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Reviews Floor Installation, Floor Coverings Finest Floors

Finest Floors Reviews (43)

DO NOT HIRE Sheldon Hirsch for any project in your home. He is NOT a Licensed General Contractor even though he portrays himself as one, even going so far as to illegally utilizing another General Contractor's License and placing that number on his business card. We recently contracted with Sheldon to install our kitchen cabinets, install and fabricate our granite and purchase and install a carpet in our family room. Short story is Sheldon did not perform any of the work in a professional manner and then stole our money in the middle of our kitchen remodel, disappearing with approximately $4,500 and then he ceased all communications with me (really us my wife and me). We have filed a small claims action against Sheldon to recoup the money he stole from us. We have also reported him to the District Attorneys for future prosecution. He is presently being investigated by the Contractors State License Board pursuant to a request they received from the District Attorney's office.

Anyone who doesn't know Sheldon and reads Sheldon's above response that begins with "Setting the record straight" might conclude that Sheldon is well respected in the industry in which he works, BUT YOU WOULD BE DEAD WRONG. After dealing with Sheldon for 3 months, the words that most accurately describe Sheldon are dishonest, deceptive, incompetent, unprofessional and a thief. If you still are not convinced that he is an out and out thief, and our considering hiring him in any capacity, I would suggest you read the next 14-15 pages which specifically outlines what transpired from the first day I met Sheldon so at least you know what your getting into. Sheldon should not be working in an industry where he can and does steal the hard earned money of homeowners while at the same time ruining the reputation of various subcontractors who have worked for the man years to earn the trust and loyalty from their customers and the community at large (read below to see exactly how he accomplishes this dastardly goal). My wife and I were so distressed, both emotionally and financially after dealing with Sheldon that we felt an OBLIGATION to warn others so no one else would have to endure what we did after having contracted with Sheldon. This summary is very long because people like Sheldon exist in this industry because no one wants to invest the time and energy to expose him for exactly what he is; a person who writes a contract noting specific subcontractors who will perform the work (Sheldon does not perform any of the work himself when he contracts) and then when it is time for the subcontractors to perform the contracted work Sheldon tells you they backed out for some reason and then provides the homeowner with much less qualified workers.
He does the same bait and switch with the products he sells, his contract specifies he will provide and install a specific high quality carpet that you have paid for in advance (in our case Sheldon asked us and we paid him in advance $1,800 of the $2,200 total for the purchase and installation of the carpet) and then shows up with a much lesser quality carpet or in our case no carpet at all (he just stole our money and ran). The following is a summary of our interactions with Sheldon since we first met him as written in my final email to him:

Sheldon:
Now that you have been “served” I thought it would be beneficial for me to provide you with a summary of what has transpired since I contracted with you to perform work on my kitchen remodel so you can clearly see why I/we feel you are incompetent, unprofessional and dishonest and why we are requesting that you reimburse me/us all the money that you have received. Some of these feelings have been expressed to you throughout the last two to three months but much has not been expressed because you have such a temperamental demeanor, had threatened to walk off the job on previous occasions and we were fearful of you doing exactly what you did, stealing our money and hiding out. I am hopeful, but not optimistic that after seeing what you have done in black and white, you might save us both the time of attending small claims court and pay me the monies I have requested.

I have broken this voluminous amount of information down into categories for ease of reference. References to “us” and “we” always refer to my wife and me.

Referral and Why We Chose Your Bid
We were doing a kitchen remodel as well as remodeling our family room which is located a step down from our kitchen. My brother Mark referred you to me with a positive reference as you had carpeted his entire home in Sacramento. He sent me your business card which included the following:
• Your name Sheldon Hirsch, noting you were the Owner
• Presumably the name of your company “Carpet Hardwood Laminate Tile”
• Your telephone number
• Your business address
• Your General Contractors License #955376

I contacted you for a bid and you told me you would furnish and install the carpet for $2,200 ($1,800 down payment/deposit for the cost of the carpet and $400 for the installation to be paid when the carpet had been installed). You got a good review from my brother. I saw the carpet that was installed in his home first hand and I felt that I was dealing with a licensed contractor so I gave the $1,800 deposit on 10/7/17 and signed the contract. The work was to be performed after the granite and then the appliances were installed.

Cabinetry and Granite Bid/Contract
Approximately a month later I got some bids for the kitchen cabinet installation and the granite fabrication and installation. I provided you with a copy of all of the kitchen diagrams, and the names and manufacturers of all of the appliances which were going to be installed in our new kitchen. Additionally, I let you know that the two granite slabs for our remodel were already purchased and were at Apex Marble and I provided you with the name of the company I purchased the cabinets from, Cypress Kitchen and Bath in San Jose. You came to my house and saw everything first hand. You provided me with a contract for the cabinet and granite work; $2,000 for the cabinets and $3,000 for the granite work. I signed the contract on 11/7/17 and you signed the contract on 11/4/17 confirming you received a $2,000 check from me, check #1855. I signed this contract and accepted this bid from you because of the following:

• Highly reputable Subcontractors which were noted in the contract (Doug Taylor was going to install the cabinets and Canova Marble was going to do the fabrication and installation of the granite). You assured me that all the subcontractors were licensed and insured (as were you).
• The anticipated start date (11/13/17)
• The time frames provided in the contract to complete each task (3-4 working days was given for the cabinetry work and 3-4 days was also given for the granite work)
• Quality of workmanship (“expert craftsmanship shall be exercised throughout the entire installation process”)
• The granite work included your installing special support brackets instead of Corbels for the nook.
• The cabinetry work included your wiring and installing the under cabinet lights.
• Although not specifically noted in our contract, you told me that you would be at the job site at my home the entire time your contractors were here working.
• You also promised me that once your contractors were here working that I would not have to do anything, or for that matter even be home. That was very reassuring.

