RANDALL BARBERA - Antique Trunk Restoration & Design

Att [redacted] Revdex.com SERVIING CENTRAL CALIFORNIA & INLAND EMPIRE COUNTIES [redacted] [redacted] ** [redacted] [redacted] ID [redacted] FROM: [redacted] - Antique Trunk Restoration & Design [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] Early in March, when I first spoke with Mr [redacted] , we had a very detailed discussion about how we would proceed with the work on his trunk I informed him that while we would not be able to replace any of the elements (hardware, lining, exterior coverings, locks, handles etc.) of the trunk, as parts and materials for Louis Vuitton trunks are nearly impossible to acquire, we would do our best to work with the trunk as it is, without altering it He had forwarded photos of the trunk and, from the images he sent, the condition of the trunk seemed to be good although I noted to him that the handles and handle loops were not original, nor was the lock and the interior lid quilt had what appeared to be remnants of torn paper glued/attached to the fabric lining Additionally, I noted to him that there were small tears and abrasions on sections of the exterior At this time I also informed Mr [redacted] that once we had received the trunk in our shop, and when it was ready to be worked on, we could give him an update on an approxtime/day that we would be finished with the work I quoted him an estimate of $- $2500, and informed him that while the quote was lower than what we ordinarily quote for working on any Louis Vuitton trunk, we would offer this quote in order to work within his budget and, due to my assessment that the condition was “good” after reviewing the photos, this was a fair quote Mr [redacted] agreed to the quote and shipped the trunk to us For an approxweek period, Mr [redacted] s trunk was in our workshop and received some treatments as detailed in an email attachment to him dated May 2017, in response to an unhappy and aggressive email he had generated and sent to us We sent photos of the finished work and in a subsequent phone call, he expressed surprise that the result was not more dramatic, overall, particularly with respect to the exterior fabric covering which had tears, scuffs and other age wear which, as I had originally explained to him, might be able to be blended with stain and varnish but unless the exterior fabric covering were to be replaced entirely, these markings would not allow for the finish to look “new”.(THIS IS WORTH NOTING WITH RESPECT TO HIS CLAIM THAT EXTERIOR WAS A “DARKER SHADE OF BROWN”, WHICH CLEARLY IT IS NOT AND COULD NOT BE) Due to a previous refinishing attempt by another entity, the trunk was refinished with what appeared to be a poly coating and was unevenly applied This needed to be removed before any attempts could be made to heal these damaged areas These damaged areas had absorbed the previous finish deeply and did not respond at all to attempts to blend with other areas Stain was mixed and then applied only to these specific surface areas of damage with no noticeable effect We then applied a clear and final varnish, resulting in the finish becoming more even than before and certainly more healthy as, in our opinion, the previous finish over time would have cracked, peeled and exposed the fabric without protection The statement made by Mr [redacted] “ that they could not/did not get the job done” is incorrect The only way that the exterior fabric could look perfect would be to replace it, and [redacted] knew this as I had explained this to him in our first phone call During this phone call, I advised Mr [redacted] that there was little that could be done with the replaced handles and finding original handles to replace these would have been cost prohibitive, if a set were available for purchase which would be highly unlikely The leather handle loops were attached with upholstery tacks and I was able to tighten these tacks but they were not strong enough to allow for the trunk to be lifted by them I advised him to not lift the trunk by the handles, that they would stay in place for so long as they were not pulled on Still, he did indeed pull at the handles and then blamed me for doing “nothing” with these I also noted what we had done to secure the handles in our list of treatments which we had emailed to him as an attachment Since Mr [redacted] had expressed that he was not satisfied with our work, we informed him that we were prepared to refund him the amount of $and forwarded him a standard release form (which he has gone on record as calling it a Non-Disclosure Agreement) explaining that upon return of the executed Release Form, we would then credit his account in the amount of $within hoursHe has stated that “we had a deal”, which was not true We told him we were “prepared” to refund him $which, by any means, does not constitute a “deal” His response was that asking him to sign the Release was not part of the “Deal”, but if we refunded him 50% of the total cost ($1250.00) he would execute the release He had been threatening to ‘take action’ and we thought it appropriate to have this signed document as his poor recollection of the facts combined with his threatening tone gave us reason to want this document prior to any refund being issued We wanted our dealings with him to end He then wrote and published a scathing review on YELP about his experience which is riddled with inconsistencies, statements and bias and also directed his daughter to write a similar story on Google + which she