I found David Pena (The House doctor) in the Dallas Morning News. He made me feel like I could totally trust him from the beginning. His bid was lower than my other estimates from contractors. He lead me to believe he had a wonderful crew and that HE would be doing most of the work himself, and that was why his bid was so much lower. He came to me several times needing money and once ask me to pay him almost $10,000.00 in cash.
My husband did make him write up a contract and made him idomize costs which he was very much against. He told me that the first thing they would do was take a week or longer just to take off wall paper before mudding. Then when I walked in he told me that this was a new item they had at Home Depot and that it didn't require taking off the paper anymore, even though that was not in the contract.
He had different crews working for him almost weekly. He said everyone wanted to work for him and that they would call him in the mornings begging to work. When he caught his crew taping before painting or putting paper on my granite before working, he told them to quit wasting time and to just get the work done.
If they told him something wasn't right, he said to just make it work. We think he may have even faked a heart attack to gain our sympathy. When the last crew didn't show up, he said he had to fire them because he had given them every chance. He said they were drug addicts and ex cons. I believe in giving people second chances and helping people and not judging them, but he knowingly brought in these people without telling me. I left my belongings and sometimes even my children at the house when they were working, and David NEVER stayed at my house, so they were there everyday without being watched.
I was told that his last crew quit on him, because he was so mean to them. He asked us for the final payment to be made before he finished and to just trust him and he would have everything finished by the end of the week. He needed the money to get the job done. We gave him 75% of the final payment and he never did a days work after that payment. My kitchen cabinets are half on and the other half in the garage - none of which match. He never completed our mater bath - the toilet he bought was a piece of crap. It had a plastic seat and was the size for a midget.
He replaced a Kohlar toilet with a no name brand that was missing some pieces. He said we owed him $250.00 for that! He also took all of our old appliances and said he got us a 5000.00 receipt for a tax write off, which we have never received. On the last day that he was at our house, he was very ugly to me. It was an awful experience.
Please don't be fooled as I was at first. All cons have a way of connecting with people - that is their talent! I think it is very important to keep business - business. I gave him my garage door openers, a key to my home, (which he still has) and he knows the code to our gated area. I plan to sue him, which I have never done to anyone, so that he can't do this to others. If we don't stop him, he will continue this behavior.
Robbie and Julie
0 comments