Hopefully someone can help me out and clarify a few questions.
Long story short i hired an Arizona Contractor to build a detached garage at my vacation home in LHC. Signed papers in late 03/06 and he said it should take no more than 2 months once he has permits which he got in early 05/06.
Fast foward to 07/06 called to get progress, only cement and framing done. Recieved a call back two weeks later after several calls made, "stucco and drywall this week." Ok i said.
This was the last time a heard from my contractor, I made dozens of calls, sent emails, and no response to get progress. Oh and yes nothing was getting done.
Finally in 09/06 drywall in, but still no call. I continued to send $ upon completion of each step. Stupid me!
Finally got email in late 11/06 that the garage is done. Drove up their to put boats in the garage. Not even close to being done.
1. Swamp coller not working
2.lights not working
3.A 3-4 inch gap accross the bottom of side door all the way accross door seal. He made door toward the rear of garage rather than front like plans indicated during cement. I could literally see out of my garage out this gap.
4. He had to cut a new doorway for the side door toward front. Ok he chiseled the sh@t out of it, leaving cracks and gaps under seal. It looked like hell.
5. he had to cut into main panel which is attached to my house to conect wiring for sub panel. He left it a mess and didn't flow the stucco leaving the pipe half showing.
6. Cut phone line and left it hang from the house.
7. Filled and covered RV septic tank near RV parking side.
8.Oh, the color to the garage is not even close to my house!
So long story short I was planning on renting to snowbirds, but could not due to delayed construction, and no comunication with contractor. I called and sent more emails with problems, still no response.
So, in late 02/07 or early 03/07 I fould the contractor while driving. He told me he was avoiding me because he was embarrased of his work and had every excuse in the book other than the truth. He was probably using my $ for someone elses job, and got to me when he could. I told him, fix problems ASAP and give me a call in a week.
No call!!however fixed most issues by 04/07. Still garage color doesn't match.
So I finally get a call in late 04/07 by his wife asking for final payment. i told her the garage is still not complete and I will not pay until it is finished. In fact I said I will not pay full amount considering the circs.
So now I'm getting emails about breach of contract and interest above the amount owed. I was ignored for six months, it took a year to build a garage, which still isn't done (color).
In all honesty I don't believe i should pay a thing considering the cirs, but I have agreed to pay $4k of the $6500 left, and they will not budge, telling me, "This is the fun part of my job" reffering to taking one to court. Wow, great costomer service.
Anyways, what recorse do I have, are they owed the full amount, interest, and what about my lossess going up every few weeks in the winter monitering project, loss of income on snowbird rental.
I've never had a problem like this and I'm not stiffing the guy.
Any advise would help!
Thanks
Give them a call with the number and make sure it is a legit number. Ask them on the recourse. If you have emails notes, and pics of problems, I don't think you'll have a problem if it goes to court.
Maybe someone here has better info, but that's where I'd start. Good Luck. Lot of fly by night operations here in AZ. All the CA people with money to spend, they are gladly taking it any way they can...
please call the Register Office of Contractors and file a complaint with them. NO contractor wants any complaints against his license. go the following web page and you will see where you can file a complaint. And if you or anyone ever needs anywork done please call me Jeff with Old Glory Development 602-369-6235 and I will gladly help (shameless plug)
http://www.rc.state.az.us/office.html
I've been through this on a bigger scale and you need to call the regstrar of contractors today and file a complaint. Have all of your documentation. Once he gets the complaint from them he will have to get everything done to satifaction or he will get dinged on his license and have to pay some other contractor to do the work. That is the facts.
Please keep us posted on what happens with this.
I think you should post his name like so many do with boat repair
shops so no one else has this problem
my 02
OK, this is the response I recieved today after my first email response to the outstanding bill. talk about customer service. No California discount here, I would have gladly paid for what was offered up front. Why should I pay full pop for sour milk!! The *** portion is the response portion** Have fun reading, my jaw dropped.
Matt, I have responded in red to some of this.
This is the LAST TIME we will have this conversation. I am tired of beating a dead horse!!!!