What Actual Happened With the Cabinet Installation
I kept you apprised both verbally and by sending you photos on the progress of the kitchen remodel to ensure that your cabinet contractor (and then your granite contractor) were ready to step in immediately after the tile floor had been installed. Your cabinet contractor was planning to start the cabinet work on 11/13 pursuant to our contract. I informed you that I received matte tile instead of the polished tile and that would move the time table back approximately one week. You confirmed that Doug was ready to start the cabinet installation prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. The floor was installed on 11/19 so as not to interfere with your cabinet contractor’s starting work on the 20th. You indicated your cabinet contractor would most likely complete the work prior to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend but you added that he might need a day after the holiday weekend to complete the work. On the 20th, Doug did not show up. I called you and you told me he had gotten tied up on another job and would not be able to start until the 22nd. Then you contacted me to tell me Doug would not be out until after the Thanksgiving weekend. He was rescheduled to start on 11/27. You confirmed he would be here on Monday to start the job.

On 11/27 a guy rang my door bell and I answered the door. I inquired if he was Doug and he told me his name was Jasper. I told him that I was working with Sheldon and that I was expecting Doug. He told me that Doug could not make it and did I want him to do the job. I invited him in and we spent approximately 30 minutes going over diagrams, providing him with the layout of the kitchen and showing him where the cabinets were in the garage. I let him know that he could help himself to cold water and/or a soft drink in the refrigerator as I do with all my contractors that work in my home. I also inquired if Jasper knew where you were since you promised me you would be here when Doug got here. Jasper responded he did not know if you were coming or not. I immediately called you and let you know that I was not very happy about Jasper replacing Doug since I didn’t know the first thing about Jasper and I had done some extensive due diligence with Doug and found he had a stellar reputation. You told me that Jasper had a great reputation, and was highly qualified to do the work. I let him proceed with his work after hearing your input. After speaking with me, Jasper brought in a lot of his tools and he unwrapped most of the new cabinets which were stored in my garage. After about an hour and a half I ran some errands while my wife was working at home. I needed one of the measurements of one of the cabinets so I called Jasper and ask him to measure it for me. He said he would and then we got disconnected. I tried to call him back several times and even left him a voice mail message and I did not hear back from him. I thought he had cell phone issues so I called my wife thinking she could hand her phone to Jasper, but when she came out of her office in our back bedroom, Jasper was gone along with all his tools. He never returned my calls and only got in contact with you three days later with some phony excuse about a family emergency. You informed me that you left him numerous messages to get in contact with you. When I brought this to your attention you were completely embarrassed and were profusely apologetic, telling me this had never happened to you in the past and that you would get a qualified replacement immediately. As you recall, I told you that if you did not have a professional cabinet installer, I could get my worker to install the cabinets. You told me that you would take care of it. I also let you know at this time that if you had been at my home as you promised when your worker showed up, there was a good chance he would not have walked off the job. I also expressed my dismay that there was only one person on this job. You responded to my concerns by promising me there would be two people on the job even if one of those people were you and you also promised to me once again that you would be at my home the entire time the cabinets were being installed. This was when things went from bad to worse.

Between 11/27/17 and 12/7/18 you scheduled two different cabinet installers on two different dates to install my cabinets. Each time, prior to each person’s start day, I emailed, texted or made a phone call to you to confirm the contractor that was scheduled to show up was in fact going to show up. Each and every time I contacted you, you confirmed that the person would be at my home. Both scheduled start times came and went with no one showing up to do the work. Each time after the no show I called and let you know how dissatisfied we were with your performance or lack of performance. We let you know the stress that this was causing and the additional dollars we were losing as this project dragged on while you scheduled, and rescheduled with no results. On more than one occasion, after initially telling you my worker would install the cabinets, I made several more attempts to have my worker install the cabinets but you declined. It got to the point with you where my wife and I could not trust anything you told us because you never told us the truth. After the second no show, I told you before you sent anyone else over to do the cabinet installation, that I wanted to speak with a manager or owner of the company to confirm myself that there, in fact, was a qualified cabinet installer who was scheduled to come out to my home. You agreed to my request and the next thing I know you sent me a text with the company name of German Flooring Inc. with the contact name and number for a Stepan Gergi (I believe he is the owner of this company) informing me that he was ready to install my cabinets if I gave the ok. I called Stepan; he did not know who I was or where I lived and he asked me to send him over the diagrams of the kitchen and he’d get back to me. I told him that I understood he was working with Sheldon and that you had provided him with whatever documentation he needed to contract with you and that I was calling to confirm that he was ready to install my cabinets, not to send him diagrams or try to convince him to take on my job. Stepan told me he had no contract with you and was not scheduled or prepared to install my cabinets. This is the same guy/company that you told me you had done business with in excess of $100,000 and it was on this basis that you tried to convince me that they would do a great job for us. When I reported my findings back to you, you gave me the same nonsensical replies I had been receiving from you for weeks now. You had no logical explanation other than you would no longer do business with them. I let you know my wife’s and my patience was running extremely short and this was getting ridiculous.

I was so upset by your scheduling and rescheduling contractors with no work being done and with my kitchen getting further and further behind schedule that you offered, and I agreed, to deduct $500 (your profit from the cabinet work) from the $2,000 price of the cabinet installation. I believe after Jasper’s arrival and mysterious departure and the first no show you offered me $250 to offset some of the costs associated with the kitchen remodel being pushed back. You then offered me the additional $250 after two more no shows for a total of the $500 noted above. As you recall, we arrived at this figure when I asked you how much profit you were going to make on the cabinet work and you replied $500. I then asked you if you felt that you really deserved to make any profit on the cabinet work based on what had transpired to date and you replied “no” and that is when you actually offered the $500 discount to me, increasing your first offer by $250. Also, as I am sure that you will recall, l we memorialized this agreement into our contract by adding the appropriate language and signing and dating the original contract on 12/17/17.

You scheduled one more cabinet installer who did not show and when I tried to contact you by phone you did not pick up. The next thing I know I was getting a call from a contractor by the name of Jurg Swiss who told me he had worked with you before and he was going to install my cabinets. He went on to explain to me that you were such a nice guy that everyone walks all over you and he felt sorry for you and was going to help you on this job. Jurg assures me he had the ability to install these cabinets in a professional manner and I believed what he told me. I let Jurg know that I would speak to you and one of us would get back to him. I spoke with you and okayed Jurg to do the work on the basis that you would be present each day, all day and that you assured me he had the expertise needed for this job.

