smith construction and floor covering Trey, John, Brian Smith collected $11,850.00 for a $14,850.00 contract. Tore down decking to rebuild and never returned orangeburg South Carolina

December 20, 2013                                                                                                                                 1 of 3

Smith Construction and Flooring// TREY or JOHN SMITH

760 Homestead Rd              Orangeburg, SC, 29115

This company should have their rights revoked from doing business or to advertise doing business in this manner.

Complaint:

On August 7, 2013, we signed a business contract, with a construction contractor to reconstruct our front deck and repair a leaking roof, on our home.  We wanted to add a hot tub and enclose the deck, with a roof, walls and windows, in a similar style to the back room, which we had added on, several months before. The contract was also to remove the fireplace, which was the source of the leak, (the flue) through the ceiling, for the fireplace.

The contractor said that he could do that and would accept monthly payments, for the remainder of the contract, less a $6,000.00 deposit  We agreed upon a contract for $14,850.00, with 6 monthly payments of $1,500.00, shook hands on it and gave him the agreed deposit. We gave him two, $3,000.00 certified bank checks at that time.

We then placed a $1,000.00 down payment towards the purchase, of a hot tub, to a dealer, to hold it for 30 days. We would make a final payment, in full, upon delivery. The contractor gave us his word that the construction would be ready for installation, of the tub, by that time. We are now stuck with a hot tub, setting out in the weather, on a deck that did not even pass inspection.

On August 28, the contractor said that he had not figured in the cost of the windows and doors, on original contract and we would have to pay $2,150.00 for the order and construction of these items. We gave him another certified bank check for $2,150.00, at that time.

On September 25, we bought the building permit and gave, to him another $800.00, in cash, and a personal check for $1,200.00, that he requested for, before any work would begin.  On the same day, he asked us, for a check, for the hot tub payoff, and that he would go and pick up the hot tub and deliver it himself.

However, we met him, at the store, on Monday morning and, ourselves, made arrangements, with the salesperson, for the final payment and delivery, by the store, the following weekend. The contractor said he would have the floor completed before the tub arrived. The tub arrived, on Saturday and the deck was not ready.

He has done some construction; extended the front of the deck by 75 sq. ft. and added stairs.  However, the stairs were improperly constructed. They were removed and as of yet, have not been replaced. He has spent an estimated $500.00 for materials and approx. $1,000.00 for labor costs.

October 1, we paid him another $1,150.00 for our commitment, on the first monthly payment, to him.

A building inspector was out and said that he would not pass the foundation construction and told us what had to be completed, to pass inspection.  The workers showed up the next day and spent a couple of hours working on repairs, then left, before completing the necessary repairs. This was the last time we saw any more work done on the project.

When the inspector returned, he told us that the improvements made, still did not meet standard building codes.  He told us to check this contractor out with the BBB and LLR.  When we contacted the BBB, they told us that “The contractor, in question, has an "F" rating with us.” They also stated that he was responsible for cheating others out of money and that we were not the first to have a breach of contract complaint against him. The LLR told us that this contractor does not have a certified license and never had one, in this state. He is not legally subcontracting work in this state.

Every time we contact this contractor, he says that there will be a team out tomorrow to do the work. However when tomorrow comes, no one shows up and he always has a lame excuse as to why they did not show and would not show up until a later date.

He called some time, in mid Nov. and said that he was no longer able to honor his side of the contract with us. He said that his business license was taken away, after we had notified the BBB of these business practices. How do you “take away” something that does not exist?

He told us that he would deliver the windows, as they were custom ordered and built. He asked us to give him a figure that we would settle on and hand us a check, for that amount, when he delivered the merchandise. We told him, we would accept $8,500.00.  We thought that was fair.

The next day, he called us back and said that the check would only be for $6,500.00. He followed up that phone call the next day and he said he would have a check for only $5,000.00. Then he called the next day and said the check would be for only $3,000.00

He said he would be here no later than 5:00 pm on December 13, 2013.  He called that day at 5:30 pm and said he could not make it and he would be here on Saturday morning.  Then he called Saturday and said it would be Monday and that we needed to call the window manufacturer and arrange for the delivery. We went to speak to the window manufacturer. His reply was that he no longer does business with this scoundrel and that he knew nothing about any windows or doors to be constructed or delivered.

The last communications with this contractor was by phone the following Monday, Dec 16/2013. He called to say the "check" was in the mail. Since then, we have learned that he left town to either Savanna or Virginia.

We have invested $11,300.00, + the cost of the hot tub, + the cost of the building permit (which has expired) and not to mention the time and labor, that I personally have done trying to complete this project. This contractor has destroyed our front deck, left us with a hot tub setting out in the weather, with no electric power, no water access and a leaky roof.

Action, against this kind of company, should be of high priority. We have experienced too many of them. The first mistake was ours. We should have learned by this time. I must be a fool for letting this happen again.

What we have learned from living in this state, is: Never trust SC contractors and never shake his hand. First, seek out all state and federal information, to include Credit history, accounts and known business contracts and past contracts done, certifications and state, county, and local licenses and permits, about any SC company we are about to do business with. Never pay up front and pay in full only after state and local inspections have passed state, city and local building inspection.

We are retired, living on SSDI, and thought this would be a nice place to retire. People seem to seek out Disabled Veterans and use them for turkey shoots. Boy, I wished that I had done my homework first, before making this state my choice of retirement settlement! We have lived in SC since 2007 and this is not the first contractor that has taken our money and disappeared.  Is this how companies in SC do business?

Thank you for any assistance you can offer.