did and published as well It should be noted that Mr [redacted] has a total of negative review s of business’s on YELP which he has written, none of them are positive In fact, there are two reviews which appear under the profile of his daughter’s name on Google+, that ALSO appear, word for word, exactly the same, under his name within his YELP profile, within his reviews This further underscores the lack of credibility of this complaint as it is obvious that he instructs his daughter to claim “foul” under her name when he does not want it to appear that he could be the author of such consistent and negative reviews of businesses We have reported these claims to both Google+ and Yelp as they clearly violate policies for both companies We learned on June 6th that he had ordered a chargeback in amount of $from his credit card issuer (VISA) and this amount was taken from our account, without warning His statement for requesting the chargeback/cancelation which we received from CHASE Paymentech was “Not as described” Damaged Goods “The damier canvas became stained and became a darker shade of brown” This is totally inaccurate as stain was only applied to the previously mentioned area which were scuffed and damaged and without effect Further he added in the MOREINFOCOMMENT field a statement which contradicts this claim which states “merchant emailed customer [redacted] saying the canvas didn’t respond to many of the stain treatment they attempted and the the (sic) fabric didn’t absorb color as other Damiers which they have worked on did.” We clearly told Mr [redacted] that stain did not absorb into the damage surface areas which we attempted to fix, yet he now claims that his trunk is a “darker shade of brown”? How could it be possible that the trunk is a darker shade of brown if stain was not applied to it? This makes no sense at all and is a physical impossibility Despite attempting to explain the work performed on his trunk to him, he has put a “spin” on everything which we did, in a negative light How he can demand, and take half of the money which he agreed to back is still not clear He did not send us his trunk for an ‘evaluation’ We mutually agreed on a price and then, due to what seem to have been unrealistic expectations from the outset, despite being informed of what is and is not possible, he decided that he did not want to pay the amount which he agreed to Regardless of this, our published Terms and Conditions which appear in our website are explicit on matters relating to our liability, with respect to restorations (www.randallbarbera.com, TERMSCONDITIONS OF ACCEPTANCE FOR RESTORATIONS – ParaASSUMPTION OF RISK and ParaLIABILITY: RELEASE AND INDEMNITY PROVISIONS) He has incorrectly accounted for the facts of our agreement and has threatened us, maligned us publicly and now has managed to take our money, out of our account His bad faith is evident in stating that he would have signed the release only for $1250, not the $which we offered He would not be satisfied with a refund; he wanted to hurt us and, as a result of this, has caused damages For over a decade, we have never been asked for a refund for any of our work, from any of our clients, ever Our track record for providing the highest quality service is well respected within the industry and our work is consistently applauded by clients, colleagues and the general public Mr [redacted] account of his experience with us appears to be from a very angry perspective, without basis He has wrongfully assumed, and then accused us of what amounts to “bribing” other clients in order that they sign some sort of agreement to not leave a bad review This has never happened He alleges that we had “problems” with treating his trunk and has called our work “sub-standard” We had no problems with his trunk, no more than with any of the projects we’ve worked on Some things are fixable, some aren’t Not being able to make a torn piece of canvas whole is not failure, it is reality Unless I promised that I could magically have the fabric stitch itself together as though it did not have a tear, which I did not do and am not capable of doing, his expectations, although explained from the outset, should have been in line more with what is possible We have been advised that the claims of [redacted] are frivolous and ridiculous and for the reasons described above, and more, this complaint is without justification ANTIQUE TRUNK restoration & DESIGN RANDALL BARBERA Apple Valley California USA 318- [redacted] [redacted]

Hi [redacted] , There is an import point to note which I did not include in the below response I had reached out to this consumer several times leaving voicemail messages which he ignored I had hoped to speak with him on the phone with a view towards addressing his issues but he would not take my calls Thank you, Randall Barbera ANTIQUE TRUNK restoration & DESIGN [redacted] [redacted] *** [redacted] [redacted]

Hi [redacted],   There is an import point to note which I did not include in the below response.   I had reached out to this consumer several times leaving voicemail messages which he ignored.  I had hoped to speak with him on the phone with a view towards addressing his issues but he would not take my calls.   Thank you, Randall Barbera   ANTIQUE TRUNK restoration & DESIGN [redacted]   [redacted]   [redacted]      [redacted]        [redacted]

Att[redacted]         Revdex.com SERVIING CENTRAL CALIFORNIA & INLAND EMPIRE COUNTIES         [redacted] [redacted]
        [redacted]...