Linda McSweeney
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 10:15 AM
To: lmcsweeney
Cc: Widger, Matthew
Subject: RE: final invoice and information
Linda and Mike,
As per our conversation last month, Im not interested in the garage being color matched with paint, even if it is some kind of everlasting paint. I feel $1,100.00 is not reasonable as a credit toward the final bill, and that is just your cost to complete what should have already been done. This project took a year to complete, and to be honest it still isnt complete i.e., stucco wrong color to house. Linda, we signed papers in late March of 06, had my plans to me by the second week of April 06, permits pulled shortly after. I was told by Mike that it would take no more than two months to build once permits have been pulled, worse case three months. Ok, with that in mind, I figure worse case it takes four months, which still puts that date into mid to late summer. But March-April of 07 is completely ridiculous. I would have never gone with your company with that kind of turn around.
***OK, that was a typo on my part in the last email. The $1100 is not for paint but to RE-STUCCO the garage. You do not have a choice as we have the right to make this correct. We have spoken to the ROC and you my friend do not have a case. We have the right to correct anything that WE did wrong relevant to the contract. Then, we have the right to make any necessary corrections. We have been more than fair to you and you are simply trying to get out of paying your final bill. As for the timing of this project. The permit was issued May 16, 2006 and the final was issued on November 30, 2006. That is 6 months and 14 days. As per your contract, you are required to make your last payment upon receipt of the Certificate of Occupancy. You are in breach of contract and have been since November 30, 2006. WE, on the other hand, do have a case. I can now sue you for breach of contract plus interest on these monies. This part of the business I do for fun. I longer you wait to pay, the more money I make. You decide. **
The purpose of the garage was to store our boats in a separate garage while we rent to snow birds in the winter. I could not rent out the house this past fall and winter do to construction going on, or actually lack of construction which resulted in a loss of $1,200 per month. I sent numerous e-mails to Mike, and made over 20 calls to Mike with no response from July to December. I literally had to find him on the street in March to see what was going on with my garage. Mike sent an e-mail that the garage was done in Dec, which caused us to come up and bring our boats to store. Well the garage was not done. In fact the swamp cooler did not work. The side door had a 3 inch gap all the way across the door width, no outside lights worked, the wall to the attached garage at the sub panel was a mess and was not completed, stucco wrong color, and my RV septic tank has been filled and covered.
*** Bla Bla Bla. None of these alleged items would have prevented renters and plus, I dont care about your problems Matt. This is just a bull shit ploy to not pay your bill. As a matter of fact, you did have a boat in your back yard, NOT IN AN ILLEGED UNSAFE AND UN SECURE GARAGE, your words, for about 3 months and did not seem to have a care in the world. ***
So obviously we took the boats back home. We are not going to leave our boats valued in excess of over $60,000 in an unsecured garage with access to anyone working on the garage. In regards to the power connect listed in your invoice. When Mike and I discussed the plans I told him the garage needs to be wired under ground. In fact I showed him a large 4 inch tube in the bottom of my wall near the power service to run wires. In fact I told him they can trench along side garage when there excavating for slab. Now your invoice indicates Im being charged extra for that when this was discussed prior to bid.
***The project was held up for nearly a month as the city would not allow the frame to go up with the power line running overhead. We never agreed to put the power under ground at no charge. Why would we do this? Youre a smart business man, does this make any sense to you? BUT, because Mike is nice guy, he gave you the option of placing a power pole along the side of you wall to re-route the wire around the garage for ½ the cost of the underground, you chose the underground!!!! ***
So basically in short I do not plan on paying the final bill, even minus the $1,100. I am willing to pay $3,000 as a final payment. With this payment I would not want you to paint garage, just walk away.
** Sorry, NOT going to happen!!!**
This has been a tough year dealing with this project going back and fourth checking on progress, no calls or e-mails replied to, just a mess. In honesty I cant believe you would actually ask or feel you should be fully compensated for this project. Even Mike apologized when I found him, and he said he was avoiding me and my calls and he was embarrassed of his behavior. I was always on time and paid my bills when asked, that money should have been used to complete work on my garage, not floating other work, which is the reason why the delay in the build and lack of communication on Mikes side started. A garage is not complicated to build, and does not take a year.
I have full documentation including pictures, emails, contract, and phone calls if this goes further.
