CHE HOMES FRANK CHE misleading and deceiving business practices. Confidential, Florida
In Agust, 2008 we submitted a request online on www.bidclerk.com a for tile work to be performed on a house that we had recently purchased. The house is new construction, built in 2005. We wanted to make cosmetic long lasting improvements. We chose to hire Fook Meng Che aka Frank Che with Che Homes after verifying he was licensed, as appears on Florida Department of Business Professional Regulation .
The house had a fiberglass shower in the master bathroom that we decided to have removed and have Che Homes construct a new ceramic tile shower . After the completion of the work from Che Homes (shower tile and tile flooring) the house was vacant for three months. During that time nobody used the shower. When our tenants moved in, they started noticing signs of mold through the master bedroom closet walls and floors.
We visited the property to verify their statement and hired a plumber to give us an opinion. The plumber opened the closet wall to get to the source of the problem. His diagnostic was that the shower was not properly built. Apparently there is a membrane on the bottom of the shower that was not folded correctly and there was a gap in the grout. The water was going through the gap and the membrane letting the water through the walls and floors. The newly installed carpet in the closet and freshly painted walls were damaged as well. The plumber charged us $1,000 to rebuild the shower enclosure and repair the adjacent areas from the water damage , plus $343.47 in materials.
We called Mr. Che to communicate the issue and give him the opportunity to make it right, but his response left us astonished.
He said that we approved the work upon completion. How could anyone have assessed an improper plumbing work underneath a layer of tile? It is not unreasonable to expect a newly constructed shower to last many years , if not the entire life of the house itself.
He also mentioned that the grout gap was a problem with that particular product, which was selected by his subcontractors.
He said that his warranty on his work is 90 days! This was not stated in the agreement we signed and it is an overstatement to mention that that type of work should last longer than that (?)
When we called him to advise of the situation, he stated that he had never worked with those contractors before and had one of them (Alex) call us to discuss the situation, but Alex referred us back to Mr. Che.
We hired Mr. Ches company through a trustworthy web site and verified proper licensing but Mr. Che, turned around and subcontracted cheap labor with no previous knowledge of their capabilities. Furthermore, please note that one of these contractors admitted to us that he was an illegal alien from Mexico .
We paid him the agreed amount on the day of completion, gave him an opportunity to amend the situation, but were ripped off.
We demand the prompt refund of the $1,343.47 dollars that cost us to repair the damage. We have supporting documentation available upon request (pictures, invoice and receipts). Otherwise we will pursue the revocation of his license as well as conduct an aggressive marketing campaign to prevent Mr. Che from continuing his misleading and deceiving business practices.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Chehomes
United States of AmericaFalse accusations by the homeowner
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, April 13, 2011
I am the owner of the company and please allow me to share my side of the story. The accusations made by the homeowner in every aspect are completely false and flat out lies. I value all my customers and insist on making things right and understand the significance of customer service. I was hired to remove old flooring and replace it with new ceramic tile which was purchased by the homeowner. Everything was completed on time and 100% satisfactory of the homeowner. This single family property was intended by the homeowner to be an investment property and was to be rented out to tenants. I guarantee all tile jobs for 90 days due to normal wear and tear. After a year and two months I received a phone call from the homeowner demanding $2500.00 for the damages they incurred due to my tile job. During this time the house was being occupied by tenants. I inform the homeowner that my work was passed warranty and that if there where damages I should have been inform immediately so I would have the opportunity to access the situation and not a year and two months later and if it was my fault that I would repair the damages. The homeowner didnt give me any opportunity to fix the situation but just wanted money. After some intense investigation it was determine that the tenants lack of maintenance (normal caulking and just plain out abuse.) I informed the homeowner my findings and that my work was performed correctly.
Other accusations:
1. The plumber hired is not a licensed plumber but a handyman (Not qualified to make accusations)
2. Homeowners story changed many times. First she said no one lived in the house then she said tenants lived in it for over six months. Secondly she said the problem was a crack in the grout that caused the leak then later she said it was the membrane. (Membrane was instead correctly by professional tile installers we have pictures to proof it)
3. The homeowner stated: We called Mr. Che to communicate the issue and give him the opportunity to make it right, but his response left us astonished. (Incorrect, they wanted cash or a check from me, never gave me the opportunity to fix the situation just wanted money.)
4. The homeowner stated: When we called him to advise of the situation, he stated that he had never worked with those contractors before and had one of them (Alex) call us to discuss the situation. (Another lie, I have worked with my tile installer many times and he always provided excellent work. He has been installing tile for over 15 years.)
5. Homeowner stated: one of these contractors admitted to us that he was an illegal alien from Mexico. (Another false accusation, My tile installer and his workers are US citizens and this is just another cheap shot at my company)
There are always two sides to every story and the homeowners accusation of my company is absolutely misleading and completely false. I go above and beyond to correct issues but this homeowner wanted to extort money from my company due to their tenants abuse of their property. I value my customers and have a 99% satisfactory rated. I wish I could make everyone happy but she was very difficult to please and only wanted money.