Again you pushed back the start date so Jurg began working at my home on the cabinet installation on 12/7. He worked a total of five days on the cabinet installation (12/7-12/8 Thursday and Friday and 12/11-12/13 Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the following week) and left with approximately 10 more hours work to be completed. On 12/7 when Jurg arrived and you were not with him, I asked Jurg where you were and he said he didn’t know. You promised your attendance throughout the entire cabinet installation and you were a no show even after all your prior broken promises and mishaps. I was getting a little hot under the collar and I sent you a text on 12/7 at 12:43 pm that said “You promised you would be here the entire time the cabinet guy was here. It is now going on 1 o’clock and you’re still not here. Any idea when you plan to arrive?”. You responded “Yes, About 15 minutes”. Again, I couldn’t ever take what you told me at face value, because you rarely keep your word/promises. You can’t be relied upon and you can’t be trusted. It makes it very difficult to conduct business with you. When you finally arrived at my house after 1:00 pm, I was amazed to see that you were in “dress clothes,” clearly not prepared to do any work or assist Jurg in the cabinetry installation. I began to have a conversation with you when you interrupted me to tell me that you needed to speak with Jurg and you excused yourself and stepped outside to speak with Jurg privately. I was taking care of business in the back of the house and when I next heard Jurg reenter my house I asked him where you were and he told me that he thought you went back to Sacramento. After all your above noted incompetent behavior, you left my house without informing me when you were clearly aware I was waiting to speak with you, a telltale sign of your lack of professionalism.
As you are acutely aware, I went to Las Vegas for Vacation from 12/9 and returned the evening of the 12/13 at around 7:30 pm. When I returned home on the 13th and saw the quality of the cabinet installation I was thrilled. Because I wanted to tip Jurg and I was not going to be home the following day when I expected that Jurg would complete the cabinet work and head back to Sacramento, I went to the garage that night and tipped him $100 to thank him for stepping up when no one else wanted to step up for you (and when our kitchen remodel was weeks behind schedule) and for doing such a quality job. Of course, I felt like a real schmuck/sap when I found out what really took place when I was away. I didn’t find this out until Jurg left my home and I had an opportunity to speak with Lyle alone. I found out, among other things, that Jurg was not coming back to complete the cabinet installation. I was informed by my worker Lyle, that when he came to my house on Monday the 11th to complete other work on the kitchen remodel, he noticed that the 4-5 wall cabinets that had been installed were installed improperly and were not straight. Lyle told me that if these cabinets were not taken down and reinstalled properly, the crown molding would not be able to be utilized and I would have crooked cabinets. It was clear to Lyle that he had to take over the installation of the cabinets because Jurg did not have the requisite expertise needed to install these cabinets in a professional manner. The first thing they both did was take down the wall cabinets that Jurg had installed and reinstall the cabinets in a professional manner. So on the 11th, the 12th and the 13th my worker took approximately 20 hours of his time to oversee the installation of the kitchen cabinets. Jurg did tell me in the garage how talented Lyle was and how much he learned from him. When Jurg told me this I thought he was commenting on some specific advice that Lyle gave to him but he was referring to the entire job. I was just unaware of this at that time. I remember Lyle telling me that you and Jurg were possibly going to be partners in business down the road and my telling you the expertise which Lyle passed onto Jurg would be very beneficial to both of you on future projects..

I sent you a text that night on the 13th informing you the quality of work was excellent but we had a problem and needed to talk. I explained to you what had transpired and that Lyle should not have had to do the job that Jurg was hired and presumably paid by you to do by himself (with your assistance as needed). I explained that Lyle had approximately 20 hours attributed to installing the cabinets at $50 hour which came to $1,000 total and that I did not feel I should be paying him; that you should be paying him. You said you had not heard any of this from Jurg and wanted to speak with him before getting back to me and I in turn told you I would speak with Lyle.

When we next spoke, you told me that Jurg had confirmed what I had told you; that Lyle had to take over the project to ensure the cabinets were hung properly and that Lyle took the leadership and mentor role during the three days they worked together. I told you that Lyle still had 10 hours of work to complete the cabinet installation but also let you know that Lyle was willing to collect only 5 hours of work/pay for the 20 hours he put in on the 11th the 12th and the 13th. When you came to my house on 12/17, I showed you the comprehensive list of work that still needed to be done to complete the cabinetry installation and you readily agreed to the 10 hour time frame to complete these tasks. This non-exhaustive list included the following major items:
• All the hardware mounting
• All under cabinet lighting rails
• Wiring and installation of the under mounted lights
• Adjustment of several cabinet drawers, one in particular did not open properly
• Moving wall cabinet (installed incorrectly by Jurg) on sink side of kitchen approximately ½“ to the left to align it with the base cabinet.
• Complete the crown molding installation, one corner piece was not installed.

We came to an agreement that you would pay me for the 5 hours Lyle already worked plus the 10 hours of work ahead he needed to complete the job for a total of $750. Again, we memorialized this agreement by signing and dating the contract on 12/17/17. This resolved any outstanding issues regarding the cabinet installation and the associated costs. Our original contract was for $2,000 for the installation of the cabinets less $500 you deducted for holding this project up for such a long time. Then you agreed to pay me $750 so I could pay Lyle for the 15 hours of work he did to install the cabinets. So your $2,000 contract for installation of the cabinets turned into a $750 job for you ($2,000 - $1,250 = $750). Of course, I contracted with you initially for a $2,000 cabinet installation job, but in the end, I paid a total of $1,500 for this contract with you because I am paying Lyle the $750 you were supposed to pay me. All the emotional and financial issues you created for us due to your inability to perform pursuant to your contract with me only saved us $500 in the long run. That appears to me to be a very good deal for you after what you have put us through.

