Complaint Review: Doug Biasi

Doug Biasi with 5150 Designs (defunct company) now with another van customization  company did very very poor work.

Blinds installed in a van were simply resting on liner (not bolted in at all) and bounced and sagged within a day, and had to be secured by another company for several hundered dollars (they were extremely sarcastic of original work, the nicest thing they said was 'amateur').  Blinds bounced and rattled like crazy until secured correctly.

Blinds did not fit windows well, leaving gaps on either end (the stated intention when discussed in planning stages was privavcy with lights on, Doug assured the blinds would be custom fit- not...).  Unfortunately I did not notice this until tried to sleep in a lighted area 2 nights travel away from Oxnard, and light poured into the van.

Valences over the window shades (concealing that the shades simply rested in amateur irregular cut holes and were not tagged down) fell off within a day.

A sun/moon roof window was installed inproperly and mal-aligned impinging on a structural seam. It leaked on first rain and again took a third party fix at my expense to seal, with advice not to open. Basically, it was a 'squared' window  installed on a curved roof, and was the wrong product for the job, aside from being poorly installed.

A sofa bed was installed, initially in the wrong direction though that was corrected before I left the shop as that problem was obvious from the first.  However, when re-installed it was too close to the front seat which no longer goes all the way back- not that big of a problem right now, but will be when I have to access the battery under that seat, as access requires putting the seat back as far as it (normally) would go. 

As disturbing (or even more so) is that Doug lied. Initially making excuses for a late finish date though its clear he started only a few days before due, maybe the day before (he had said he needed 7 days, I gave him 10, he took 13- and he knew I lived far away and was hanging in a motel while waiting and on a schedule to get home).

A screen for the moon roof was never delivered, he said it would be sent and 'be at your home before you are", but of course it was never sent (who cares now... window is kept closed as repeated use may result in initiating leakage again).

When called he promised to pay for fixes that had to be carried out by a third party as I was home. He said he had called the company.   They never heard of him, and when I told him that he said he would call again... but 2 days later... they had never heard of him.  I paid for that repair (moon window leakage).

He stopped replying to any e-mail, or responding to calls. His shop folks basically said he was there but busy and would call back. Never did after a while.  I was out a total of 500 bucks more after having the roof window correctly sealed (it can not be correctly seated), and the shades secured. Did not replace the valances, they were stupid, not asked for, and only served to conceal lousy workmanship.

It should also be noted that he was unable to install 2 of the initial 6 blinds paid for, but did not refund the charge for the 2 uninstalled blinds.  He said he would sell seats he removed to install the bed and send the money to me, but of course that has not happened (nor is it likely to if it hasn't happened by now).

The bottom line is: lousy work, no matter what name or business he is working, totally and absolutely unreliable (as in lies) in whatever he says, and no one should have any work done by him, or any company he works for.  Please note other reviews, most are consistently unfavorable and repeat the same points- very poor work and lies.

p.s., I did use a credit card, tried to re-coup some of the charges (and was able to get back a small credit), but some not- the credit card in a small print clause I was unaware of only protected if charges were either in the state I reside, or within 50 miles of my residence.  I was able to obtain credit for what I spent on additional work, but not credit for the wrong and poorly installed  non-functional moon roof, nor credit for installation charges for blinds that were essentially not installed, but simply allowed to rest unattached to anything in a hole cut in the lining.