Dave Raines., Director of UIA Enterprises, Inc. DBA – D&B Landscaping Took Money for Supplies Without Performing the Work; Defaulted on Contract Copperas Cove Texas

Dave and I signed a contract on July 14, 2014 and per the terms of the contract the “contractor will begin work on July 19, 2014 to be completed by July 29, 2014.” Per the terms of the contract “$2,000.27 shall be paid to the contractor as a down payment to cover material and incidental costs for the services provided.”  On July 15 I made the down payment in the amount of $2,000.27 via PayPal to Dave who confirmed on July 15th that payment was received at 11:08AM.  Dave sent a text to both myself and my tenant on July 16 stating that the “permit request has been turned in as of today.  City officials stated 3 to 5 business days for approval and they will contact me when the permit is ready.  With any luck, we should be right on schedule for Monday.  If not, I’ll send an adjustment request for the schedule in writing… ASAP.”  On July 24 I sent Dave a text message stating “just checking in with you.  I take it the permit came through and everything is still on schedule.”  I received no response from Dave. On July 26 I sent a text message to both Dave and my tenant stating “just checking in with you guys regarding the fence. The 29^th is next Tuesday so I take it everything is still on schedule.”  My tenant responded that day and stated that “he has not started yet.” So I responded to both Dave and my tenant: “Dave please provide us with an update.  We are approaching the last 3 days so I don’t want any misunderstanding or missed deadlines.  No response from Dave. On July 27 I received a text message from my tenant stating “finally talked to Dave the permit just got finished and he will start on Tuesday and I will keep you updated.”  “He will pick permit up Monday.”  On July 27 Dave leaves me a voicemail informing me that he lost his phone and had another call he needed to answer and would call me back which he never did. So I called him back on July 27 to express my concern with not being able to reach him. I informed him that I didn’t know him and as far as I knew he took my money and ran.  He in turn told me that’s not who he is, he wouldn’t do that and that I would have a good, quality fence installed, etc. Since I was under the impression from my tenant’s text message from her conversation with Dave that the permit took longer than expected for approval, it was during this phone call that Dave and I agreed to extend the contract completion date to Saturday August 2, 2014.  On July 28 I sent Dave an email acknowledging our mutual agreement to extend the contract to August 2, 2014 and stated that I needed him to acknowledge this agreement in writing (email confirmation was fine).  On July 28 I sent Dave a text message stating “Dave I just sent you an email acknowledging the phone conversation we had yesterday about extending the contract completion date.  Please acknowledge ASAP because technically after tomorrow we no longer have a contract.”  On July 29 Dave acknowledged my email but stated “I acknowledge receipt of this email and we have set a goal for completion to be Saturday, 2 August 2014.”  I in turn responded to his email on July 29 stating “Dave thanks for acknowledging this email however I’m a little perplexed by your use of the word goal. August 2 is not a goal to me I’m expecting the fence to be complete on that day.  I don’t intend on extending again unless there are some catastrophic circumstances beyond your control that prevents you from completing on time.  Just want to make sure there is no misunderstanding.” I never received a response from Dave. Between July 29-Aug 2, Dave never showed up to the house.  The afternoon of July 29 my tenant texted me stating “I am sorry to report that he was supposed to start this morning but it is2:40PM and he had not come and is not answering my calls.”  I immediately called Dave and asked him what is going on with my house and the fence and expressed my concerns about having a fence installed by the contract deadline, exchanged words and expressed other concerns to him and told him I was NOT happy and hung up the phone.  On July 30 my tenant sent me a text stating “no one is here working on the fence.”  I asked her if he showed up yesterday like he said he would and she sent a snapshot of a text Dave sent her: “I’m going to have to postpone until morning for the fence.  I smashed my hand while working on my trailer.”  “But we’ll be there early tomorrow to get started and will be done by Saturday.”  On July 31 I sent my tenant a text that said “I take it no show or communication with you today either regarding the fence.”  She texted “no nothing.”  On August 1, I called Dave, sent him an email, and text message because he won’t respond to any forms of contact.  Below is the email I sent to Dave on August 1.  