Ortiz Remodeling and Repairs - refuse to refund but altered invoice to include falsified additional work so they could keep our refund due us. Navarre Florida

In February, someone we trusted recommended this company to do our $20,000 budget Exterior Home Repair(s), it was their daughter who had been a dog's groomer for nearly one year.  Upon checking out their company we noticed Warner Ortiz does quite a lot of construction type work such as exterior doors and frames, new electrical and new plumbing etc.  Leslie Ortiz, his wife, contacted us to set an appt and when this couple came out to do a walkthrough of everything we needed, she said she would send an estimate.  The estimate seemed fair and covered only a little bit of what was asked nevertheless it was a good beginning to get the siding board on the house update so that our insurance would be happy and removed the "red flag" so to speak.  

Upon mentioning our number one priority was to secure a fence and a good locking gate so that our $4000 Bichon 4yr old dog wouldn't get out and escape.  They began work by changing out an exterior storm screen Split View old one with a new one.  Upon checking their work I noticed the door rubber in the middle was defective.  I mentioned it to Leslie and she stated, "I saw that" but never mentioned to us, the homeowner.  They charged $150 and did not fill in any holes or cracks or even mention the broken wood that a quick fix and a few dollars more would make it look nicer but oh well, they did the job and didn't care to make the repair nor fill in the holes.  And left.

 We hired them to begin putting in our 6ft privacy fence on the front side of the home along with a 4ft 77ft approximate dog fence to include a secure gate and locking system per our texting communication. Also, we had 5 posts on our front porch that needed to be replaced, they did that, we paid for materials, I messaged her regarding the large gaps on tops and bottoms but they later covered it again with caulking and later painted and charged us $400+ for both paint and install.  We feel they are solid structural posts due to them holding up the porch even though our others were somewhat hollow they also held up our porch to secure the overhang from the roof of our ranch style home.  

Later they made hardi board to cover the rotted hardi board that had been there years and began to paint the home but before that Mr Ortiz (Warner) cut a pipe without our knowledge that shocked my 83 yr old husband who told him that he never wanted to fix that faucet to the pipe since it runs through the middle of the house as so not to disturb it nevertheless the master bathroom and bedroom began to flood the next day and several days later we call them over the weekend to ask where do they think the water could be coming from since it's on the exact back side area where the room is flooding.  They did come out on antoher day and check and later determined our seal on our hall toilet needed to be changed so he did that hurriedly and charged $200 however within the hour of going back to use that restroom toilet and it did not flush.  They chain was off and still didn't flush.  Then, I called our licensed plumber friend an hour away in Pensacola and he asked my husband to check the valve to be sure it was turned one and to my husbands best knowledge he recalls turning the valve on and everything was then working except the toilet began running non stop constantly and still does.

 That problem is still remains.  With regard to the hardi board and paint, their son in law and the two of them used a sprayer and sprayed our shingles, roof, and solar panels to where our neighbors came over to bring it to our attention and said it looks BAD.  We called a roofer company, the best in town who have a highest rating, they came and said they've never seen anything like it before and were appalled and the lack of protection of our assets.  After payment in full we are owed a refund of $1150 (which I thought was for additional fencing they did not put in but is was for their "discount" on another invoice in which our consutant discovered and we asked for that refund back but they've yet to send it but did send an altered invoice relfecting false charges and one charge was for a corner piece of wood that had one screw in it, removed so my husband who gets dizzy and falls, didn't have to get on the ladder but the son in law was already nearby over spraying our carport (we found out later in video) and he took the ladder a few feet over and removed it within less than 2 mins and we were charged $150.  Then they made up some story about our chain link fence that we the homeowners made it clear in text they were not to touch the back - but start in the front.  

Apparently they removed the chain link fence falsely saying I told them to do it, when in fact I never did, so they added on another $100 for that, and charged and additional paint $220 which we never saw nor agreed on needless to say they continued to ADD all these things on so they didn't have to give us a full refund of our overpayment, the balance due now -$480+.  Ortiz remodeling and repairs advertises and posts photos of doing all kinds of General Contractors work when in fact he is nothing but a handyman.  He claims and posts photos of him putting on new roofs, new electrical recess lighting, and so much more including plumbing and when asked if he could install our tankless hot water heater for our interior $40k budget remodel, his wife said, "he can do that!" But legally he is not allowed to do any of that in Okaloosa County.  When I asked Leslie if we needed a permit for our fence she said no.  

