a number, and a flurry of phonecalls emerges out of which emerges a verbal offer to execute home improvements of significant value for free, with the implicit assumption that LW would take no more steps in response to the firm. The call comes from someone who proports, via the gravitas of his voice, to be the "president". Whoo hoo!

I would suggest that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Somewhere, something doesn't past the "smell test", and their deal has a faint but distinct aura of obsfucation attached to it. Think about it for a moment, as a distraction to picking out appliance colors..............Some organizations might genuinely apologize, and then, perhaps, offer to send a different represetnative to your home. Some would blow you off, either rudely or politely, depending upon general corporate policy and prior experience. Some would apologize and offer a 10% discount..... even 20% discount. But free? I'm afraid that I'm with the other writer who assumes that, once the folks are in, the work started, your kitchen turned into a shambles, you will get a staggering bill for some bizarre amount for which, somewhere, LW committed to in writing, in very, tiny tiny print. I sense some form of scam, although the specifics are a bit challenging to tease out, which may mean that it may be a very good scam......

I would, absolutely, hire an attorney to review, in depth, the scurrulous scrap of drivel that you signed and correlate that with the laws of your state. I would do so with an eye to ending any explicit or implicit contract that may exist.

I would, if you really want to continue to operate in the delusion that these folks are real, have your attorney contact the president again, and ask him to put his offer in writing. If there is the slightest hesitation, then walk. If they are really that apologetic about doing a make good, then they will, absolutely, back it up with a letter. If they are just shilling you, then - better to know now than before some subsequent bizarre interaction.

The ONLY scenario that I could believe could be real is if this senile panderer is somehow, tied to the organization as some form of albatross.... perhaps the president's father-in-law, and the organizaton has to follow around and mop up the man's egregious stupidities. If THAT is the case, then the president, in his anxiety, will most certainly cement his deal with you in writing.

And now, let's get back to the kids and stop talking appliance colors and wood stains. If LW is really concerned about the impact of this on the children, then time to sit them down and have a healthy disussion about "Mommy's lessons learned..." which should include that Mommy has learned to do thorough due diligence prior to meeting with anyone, Mommy had learned to ask for local references and then checks them, Mommy has learned to keep a police whistle in her handbag and Mommy has set up 911 as a speed dial on the home phone. Mommy has also learned to not entertain first-time contractors at home without her best friend, next door neighbor, friend from work, ex-husband, boyfriend or some faximile of sentient life form of an adult sort sitting next her. Finally, Mommy has learned that she can terminate a conversation politely, firmly and irrevocably the nanosecond that it begans to stink. (and that, LW, is what the speed dial and whistle are for, is to faciliate a closing of your choice, if the closing turns out to get tacky).

Despite my listing my home phone on the "no-call" list, there are some organizations that continue to reach out with a variety of scams that usually involve passing themselves off as a charity. I DO keep a police whistle next to the phone, and if a polite "No Thank You" does not terminate the conversation, a few short blasts will generally do the trick. Standard social behavioral rules do NOT apply in some of these situations......