*** BRING IT ON MATT! I welcome the challenge. The way I see it you have two options.
1. You stop requesting the California Discount and pay your bill. We have rights too and I am completely confident that not only will you lose this battle, your integrity will be harmed. I believe it is not a positive thing for a police officer to have an attachment of any kind or any pending litigation against him/her? Or
You pay your final draw in full!!!! And we change the color of the garage and dig out your RV drain. This is all that is left to do as per you! We will do NOTHING until you pay your bill. If you decide not to make payment and I do not receive it within the next 3 days, I will file my complaint with the local courts. Dont forget Matt, I do this part for fun and will wait for ever for the money. You cant beat the interest of the courts system at 13%.
The ball is now in your court, you decide. By the way, I do have integrity, a lot of it, you obviously do not and think that I am a fool. We as business owners, are so sick of the California Discount
Please contact me should you have any questions. I await your response. . I await your check!!!!
Best regards,
Matt Widger
Best regards,
Linda McSweeney, V.P.
Arizona Coast Construction, Inc.****
OK, this is the response I recieved today after my first email response to the outstanding bill. talk about customer service. No California discount here, I would have gladly paid for what was offered up front. Why should I pay full pop for sour milk!! The *** portion is the response portion** Have fun reading, my jaw dropped.
Matt, I have responded in red to some of this.
This is the LAST TIME we will have this conversation. I am tired of beating a dead horse!!!!
Linda McSweeney
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 10:15 AM
To: lmcsweeney
Cc: Widger, Matthew
Subject: RE: final invoice and information
Linda and Mike,
As per our conversation last month, Im not interested in the garage being color matched with paint, even if it is some kind of everlasting paint. I feel $1,100.00 is not reasonable as a credit toward the final bill, and that is just your cost to complete what should have already been done. This project took a year to complete, and to be honest it still isnt complete i.e., stucco wrong color to house. Linda, we signed papers in late March of 06, had my plans to me by the second week of April 06, permits pulled shortly after. I was told by Mike that it would take no more than two months to build once permits have been pulled, worse case three months. Ok, with that in mind, I figure worse case it takes four months, which still puts that date into mid to late summer. But March-April of 07 is completely ridiculous. I would have never gone with your company with that kind of turn around.
***OK, that was a typo on my part in the last email. The $1100 is not for paint but to RE-STUCCO the garage. You do not have a choice as we have the right to make this correct. We have spoken to the ROC and you my friend do not have a case. We have the right to correct anything that WE did wrong relevant to the contract. Then, we have the right to make any necessary corrections. We have been more than fair to you and you are simply trying to get out of paying your final bill. As for the timing of this project. The permit was issued May 16, 2006 and the final was issued on November 30, 2006. That is 6 months and 14 days. As per your contract, you are required to make your last payment upon receipt of the Certificate of Occupancy. You are in breach of contract and have been since November 30, 2006. WE, on the other hand, do have a case. I can now sue you for breach of contract plus interest on these monies. This part of the business I do for fun. I longer you wait to pay, the more money I make. You decide. **
The purpose of the garage was to store our boats in a separate garage while we rent to snow birds in the winter. I could not rent out the house this past fall and winter do to construction going on, or actually lack of construction which resulted in a loss of $1,200 per month. I sent numerous e-mails to Mike, and made over 20 calls to Mike with no response from July to December. I literally had to find him on the street in March to see what was going on with my garage. Mike sent an e-mail that the garage was done in Dec, which caused us to come up and bring our boats to store. Well the garage was not done. In fact the swamp cooler did not work. The side door had a 3 inch gap all the way across the door width, no outside lights worked, the wall to the attached garage at the sub panel was a mess and was not completed, stucco wrong color, and my RV septic tank has been filled and covered.
*** Bla Bla Bla. None of these alleged items would have prevented renters and plus, I dont care about your problems Matt. This is just a bull shit ploy to not pay your bill. As a matter of fact, you did have a boat in your back yard, NOT IN AN ILLEGED UNSAFE AND UN SECURE GARAGE, your words, for about 3 months and did not seem to have a care in the world. ***
So obviously we took the boats back home. We are not going to leave our boats valued in excess of over $60,000 in an unsecured garage with access to anyone working on the garage. In regards to the power connect listed in your invoice. When Mike and I discussed the plans I told him the garage needs to be wired under ground. In fact I showed him a large 4 inch tube in the bottom of my wall near the power service to run wires. In fact I told him they can trench along side garage when there excavating for slab. Now your invoice indicates Im being charged extra for that when this was discussed prior to bid.
