Artezano's Inc Daniel Arguelles This company STOLE our money! Miami , Florida
Daniel Arguelles, the owner, met with my husband and portrayed himself as a licensed roofer. He sold us on his imported handmade clay barrel tiles which we thought were a perfect match for our historic home. They agreed on a price and he provided us with a contract. He removed the handmade Cuban barrel tiles from our roof, made repairs and began the process of putting up the roof paper and copper flashings.We thought everything was going great until uniformed state agents came to our home and demanded that work stop immediately.
We were informed that Artezano's did not have Workman's Compensation which we did not know was required by law. Since we just moved to the area and were new home owners, we were in the dark about this. He had gotten a permit in the city so we thought he was OK to work. As it turns out, this was not the case. Danny begged us to please give him time to try to get workman's comp which we did because we still thought he was an honest individual.
In the meantime, it was rainy season and the water poured into our house on a daily basis. We had extensive wall, wood floor and ceiling damage throughout our home. Finally, Danny admitted to me during a phone conversation that he was in fact not a licensed roofer and had gotten out of roofing because the workman's comp insurance was too expensive. He had been able to get a permit through the city because he used his uncle's general contractor license.
At this point we decided we needed to get someone else to complete Danny's work so we could stop the water damage and asked Danny to sign a change of contractor form to expedite the process. He said he would not sign such a form unless we signed a waiver releasing him and his uncle from damages. i told him that we would absolutely not do that since he had lied to us about being a roofer and had not completed the job according to his contract.
Moreover, his negligence had caused extensive damage to our home which we would have to pay to have repaired. He told us he felt badly about the whole situation and promised that when our tiles were delivered from Colombia, he would deliver them to us since we had already paid him $25,000 (plus $3,000 for the copper flashing) and we did not even get close to getting our money's worth.
Since he didn't sign a change of contractor form, we had to wait 10 business days in order for another roofer to be able to start working on our roof. It rained EVERY DAY. We had two roofers come in and they both told us that Danny had done a terrible job. They both said the copper flashings had been improperly installed and would have to be removed and replaced or we would have water leaks within a year. There was wood that had to be replaced, paper that had to be taken off and many other repairs that had to be done.
Basically, we were starting from scratch again with a new roofer. We waited our ten days, got the new roofer working and our house was dry within a week and a half. In the meantime, Danny assured me over the phone that our tiles were on the way. Then he said they were at immigration at the port. Then he stopped picking up the phone. By this time, we half heartedly expected this would happen but held a torch that he would do the right thing. This never happened.
So, on top of the $28,000 we gave him and the copper company, we had to pay another $49,000 to a new roofer plus another $5,000 to a copper company for all new copper flashings and another $16,000 to order clay barrel tiles. (We tried to use "S" tiles to save some money but since our house is historic, the town did not allow it.) We are still waiting for the arrival of our tiles and coincidentally, the place we bought the tiles from told us that Artezano's had stiffed 3 of his customers as well.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Ivette
coral gables,Florida,
United States of America
Talk is cheap.
#3Author of original report
Wed, February 15, 2012
How dare you insinuate that this is somehow our fault or that we are to blame for the situation you put us in. Yes, it was our every intention to salvage and reuse the antique tiles that you removed from our home. We were going to integrate them with the Colombian handmade tiles that we were supposed to have received from you and never did. We still have the tiles and tried to use them with the barrel tiles that we purchased. The historical society of coral gables was thoroughly aware of every step that we made and we tried to integrate them with the tiles we purchased from Spain but could not.
We do have a contract from you that you conveniently made out to our former general contractor. I'm sorry that you feel the need to betray your customers by using your uncles license number to do work. Moreover not having workman's compensation is illegal in this state. Too bad that we didn't do our research on that - shame on us for that one.
With regard to us using our original roofing contractor that we didn't hire - we didn't have a choice! You left us with an unprotected roof! It rained every day and the water was pouring in! We even still gave you the benefit of the doubt and gave you time to get workmans comp which you were unable to produce. Are you kidding me? What were we supposed to do? Continue to let the water pour in, have more ceilings collapse? Let mold form inside the walls? I dont think so. We had two other roofing companies come in for estimates and went on the advice of our GC and used the other company. I also went before the board of architects and got my roof tiles approved. I do things the right way - we are people of our word. You told us you were sorry and that you would deliver our tiles. Repeatedly. That never happened.
Yes, you are right - my daughter and I could not live in the house under those conditions. But that certainly does not excuse you for what you did to us. Obviously I'm not the only one. And I will continue to pursue this wherever I see fit. I have a contract, I have affidavits from two roofers that can attest to the poor work you did, and I have the business card of the uniformed state agent that stopped your workers while they were on my roof. I also have cancelled checks that we gave you. But more importantly I have now a beautiful new roof and I have my integrity because I am a person who keeps my word. Not that I care, but how can someone like you sleep at night?I trusted you Danny. We both did. That was our mistake.
Daniel Arguelles
Miami,Florida,
United States of America
Ivette
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, February 15, 2012
Your story is a fabrication for your own benefit. Your roof has been completed now for some time and coincidently by the original roofer your husband had originally insulted. There exists no signed contract between Artezanos and yourself. If you can produce one, I would be very interested in seeing it. Chapter 11 of the Florida Building Code and the Coral Gables local ordinance require the salvage of antique Cuban and Spanish Tiles public or private for re-use and re-application as a requirement before re-roofing. Some consider this a major inconvenience similar to an expensive asbestos abatement. The re-conditioning of said antique tile for re-use is very expensive and specialized, and in most cases also a requirement for historically designated structures because of its significant character defining aspect of the architecture. The re-conditioned tile has always been in your possesion and curiously did not find its way back up on your roof. There are many roof tiles that could have been assimilated into your job without the need of bastardizing such an historically important home with machine made contemporary roof tiles. It was your own choice
There have been no others that have been ripped off. I will make a point to respond to the other comments as well. I am aware of your very thorough compliant to the Miami Dade County Officials and the fact they found no probable cause. I wonder why?... I'm sorry we did not have the opportunity to meet in person, perhaps if we had, your husband would have not been so misguided. You were never present. If you can't produce a signed contract I will ask you to please refrain from slandering my company with your self serving comments or I will persue them legally.