The voicemail and text message summarized what I stated in the email: Dave, I just left you a voicemail to discuss the remaining options for this fence. As I mentioned in the voicemail I called the City of Killeen permit office this morning and they informed me that you submitted the permit request on July 16, the request was approved on July 18 and more than likely they would have notified you on July 19th to inform you that the permit was ready for pickup. The permit to this date has not been paid for or picked up so technically you do not have the approval to start the fence installation.  With that being said that only leaves two options:  Option 1: is for us to cancel the contract and have you return my money $2,000.27, before the contract expires tomorrow Saturday, Aug 2 at 11:59:59PM. This way you will not be in default/breach of contract and we can both move on...you to other projects and me to another contractor. The caveat is that my money must be returned via PayPal prior to the contract expiring tomorrow.  Option 2: is to let the contract conclude tomorrow and then sue you for the return of my money for default/breach of contract. Even if you pick up the permit today and start you will not have the fence complete by tomorrow and I'm not agreeing to another extension. With the permit having been approved on July 18th you had plenty of time to complete the installation. I prefer to NOT resort to this option but I WILL if I need to.  Option one is the quickest and easiest solution that would be best for both of us.  Please give me a call to discuss. No response from Dave. On August 2  I again made one last and final attempt to contact Dave.  I sent him a text on August 2  stating “Dave I am just following up with you in writing about the voicemail I just left.  As I mentioned I hope you are not intentionally ignoring/avoiding me because I’m not going anywhere so please contact me so that we can resolve the issue of you not installing the fence as required by the contract before the contract expires tonight.  I am willing to cancel the contract while we still have time.  All you have to do is return my money, $2,000.27 via PayPal.  Please respond otherwise you are forcing my hand." On August 2 I sent him the following email: Dave, as I mentioned in my voicemail this is my last and final attempt to reach out to you so I hope you're not intentionally ignoring/avoiding me because I am not going anywhere. We still have time to resolve this before the contract expires tonight. The lack of communication you have displayed with me is unprofessional and will not resolve anything.  I fronted you a lot of money, $2,000.27 for supplies and incidental expenses as a down payment for the installation of a fence per YOUR contract terms with the expectation that you would fulfill your end of the contract but unfortunately that is not going to happen.  Since we both know the fence will not be complete by the deadline, which is today, (let's not insult each other’s intelligence) I am willing to cancel the contract so long as you return my down payment of $2,000.27 this evening. If we can resolve this outside the courts it will be best for both of us. If you just want to return my down payment via PayPal without talking to me I'm fine with that too. I'll check my account thought the evening until Midnight CST to see if payment has been returned. If it has I will text a one word response 'received' and we can both go on about our business.  Please respond in some way because if I don't hear from you the first action I will be taking Monday morning August 4 is to file a formal complaint through the TX licensing and permit department followed by the BBB, small claims court, etc... Any judgment against you may not have an immediate impact on you but business fields like yours rely heavily on reputation and referrals (which is how I found out about you) so the complaints and negative reviews about my experience working with you that I will file and post via social media sites will so please don't force my hand and contact me. I'm not making any more attempts after this to contact you I'm just following through on the actions mentioned above. Dave never contacted me but on August 2, 2014 at 9:13PM I received an email from PayPal stating: “D&B Landscaping just sent you a full refund of $2,000.27 USD for your purchase.” On August 3 I texted Dave: “Pending transfer acknowledged. Once transfer is complete will text received. Thank you for doing the right thing.” On August 6, I received an email from PayPal stating “an eCheck payment from D&B Landscaping was declined by the sender’s bank. On August 6 I left a voicemail, sent a text and forwarded the email I received from PayPal to Dave informing me that his eCheck in PayPal was declined by his bank and that I needed him to resolve this issue by the end of the week otherwise I was going to proceed with the actions I mentioned in my last email starting with the TX Licensing Board. No response from Dave nor have I received resolution of the refund he initiated on August 2, 2014. On August 13 I received an email from PayPal stating “the refund from D&B Landscaping did not clear the sender’s bank. Contact company regarding refund. I will be suing Mr. Raines in small claims court because as of today he has made no attempt to contact me or make restitution for the $2,000.27 he has NOT earned because he did not buy the materials or perform the work.