***The project was held up for nearly a month as the city would not allow the frame to go up with the power line running overhead. We never agreed to put the power under ground at no charge. Why would we do this? Youre a smart business man, does this make any sense to you? BUT, because Mike is nice guy, he gave you the option of placing a power pole along the side of you wall to re-route the wire around the garage for ½ the cost of the underground, you chose the underground!!!! ***
So basically in short I do not plan on paying the final bill, even minus the $1,100. I am willing to pay $3,000 as a final payment. With this payment I would not want you to paint garage, just walk away.
** Sorry, NOT going to happen!!!**
This has been a tough year dealing with this project going back and fourth checking on progress, no calls or e-mails replied to, just a mess. In honesty I cant believe you would actually ask or feel you should be fully compensated for this project. Even Mike apologized when I found him, and he said he was avoiding me and my calls and he was embarrassed of his behavior. I was always on time and paid my bills when asked, that money should have been used to complete work on my garage, not floating other work, which is the reason why the delay in the build and lack of communication on Mikes side started. A garage is not complicated to build, and does not take a year.
I have full documentation including pictures, emails, contract, and phone calls if this goes further.
*** BRING IT ON MATT! I welcome the challenge. The way I see it you have two options.
1. You stop requesting the California Discount and pay your bill. We have rights too and I am completely confident that not only will you lose this battle, your integrity will be harmed. I believe it is not a positive thing for a police officer to have an attachment of any kind or any pending litigation against him/her? Or
You pay your final draw in full!!!! And we change the color of the garage and dig out your RV drain. This is all that is left to do as per you! We will do NOTHING until you pay your bill. If you decide not to make payment and I do not receive it within the next 3 days, I will file my complaint with the local courts. Dont forget Matt, I do this part for fun and will wait for ever for the money. You cant beat the interest of the courts system at 13%.
The ball is now in your court, you decide. By the way, I do have integrity, a lot of it, you obviously do not and think that I am a fool. We as business owners, are so sick of the California Discount
Please contact me should you have any questions. I await your response. . I await your check!!!!
Best regards,
Matt Widger
Best regards,
Linda McSweeney, V.P.
Arizona Coast Construction, Inc.****
OK, this is the response I recieved today after my first email response to the outstanding bill. talk about customer service. No California discount here, I would have gladly paid for what was offered up front. Why should I pay full pop for sour milk!! The *** portion is the response portion** Have fun reading, my jaw dropped.
Matt, I have responded in red to some of this.
This is the LAST TIME we will have this conversation. I am tired of beating a dead horse!!!!
Linda McSweeney
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 10:15 AM
To: lmcsweeney
Cc: Widger, Matthew
Subject: RE: final invoice and information
Linda and Mike,
As per our conversation last month, Im not interested in the garage being color matched with paint, even if it is some kind of everlasting paint. I feel $1,100.00 is not reasonable as a credit toward the final bill, and that is just your cost to complete what should have already been done. This project took a year to complete, and to be honest it still isnt complete i.e., stucco wrong color to house. Linda, we signed papers in late March of 06, had my plans to me by the second week of April 06, permits pulled shortly after. I was told by Mike that it would take no more than two months to build once permits have been pulled, worse case three months. Ok, with that in mind, I figure worse case it takes four months, which still puts that date into mid to late summer. But March-April of 07 is completely ridiculous. I would have never gone with your company with that kind of turn around.
***OK, that was a typo on my part in the last email. The $1100 is not for paint but to RE-STUCCO the garage. You do not have a choice as we have the right to make this correct. We have spoken to the ROC and you my friend do not have a case. We have the right to correct anything that WE did wrong relevant to the contract. Then, we have the right to make any necessary corrections. We have been more than fair to you and you are simply trying to get out of paying your final bill. As for the timing of this project. The permit was issued May 16, 2006 and the final was issued on November 30, 2006. That is 6 months and 14 days. As per your contract, you are required to make your last payment upon receipt of the Certificate of Occupancy. You are in breach of contract and have been since November 30, 2006. WE, on the other hand, do have a case. I can now sue you for breach of contract plus interest on these monies. This part of the business I do for fun. I longer you wait to pay, the more money I make. You decide. **
The purpose of the garage was to store our boats in a separate garage while we rent to snow birds in the winter. I could not rent out the house this past fall and winter do to construction going on, or actually lack of construction which resulted in a loss of $1,200 per month. I sent numerous e-mails to Mike, and made over 20 calls to Mike with no response from July to December. I literally had to find him on the street in March to see what was going on with my garage. Mike sent an e-mail that the garage was done in Dec, which caused us to come up and bring our boats to store. Well the garage was not done. In fact the swamp cooler did not work. The side door had a 3 inch gap all the way across the door width, no outside lights worked, the wall to the attached garage at the sub panel was a mess and was not completed, stucco wrong color, and my RV septic tank has been filled and covered.
