Mike Kelley and Point West Engineering of Tampa, Florida I Was Conned By Swindler Mike Kelley and Point West Construction Tampa Florida

The website for Point West Engineerin states that "excellence is our standard."  If you believe that, Mike Kelley and Point West Engineering probably have a bridge to sell you.

My family hired Mike Kelley after my daughter was defrauded on the old frame that she purchased in 2015.  The home subsequently needed numerous extensive repairs, which included the replacement of all the subfloors in the home in addition, but not limited to, repairs to the support structure within the crawl space of the home.  Although we had every confidence in the alleged West Point graduate, our experience with Mike Kelley and Point West Engineering has become a costly nightmare.

My daughter initially called Mike Kelley after falling through the floors of her home and discovered the deteriorating substructure in dire need of repairs.  Mike Kelley first visited my daughter’s home in Manatee County with several employees on February 4, 2017.  Mike Kelley provided my family with an estimate of $20,000 for the necessary repairs that included, but were not limited to, new subfloors throughout the home, new interior flooring, and repairs to the substructure within the crawlspace to stabilize the home.  In addition, due to a lack of inadequate ventilation within the crawlspace, Mr. Kelley agreed to re-design the ventilation within the crawlspace. 



This new ventilation within the crawlspace included a system with a pump placed within the crawlspace, to prevent water gathering underneath the home, to help avert future problems in the substructure of the home.  Because there was no direct access to the crawlspace of the home, Mr. Kelley assured us that building an access door to the crawlspace would also not be a problem.  Although we were not in a financial position to begin repairs at that time, we had every faith in Mike Kelley and the high standards normally associated with a graduate of The U.S. Military Academy at West Point.  In addition to the estimate, Mr. Kelley agreed to provide our family with an engineer’s report of the home for a fee of $250.

Two years later in late summer of 2019, when my family was in a financial position to begin the repairs, another call was placed to Mike Kelley and Point West Engineering.  Mike Kelley visited the home a second time with several of his employees, inspecting the property and assessing the necessary repairs for a second time.  Mr. Kelley honored the initial estimate of $20,000, given in 2017, and Mr. Kelley assured us a second time that the repairs we had previously discussed (ex:  new flooring, ventilation, the pump in the substructure and access door to the crawlspace) would not be a problem.  Mike Kelley requested a $4,000 down payment and an immediate cash payment was made to Mr. Kelly.  As Mr. Kelley sat before my daughter and I, he counted the $100 bills to ensure the entire $4,000 was accounted for and re-assured my family again that the necessary repairs would be taken care of.  Payment arrangements were made with Mr. Kelley and Point West Engineering for the remaining $15,000.  Although, we were prepared to remove furniture and clear out the home, Mike Kelley stated that clearing the home was not necessary.  Mr. Kelley acknowledged that his employees were experienced workers, accustomed to moving furniture and large items as needed.  Despite Mr. Kelley’s reassurances, my family incurred an additional expense, renting a large POD, and moved many of the large items from the home to help ease the burden on the employees at Point West Engineering.

The work began on November 4, 2019, with a crew from Point West Engineering that included bi-lingual Forman Victor Soto and a non-English speaking and likely undocumented crew of foreign laborers.  Although Forman Victor Soto appeared capable at first, these first impressions of were deceiving.  Although the work on the home progressed, Mr. Soto and his crew appeared less frequently, not showing up as scheduled, answering his phone, or returning our phone calls.  It was during this time that my daughter was left for over a week without a functioning bathroom (shower, sink, toilet etc…) and my daughter was forced to rely on the facilities of a local convenience store.  Eventually, Victor Soto and his crew stopped coming entirely, but not before Mr. Soto stole hundreds of dollars in unused supplies (plywood, beams, etc…) that had been purchased to repair the home.  The work on my daughter’s home was not only left unfinished, the quality of the workmanship that was completed by Mr. Soto and Point West Engineering was of exceptionally poor quality.  To this day, more than a year after the repairs began, the kitchen sits in shambles, barely functional, and Point West Construction never returned to complete the work they were contracted to do.  In addition to the over $21,000 in cash payments to Mr. Kelley, my family incurred additional expenses exceeding $5,000 for additional materials, such as new vinyl flooring, special adhesive to install the flooring, tile, ground, and other materials related to the work on the home.  Mr. Soto and his crew were not qualified for much of the work and the expensive vinyl flooring that was purchased is coming undone throughout the home.  Other evidence of the incompetence of Mike Kelley and Point West Engineering include a home where none of the interior doors close properly because the doors were not re-aligned after the subfloors were replaced.  My daughter has had to rely on nails and elastic bands (see the attached photos) to hold the doors closed.  Other evidence of the clumsiness of Point West Engineering includes, but is not limited to, a broken window in the home due to the negligence of Victor Soto and his crew.   Most of the additional work contracted by Mike Kelley including the pump under the home, the access door to the crawlspace, and the re-designed ventilation system were ever even started.  And even after receiving over $20,000 in cash, Mr. Kelley who was never seen again, the work from the inept Mr. Soto and his crew was never inspected, and Mike Kelly and Point West Engineering will not return our phone calls.

Jennifer De Amezola, our contact representative at Point West Engineering, although at first sympathetic to our cause, continuously excused the poor quality of workmanship and unprofessionalism to the personal problems of Forman Victor Soto.  Requests to reach Mike Kelley were blocked my Ms. De Amezola, who claimed that Mike Kelley was unavailable and working from home.  Apparently for Mr. Kelley, working from home means that Mr. Kelley has no telephone or internet capability.  And Mike Kelley allowed our project to linger unresolved for months due to Victor Soto’s personal problems after the overzealous Mr. Kelley stole over $21,000 in cash.  Eventually Ms. De Amezola followed Mike Kelley’s pathetic example by refusing to take phone calls or answer emails.  Eventually, I was provided the name of “Beth” a new project manager at Point West Engineering to take the place of Ms. De Amezola.

After visiting the home several times, alone and with contractors, and reviewing the unresolved issues, Beth, who was empathetic to our situation, was stopped directly by Mike Kelley when she attempted to schedule dates and times for the work on the home to be finalized.  Afterwards, I was directed once again to Jennifer de Amezola, who was oblivious as to why I was contacting her again.  To this day my anger about the situation as a victim of charlatan Mike Kelley lingers.  Mike Kelley and his representatives at Point West Engineering refuse to return to the home to complete the work they were contracted to perform.  All attempts to contact Point West Engineering remained unanswered, while swindler Mike Kelley continues to hide like a coward.

"Consumer Beware" is the best advice I can give to potential victims of swindler Mike Kelley.

Do not complete payment on any work until the work is completed and inspected.

Do not settle for unlicensed, unskilled, and possibly undocumented workers who cannot speak English.

Do not believe anything that swindler Mike Kelley tells you.

Mike Kelley was regrettably hired by my family and the job remains unfinished after a year and expenses of over $25,000 in cash payments and materials.

I fully intend to take legal action against swindler Mike Kelley and Point West Engineering.

I fully intend to file a complaint with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and any appropriate state agencies.

My opinion of Mike Kelly has changed from the respect associated with an individual who served our country to a fraud without conscience or

Honor.

Mike Kelley continues to hide like the coward and fraudster he is, revealing his true nature as an individual of little character.