Corban Design & Remodeling

In December of we contracted Corban to do the above work All was OK, until we noticed that we rarely saw anyone doing work on our project In the months of working with this outfil, they averaged working days per week When I confronted the contractor/president of Corban, Dante Durnal, he did not like being called a liar I called him this due to the fact that for the months into our agreement he had made little progress on our project We paid him according to the schedule we agreed to, however things came to a head because we realized we had paid him 80% of our contract agreement of $155,000, yet he had only completed about 50% of the work We started feeling that he was taking advantage of us due to the front loading of his payment schedule After this our working relationship took a turn for the worse and for the last months we only communicated via emailIt was a one way communication as he rarely ever answered my emails or phone calls He was all over emailing me about when he wanted more money About this time he also abandoned the job for weeks as he still wanted more money even though he hadn't done the work We were not about to pay him more as we felt he was about to go under We also found out he had no more workers compensation insurance He then explained to us that he had no permanent workers on staff, thus he didn't need this insurance Since things appeared to not be moving in our project I began to call his subcontractors in order to have them come and complete the work that was pending All of their names and numbers had been included in the Corban folder that Dante provides his customers When I called them I found out that of his subcontractors would no longer work for him because he had not been paying them The first one that informed me of this was the tile setter I contacted him first because our kitchen remodel was at a standstill due to the backsplash not being installed I had to pay him $for him to do the work even though Dante Durnal had already been paid for this service Same thing with the electrician I had to pay him $as well to complete the kitchen lightingThe plumber, same thing The interior decorator also had severed ties with Dante Durnal Again, all because they had not been paid by Dante Durnal And again, he had already been paid by us It is no wonder our project was not moving In effect, I have become the quasi contractor in order to get our kitchen operational One thing to note is that although we contracted with Dante Durnal for $155,000, he slipped in $30,in additional charges that he deemed change orders I will not argue about these however one charge of $16,was deceitfully included Let me explainOne thing we wanted in our remodel was to remove a wall between the kitchen and the living room In interviewing other contractors, they all stated that the wall we wanted removed was a "load bearing" wall Dante Durnal was the only contractor that stated that it was not He had already given us an initial bid for the job and we had decided not to contract with him as we thought it was too much He then came back to us with a second bid which was lower at $155,000, however he then informed us that the wall was indeed a "load bearing" wall and that it required $16,over our contract price in order to proceed with the job He informed us of this after the demolition of the wall and the gutting of our kitchen He had us right where he wanted us I will have to give him that he was really good at lying and cheating us Oh, and another one of his sales pitches was that he was a "christian" On Aug, 29, 2014, after months of stress and paying this thief, we finally fired him I had been doing much of the work that he refused to do We have filed a complaint against him with the Contractor's State License Board They state that they will investigate They sent him a letter in which they asked him to contact us to resolve the issue He never has He didn't complete our remodeling project and we will now have to hire an attorney in order to attempt to get back about $15,he owes us due to overpayment of work he didn't complete If anyone needs information on our experience I would be more than happy to talk to future potential victims My email is [redacted]

Dante's Response to RODRIGUEZ - Revdex.com Complaint ID # [redacted] Customer’s Statement of the Problem: We met Dante Durnal of Corban Design at the Del Mar Home Show in October We were interested in a remodel of our manufactured home in Julian CaliforniaWe subsequently hired Corban Design and signed a contract in late OctoberWe had an agreed price for remodel to include adding two wood-burning fireplaces, covered wrap-around porch, sqftDriveway with pavers, automatic gate of wrought iron with stone pillars, and car garage with automatic doors for $399,Dante's response: We performed a high end interior remodel to their manufactured homeWork commenced easy April 2013, by which time we had paid him 50% of contract priceBy June he had more than 80% of the total payment, and we had a demoed house with frame only! Dante's response: This was a design build contractPayments were made within the legal limit of 20%Then, after the permit was issued and work had begun, they authorized a change order for $40,for extensive structural defectsWhen we balked at a change order for $more in drywall, Dante became passive aggressive and worked slowed down dramaticallyDante's response: Work did not slow downThe owners redesigned the entire project and did not want to pay for upgradesWe terminated our contract with him on January 1, and attempted mediationDespite my record-keeping which documented our experience from day one, Dante refused to return any of our moneyDante's response: The owners illegally broke the contract due to their financial issuesThen they asked me to return, which I didThen they asked me to leave againWe then hired architect David Neagely who spent months analyzing the data etc, and discussed his findings with Dante and Dante's lawyer in JuneWe have since filed our complaint and documentation to the Contractors State License BoardWe have also learned of another couple who has experienced the same fraudelent work with Corban DesignAnd yet he continues to go to the Home Shows to find more niave and trusting victims, like myself, and take their life savings and leave them with an unfinished homeDante's response: The owners have slandered me at the homeshows with which I am investigating a lawsuit against themHe is an unethical contractor who uses his Revdex.com rating and alleged Christian values to lure trusting victims, and take their life savingsDante's response: I have abided by the code of ethics and charged a fair price for the services I completedWe have had to spend an additional $150,with a subsequent contractor, to finish the homeAnd we still don't have a 3-car garage, as it is not permittable on our propertyDante's response: I finished the interior of the project and left enough money to finish the remainder that they, to this day, have not finished the design onThey did not spend $150,to complete the projectIt was complete to the level that they paid me forComplaint Product/Service: RemodelPurchase Date: 10/31/2012Problem Occurred: 6/15/2013Purchase Price: $392000.00Disputed Amount: $Desired Settlement: For Corban Design's AAA+ rating to be seriously downgraded and for someone to shut him down We want $250,back from Corban Design