Arpad Tile & Marble Installations

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: [redacted] Ms Cruz: (regarding complaint # [redacted] .)In response to our original complaint against Renaissance Contracting(“Renaissance”), we received the following reply on November 30, 2015:“Carport was taken down at no charge to the customerThe reason thecarport didn’t have permits is when we initially called the city they toldus anything over sf would require permit which this carport was notlarger than thatTherefore we made bid and excluded all permits andengineering as we didn’t believe it was required according to the cityWeare just now waiting for the owner to acquire drawings for the carport inorder to obtain permits for us to reinstall carportI have been availableand always helpful for the customer so I’m not sure why its stated we havebeen unprofessionalI have been trying really hard to get the ball rollingon these items so we can reinstall carport.”The response from Renaissance is not acceptable for many reasons.1.*Reliance on Renaissance* Independent of what the City told them, itwas their business as a licensed contractor to know what size of carportneeded a permit We relied on them and their expertise in these matters.The price agreed to was based on that For them to later come back anddramatically increase the cost of the job to us due to the fact thatpermits and engineering would now be required amounted to a bait and switchby them Because Renaissance failed to do this, we were subjected tomultiple complaints from a City inspector, forced to visit the City ofAustin Permit Office several times, and had to pay both for an engineeringinspection of the carport (see comments below) and for a permeabilitysurvey covering my entire yard None of these matters were disclosed to usby Renaissance They bid us a “turn-key - all in all done” carport job for$4, In fact, with all the permitting fees, engineering work,permeability study, etc, the actual job cost was likely much closer to$ Had we know the cost differences that were actuallyinvolved, we may not have gone forward with this project We now wish wehadn’t.2.*Shoddy and Unsafe Construction* Nothing in the Renaissance replymentions that the worked performed by them was both shoddy and unsafe.Even to a layman this appeared true Our suspicions were borne out when wehired a professional engineer to perform an evaluation A copy of theEngineer’s report from A-Engineering, LLC dated September 29, (the“Report”) is attached to our reply Their conclusion is that the work wasunsafe and that the carport should be torn down Basically, the Reportestablishes that we received nothing of value for the money we paid Ihave also attached to our reply (a) a number of photos that make clear theconstruction issues before the carport was taken down, and (b) a video thatalso shows exactly how bad the work was.3.*No Offer in Reply to Reimburse Expenses* As a result of the workperformed, we have incurred numerous costs None of these are mentioned inthe reply by Renaissance and no offer to reimburse them was included.Costs and inconveniences incurred by us include:aLegal Fees These are ongoing and are in the range of $1,atpresentbEngineering Report Dues to the shoddy work we hired an engineer toconfirm our suspicions The cost to verify and get the Report totaled$cCity Fees Permitting will obviously be necessary These were notdisclosed to us on the front end They knew or should have know that thesewould be part of the costs Since they were not disclosed, they shouldbear these fees($1450.00)dEngineering Drawings To get the permits necessary we are now beingtold the engineering drawings need to be prepared and submitted as part ofthe permitting process Yes, the contract says these are extra, but, wewere led to believe that neither permitting nor engineering would berequired We relied on them for these assurances which they knew or shouldhave known were incorrect.ePermeability Survey The cost of this was $ Again, this wasa cost that they knew would need to be incurred or, at a minimum, shouldhave know about had they competently managed this project and bid itcorrectly.fInconvenience Factor Because of their intentional fraud or negligence,I have had to run around to the City on numerous occasions to deal with andunderstand the permitting issues I relied on them for this and they ledme to believe none of that would be necessary I value my time at $50.00per hour which is not my professional consulting rate which would be$per hour I estimate I have wasted over hours trying toaddress and clean up their mess Accordingly, I’d like to be reimbursed$for that.4.*Requested Resolution* Based on all of the above, we have noconfidence in Renaissance We request a full refund of the sums we havealready paid them and a reimbursement from them of the costs we havenecessarily incurred in having to deal with their deceptive conduct orgross incompetence For obvious reasons, we no longer wish to work withthem[redacted] Regards, [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: [redacted] Ms Cruz: (regarding complaint # [redacted] .)In response to our original complaint against Renaissance Contracting(“Renaissance”), we received the following reply on November 30, 2015:“Carport was taken down at no charge to the customerThe reason thecarport didn’t have permits is when we initially called the city they toldus anything over sf would require permit which this carport was notlarger than thatTherefore we made bid and excluded all permits andengineering as we didn’t believe it was required according to the cityWeare just now waiting for the owner to acquire drawings for the carport inorder to obtain permits for us to reinstall carportI have been availableand always helpful for the customer so I’m not sure why its stated we havebeen unprofessionalI have been trying really hard to get the ball rollingon these items so we can reinstall carport.”The response from Renaissance is not acceptable for many reasons.1.