In summary with regard to the cabinet installation
• You did not provide the subcontractors noted in our contract to perform the services I contracted for.
• The craftsmanship associated with the installation which was done by Jurg was poor at best (at least until Lyle arrived and took over), certainly not the “expert craftsmanship” provided in the contract.
• The time frame to complete this job pursuant to the contract was 3-4 working days; actual time is still ongoing since the cabinets are still not completely/properly installed.
o The anticipated start date pursuant to the contract was 11/13, mutually moved to 11/20 after I received the incorrect floor tile.
o The cabinet installation started on 12/7, 14 working days later than when it should have begun.
o Jurg’s and Lyle’s last day worked on the cabinet installation was 12/13.
 11/20 when you had the availability to install the cabinets through 12/13, Jurg’s last day on the job is 18 working days. In other words, it took four and a half to six times longer to install my kitchen cabinets than the 3-4 working days provided in the contract.

Even if you examine the total actual days worked by both Jurg and Lyle and exclude the time which was wasted by you scheduling and rescheduling (Jurg worked five days and Lyle worked three and had one more day of work to complete the installation for a total of 9 days), compared that to the 3-4 day timeframe you provided in our contract, you still would have taken 2-3 times longer to complete the work than you promised in our contract.
Clearly, you did not perform pursuant to your contract with me (speaking just of the cabinet installation at this time) in any substantive area and that is why I suspect you chose to amend your contract as noted above. In any event, when we modified the contract on 12/17/17 and we both signed and dated it, it became part of the original contract, with the same force and effect.

What Actually Happened With the Granite Installation
The cabinetry work as noted above was complete for purposes of fabricating and installing the granite counter top and backsplash on 12/13, so the granite counter top work could have begun as early as 12/14. You and I agreed the granite work would begin on Monday the following week, the 18th. As the cabinetry work was consistently being pushed back due to your incompetence, I was continually leaving you voice mail messages and text messages to confirm that Canova Marble was ready to begin their work as soon as the cabinetry work was completed. I was very concerned based on your past performance relative to the cabinets and I wanted to ensure that Canova was doing this job and they were going to do it on schedule (or as close as feasibly possible). Each and every time I inquired, you responded verbally or via text and confirmed Canova was ready to begin work as soon as the cabinets were installed. I sent you the last two texts of this nature on 12/16 Saturday. The first was sent at about 9:30 am and I inquired if Canova was ready to begin work the next Monday as we had previously scheduled. I didn’t receive a response to my text so I sent you a follow-up text at around noon and told you I had not received a response to my earlier inquiry which I had sent you three and a half hours earlier. You then respond that “Canova is ready for Tuesday.” You also let me know that you would be stopping by my house on Sunday between 2-3 pm because you needed to get some measurements for Canova before they came out. I found this peculiar, that you would come from Sacramento to Fremont on a Sunday to get measurements for a granite company that would be making templates/taking precise measurements when they came to my home, especially when you hadn’t come to my home on several previous occasions when you had promised that you would come. So I specifically remember asking you again if you really felt it was necessary to make that 4-5 hour round trip for these measurements. I also vividly remember being kind of pissed off when I heard your affirmative response. As I said above, if you had made the trip to my home when you previously promised you would, it may have positively impacted the project, whereas this trip appeared to have little or no value to me or my kitchen remodel. Although you moved the start date from Monday the 18th to Tuesday the 19th, I was thrilled Canova (and you) were relatively on schedule and replied “Excellent Thank you” to which you replied with a “thumbs up” icon.
On the 19th, you appeared at my house and took some measurements for a short time and then told me that you would like to collect the $1,000 payment pursuant to our contract. Again, deceptive and dishonest. If you were planning to come to ask for the $1,000, you should have just been honest instead of giving me a story about taking measurements.
Because our contract notes this $1,000 “Progress payment” is “due upon satisfactory installation of [the] kitchen cabinets” and because we just came to an agreement that reflects that you actually owe me $750, I was astounded that you were asking for this $1,000 Progress payment. I explained to you that our contract notes this is a progress payment for satisfactorily completing the cabinet installation which was not complete and pointed out that you owed me $750 at that point so at most it would appear I owed you $250 even if you collected the $1,000 progress payment. You told me that you needed the $1,000 to put toward the granite and that we would deduct the $750 you owed me from the last payment on the contract. I felt very uncomfortable doing business this way, especially when I took into account what had transpired to date, but felt that if I didn’t give you the $1,000, you would have an excuse for not moving forward with the granite work, putting my kitchen remodel further behind schedule. So against my better judgement, I told you I would pay you the $1,000 on the condition that we would memorialize our agreement in writing on our original contract and we would both sign and date it to confirm our mutual agreement. On our original contract, it notes the following with both of our dated signatures to the right:
$4,500 Total Due after issues
-$2,000 paid 11/4/17
$2,500
-$1,000 paid today 12/17/17
$1,500 Balance due less 13-15 hrs credit per Lyle’s work at $50/hr

After we signed and dated our original contract with the above language, I asked my wife to write you the check for $1,000. She wrote the check and gave it to you.
My recollection is that on Tuesday morning, after not hearing from you or Canova, I was concerned it was going to be another no show. After some texts and phone calls between the two of us, you informed me that they would not make it on Tuesday and we rescheduled to Wednesday. When we rescheduled to Wednesday, I was already seeing the writing on the wall and I immediately inquired again if Canova was really scheduled to come out on Wednesday the 20th. You confirmed they were scheduled to arrive in the morning and that I would be called 45-60 minutes before they arrived. On Wednesday at 10:30 am, I had not heard from anyone so I texted you to see if Canova was on the way. After some back and forth I found out that Canova was scheduled to arrive in the early afternoon.
A disheveled gentleman driving a beat up old car rang my doorbell. I opened the door and introduced myself and ask him if he was with Canova Marble. He replied he was not with Canova and I asked him who he worked for/with. He responded that he was a sub working for you. Even when I asked him his name he told me he was a sub working for you. Of course I was furious you did the bait and switch with me once again, but you had put my kitchen remodel so far behind schedule that I couldn’t afford to immediately kick this guy to the curb. So I told him that I was expecting the owner or son of the owner from Canova Marble (who you told me you were dealing with) and asked him how he had ended up on my doorstep. He mumbled the same thing he had repeated three to five times earlier; that he was a sub working for you but he added that you told him that he was going to do the templating and the installation and Canova was going to do the fabrication. This was a real problem for me since I knew the fabricator would not ensure the clean fit of the granite if he was working off another person’s template. Of course, once again you did not show up with your contractor as promised, so I had to send off a text to you immediately inquiring as to why Canova wasn’t doing the fabrication and installation pursuant to our contract. It took me about ten minutes to obtain your worker’s name. He told me his name was Chad when I finally said to him, “I still don’t even have your name. When I need to speak with you, how do I address you?”

