First, thank you, FairyChatMom and phreesh! No scolding needed. However, I should take up the James Randi Challenge because it’s quite clear I can see into the future and figure out exactly what people are gonna say. 
In other words, precisely what I feared would happen, did happen.
I called the company to follow up, they pushed my call to the supervisor, this Israeli guy with whom I’d spoken in order to set the heavy duty cleaning deal up in the first place.
Now the main reason I mention he’s Israeli is because, from one Jewish person to another, Israelis are freakin’ tough. I grew up in Great Neck, Long Island, where there were a) Russian/Jewish second gen. Jews, b) Iranian Jews, and c) Israeli Jews. I’m in the first category, and learned pretty early on that we were low on the totem pole when it came to debating or arguing. I think the only way to win an argument is if you up the ante and bring in one of the Russian mobsters you find in Brighton Beach to argue your case. (Just kidding, obviously; Alessen, if you see this, please don’t take it personally!)
Anyway. I spoke to the guy who was very supportive in my first conversation and mentioned what had happened, and he said, exactly as I knew he would, that they’d given me a ridiculously low price because I’d mentioned I was low income and they felt sympathy for me; so basically I was lucky to get the work I had received.
I said, remaining very positive and grateful, "Oh I know, and I really don’t have any complaint about Sol or the work he did, it’s made quite a difference in my life. The only thing is, you told me I’d have him from 10 - 5, Monday through Friday. That’s what we’d agreed upon. When he was pulled from the job at 1:30 on Friday, that means I missed out on at least three hours (n.b.: Sol didn’t take lunch so that’s why I wasn’t counting the extra half hour).
Owner dude said, “yes but (*repeats everything he said before about having given me a great deal and my getting more than I deserved.**).” He added, “Besides I can’t send a guy for just three hours, it needs to be a whole day, and you’d have to pay extra.”
(* Okay, the “deserved” part is my own self-esteem bleeding through. He didn’t really use that phrase, it’s projecting, I know. But that’s what I heard, nonetheless.)
Rinse and repeat about 2 more times, and finally I had to give in. I realized I was arguing to no purpose and really from a not-very-strong position. If on the day this happened, before Sol was whisked away from me–and especially before I’d paid (which I’d done early in the morning before Sol arrived – the company had called for the final amount), then maybe I would’ve had a better place to argue from. But this? Nothing was gonna happen.
Of course I’m sure I did get a very good deal. $1200 for five days is $240 per 7-hour day, which sounds about right for a professional cleaning service. The part that sticks in my craw is that even if that’s true, it’s still the contract they agreed to, right? I mean they could have said “$1200 for four days” and I would have no problem with that. But it was this guy’s quote that I was counting on, I didn’t decide on the hours, he did.
I would still recommend this company’s service very highly to anyone either in my position or just for regular “spring cleaning” type services. And I am glad I called to follow-up on the missing hours, even if I didn’t get what I wanted out of it. If I’d just never called, it would’ve stuck in my craw and I’d probably be insulting myself for being a big ol’ wimp and turning the “injustice” (such as it was) into anger against myself. Now at least I know I tried, and that’s better than not trying. It’s certainly not my usual behavior so any time I can break that pattern is a good thing.
In any event I still have a good looking apartment, with the exception of this one area where a bunch of stuff is waiting to find some storage space, which will happen when I clean out my closet. I can do that and the remainder of the kitchen myself with my sister’s help. And if I do need further help I have Sol’s number, and I have no doubt he’d give me a good deal.
My final steps in Project Extreme Apartment Makeover are, in order:
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Clean out remaining closet
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Store stuff that needs to be stored; possibly get a wardrobe or dresser (anything that stores things out of sight rather than a bookshelf, in other words), make double-sure that it’s all stuff I need or love.
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Tackle the bookshelves and give away / sell books (my future brother-in-law said I can probably get some small amount of money for them at The Strand bookstore, which is this massive superstore for new but primarily used books downtown) so my bookshelves look neat instead of over-packed with books I’ll never read again
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Ask for paint job
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Once apartment is painted, if Sol gives me a good quote, get floors cleaned/sanded/waxed/whatever
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Possibly take my future brother-in-law’s suggestion and offer to put up some shelving so stuff isn’t on top of anything (such as my table or media console) but up and out of the way. Also, if they’re white shelves, they’ll look more like built-ins and won’t take up as much “visual space” as my bookshelves, which are mostly pine or oak-colored.
All these are much more doable than I would have imagined at the beginning of this project. Very much a worthwhile job.
Once all or most of the above are done, I’ll take pictures of the whole place. I’d be interested in whether you think I wimped out with the cleaning service or if I did all I could reasonably do. It’s not at the point where I feel like I’d rate them lower if I were reviewing the company; I’d just recommend getting a faxed quote in print next time.
Thanks again a million times for your amazing support throughout this thread. It’s been one of the most important parts of this project, opening up to you guys, and receiving such incredible compassion in return.