PB's Fences and More

Review: [redacted] promised that he would install a 4 foot pool fence with gate. He has yet to finish completing the gate on the right side. There are also many issues with the completion of the fence that is installed. There are spots that are not screwed into the concrete as promised. The top of the gate that is lined with wood is floating in one spot. There is a 3 foot gate instead of a 4 foot gate. There is not matching wood when I asked that they all be the same. There is a section that the concrete didn't set properly and the fence is now lose.

He has promised several times that he would be here first thing in the morning to fix the issue and never arrives.

He is operating on a fake license number 160754.

After researching he has many other complaints of the same issues.Desired Settlement: I would like the cost of hiring a currently licensed contractor to fix the errors of this fence.

Summary:
[redacted] (also known as PB Fence and More) did very poor work. Did not complete job he was paid for. Repeatedly says he is coming and then does not. Dishonest, did not complete job, stole materials. Check the reviews before you deal with this guy. You have been warned.
Details:
[redacted] responded to my craigslist ad for a laminate floor installer for my rental property in El Dorado Hills. He said he had lots of experience doing floors. We agreed to a price per square foot for the job. [redacted] said he and 3 helpers would do the job. Only [redacted] was there for the job. The floor to be laid was a floating laminate floor, and was to be installed by clicking the laminate pieces together. I suspected early on that [redacted] did not know what he was doing. He generally did not leave the required gaps on the sides to allow for expansion on the walls. In other places he left 1 plus inch gaps that extended past where the baseboards would be. Worst of all he used a nail gun to nail down the laminate for most of the room. I raised concerns about this and he said he would stop doing so, but he continued to use the nail gun when I wasn’t there to oversee the work. Many of the pieces were not clicked together and he just used this as a shortcut to get the job done quicker. . There is now no way to remove the pieces and fix problems in the middle of the floor such as the large gaps he left. Other problems--he left one inch gaps around the door jams. He did not even bother to put down the foam underlayment in one entire room (that he did on a day I wasn’t there). He “forgot” to put down the underlayment in parts of the other rooms that I would have to remind him about when I noticed it.
After completing two rooms, I really didn’t want him to do any more work given concerns about the quality of the job. But, my tenant was insistent on also putting flooring in two upstairs bedrooms, a hallway and stairs. He completed one upstairs bedroom while I was there, and was to complete the balance subsequently (after I had to go back to Los Angeles).
In order to do the stairs, additional materials were needed—some stair nosing (like caps for the stair edges). I allowed him to go to Lowes on 5/28 and I paid for the materials ($166) over the phone with my credit card. He never returned to do the stairs (which he had been paid to do). After repeatedly trying to get him to go back and do the job, I eventually told him just return the materials to the store for a refund to my card. He confirmed on 6/4/2014 that he did so. I was skeptical, as no credit appeared on my credit card account online. I confronted him on this over the next several days, and it was a changing story. “I returned them.” “I returned them” “I bought something else-- baseboards so he could finish the job”, which he said he would do on 6/5. He promised he would be at the job site at 1pm. I texted him right before he said he was on the way. He didn’t show. At 4pm, I contacted him again, said he was on the way. Finally said he would go to the job site the next morning. Then at 9:15 the night before said “he had a previous event that he had to go with his daughter in the morning so would be there at noon”. Doesn’t show up at noon. Says he is coming later in the afternoon. Doesn’t show up. Finally, after asking if he was coming repeatedly he texts--“if u do t want me to come then I won’t. I don’t need [redacted] today”
[redacted] was paid for a complete job, but left much of it incomplete altogether including a stairs, two closets, and reinstalling baseboards. I had to return to the job site (from my home in Los Angeles) to do so myself for over 1 ½ days on June 7-8.
On June 7, I went to his apartment and confronted him, which I recorded on video. I indicated he needed to return the money he has stolen from me for the materials and for work he didn’t do—a total of $232. After I threaten to turn him into the State Contractors Board for fraud and operating without a license, he gave me some of the materials I paid for which he had claimed he had already returned—but he had not. He also agreed to pay the balance to me but says he doesn’t have the money with him. He sends me a text right after I left that he’ll pay the next day “I’m free around 1100 I’ll pay you”. At 7am that day he calls and says he doesn’t have the money but will pay me the next day (6/9/14) via paypal. Of course, he does not do so. So, at this point he owes me $180 just related to the stolen materials and the work he was paid for but did not do. Another installer came to review the work and said essentially the entire job would all have to be redone because the work was so shoddy. So, if I count the fact that the entire laminate job will essentially have to be redone because of the terrible quality of the job, it’s about $1500 in lost materials, plus tear out, plus the cost of a proper installation for 4+ rooms—easily a $2500 loss now because of [redacted].
Watch out for this guy. Distinguishing feature--lots of tattoos on the arms. Lives in Folsom but apparently moves around a lot. Per reviews of his service elsewhere on the internet, he may be on the run from people he has defrauded. READ THE REVIEWS. This guy is a lying scam artist. He has a constant stream of excuses about why he hasn’t returned to complete a job. His work is of ridiculously poor quality, does not keep his word, does not finish his jobs, and steals. If you want that, [redacted] is the guy for you. Read the other reviews—you will see the common issues you will be dealing with if you make the mistake of dealing with this guy. I have worked with many handymen over the years for the various rental properties I own. Many have been good, some have had problems, but [redacted] is the worst I have encountered in terms of the combination of the worst traits one could package together: incompetence, dishonesty, thievery.

