Shady ass contractors!!

Came back to the country to my Mom getting all new tile in her 2 bdr/ 2 bath Condo. She was refereed from a friend of hers (also 68) years old. So 2 weeks ago she tells me how the tile they ordered was warped, then ordered new tile with a problem, then the floor was uneven and had to order the tornado system and that took time. It was supposed to be a 5-7 job day. So I went to see the place about 2 weeks in and the had done fuck all. I would talk to her on the phone and she would tell me that they should be done on this date or that date. Usually only 1 or 2 days from when I was talking to her.

She calls me and tells me a guy who can barely speak English is screaming at her that she owes her money. He sends her a text saying if he doesn't get paid hes going to break in and rip the tile apart. I could go on and on. I told her to buy a plane ticket and visit her friends and family and I'll deal with this.

I was livid and called the owner of the Company and went off like I have never done before and never want to again. The worst thing is that my NYC city girl sister told my mom to pay these guys in full (over 15 gs for a 2 bdr condo) to get airline miles!!!!!!!! So no leverage unless court is involved which I a'm against.

So basically after me telling him he is doing a shit job way over schedule forcing my mom to rent an airbandb and him telling me how all of these variables and costs have come into play and he is losing money ( cough:bullshit) and he is doing me a favor?? I told him I'll let you finish the job and we will talk.

Came today after 5 days after from 15 days when they said they would be finished. It's a shit job but at least the floor is covered. I called over an old contractor buddy to walk through it and he tore it apart. Basically I'm not looking for perfection and my Mom just wants a place to live at this point. One thing I notice is that all the white base boards have grout, dirt, chips, chunks, ect.

So I call my Mom and give her an update. I told her at least its done, but you should have got new baseboards with the tile. She says I did?? Send me the invoive. She sent it, almost 700.00 in labor just for the base boards. He padded the base board material cost in another bundle that had nothing to do with him.

I don't want to sue, I honestly don't want to come off as a hard ass and threaten the guy. I took pictures of the shit job along the way. I just want advice of trying to fix the major provable things. I'll pay for someone proper to come in once the dust settles to fix these guys mess. I leave for the Caribbean in 5 days. To be honest, every time I come back to the US I'm always reminded why I left 13 years ago. Nothing is perfect but this place has one thing in common, that everybody is always trying to get more green pieces of paper over the next guy or in this case single old lady no matter what the cost. (Should not judge, only talking about South Florida, not the South or the rest of the US, except NY and New Jersey) At least in the Caribbean when you get robbed they are in a black mask, here they are in collared shirts with a website and a smile. Cheers

 

Where was this at?
and it's tile floors only? what sq footage?

 

Have you been drinking?

 

Oh, and post the pictures...

 

No, going to start soon after today, Its my moms place, nothing big, retirement boca del vista condo. Maybe 1300 ft?

 

I'm bad at computers, I can email anyone of you the contract and if you can post it up and figure out how bad she is getting ripped off?

 

Floors only, Just visiting, like my post above I can email all the specs

 

One thing to add on this is not a fancy retire rich boca condo. It's a middle price florida condo. Think she paid 85 gs and worked in the public school system her whole life. That's why I'm pissed, the money this guy is taking is not form a trophy botox wife. It's from a humble church lady. That makes it a problem for me

 

I think we paid around $3 per sq ft for installation plus materials. Tile ranges from $.79 to $6.00 per sq. ft. Since you paid by credit card, if they are ripping off your mom, I would look at disputing it with the credit card company.

You could go to a home depot in your area and see what tile prices and installation rates are in probably 10-15 minutes, then you can figure out if she was being treated properly. I would be pissed too if someone was taking advantage of my parents.

 

Thanks, the money is already gone, now its just up to me to try and get the best outcome on their mistakes by going directly to the big boss. Disputing, courts and lawyers are a waste of time in my opinion. My mom is by herself. Don't wan't problems but if this loser tile guy fucks my mother over I will spend every dollor I have to teach him a lesson

 

$15K to tile two bathroom floors and you have to ask if she's getting ripped off?
Do everything you can to stop payment or you have zero leverage.

 

15k for 1,500 SQ feet? Holy fuck... Was it marble??

 

So I understand this correctly, your mom had two bathrooms in a 1500 square-foot condo tiled....

Based on you mentioning that it was more or less a vanilla type condo complex, I'll guess those bathrooms are around 100 square-foot each, and I'm being generous with those numbers...

So $15,000 for 200 square-foot of tile work....
Did this include new shower surround/walls???

If not, and only floor tile replaced, then yes, your mom got ripped off...

 

No it was the entire condo minus the bathrooms. When she told me what she paid my jaw dropped. All of us kids (40ish) are away and she went on one of her old single lady friend that they did a really great job. The payment went through over a month ago. I actually read the contract and they protect themselves if you decide to shut down the job. Sounds crazy but the contract states that you pay the same after the 50% deposit, weather they complete 50%, 75% or the full job you pay the same..

I'm a chef but have delt with this before working on new boat builds and yachts getting refit. That's why I am in FLL now and leaving soon. Every job in the world has professionals and hustlers and everything in between. 90% of the time you hire a professional, you pay more money, and deal with 90 % less bullshit.

 

I'm gonna hire that fucker to do Broomes RV floor!

 

Well, half of it anyway.

 

My favorite part. Enjoy.