*Reliance on Renaissance*.? Independent of what the City told them, itwas their business as a licensed contractor to know what size of carportneeded a permit.? We relied on them and their expertise in these matters.The price agreed to was based on that.? For them to later come back anddramatically increase the cost of the job to us due to the fact thatpermits and engineering would now be required amounted to a bait and switchby them.? Because Renaissance failed to do this, we were subjected tomultiple complaints from a City inspector, forced to visit the City ofAustin Permit Office several times, and had to pay both for an engineeringinspection of the carport (see comments below) and for a permeabilitysurvey covering my entire yard.? None of these matters were disclosed to usby Renaissance.? They bid us a “turn-key - all in all done” carport job for$4,000.00.? In fact, with all the permitting fees, engineering work,permeability study, etc, the actual job cost was likely much closer to$6500.00.? Had we know the cost differences that were actuallyinvolved, we may not have gone forward with this project.? We now wish wehadn’t.2.*Shoddy and Unsafe Construction*.? Nothing in the Renaissance replymentions that the worked performed by them was both shoddy and unsafe.Even to a layman this appeared true.? Our suspicions were borne out when wehired a professional engineer to perform an evaluation.? A copy of theEngineer’s report from A-Engineering, LLC dated September 29, (the“Report”) is attached to our reply.? Their conclusion is that the work wasunsafe and that the carport should be torn down.? Basically, the Reportestablishes that we received nothing of value for the money we paid.? Ihave also attached to our reply (a) a number of photos that make clear theconstruction issues before the carport was taken down, and (b) a video thatalso shows exactly how bad the work was.3.*No Offer in Reply to Reimburse Expenses*.? As a result of the workperformed, we have incurred numerous costs.? None of these are mentioned inthe reply by Renaissance and no offer to reimburse them was included.Costs and inconveniences incurred by us include:aLegal Fees.? These are ongoing and are in the range of $1,atpresent.? bEngineering Report.? Dues to the shoddy work we hired an engineer toconfirm our suspicions.? The cost to verify and get the Report totaled$500.00.? cCity Fees.? Permitting will obviously be necessary.? These were notdisclosed to us on the front end.? They knew or should have know that thesewould be part of the costs.? Since they were not disclosed, they shouldbear these fees($1450.00)dEngineering Drawings.? To get the permits necessary we are now beingtold the engineering drawings need to be prepared and submitted as part ofthe permitting process.? Yes, the contract says these are extra, but, wewere led to believe that neither permitting nor engineering would berequired.? We relied on them for these assurances which they knew or shouldhave known were incorrect.ePermeability Survey.? The cost of this was $500.00.? Again, this wasa cost that they knew would need to be incurred or, at a minimum, shouldhave know about had they competently managed this project and bid itcorrectly.fInconvenience Factor.? Because of their intentional fraud or negligence,I have had to run around to the City on numerous occasions to deal with andunderstand the permitting issues.? I relied on them for this and they ledme to believe none of that would be necessary.? I value my time at $50.00per hour which is not my professional consulting rate which would be$per hour.? I estimate I have wasted over hours trying toaddress and clean up their mess.? Accordingly, I’d like to be reimbursed$for that.4.*Requested Resolution*.? Based on all of the above, we have noconfidence in Renaissance.? We request a full refund of the sums we havealready paid them and a reimbursement from them of the costs we havenecessarily incurred in having to deal with their deceptive conduct orgross incompetence.? For obvious reasons, we no longer wish to work withthem[redacted] Regards, [redacted]

[redacted] , We have completed all items already Sincerely, [redacted]

[redacted] , Carport was taken down at no charge to the customerThe reason the carport didn’t have permits is when we initially called the city they told us anything over sf would require permit which this carport was not larger than thatTherefore we made bid and excluded all permits and engineering as we didn’t believe it was required according to the cityWe are just now waiting for the owner to acquire drawings for the carport in order to obtain permits for us to reinstall carportI have been available and always helpful for the customer so I’m not sure why its stated we have been unprofessionalI have been trying really hard to get the ball rolling on these items so we can reinstall carportSincerely, [redacted]

[redacted] , Carport was taken down at no charge to the customerThe reason the carport didn’t have permits is when we initially called the city they told us anything over sf would require permit which this carport was not larger than thatTherefore we made bid and excluded all permits and engineering as we didn’t believe it was required according to the cityWe are just now waiting for the owner to acquire drawings for the carport in order to obtain permits for us to reinstall carportI have been available and always helpful for the customer so I’m not sure why its stated we have been unprofessionalI have been trying really hard to get the ball rolling on these items so we can reinstall carport Sincerely, [redacted]