Review: Business Owner has not completed projects as discussed, company has not repaired the damage they have done in the course of doing the initial projects

I had submitted a quote for the having the following projects done by [redacted]:

Install 3 bathroom sink faucet and put drywall up on studs and prepare for painting.

[redacted] and his helper [redacted], were on time and sold their services well. At first glance, they are friendly people - and promise you the world in how the final project will look.

[redacted] had told me that he was a concrete expert and could make my concrete look amazing If I would pay him to reseal it. After I said "no", three times, I gave in and had him do the job. They didn't finish the drywall, but assured me that they would finish it the following day when they did the concrete.

1st problem - [redacted] charged me $75 more dollars more for the faucets because his they had to do additional work - if there was going to be an additional charge, why wouldn't you mention it before you did the work, not when you collect.

[redacted] and [redacted] asked for a drink - not a problem - but if you are running a business, taking a beer, may not help create that professional image.- 2nd problem.

The concrete resealing did not take well after their project was complete. [redacted] blamed it on the previous company that did the work. The concrete was now all blotchy. Before I could ask or request anything - [redacted] volunteered that he would pay for the material, but I would have to pay for the labor because he wasn't prepared to take a loss on the job. He asked for an additional $200 to the job. At this time, I felt like I had no choice but to pay him for his services since my concrete looked this way.

3rd problem - Even though he made a mistake - [redacted] expected me to cover his time when he was the one who assured me beforehand that he knew what he was doing.

4th problem - the Coors light can left in my garbage can from him and [redacted].

5th problem - the didn't protect the tile, artificial grass, or be careful around the plants when painting the concrete. Therefore, paint stain was on plants, rocks, pool tile, and artificial grass that they never cleaned up.

6th problem - they claim they use products from [redacted] - swore up and down it was - which attributed for cost on materials, Product was from [redacted] and according to the manufacturer of the paint, stain, [redacted] and [redacted] - [redacted] had used the wrong type of paint/stain for concrete that not only had foot traffic, but was around a pool. [redacted] argued that he just did what his boss told him to do - I was under the impression he was the boss?!?!?

7th Problem - The drywall was never complete. The drywall tape was never feather up and the drywall was cut poorly and unevenly. This is why I hired a "pro" for the job. Unfortunately, like the other projects, [redacted] blames [redacted] for the problems.

With all of these projects, [redacted] was also to build a small awning over my back patio, this was decided before all these problems began adding up. We were scheduling projects before others were done - and I knew better to do this - but he was very convincing on it all getting done and looking amazing.

The awning ended up being nothing like promised. It is very uneven, unpainted in certain sections and the wood was not sanded and the angels for the awning are different throughout, which causes the awning to appear lopsided (like it needs a V8).

8th Problem - [redacted] said that the bill would be $600 if paid credit card and less if I paid by cash. This was for the awning alone. When I paid by credit card, he ran it for $675. He said because now he has to pay taxes on it. I told him that is why he said $600 by credit card in the first place. He seriously just laughed it off and moved on.

It has now been almost 2 months since he and [redacted] were last at my house and none of the projects have been completed or fixed - although he has scheduled 6 times that either him or [redacted] were scheduled to come out and do it. He also didn't show up on July 3rd and then July 4th when he had committed to do so.Desired Settlement: I want the work and repairs to be completed within a reasonable time frame. I also would like a total of $675 credited back to me for materials that I had paid for that were unsatisfactory, excessive fees for using a credit card and refund for the money charged to me for the company to cover its "labor cost" to fix mistakes that they had made originally.

Company is an unlicensed company performing work as a licensed company.