I agree with Malum Argenteum's post- this guy is jerking you around. With so many "excuses", that tells me he's likely to be a scammer. There are all kinds of contractors that promise to build homes, patios, pools, whatever- & sometimes they do, but other times (for reasons known only to them) they decide to keep the money & not do the work promised.
It's a sad lesson to learn about people- that you can't trust everyone, & if some of them think they can get away with cheating you, they will. Not only that, but when you've taken off work to meet up as promised, it appears that you've lost income because of this jerk.
In the future, I hope you'll think twice before paying in full for an unfinished & undelivered product. And by the way, some people are so skilled at making excuses, that their relatives have died many times over...Business is business- these excuses don't fly.