I hired Jonathan Burton of Exclusive Tile Concepts to finish a bathroom I'd had done and had been left unfinished. I was quoted $4K and when final came in had gone up almost $3000. After months they agreed to honor the initial quote and offered to buy tile/materials needed.
We met at Floor & Decor but once I began looking at materials, Jon began to squirm (I'd been told material/tile would be my choice). Since tile was at contractors price I offered to pay for it - my mistake - but I was trying to be fair.
Going over contract I was told job would run 10 days & as they worked weekends, would be done in 1.5 weeks. Jon kept telling me how good & honest they are; kept mentioning some previous customers that had not paid & wanted to make sure we had a payment schedule in place; and so I signed.
Once job was begun, there was plumbing that needed to be done, he called one of his guys; I had to pay an additional $900.
They did not work a single wknd (job ran into 3 weeks), never on time. Jon came to me and said that since the job was now running into overtime needed to charge me an additional $387.50 to pay the tile guy for an extra day...WTF? Is it my fault you're not showing up on time and the 10 day job is now running over?
When I'd point out the fact they were late, making a mess, whatever, Jon pointed the finger at his workers (Hello? Who's the boss?). But when payment time came he or brother were there. I let him have it on a Monday as I was so frustrated and he just acted like it was everyone else''s fault...never his.
The brand new toilet had to be taken out and they placed in the garage during the project; they placed all sorts of debris on it and the lid was left badly scratched. I pointed it out and he replaced it (with another scratched one which I did not see until after they'd left).
The vanity had a hole gouged into it (he denied that they did it and the 'fix' was to put putty into it); the sink was left stained and with an ugly long scratch...they were brand new!
A vanity table I'd moved into my bedroom was missing a piece from a corner (found the piece on the floor) which I know happened when they leaned all their stuff on my belongings.
They placed stuff on my bed and on top of the fan remote button so my fan was not working for a while until I had it re-programmed.
The water line leading to the toilet was simply left with a hole; there was nothing placed there to hide it (no escutcheon).
The painting job has drip marks; the lower portion of the wall next to the vanity was left unpainted and has rough patches higher up which they never sanded or painted. The electrical outlet was not finished and one can see where the wall was not finished properly.
There were no towel bars or hooks hung up, no toilet paper holder...nothing!!!
My bedroom wall (which is against the bathroom wall) was left with many cracks due to all the pounding and is badly damaged. There was a huge chunk fell out of the top and one of the guys did patch it up w/filler but now that dark colored wall has a white splotch at the top.
The back bathroom had to have work done as it also had cracks and plaster fell off.
My carpeting (dark blue) has white stains in the hallway, stairs, and livingroom which I believe are cement or grout and cannot be removed.
I had to replace toothbrushes several times as they kept using the bathroom I'd closed and attached a note saying "Use downstairs one" and I'd find my toilet unflushed...gross! They disposed of gravel in my toilet and it has since been sluggish.
The drywall guy rinsed his paint brushes in my stainless steel sink and was left stained and my sink has backed up several times since.
When we were first discussing a contract Jon kept saying that if anything was not to my liking or needed some attention, I simply had to let them know and they'd be out to complete. Well, I've tried calling and have sent several e-mails to both him and Joel, but there has been no response.
I trusted this bible-thumping man and paid him on time. What a shame he did not live up to his promise and ethics he so much spoke of (before I'd signed the contract). Interestingly, he kept saying "I know I'm going to get at least 3 more jobs from you and your referrals out of this". Those who have seen what he left would never hire him.
My place was left a mess. They never covered anything (although he vehemently states they did) and the mess infiltrated every single nook and cranny in my 2 story townhouse as well as the garage. The garage looks like as if I'd left the door open during a sandstorm!
I will say, had he finished the job completely, and been clean, I'd be very happy. But when someone does not do what they boast of, and takes no pride in what they do, then shame on them.
All in all, I ended up paying almost as much as the quote they'd bumped it up to. What a shame there seem to be no more honest people in this world. read more