Ameriside

Ameriside completed and invoiced a window retrofit in November last year. I paid their invoice in full. When I completed a different project with a different contractor this year, the Laguna Woods HOA contacted me to say there was an outstanding final inspection for my window install. The HOA told me that Ameriside had paid the fee and submitted all the drawings and paperwork to get approval for an HOA permit, but had not gotten a City of Laguna Woods permit. The same paperwork for the HOA permit is required for the City permit. I contacted Ameriside and after some back and forth, they assured me they would take care of it and make it right. They eventually brought by the paperwork for me to schedule the final inspection with the City. I scheduled the inspection and it was completed the next day. The next day, I got a phone call from Dave Palmer saying they were sending an invoice to include $148 for fees ($10 for HOA and $138 for City) and $300 for the labor to get the delayed permits. Ameriside had not felt it necessary to itemize labor with the invoice the previous year--although the major work for the permit was completed by November 2017, when the windows were installed. I believe Ameriside is trying to recoup the late fees they were charged by both the HOA and City of Laguna Woods. I paid them $148 for the fees and have now received a notice threatening to put a lien on my unit.

I would give zero stars if that were an option. We had our initial meeting with Dave in early September 2017 and signed a contract to retrofit all the windows in our unit. We paid the 10% deposit and Dave said that was to get going on the permits. We heard nothing for weeks. Finally, sometime in early October, Dave said the permits were "in process" and that he was very frustrated with the process. He said to not tell anyone how much we had paid for the permits because if he did any more projects in Laguna Woods, he would double the price. Finally, on October 25, 2018, Jackie called and said the windows were due "next week." Project was finally completed on November 14, 2017.

Fast forward to September 2018. After completion of another project (with a different contractor), the Laguna Woods office called to say that they had an outstanding "final inspection" for our window install from the previous year. I went down to the office and they showed me the receipt that Ameriside had indeed gotten the permit from the HOA and paid the fee of $10. I went to City Hall and they said no one from Ameriside had contacted them. The permit application for the HOA clearly stated that a city permit was required. I called Jackie at Ameriside on September 19. She suggested I get the permit myself and schedule the final inspection. When I pointed out that permits were part of the job, she said she would take it to their meeting. Finally, in early November, Dave called and said they would absolutely "make it right." Said they would make sure everything was cleared up. On November 14, one of Ameriside staff brought the permit paperwork and work card and said I could schedule the inspection, which I did. Inspection was completed on November 15. That day or the next, I got a call from Dave saying they would send me an invoice for the cost of the fees, plus $300 for "labor." I informed Dave that I would pay the cost of the fees (as it would have cost the previous year--HOA and City charged Ameriside very high late fees), but not the labor costs. Considering the "labor" of creating the sketches and getting approval from the HOA had all been done (and invoiced) the year before, I saw no reason to pay it again. Since they had not seen the need to itemize the labor fee the year before, I believe they were just trying to recoup the late fees due to their negligence. Dave turned very rude and said "you people want to live in a nice place, but don't want to pay for it." I hung up on him and when presented with an invoice, paid the cost of the fees, but not the labor. I have now received some sort of document threatening to put a lien on my unit.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.