You told me that you could not utilize Canova for this job for two big reasons:
• Because they had changed their pricing with you and they were going to charge you more than they previously quoted you.
• You told me they couldn’t do the job because you knew how far behind you were on the project and they told you would have to wait 30 days out before they could work on my kitchen remodel and complete the granite work.
Of course I was irate. You lead me to believe, up until Chad rang my doorbell, that Canova would do this work. You were obviously aware the entire time that Canova was not going to do this work because you had not contracted with them to do the work and you had not left them a deposit to do the work. How could you possibly expect them to show up on my door step? Another example of your dishonest business practices.
Because I was so far behind schedule, I allowed Chad to enter my house and work on the templates. I knew I would speak with you about this matter. It was clear early on the Chad was not qualified or prepared to do this type of work. He did not have the proper tools for this job. He had to borrow tape for his paper template. He borrowed a magic marker pen from me to label the templates and lastly he asked to utilize my cardboard floor protector which was in a roll in my garage that Chad spotted to make the back splash template. Each time that I discussed the scope of work relative to the granite, Chad kept referring to another party installing the granite and I kept having to remind him that he was going to install the granite. Of course, this only exacerbated my level of concern. For all I knew, you picked Chad up at Home Depot on the way over to my house. He did not have the appearance of a professional. He did not have the tools necessary to do a professional job and he did not even seem to be aware that he was going to install the granite.
As I was so far behind schedule due to your incompetence, I let Chad spend three to four hours making templates. You arrived later and provided some assistance to Chad. At this point, I did not believe anything you told me. I couldn’t. You lied to me too many times in the past. I was amenable even at this time, to allow Chad to do the granite installation, assuming that he would do a professional job and would complete the work on schedule. On 12/22 in the morning I sent you a text informing you I had moved the electrician to January 8th at 8 am and wanted to confirm that you and Chad would have the granite completely installed by that time. You responded by telling me that schedule worked for you; starting the Tuesday after Christmas and completing the work by close of business on 1/7. You then failed to meet this deadline and told me you were now going to complete the granite work by 1/23.

All of my texts and phone calls to you between 12/22 and 1/8 were made for the most part to ensure that you were going to get this work completed on schedule and in a professional manner. You also promised to meet my wife and me at Canova Marble on Friday the 5th and failed to show up, calling me at the last moment and telling me you had car problems. You consistently promised me (and Robert, the owner of Canova Marble) that you would leave a deposit with Robert and sign his contract so he could move forward with the fabrication of my granite. After numerous broken promises, you failed to leave the deposit with Robert and failed to contract with him for the requested services. On 1/4/18, I sent you a text inquiring if you had spoken with Robert and if you had gotten “everything squared away” and you responded, “Yes, I contacted Robert and we are set to move forward as we discussed today.” On 1/6 Saturday morning, the day my wife and I were scheduled to meet you at Canova Marble and affix the templates to the granite slabs so Robert could begin the fabrication, you called me at the last moment and told me you had car problems and wouldn’t be meeting us at Canova. Although I was upset because, as usual, you had broken your promise to us, I was happy that you had now paid Robert a deposit and signed his contract and fabrication would begin. I was dead wrong, as I found out later when speaking with Robert who informed me that you had not signed the contract and had not left the required deposit. As a result of this, Robert informed me that he was taking my slabs off his cutting machines and moving forward with another job. Suffice to say, I was furious. After all the nonsense you had put us through, three times promising to leave a deposit and failing to do so and putting our remodel weeks behind schedule, I had reached my wits end with you.

I called you on the phone while I was still at Canova in Oakland and when I finally spoke with you, I asked you why in the hell you had not left the deposit with Robert and signed his contract so we could move forward with the fabrication. I was flabbergasted that when you responded, you were full of venom and pissed off at me to the extent that you told me that you were going to walk off the job because of the way I treated you and furthermore you couldn’t talk to me right then because you were so mad you needed time to cool down. You also told me you had this all worked out with Robert; another lie on your part. I responded, telling you that you had to be joking. I couldn’t believe that you were upset with me because you failed to leave the deposit with Robert as you promised on three prior occasions, when our remodel has been pushed most recently from 1/7 to 1/23 and now the 1/23 date was in jeopardy because you hadn’t left the deposit. I also told you we spoke with Robert and nothing had been worked out with him. He told my wife and me that he was not doing the job without a signed contract and a deposit. You appeared to agree with me as you calmed down and told me you would call Robert on the following Monday and leave him the deposit. Of course I was dubious. Why wait to leave a deposit with Robert on Monday when you told me you were going to pay with your Visa? Why not pay at that time? It seems there was no logical reason to wait two days until the next Monday. At this point you did not return my wife’s or my telephone calls, emails or texts.

I sent you a Demand Letter via email on 1/9. On 1/13 at about 2:00 pm after receiving no response from you to my email dated 1/9 (even though my 1/9 email to you ends with “We also demand that you respond in writing with your intentions as time is of the essence”), I sent you an email telling you that I felt that you have been unprofessional and a thief and that we had no choice at that time other than to hire someone else to complete our kitchen remodel as you have gone incommunicado. You responded to my email later that afternoon with two emails; one advising me, among other things, that you were threatening to file a mechanics lien on my property and letting me know that I “have dealt [you] a constant barrage of harassment, threats and insults” over the last three to four weeks. You also let me know that you would be in touch with me the next week to see if we could resolve our issues by utilizing a mediator.

