My elderly parents live in the bay area. They were coming to Folsom (where I live) for a visit, but were unable to get their garage door open. They called the first company they noticed in the yellow pages - quite a large ad - that stated they could come out quickly. The receptionist (or whomever answered) figured the problem was the spring. The telephone quote was $55 an hour, plus the spring. The repair man (boy) started the work, and by the time he was finished the bill was almost $800!!
My mother was very upset and asked him why he did not tell her that it would be that expensive, and that she wasn't going to pay it. He stated that he had to replace the motors and various other parts, so that's what he did and how much it cost. He was very pushy and rude, and said that he had showed the cracked motors to my father... Who has Alzheimer's!
Well, because they were in a hurry for the repair so they could get their car and the boy was so pushy, against her better judgment she signed the repair contract (?) and charged the repairs to her VISA. When she called me on the phone in tears to tell me how much the repair had cost them, I was MORTIFIED!!! She could have bought a new door for what the repair cost! I told her to phone Home Depot and ask to speak to somebody there about the door, and call various other garage door repair companies to get their quotes.
Get this - TWO other repair companies knew EXACTLY what company my mom had called before she ever mentioned the name! They said that this company has a reputation for ripping people off - especially the elderly, and that they should be put out of business.
I have spent most of today surfing the internet to see what information I could find out about this company. It just so happens that the same owner of the San Jose company (Ron Bell) has a garage door shop here in Sacramento, too. AND his contractor's license is currently pending disciplinary action as well as an "accusation" to the Attorney General's office to suspend the current license. AND the BBB has numerous complaints filed against the company. AND the Sacramento company's previous license was already suspended, although the license was under a previous owner's name (a friend or family member perhaps?).
I ran all sorts of searches, and found your site. Imagine my surprise when I saw the SAME company had already been filed as a RIP-OFF by someone else in San Jose! In EXACTLY the same way! I called my mother and read the report to her, and she could have written it herself it was so similar.
The former employee (who the owners keep trying to discredit) was right-on with the tactics that these slime-balls used on my parents. We have reported them to the Better Business Bureau, the Contractor's License Board and the Attorney General's office. We have also emailed Action Line at the San Jose Mercury News. This people have gotten away with this too many times - this time they picked on the wrong people.
NINA
Folsom, California
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