I went to one of Sweeten's "meet contractors" events, drank 1 free beer
Turned out to be one of the most expensive beers of my life!:(
They put me in touch with "Deo Singh" contractors, whom they vouched for, saying he was "one of their highest rated contractors"
I have had several "bad contractor" experiences (as have most homeowners unfortunately) which is why I needed Sweeten to qualify one
Sweeten was part of the negotiation process of the job and pricing, and reviewed the contract that Deo Singh and I signed
Initially everything went well, Deo was doing a good job, on time, not asking for more $, and getting paid by me on time and in full (ie 2 payments of $4000 each for milestones renovating my kitchen)
However, as many bad contractors do, once he had completed 50% of the job, he demanded abusive amounts of $ to just show up and finish the work. They must figure they have you in a bad place, with your kitchen torn up and not usable, so then they can abuse you for more $
At this point, I asked Kerry my rep to get involved, and after being cc'd on a dozen emails between me and Deo where we were trying to agree on a $ amount for any excess work he already performed, and any increase in the contract for $ to be paid for future work, Kerry said "we (meaning Sweeten) don't get involved in negotiations or disputes between contractors and clients"
This is BIZARRE because Sweeten was part of the process, and put us in touch with each other, and took a 10% commission as their fee. If they are then going to wash their hands of everything when there IS a dispute, what "service" am I paying for, and what are they taking that 10% for?
So I am left hanging out to dry, and by myself (with zero help from Sweeten) agree to pay Deo $1000 for past overages, which I feel was overly generous (like he demanded $500 to open one window to allow the delivery of a cabinet, when he agreed that opening and closing it took about 10 minutes of his time each way), and $1000 in pre-payments for things he hadn't yet done (like putting the door onto my fridge). Again, Kerry is cc'd on all emails, but when I ask her what she thinks she says "to be honest, I haven't had a chance to read all those emails between you and Deo". WTH? Isn't it HER JOB to read ALL of these emails, and comment/reply to all on a few with her opinion (she did this NEVER)
Deo cashes my checks, so now I've paid him $10,000 on a job that was contracted at $7,000. Yet, he still refuses to return to the job. Will Kerry help get him to complete his contract? Of course not. Apparently, she will keep her 10% = $1,700 whether Deo finishes or doesn't finish the job, which gives her the perverse incentive to not read any emails or reply to any or do ANYTHING to help get this project completed
Then Deo tries to take me to collections, I email the collection agency some pictures of my demolished unfinished kitchen, and the collection rep actually LAUGHS on the phone and says "don't worry, it's crazy that he is claiming you owe him the $7000 balance when your job is not even halfway done--we won't be taking him on as a client"
I email Deo saying if he annoys me ONE MORE TIME with an attempt to collect this BS fantasy $ amount that I owe him, I will post negative reviews about both his service and Sweeten, and then he INVOICE me for $7000--hence the review
To be 100% clear, I am the #1 LASEK surgeon in the USA, have a net worth of almost $20,000, and really don't care about $7000; I donate about $50,000/year to charity (eg V-Day to prevent violence against women, Fordham University, the Dartmouth Club of NY, DNC, Nature Conservancy, Catholic Charities, etc). I am VERY BUSY and was going to let Deo and Sweeten get away with HORRIBLE SERVICE bc I am TOO BUSY to post negative reviews
However, the last straw was Deo taking me to collections, and Sweeten doing NOTHING to help resolve this issue. Kerry and her "team" have not called, emailed or texted me for SIX MONTHS. She KNOWS that Deo and I have already threatened to SUE each other, she KNOWS my kitchen is STILL NOT DONE, and has been ccd on EVERYTHING but will not LIFT A FINGER TO HELP.
Sweeten has not even asked me to leave feedback on their "system" about Deo, which means he remains one of their "highest rated contractors" because they do not want to accurately lower his rating, or they can't foist him on another unsuspecting client who is stupidly counting on Sweeten to actually qualify the contractors they recommend
AVOID SWEETEN AT ALL COSTS. They are taking 10% of your money for NOTHING--no qualifying of contractors, no mediation is things go wrong. read more