I hired Mark for a medium-sized remodeling project (about 6 weeks) . He provided a low estimate…read morecompared to other bids. He then said that his workers were all covered by Worker's Comp, among other benefits, and that he paid a fair wage, and that he was the most ethical contractor in the industry, resulting in his workers' being highly productive and efficient leading to shorter project times. This sealed the deal for me. Furthermore, he claimed that the extra 30% or so that he was billing for his workers, was due of the worker's comp insurance, which only he provided to his workers (as opposed to the many unscrupulous other contractors that were around). As a property owner, you could be held liable for workers' injuries if the contractor did not carry worker's comp, and so, I agreed to Mark's deal.
Within a few days, Mark had exceeded the estimate he had quoted, and was very difficult to get hold of. Furthermore, his workers would come and go at all times of the day (between 7:00 am and 8:00 pm) and I simply lost track of how many "cooks" were in the kitchen. As of last count, I noticed some 15+ names on the invoices, and some would appear for a couple of hours, and then disappear. But Mark would send me invoices claiming that his workers spent the entire day at the property - which was simply untrue. Mark would not be interested in even listening to me or investigating my grievances. Instead, he would brag that he did me a big favor by accepting my project, and that he typically only did multi-million dollar gigs, and not pittances like mine.
Long story short, the project budget exceeded the estimate by more than 100%. Mark became extremely aggressive and feisty, and it was impossible to work or reason with him.
I hired a Private Investigator to find out who this person really was -- like a Dr. Jekyl Mr. Hyde. Turns out that he had been sued for fraud, but more importantly, the whole worker's comp, fairness, ethical contractor, and so on, charade, was ALL ONE BIG LIE.
It also appears that Mark may have left the Better Business Bureau due to bad reviews and that he may have hired a reputation defending company to increase his Yelp reviews to 5 stars by questionable tactics.
Good Guy Builders license has been suspended for Worker's Comp violations and is under investigation. After my PI reported this, I found on the CSLB site:
"License is under suspension for failure to comply with Workers Comp. A workers´ compensation certificate or exemption statement may have been received by the Board but not yet processed. Once the certificate or exemption statement is processed the suspension will be lifted retroactively to the effective date of the certificate or exemption statement. Ask the contractor for proof of worker's compensation and contact the insurance company to verify coverage."
Here is the URL: https://www.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicenseII/LicenseDetail.aspx?LicNum=1016932
Please see image below.
This is one of the greatest betrayals where I was charged an arm and a leg, and told a romantic story of workers being taken good care of, and so on, all the while, when Mark was simply pocketing the money that was supposed to cover his workers' safety and well being. Such greed, deception, and dishonesty, in my opinion, does not deserve a second chance.
You decide whether you want to hire this company and deal with Mark.
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Addendum to Mr. Santosh R's note:
1. I am a real person. I was threatened by Mark that I would be sued if I posted anything negative on Yelp.
2. Yes, I did edit my posts before finally settling on one. Anyone in my position would do the same.
3. Finally, the facts remain unchanged. Good Guy Builder's license is under suspension and this may be independently verified on the CSLB website (see link). Likewise, the lawsuits against them may be independently verified.
People like Santosh and Mark are the real culprits who boost their yelp ratings in a manner that skews it in their favor - by attacking anyone who posts negative reviews, and threatening those in dispute with defamation lawsuits. Do not believe anything Santosh or Mark say. The suspension is more than ample evidence that Good Guy Builders is a crooked business and not one that you should be patronizing.