[redacted]
        [redacted]            ID [redacted]   FROM:   [redacted]- Antique Trunk Restoration & Design                 [redacted]
                [redacted]
                [redacted]   Early in March, when I first spoke with Mr. [redacted], we had a very detailed discussion about how we would proceed with the work on his trunk.  I informed him that while we would not be able to replace any of the elements (hardware, lining, exterior coverings, locks, handles etc.) of the trunk, as parts and materials for Louis Vuitton trunks are nearly impossible to acquire, we would do our best to work with the trunk as it is, without altering it.  He had forwarded photos of the trunk and, from the images he sent, the condition of the trunk seemed to be good although I noted to him that the handles and handle loops were not original, nor was the lock and the interior lid quilt had what appeared to be remnants of torn paper glued/attached to the fabric lining.  Additionally, I noted to him that there were small tears and abrasions on sections of the exterior   At this time I also informed Mr. [redacted] that once we had received the trunk in our shop, and when it was ready to be worked on, we could give him an update on an approx. time/day that we would be finished with the work.   I quoted him an estimate of $2000 - $2500, and informed him that while the quote was lower than what we ordinarily quote for working on any Louis Vuitton trunk, we would offer this quote in order to work within his budget and, due to my assessment that the condition was “good” after reviewing the photos, this was a fair quote.     Mr. [redacted] agreed to the quote and shipped the trunk to us.    For an approx. 2 week period, Mr. [redacted]s trunk was in our workshop and received some 31 treatments as detailed in an email attachment to him dated May 18 2017, in response to an unhappy and aggressive email he had generated and sent to us.  We sent photos of the finished work and in a subsequent phone call, he expressed surprise that the result was not more dramatic, overall, particularly with respect to the exterior fabric covering which had tears, scuffs and other age wear which, as I had originally explained to him, might be able to be blended with stain and varnish but unless the exterior fabric covering were to be replaced entirely, these markings would not allow for the finish to look “new”.(THIS IS WORTH NOTING WITH RESPECT TO HIS CLAIM THAT EXTERIOR WAS A “DARKER SHADE OF BROWN”, WHICH CLEARLY IT IS NOT AND COULD NOT BE)  Due to a previous refinishing attempt by another entity, the trunk was refinished with what appeared to be a poly coating and was unevenly applied.  This needed to be removed before any attempts could be made to heal these damaged areas.  These damaged areas had absorbed the previous finish deeply and did not respond at all to attempts to blend with other areas.   Stain was mixed and then applied only to these specific surface areas of damage with no noticeable effect.  We then applied  a clear and final varnish, resulting in the finish becoming  more even than before and certainly more healthy as, in our opinion, the previous finish over time would have cracked, peeled and exposed the fabric without protection.   The statement made by Mr. [redacted] “…that they could not/did not get the job done” is incorrect.   The only way that the exterior fabric could look perfect would be to replace it, and [redacted] knew this as I had explained this to him in our first phone call.    During this phone call, I advised Mr. [redacted] that there was little that could be done with the replaced handles and finding original handles to replace these would have been cost prohibitive, if a set were available for purchase which would be highly unlikely.  The leather handle loops were attached with upholstery tacks and I was able to tighten these tacks but they were not strong enough to allow for the trunk to be lifted by them.    I advised him to not lift the trunk by the handles, that they would stay in place for so long as they were not pulled on.  Still, he did indeed pull at the handles and then blamed me for doing “nothing” with these.  I also noted what we had done to secure the handles in our list of 31 treatments which we had emailed to him as an attachment.   Since Mr. [redacted] had expressed that he was not satisfied with our work, we informed him that we were prepared to refund him the amount of $500 and forwarded him a standard release form (which he has gone on record as calling it a Non-Disclosure Agreement) explaining that upon return of the executed Release Form, we would then credit his account in the amount of $500 within 48 hours. He has stated that “we had a deal”, which was not true.  We told him we were “prepared” to refund him $500 which, by any means, does not constitute a “deal”.  His response was that asking him to sign the Release was not part of the “Deal”, but if we refunded him 50% of the total cost ($1250.00) he would execute the release.  He had been threatening to ‘take action’ and we thought it appropriate to have this signed document as his poor recollection of the facts combined with his threatening tone gave us reason to want this document prior to any refund being issued.   