I responded to your ludicrous email response as follows: “If you file a mechanics lien on our property, we will hold you responsible for any damages caused us by your taking this action and we will seek to recover any and all damages dues us as a result of your actions.” I had no idea what you were referring to when you stated you were harassed, threatened and insulted for the last three to four weeks other than your failure to keep your promises to us and us bringing that fact to your attention time and time again. With regard to the mediator, I expect any unbiased third party looking at the facts surrounding our case would clearly side with my wife and me. But more importantly, do you really think you have the right to unilaterally cease communicating with us and then out of the blue tell us that you were going to contact us the next week sometime to try and resolve the matter? Do you honestly believe there are any rational people that would wait to hear back from you after you had threatened to walk off the job previously and had ceased communicating with them for absolutely no reason other than you were unwilling to perform pursuant to our contract? Of course note.

What I Found Out After You Failed To Communicate with Us
It was pretty clear to me that you had not been honest with my wife and me, so I decided to do some due diligence and found some very disturbing things.
1. Although you hold yourself out to be a licensed contractor, by utilizing a general contractor’s license number on your business card and representing yourself as a general contractor, YOU ARE NOT A LICENSED GENERAL CONTRACTOR! I found out that your flooring license was revoked in 2008. The contractor’s license number you provide on your business card is the general contractor’s license number for a company called Teleos Builders and Development located in El Dorado Hills. I called and spoke with the owner the other day, Dave Crozier, and inquired if you were authorized to utilize his license and he replied “absolutely not.” He went on to tell me he utilized your services on one job and was not happy with your work and never contacted you again. He also told me he or his partner had received two other complaints from dissatisfied customers who informed him Sheldon had utilized his license on their project as well and then took off with the money. So it appears I am not the only person you have duped and tried to make off with their money. It appears this is a consistent and ongoing business practice of yours. Dave of course was not very happy to hear that you were illegally utilizing his license. I expect you will be hearing from him in the not too distant future.
2. I spoke with both Robert and his son Sargon and they filled me in on what had transpired between them and you since your first made contact with them. Without going into detail, they both told me that you did everything possible to complete this work at the cheapest rate and the lowest quality. The son told me from day one that it is their policy to tell all their customers that it will take them 20 working days from the day the granite is delivered to have the granite fabricated and installed and that is exactly what he told you. Sargon told me that he told you that he would have the granite fabricated and installed within 10 working days because you told him how far my project was behind and he was sympathetic to your situation. I was also informed by Robert that they don’t charge $500 extra to do the templates. Instead, the cost of the templates was included in the fabrication. Once again, you outright lied to me both about Robert raising the price at the last minute and the fact that Chad had to do the job because Canova couldn’t do it for 30 days. You even went so far as to tell me that you hired Chad because he would complete the work in a shortened timeframe and the quality of his work was superior to Canova. How ridiculous can you be! You lied about this for one reason and one reason only. You did not care about the quality of the work and what your obligations were pursuant to our contract. All you wanted to do was to make as much profit as possible out of this job. You were planning to have Chad do the templates and installation because he was cheap, low quality labor and you had Canova do the fabrication because Chad was unable to fabricate the granite as he did not have the requisite equipment. Both Robert and his son assured me that they could have done this job from start to finish and that you were clearly aware of this. You did not take this option even though you were contractually obligated to do so.
3. The internet has quite a few people that have complained that you have written a contract but when it comes time to perform, you failed to live up to the terms of the contract and changed the products and services quoted to cheaper products and lower quality services, similar to what has transpired with us.

Where We Stand Now
Cabinetry work - we had a lot of issues but resolved all these issues by our agreement we entered into on 12/17/17, so as far as I am concerned this is a done deal.
Granite work – I have now contracted directly with Canova Marble. Your services are not needed.
Carpet work – I gave you an $1,800 deposit on 10/17 for our carpet but to date I have no idea whether you have even purchased this carpet. If you have purchased this carpet, please provide me documentation of this immediately. If I don’t receive the requested documentation I will conclude you never purchased the carpet for my home.
I will not have you or anyone you work with in my home. You have lied to me consistently over the duration of this project and consistently failed to perform your obligations under our contract. This has resulted in our project being delayed approximately 8 weeks which has resulted in additional costs and undue stress. I would never have begun working with you if I knew your license had been previously revoked and you were illegally utilizing another general contractor’s license without their knowledge or consent. On top of this, you walked off the job and failed to communicate with my wife and me, leaving us in a terrible predicament. When we did hear from you a week later, you threatened to file a mechanics lien on our home.

Summary
From what I can tell your business plan appears to be something along these lines:
1. First, lead customers to believe that you are a licensed general contractor (which you are not) by utilizing a well-respected general contractor’s license.
2. Provide well respected highly reputable subcontractors and note in your contract that these parties will be doing the work, even though you have never in the past worked with these subcontractors, you have not contracted with these subcontractors and don’t ever plan to utilize their services in the future.
3. You take an extremely high profit margin for yourself, a 33% markup, but add zero value:
a. You don’t do any of the work
b. You don’t ensure the specific subcontractors noted in contract do the contractually obligated work
c. You don’t ensure the job is on schedule
d. You rarely, if ever show up at the job site
e. You don’t even keep in contact with your subcontractor once you do finally get a subcontractor to do the job so you have no idea what is going on at the job site/my home
4. Provide a time frame to complete the job that you are clearly aware is not realistic.
5. Consistently do everything in your power to put the job behind schedule so when you do the bait and switch (see #6 below), the customer is more amenable to having the less qualified person do the work because they need to have their job completed.
6. When it comes time to perform your obligations under the contract, you claim all the subcontractors in your contract are not available or won’t complete the job in the needed timeframe and you switch out the subcontractors to much less qualified individuals, who you pay a small amount compared to the original subcontractor noted in the contract.
7. When the customer says enough is enough and objects, like my wife and I did, you threaten the homeowner with a mechanics lien.
8. You use (from what I can tell) your ex-wife’s property address on your business contract so when you do take the customer’s deposits/monies and end communication abruptly, there is not a valid address to personally serve you. Shameful is the only word that comes to mind.
The longer it takes me to get my money back and the more time I spend looking into your shady business practices, the more motivated I am to ensure that people such as yourself are once and for all prohibited from taking advantage of hard working people and besmirching the reputation of businesses in the community that have worked extremely hard to gain the loyalty and trust of their customers. I believe what you are doing is not only unprofessional, but I believe it may have crossed the line and is criminal. I feel as of now that I have an obligation to warn others about your predatory practices (and I will) but I also believe that what you are doing should possibly be brought to the attention of the District Attorney. I will conduct further research into this area and will contemplate whether it is prudent to speak with the DA or not and will move forward accordingly.