However, they failed to mention by omission that our hardi board siding DOES REQUIRE A PERMIT AND INSPECTION and in fact Code Enforcement called us and asked if they could come out and take a look at it, sure enough it's not done correctly, no flashing so water could potentially seep down and our $4700 work performed could be quite the issue in just a few years.  With regard to our doggie fence and gate; they chose to get something like chicken wire rather than the tough higher gauge wire photo I sent of my friends cabin porch which they've had for over 5 yrs now with no issues and 3 large dogs.  Leslie states she couldn't fine it but she only shops Home Depot and Lowes apparently and decided this lesser wire would do "just fine" she said.  

After one week, the wire that was sandwiched in began FALLING OUT.  Our gate which is lopsided doesn't close, the over spray on the house brick, concrete gutter pads on the ground are 1/2 red from over spray, there are drips of sprayer paint everywhere and our new millings area sprayed red rather than their black color, our back doggie door is white....with now red over spray, so is our porches and our cazebo roof red spray rather then all the brown; looks horrible all over and such a mess.  Warner did stucco in the back and my $75 Stanley Steamer Rug that is irreplaceable now; is ruined no apology no offer to replace, nothing. THEY DO NOT CARE and they destroy so much in their path it's quite unbelievable the lack of cleaning up and not taking care of any of our assets around the home to make sure everything is protected.  Their son in law happily stated it was his first time doing the lumber on the fence and gate areas and those are the two area not working properly, the entire fence wire is loosed every where and NOT TIGHT at all, they just "sandwiched the wire in " they said and the wire appears to be coming off the screws or something but our dog is still not secure, $3200.

 These ppl scheduled April 24 with lots of hesitation and argument and gaslighting and down right lies so it's no surprise they were a NO SHOW last week.  We expected it because that's how they are, they took the money and never looked back and don't take any responsibility nor apologize for their own actions.  She is telling her daughter that we sued our sprinkler system guy; we had to all laugh because he's our neighbor and best friend from the 70's so her gossiping and gaslighting and lying isn't working to her benefit so she'll continue to say things like, I should have known your insurance dropped you from your roof when in fact it wasn't the roof (solar panels is always and issue with insurance in FL but it's getting better) but the red flag on our policy was the hardi board.  

Code enforcement states he will go after their license LLC tax receipt and either prosecute and or heavily fine them once he takes our affidavit complaint to the building board and I've already spoken to the building inspector and he is wanting to do a full investigation as they are doing General Contracting work all over our area for years with no penalty or consequences.  We don't want to get them in trouble but we do feel they should follow the law when doing these type jobs so the homeowner's aren't stuck with these very expensive issues.  Glad we found out before having them do the interior but we decided with the first project no way would they come in since they don't even do a half decent job on the outside caulking and covering holes and making the home look better, instead they paint over OLD caulking and it looks like crap, as our neighbors and tenant across the street laughed and said.  Lazy work for higher pay.  Won't allow me to add all the roof shingles and $40,000 solar panels that were over sprayed,I'll try again.  Oh and see the shed and carport photos charged $200 and they only did the sides NOT THE TOPS of sheds, we found out later when the roofing company came to inspect the worst they;ve ever seen.....$14,000 damage - last guy who came out and charged $100 each to do the shed and carport 2 yrs ago used a ladder and did the entire tops; this is just lazy rip off work they charged us.  

They know it, we now know it, our neighbors are all taking out sponsored ads for us and posting in the surrounding area groups starting next week to show this crappy work and lack of clean up, and their no show to fix things so it will definitely get some attention, wish I could upload all the 100 photos, videos, and invoices.  It's pretty shocking our neighbors all agree!  My husband served 26 yrs with the Air Force and is a Vietnam Vet and 20 yrs with the Sheriffs department he's so upset, frustrated and angry, he's depressed this last week and at age 83 he put his heart and soul in this house only to pay his hard earned money to have such a left over mess and damage to his roof shingles and solar panels now is more than he can handle.

 I'm taking him to see his doctor next week, the depression and losing so much money to him is devastating, he blames himself for getting dizzy and falling a lot and wishes he had been able to do this work himself, it would have turned out much better and he sees the mess everyday and it infuriates him to no end.  I feel so bad for him, I"ve never seen him this depressed and losing a lot of money here, our neighbors are worried about him too.