On March 15, Monica Marchetti came to my house to give an estimate for tile. Her assistant, Victor measured and found that I would need 938 square feet of tile for my downstairs. I had selected a few tiles from Home Depot to give Monica an idea of what I was looking for. After seeing them, she left to go to her warehouse and bring me back a few tile samples that she had that were similar. I chose the ICI NS 6091 porcelain 20x 20 tile (as noted on the contract). We agreed on a price of $4427.20, with 50% being due right then as a deposit ($2213.60) to include tear out, removal of trash and installation (as noted in the contract). The date was set for March 22nd-24th (as noted on the contract). I provided Monica with a personal check for the deposit, (made out to Italia International).
(Cancelled check copy attached)
Monday, March 22 came and I had my mother-in-law over to house sit while the work began. Nobody showed up.
Tuesday, March 23 came and I once again, had my mother-in-law over to house sit while the work began. A wagon dropped off a lone worker to start the tear out of the carpet and tile. He came with a hammer and a box cutter. He did what he could, but it was nowhere near being finished. He also didnt come with a lunch or any beverages, which my mother-in-law provided for him.
(See pictures of the mess that was left in my entire downstairsexposed nails, tile pieces strewn all about, and carpet rolls)
Wednesday, March 24 came and I once again, had my mother-in-law over to house sit while the work was to be done. Nobody showed up. My husband felt sorry for the lone worker, realizing there is no way he could move all of our furniture out of the way, along with our washer, dryer, fridge, stove, etcso he and a friend moved everything into the garage.
Thursday, March 25 came and I once again, had my mother-in-law over to house sit while the work was done. The wagon came by again to drop off laborers to finish the tear out. Two workers stayed, but the work still was not completed.
(See pictures and note the rough concrete that we were left to endure, not to mention being without furniture downstairs)
Thursday evening around 8:30 pm Monica called me and stated the following:
The workers went to pick up the shipment and when they were unloading it, they noticed there was only 800 pieces, not the 938 I needed. So she called the company and they advised her that they did not have anymore, but that they would eat the cost and upgrade me to another tile, and that she would be over around 10pm to show me the 2 different tiles that I could choose from.
10pm came and wentI received another call from her around 10:30pm stating they would be here in 15 minutes. At 11:45pm Victor, her assistant shows up at my door with 2 smaller whitish tiles that looked nothing like the tiles I had selected. After all, my floor was originally white tiles. I told him I did not like those tiles. They were 16x 16 tiles, whitish in color and were ceramic. The ones agreed upon in the contract were 20x 20 porcelain tiles. He told me to let Monica know.
Monica called me after midnight stating again that the company only had 800 pieces not the 938 I would need. So after thinking about it, I told her that with 800 20x 20 tiles, that would be more than enough to complete my downstairs since I only needed 938 square feet, not 938 actual tiles (since they are more than a square foot each). Her words started fumbling and she stated she meant to say 800 square feet, not 800 pieces. So I told her to bring them over and to omit the laundry room and restroom and then we should have enough. Her reply was now that the tiles were not in Houston and she would have to wait until they were shipped here. But previously, in the same conversation she stated that the workers went to pick up the tilesthats when they found out it wasnt enough. Lies kept building upon lies and I just told her to please return my money and I would compensate her for the 2 days the workers came to half-way tear out the tiles and carpet with $192.00. She told me that they were professionals and they were paid more than that. What she did not know was that I speak Spanish and I asked the first worker (when he inquired about getting some food) how much he was getting paid to do this job and his response was $8/hour.
She then told me that she would contact the company that had the tiles and tell them to process a refund to her since they could not deliver the specified amount of tiles and that I just needed to allow her until Wednesday the 31st to receive the credit from them, and then she would refund my money. Then she called back stating that her contract states No Refunds, so she is going to be at my house on Wednesday with the workers and lay the whitish upgraded tile. I advised her not to come to my house, that the deal was off, she has already breached the contract in many ways:
1) The timeframe was March 22nd thru 24th for installation (the tear out hadnt even been completed by March 26th).
2) She was not going to have the agreed-upon tile (ICI-NC-6091) as in the contract.
3) She accepted a personal check from mewhich her contract states she does not accept.
Friday, March 26th 2 men whom I have never seen before, backed into my driveway knocking on my door demanding their tools out of my house. I advised them that the needed to contact Monica regarding the tools, as I had no knowledge of who they were. They continued banging and knocking on my door and demanding that I open the door and give them their tools. They went to their truck and I put a statement on the door that said she had until Monday the 29th to have a cashiers check for me for the balance of $2021.60 (my deposit less the fee for the workers). I went upstairs to back bedroom and called my husband, who was on his way home. I went to look out the front window and saw Monica outside with police cars. I waited until they left and the officer advised me that she was upset that I had their tools but that he could not force me to give them back to her. Then the police left. Monica then called me from a blocked number leaving a message, advising me that she was going to give me 24 hours to return her call or she was going to have her lawyers sue me for breaching the contract. I did not answer her calls anymore after this. Not to mention that my floors are now covered with very rough concrete, exposed nails, tile pieces, carpet rolls and I do not have any furniture, washer, dryer, fridge or stove inside since the tiles still havent fully been removed.
See the enclosed documents for more complaints gathered from the Better Business Bureau, Attorney Generals Office, and various other sources on how Monica has scammed others. She has many aliases and has to keep changing her company name running from angry clients. She has been arrested, found guilty and served time for theft and credit card fraud in the past.
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