Conclusion
I have changed my demand letter request to you because when I was looking into the law relative to general contractors, I recently found out that if you are an unlicensed general contractor who is holding himself/herself out as a licensed general contractor, you are not allowed to collect any money regardless of the type or the nature of the work or services that were performed or provided.
At the end of my initial demand letter to you, I requested that you “respond in writing with your intentions” and I am again making that same request. I have spent a significant amount of time providing you with an overview of my horrific experience with you but to date you have not provided me with any substantive information, but rather have responded with threats and insults. I am hopeful that after reading my email written in black and white right in front of you, you will realize how inappropriate your behavior has been throughout the entire process and will pay us all monies demanded, but I am not holding my breath. If you have a different perspective on any of the events described above, I would be interested in hearing your perspective, particularly if you feel that doing so might resolve this matter short of small claims court. When you respond, if you chose to do so, please try to refrain from making your idle threats and/or insults. They have no effect on me whatsoever and do nothing to move us toward a resolution of this matter.
I look forward to receiving your response,
Respectfully,

Dean Sodos
P.S. – I explained to my brother Mark and told him what had transpired and he felt terrible since he referred you to me and asked if he could intervene. I told him he was free to intervene. I understand he sent you a text and when you replied, you told my brother that “Every person who has been on the job for any amount of time has felt a complete uneasiness regarding the mental stability of your brother. [You] are totally serious!”. Again, you are both deceptive and dishonest. You only had one worker who was in my house more than ½ a day and that was Jurg. Contrary to your assertion above, Jurg was extremely complimentary to me and told me how much he enjoyed working at my home. He told me there were few customers like myself and even came up with a nickname for me, “Mr. Conscientious.” He told me he came up with this name because I was so nice and helpful, consistently making sure he had something cold available to drink, a water or soda and that I even bought him and Lyle lunch on Friday. He also told me he had never seen a customer clean up after the workers; something I routinely did. Jurg is the same guy that when I reached out to him to inquire about his email address on Saturday 12/9, he responded by saying “Hey Dean…hope your weekend has been enjoyable thus far too and thank you very much!...consistently conscientious…{smiley face icon}.” Does that sound like a guy who thinks I have mental issues? Of course not. You could not be honest with my brother so you went to your normal mode of operation. You out and out lied to him. I caution you that I have a very good reputation and if you tarnish it in any way by lying (in writing so others have access to it), I will consider suing you for those damages as well.
You also told my brother “As it stands now [Dean] wants me to do him this big favor at the cost of me shelling out almost $2500 in total losses”. In the end you agreed to get compensated in the amount of $750 for a job that you were initially going to get paid $2,000. Since you told me $500 was your profit, the cabinet work would leave you taking a $750 loss ($2,000 less the $500 credit comes to $1,500 less $750 leaves you with $750). As you had a 33 % profit margin built into your cabinet deal with me, it would only make sense that you are also making a profit on your granite and carpet contracts with me. Therefore, the maximum amount of money you would have lost performing on your contract with me would be $750 less whatever profit you would have made on the carpet and granite contracts. This is a far cry from the $2,500 loss figure you provided to my brother. It appears your deception/dishonesty has no limits.
Additionally, you refer to “this big favor” that you tell my brother I want you to do for me at a cost of your losing $2500. Again, how disingenuous. There isn’t and hasn’t ever been any favor big or small you were going to do for me. What you are referring to as a “big favor” is my continued and repeated requests for you to perform pursuant to our contract. No more, no less. The fact that you refer to your obligations under our contract as a “big favor” clearly illustrates your perspective: that if you under bid a contract or have to take a loss on a contract, that contract is no longer valid and you are no longer required to perform on it. You are sadly mistaken.

P.S.S. – I have had to write this in a very short period of time. To the best of my ability, I provided the most accurate information possible. Just based on the volume of the material presented, I would expect there may be a few minor discrepancies as I was recreating a record based from my memory, email notes and text messages. This task was even more difficult because many of the events I am describing were similar in nature. For example, there were three different contractors who were scheduled to show up and then didn’t. If responding, please keep this in mind and try to focus on the substantive issues.

+5

What kind of excuses did he use for these delays?

Sheldon Hirsch is a SCAM! He came to my house Dec 2 2017 and gave us a quote for our kitchen. We were happy with his quote and he asked for a down payment up front to HOLD the price he gave me. My husband said give him a check! ( I knew this was not right ) but.. I did. We never set a date , said in January we would do the work. Sheldon Hirsch was doing work at my sons house as well..then my son started running into issues daily with his crew. always late, never come when said they would, not enough material..the list goes on and on and on. So, I told Sheldon Dec 4th that we have decided to not go with his services due to the issues my son and daughter in-law were having..He had already cashed my check! Ive been seriously contacting him for 2 months...still no refund! He is a CROOK and this is not the way you do business..He is word means nothing!

+3

Denise Chambers,
You were repaid in full since May of 2018.
Please update your information correctly!

I have been working with Sheldon for a long time . He knows more about flooring than anyone I know. I'm grateful for all the nice jobs he gets me . And his attention for detail keeps me on my toes :) he always pays me on time and gives me performance bonuses .

+1

Sheldon is the total package !
As a real estate investor I am so blessed to have Sheldon work on all of my real estate deals . His extensive knowledge And flair for design is just what I need to get my properties on the market. He is always on time and under budget.
So grateful to have him on my team and as a great friend!

