Kolo general contractors

Review: Kolo general contractors are frauds. Their method of business is to lock customers in binding contracts with minimal information, extend beyond the agreed upon deadline and minimally complete the services agreed upon in scope. Once the contract is signed they refuse to provide communication with the customer and demand upfront payments before the work is even seen. They are scam artists and commit customers to overcharged services for which the under deliver. Worst contractor I have ever dealt with and highly caution others from obscene costs, extensive delays, and disgruntled customer service. This company is not transparent at all and will continue to cheat customers.Desired Settlement: Refund for excess charges imposed on customer.

Business

Response:

September 3, 2013

Re: ID [redacted]

Dear **. [redacted]:

Thank you for your letter regarding case # [redacted]. We are happy to respond and hope that you will be able to assist us in a resolution of this matter.

According to your letter, the claim was filed on August 20, 2013 at 8:33:49 AM. That information is extremely important to this claim because it shows the customer's ongoing intent for breach of contract. She filed this complaint before we arrived on her imposed date to finish the job which indicates her intention all along.

We are the second contractor and possibly the third involved in this kitchen project that has been unable to complete the project. She told us at the initial site visit that the prior contractor left the job without being paid. We currently are owed the final two payments of our contract.

We normally do not as a business practice work with clients who have had problems with a prior contractor(s). We became involved in this project as a favor to a client of ours who is also a former pastor of mine. At his request, I went to see what might be done to help this client.

I spent several hours discussing exactly what the client and her mother wanted completed in the kitchen including the "look" they desired. I took several pages of notes and a number of photographs during that meeting. They expressed strong feelings about how the black cherry finish that the previous contractor had applied to their 30 plus year old oak cabinets was uneven. It showed the light and darker grain patterns and the sheen was very uneven.

We provided a detailed estimate of the work to be done along with a fixed price contract. The client removed a number of items and asked for a revised estimate. We adjusted the price to reflect the reduced amount of work and the client accepted, signed and returned the contract with no additional changes.

Work began the next day even though we already had a full schedule. The work began as a result of the clients request and the condition of the kitchen. The client left her deposit check and a house key on the entry table.

During the time frame of June 17 to August 23, 2013 there were 57 email exchanges, more than 70 text messages plus numerous phone calls. The first communication after work began expressed how happy the client and her family were with the progress and work.

Shortly after those communications the client began asking why some aspects of the project were not being completed. We referred her back to her own document that requested we remove those aspects from our scope of work and the ratified contract. Her response was "but I thought you would do them". Given her history with the prior contractor(s) we did go ahead and do some of those items even though she had specifically removed them from our estimate. We did this at no charge even though we felt it was a "set up".

Part of the project was to have custom made cherry hardwood doors fabricated by a shop in North Carolina. These doors required special order hinges that would provide "full overlay" on the clients non standard cabinet face frames. During the discussions about ordering these doors, the client repeatedly added up the shortest time frame possible for fabrication, shipping and our shop, time to sand, stain, finish and install hinges. We repeatedly said that only if everything goes exactly as planned. Our ratified contract indicated the minimum time that it could take plus additional as needed.

We completed the initial phase of the work and requested payment per the schedule indicated in the ratified contract. The client stopped responding to communication for almost two weeks other than short email/texts that "it was a crazy week and she would respond the next day" which did not happen. Finally she agreed to bring her account current if we made a special trip to her job to finish sand some drywall repairs around the ceiling can lights and push the trim rings tight against the ceiling. They had been left pulled out so the client could paint. We completed that work as requested and she brought her account current.

Around the same time she began requesting a detailed cost breakdown for the scope of work in the ratified contract. We responded several different times in writing that her ratified contract was a fixed price agreement. She had agreed to a set price for the entire scope of work as detailed in the ratified contract.

She also began communicating that the project must be completed by COB on August 20, 2013. That date had never been discussed and was not part of our contractual requirements. Even though we had not previously agreed to that date we did state that as long as her custom doors and special order hinges arrived in time we would try and meet her date.

Some of her materials did arrive. Some of the doors were damaged and we were able to resolve those problems. The hinges did not arrive however we were able to find them through a local supplier, at double our cost. No additional cost was requested from the client.

On August 16, 2013 we communicated in writing that we would be at her home on August 20, 2013 to install the doors and drawer fronts along with her owner provided handles. She responded on August 18, 2013 that she was glad that we were going to be able to finalize the project.

On August 20, 2013 we finished installing hinges at our shop and then wrapped the doors and drawers in moving pads for transport. We arrived at the client's home and there were a couple of men installing crown molding. They were present for the exchanges that followed with the client.

We unloaded the doors and our tools. During this process the client appeared from somewhere in the house. She began looking the doors over. She asked me if we had painted the doors. I responded that no, they were a custom match to her existing stain on her cabinets. As we unloaded the remaining items she asked more questions. I asked for her door hardware and taped her signed hardware location document along with her house key to the end of the refrigerator. She ripped it down and disappeared.

She then began to get more and more agitated with us. She slammed several drawer fronts down on top of a door on the counter. I asked her three different times if she wanted us to install the doors or leave. Since she was becoming more and more emotional, we made the decision to leave. She yelled at us that the doors were not what she wanted. We responded that they were an exact match. As we left she yelled at us that we were "[redacted]" and that we would hear from her.

We have well over 250 labor hours in this project including time spent evening out the cabinet stain colors with artist brushes, stain and glazes. We custom matched stains to the color her previous contractor had used. We provided custom sized cherry hardwood doors in the style she selected. We did additional work for free that she had removed from our contract. We left in her possession the completed doors and drawer fronts. One of her allegations is that we overcharge for services. Based on the labor hours spent and the cost of materials this contract averages less than $16.00 per hour.

She has requested a refund. She is in breach of contract since she still owes $1,550.83. We offered through the pastor who made the initial contact that we were willing to go back and install the doors and drawers so that the project was complete. We have not had any response from the client or pastor.

Based on the current status we are willing to consider this matter closed as it stands today. She keeps the completed materials and we forgo the unpaid balance of the contract. Since she has breached the contract no warranty is in effect.

Please be aware that in addition to our contract documents we have all our project notes, emails, text messages and 150 plus photographs. We would be happy to meet with you and review any of the supporting materials.

We also want to state for the record that this is the first complaint ever filed against us. We have been MHIC licensed since 1985 and have never failed to complete a job. Many of our clients have offered to meet with you and/or provide signed affidavits.

We respectfully await your response.

Sincerely,