*** Bla Bla Bla. None of these alleged items would have prevented renters and plus, I dont care about your problems Matt. This is just a bull shit ploy to not pay your bill. As a matter of fact, you did have a boat in your back yard, NOT IN AN ILLEGED UNSAFE AND UN SECURE GARAGE, your words, for about 3 months and did not seem to have a care in the world. ***
So obviously we took the boats back home. We are not going to leave our boats valued in excess of over $60,000 in an unsecured garage with access to anyone working on the garage. In regards to the power connect listed in your invoice. When Mike and I discussed the plans I told him the garage needs to be wired under ground. In fact I showed him a large 4 inch tube in the bottom of my wall near the power service to run wires. In fact I told him they can trench along side garage when there excavating for slab. Now your invoice indicates Im being charged extra for that when this was discussed prior to bid.
***The project was held up for nearly a month as the city would not allow the frame to go up with the power line running overhead. We never agreed to put the power under ground at no charge. Why would we do this? Youre a smart business man, does this make any sense to you? BUT, because Mike is nice guy, he gave you the option of placing a power pole along the side of you wall to re-route the wire around the garage for ½ the cost of the underground, you chose the underground!!!! ***
So basically in short I do not plan on paying the final bill, even minus the $1,100. I am willing to pay $3,000 as a final payment. With this payment I would not want you to paint garage, just walk away.
** Sorry, NOT going to happen!!!**
This has been a tough year dealing with this project going back and fourth checking on progress, no calls or e-mails replied to, just a mess. In honesty I cant believe you would actually ask or feel you should be fully compensated for this project. Even Mike apologized when I found him, and he said he was avoiding me and my calls and he was embarrassed of his behavior. I was always on time and paid my bills when asked, that money should have been used to complete work on my garage, not floating other work, which is the reason why the delay in the build and lack of communication on Mikes side started. A garage is not complicated to build, and does not take a year.
I have full documentation including pictures, emails, contract, and phone calls if this goes further.
*** BRING IT ON MATT! I welcome the challenge. The way I see it you have two options.
1. You stop requesting the California Discount and pay your bill. We have rights too and I am completely confident that not only will you lose this battle, your integrity will be harmed. I believe it is not a positive thing for a police officer to have an attachment of any kind or any pending litigation against him/her? Or
You pay your final draw in full!!!! And we change the color of the garage and dig out your RV drain. This is all that is left to do as per you! We will do NOTHING until you pay your bill. If you decide not to make payment and I do not receive it within the next 3 days, I will file my complaint with the local courts. Dont forget Matt, I do this part for fun and will wait for ever for the money. You cant beat the interest of the courts system at 13%.
The ball is now in your court, you decide. By the way, I do have integrity, a lot of it, you obviously do not and think that I am a fool. We as business owners, are so sick of the California Discount
Please contact me should you have any questions. I await your response. . I await your check!!!!
Best regards,
Matt Widger
Best regards,
Linda McSweeney, V.P.
Arizona Coast Construction, Inc.****
Linda McSweeney, V.P.
Arizona Coast Construction, Inc.****
Interesting, I can't find any Arizona Coast Construction, Inc. in the Registrar of Contractors' database. Contracting without a license is a pretty serious deal. Nothing under McSweeney either. They're incorporated under her name and that exact business name with the Az. Corporation Commission. Now about that contractor's license.. Hmm.... :idea:
Seems as though they're having some problems with the Corporation Commission too:
Corporate Status Inquiry
File Number: -1202386-3
Corp. Name: ARIZONA COAST CONSTRUCTION, INC.
This Corporation is NOT in Good Standing for the following reasons:
2006 ANNUAL REPORT WAS RETURNED ON 01/11/2007
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