Setting the record straight ...
I have been in the flooring business for 32 years . I have overseen and had my signature on over 5000 flooring projects.
I have more than one dozen certificates and awards.
Acknowledging my ACHIEVEMENTS in the flooring industry.
I have been to MANY coveted Mill Tours where the flooring and carpets are made.
I have worked as a sales consultant for many of the most iconic flooring stores in the greater Sacramento area for 20 years.
I have work my way into upper management.
And finally I was part owner of one of the most exclusive flooring stores in the area as well.
One of the things that has remained constant over my career, is my allegiance and commitment to providing excellent customer service to all of my customers.
At the same time the flooring business can be very difficult and challenging .
I have seen many ugly and unethical practices over the years.
Perpetrated by installers, flooring stores and also, by some suppliers.
The complaints below were a result of such two Unethical installers and one deceitful supplier.
In all 3 incidents, I feel strongly that they were
trying to take advantage of the nice guy that I am
In an effort to clear my name , I will be asking my many happy customers and robust supporters, to submit positive reviews and their positive experiences they have had with me .
I'm a busy guy, so the reviews will come gradually, not all at once.
In the mean time, I want to specifically address the three complaints posted here.
As you can see, I have only three allegedly complaints . 3 complaints out of over 5,000 customers.
Complaint #1. was an Installer I recently hired to put in some floors and baseboards.
Plain and simple his work was shoddy and unacceptable to me and to the Customer.
The customer asked me to remove him from the job because after a couple tries he was still not achieving proper results.
I had to bring in a second crew to redo all of his work and they did it properly. And they were paid in full.
Complaint #2 was another installer who gave me a set price for the work to be done.
When the job was finished his girlfriend
over billed me by $900 . They never properly submitted any change order requests or notification of increase prices . This is clearly a case of a very Shoddy installer trying to take advantage of me simply because I'm a nice guy.
Complaint #3. I honestly don't even know who this person is. I do know that in that timeframe I ordered about $5000 worth of Hardwood from a local company. And after me and my customers waited for four weeks for the product to arrive , it was the wrong product. My customer refused it. I return the product back to the supplier . They tried to charge me a 50% restocking fee . So I disputed it with my credit card company .
This was a case of a shoddy supplier trying to have me foot the bill for bad/ wrong product.

Notice to shoddy installers and suppliers:
I have been in this industry much too long to be taken advantage of.
I will always stand by my customers.
Their satisfaction is my number one goal.

+4

You're just a straight up sham and scam man. Take peoples deposits and then say you're working on getting the materials and installation date set up. All the while putting me off and not returning my money after 6 months of stringing me along. $1000 "deposit" is gone so I will contact the district Attorney fraud unit. All you had to do was refund me if you couldn't install my flooring but instead you obscond with the funds and then lie! You don't think I work hard for my money? On top of that I have a disabled since birth disabled sibling that I have taken care of his whole life. There is no extra money as if anyone has extra money. How does it feel knowing you're ripping off disabled person? Is that your target clientelle. I've worked 2 jobs most of my life to support us both as he has no income and can't work. I pay for his stuff and manage his life. I make do with what I can earn and don't complain about it. You always seem to have some sort of personal problem that you use as an excuse why you can't fulfill your contract. You're just a crook, fraudster and have NO integrity whatsoever. You don't even call or text to give me status of the job. So I guess that means that you have stolen from me and my disabled sibling. Nothing like taking poor peoples money and just spending it on yourself. You are disgusting!

Satisfaction My butt... Your a thief and a scammer! you don"t ask for 500.00 to hold on a quoted price, then cash before you have even set a date to do the work..

Sheldon Рirsh contacted me the beginning of October needed laminate flooring installed told me he needed it done as soon as possible I was working on another job during the day and I agreed to work in the evenings for him after my day job to get the job done for him I did the floors for him plus extras the whole time him talking about how good my work was etc. and how he had more work for me after finishing the job I was told I would be paid Friday after the customers check cleared Friday came he told me Monday. Monday came he said he wasn't getting paid till the carpets were installed and Wednesday the carpets were being installed now my phone calls to him are never answered or returned whoever has the attorney I would like to get involved in this piece of ss downfall to I can be contacted at [email protected]

+4

Sheldon Hirsch is a Total scam and con artist who never finished paying me after removal of hardwood flooring installing laminate , redoing a fireplace and installing baseboards. He still owes me $960 . He doesn't return calls after you finish the job for the customers homes.
I highly red flag him as a false contractor. Beware and Do Not do business with him. He is 61 years old & drives a champagne Lexus SUV. He speaks like a salesperson and thanks you a million times & tells you what a good job you've done but doesn't pay you in full. He lies when he says he will pay you next week and then tells you he only has $61 in his account. Stay away from Sheldon's Hirsch on Craigslist.
From a past worker of his.

+4

Review: Sheldon Hirsch-Finest Floors is a Scam Artist. He writes bad checks on CLOSED account. Uses Credit Card for down payment on products and then falsely disputes order. Operates under a suspended license. Sheldon Hirsch has SCAMED our business and other Merchants in the immediate area.After further investigation it appears that Sheldon and his current(Wife)Melanie Hirsch have been practicing Scamming Merchants and the elderly clients for quite some time now. We are making it a priority to stop this Criminal.We have factual documentation to support all claims that are being submitted towards Sheldon Hirsch and company.BUYER BE WARE-BUYER BE WARE-BUYER BE WARE-BUYER BE WARE-BUYER BE WARE-BUYER BE WARE...We are making it a priority to go after Sheldon Hirsch and friends to the fullest extent. We have already filed a police report on this criminal. We are in talks with attorneys at this given time to take this matter further.Desired Settlement: We just want the fraudulent actions of Sheldon Hirsch and friends to be brought to the attention of the public and other merchants. It would also be nice to recoup our monies.

Consumer

Response:

Sheldon paid deposit with cc (later) disputed cc transaction. Credit Card Co. holding our funds up now!!!Wrote a check for the balance of order (on a closed) account.We are our lots of $$$We have found out that we are not the only Victims here...Thank you

+5
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Description: Floor Coverings & Installation

Address: 12513 Asbury Chapel Rd, Cold Spring Harbor, North Carolina, United States, 28078-4639

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