We wanted our dealings with him to end.   He then wrote and published a scathing review on YELP about his experience which is riddled with inconsistencies, false statements  and bias and also directed his daughter to write a similar story on Google + which she did and published as well.  It should be noted that Mr. [redacted] has a total of 10 negative review s of business’s  on YELP which he has written, none of them are positive.  In fact, there are two reviews which appear under the profile of his daughter’s name on Google+, that ALSO appear, word for word, exactly the same, under his name within his YELP profile, within his reviews.  This further underscores the lack of credibility of this complaint as it is obvious that he instructs his daughter to claim “foul” under her name when he does not want it to appear that he could be the author of such consistent and negative reviews of businesses.   We have reported these claims to both Google+ and Yelp as they clearly violate policies for both companies   We learned on June 6th that he had ordered a chargeback in amount of $1250 from his credit card issuer (VISA) and this amount was taken from our account, without warning.  His statement for requesting the chargeback/cancelation which we received from CHASE Paymentech was “Not as described”.  Damaged Goods “The damier canvas became stained and became a darker shade of brown”.  This is totally inaccurate as stain was only applied to the previously mentioned area which were scuffed and damaged and without effect.   Further he added in the MOREINFOCOMMENT  field a statement which contradicts this claim which states “merchant emailed customer [redacted] saying the canvas didn’t respond to many of the stain treatment they attempted and the the (sic)  fabric didn’t absorb color as other Damiers which they have worked on did.”  We clearly told Mr [redacted] that stain did not absorb into the damage surface areas which we attempted to fix, yet he now claims that his trunk is a “darker shade of brown”?  How could it be possible that the trunk is a darker shade of brown if stain was not applied to it?  This makes no sense at all and is a physical impossibility.   Despite attempting to explain the work performed on his trunk to him, he has put a “spin” on everything which we did, in a negative light.  How he can demand, and take half of the money which he agreed to back is still not clear.   He did not send us his trunk for an ‘evaluation’.  We mutually agreed on a price and then, due to what seem to have been unrealistic expectations from the outset, despite being informed of what is and is not possible, he decided that he did not want to pay the amount which he agreed to.  Regardless of this, our published Terms and Conditions which appear in our website are explicit on matters relating to our liability, with respect to restorations (www.randallbarbera.com, TERMS. CONDITIONS OF ACCEPTANCE FOR RESTORATIONS – Para. 3 ASSUMPTION OF RISK and Para. 4 LIABILITY: RELEASE AND INDEMNITY PROVISIONS).    He has incorrectly accounted for the facts of our agreement and has threatened us, maligned us publicly and now has managed to take our money, out of our account.  His bad faith is evident in stating that he would have signed the release only for $1250, not the $500 which we offered.  He would not be satisfied with a refund; he wanted to hurt us and, as a result of this, has caused damages.    For over a decade, we have never been asked for a refund for any of our work, from any of our clients, ever.  Our track record for providing the highest quality service is well respected within the industry and our work is consistently applauded by clients, colleagues and the general public.  Mr. [redacted] account of his experience with us appears to be from a very angry perspective, without basis.  He has wrongfully assumed, and then accused us of what amounts to “bribing” other clients in order that they sign some sort of agreement to not leave a bad review.  This has never happened.  He alleges that we had “problems” with treating his trunk and has called our work “sub-standard”.  We had no problems with his trunk, no more than with any of the projects we’ve worked on.  Some things are fixable, some aren’t.  Not being able to make a torn piece of canvas whole is not failure, it is reality.  Unless I promised that I could magically have the fabric stitch itself together as though it did not have a tear, which I did not do and am not capable of doing, his expectations, although explained from the outset, should have been in line more with what is possible.    We have been advised that the claims of [redacted] are frivolous and ridiculous and for the reasons described above, and more, this complaint is without justification.                ANTIQUE TRUNK restoration & DESIGN RANDALL BARBERA Apple Valley   California   USA      310 318-7129 [redacted]        [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:
I did speak with him on the phone once during this time. After we did not agree on the situation, I wanted all his responses in writing. I had a feeling where this was going, and I wanted everything documented.