Contractor - how would you handle?

We had some damage from Irene and needed to hire a contractor. We met with several and went with one that we had used before for some small jobs. That was November. We gave a 5k deposit and when it didn't clear right away they were calling us daily (their bank's fault).

In early November they said they would start in a few weeks and bring us some floor samples. Late November hit and we heard nothing so DH started calling them. It took a few tries but he got hold of them and they said early January. I wasn't happy with this but fine. Now itis early January and still no word on a start date. DH called 4 times this week and nobody called him back. I am thinking about calling and saying something like ' I am concerned that you aren't returning calls. We haven't received our floor samples and it has been two months since we gave a deposit. Please do not put us in a position where we need to get the law involved for fraud. I'm sure this is just a miscommunication and we can settle this quickly.'

What do you think?

Re: Contractor - how would you handle?

That's absurd they haven't returned your calls. Sometimes circumstances come up that make the contractor unavailable (my neighbor's sprinkler guy went MIA for over a week, but he'd had a major family emergency and didn't think to call -- yes it was inconsiderate but it was still understandable, KWIM?).
BUT for them to take a deposit and not even set up the work schedule PLUS not returning your calls four times in a week would be unacceptable to me. I think I'd consider getting my deposit back and going with a different contractor.