RICHARD JOHN GULASH JR. FIRST RESONSE GROUP, ROOFING RIPOFF IN ORLANDO Florida
Mr. Jeff Teague of First Response Group, Inc. came to our home and evaluated our house for a roof which was damaged in Hurricane Wilma. After measuring twice and investigating the tile choice we had made a contract was issued and signed on 6/26/06. A deposit check was tendered for $6000.00 to begin the work.
8 weeks later Mr. Teague informed us that he would have to increase the amount of our contract by $15,000. As luck would have it we also has an estimate for exactly the same tile and work from another reputable company for roughly 2 thousand more dollars.
I contacted Mr. Richard John Gulash Jr. who holds the contractors license in the State of FLorida. Lic CCC1326746. Mr. Gulash claimed the sales person (Mr. Teague) had made a mistake. After 3 successive phone calls Mr. Gulash agreed to find another tile and to meet the price of the alternative roofing company who also had estimated the job. Mr. Gulash called and confirmed another tile and said he would have my roof on in 4 weeks (roughly 9/15/06).
I requested copies of my permit that he told me was complete and a timeline for removing the old roof and prepping the roof for the new tile to prevent further damage.
Since the phone call mid August Mr. Gulash has not returned any of my phone calls. Requests for copies have been ignored and a request for the return of my depoist has been ignored.
Danny
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Danny
FORT LAUDERDALE,Florida,
U.S.A.
Response to rebuttal
#3Author of original report
Thu, August 02, 2007
Mr. Gulash's rebuttal is correct in the following situation. He was successful in defending himself in small claims court simply because I had nothing in writing, including the contract, at the time of the hearing. This is simply because he refused to provide anything for me to have in writing during all our conversations. The letter of the law worked in his favor and cost me my deposit.
It however does not mean this report is inaccurate. The events in this report happened as stated. What is of interest and important to note is that when Mr. Gulash was given notice that I was cancelling the contract with his company, I was able to successfully have a roof replaced on my home at roughly the same price as the original quote from his salesman. The job was completed successfully and all agreements written and verbal were upheld by both parties with no problems. This job was finished prior to our court date.
The comedy Mr. Gulash mentions of our day in court may have been at my lack of knowledge about the law. But one has to ask why I would risk losing my deposit in such a way and still going ahead with another roofing job and having that job be successful without a hitch prior to even learning my lesson about the law. Just because one is successful in court does not mean one is actually right.
I have learned one thing from Mr. Gulash and that is to never do business with him again. I also have learned that there are wonderful companies who have no problem dealing with their clients in a completely ethical fashion. This was an expensive lesson but lead me to meet a great contractor and have my roof repaired without a hitch!
Danny
Richard Gulash
Pembroke Park,Florida,
U.S.A.
The rest of "danny's" story
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, August 01, 2007
This is a clear case of someone who thought they would get over on the mistake of a salesman. "danny" was informed of the pricing error and given since my business practices are "Customer First" I offered him the opportunity to have his roof installed at true cost to make up for the error. An opportunity which he accepted. At the time he accepted he also changed the tile selection, this required a new permit. While waiting for the permit to process with the county he called quite upset (a profanity laced tirad), as it had taken longer than he wanted to wait. The delay in processing was no fault of First Response Group, just the normal permit processing time period. When the permit was processed by the county, in spite of his unprofessional tirade First Response took the "high road" and called to schedule the installation of his roof (still at cost). Mr "danny" declined the installation stating he would "see us in court".
His day in court was a rather brief and somewhat comical lesson in a lack of knowledge of the law as the judge "clarified" the finer points of contract law to "danny" and awarded judgement for the defendant First Response Group. The only thing "danny" accomplished was wasting time, money and the opportunity to get a great deal on a quality roof.
I would hope that rather than post this rebuttal the "editors" of this forum would remove this libel post regarding me and my company. Should they choose not to do so I may choose to include them along with "danny" in a lawsuit. I have confidence that since the allegations of "danny" have been proven false by a court of law that my libel siut would be very succsessful.
Regards,
Richard J Gulash
President
First Response Group Inc.