Sunstate Designs - Homecare False advertising bait & switch;substandard work St. Petersburg Florida
I responded to an ad in the local paper; the product described was Tex Cote,"20 times thicker than regular paint",etc. To a widowed senior citizen, it sounded like a dream come true. It turned out to be a nightmare.
An older couple showed up to extoll the virtues of this wonder paint, and offered samples for me to examine. It was thick and textured. A lighter weight paint would be used on garage doors and trim, the Tex Cote would be too heavy for the garage door opener and would burn out the motor I was told.
There are 14 numbered items on my contract; number 6 is the one Sunstate is using against me. Number 6 states that something called HomeGard Textured coating will be applied to the exterior walls, I assumed HomeGard was just another name for Tex Cote, after all, it said textured.. The fraud was already under way and I didn't even know it. Many companies manufacture products under slightly different names.
While the man was talking, his wife was filling in the contract.Without my knowledge or consent, she checked two blocks to the right of the paint description, those blocks said "Textured" and "Smooth". The little missus checked "smooth" and never bothered to bring it to my attention or offer an explanation.
I signed a contract for $7000.00. If I had received what I believed I was purchasing, I wouldn't be writing this complaint.
My home was primed and painted in 6 hours or less. The paint is so thin you can see through it; it's so poorly applied, some places look like stripes; holes left from removal of hooks and screws are smeared with caulk, and still visible. The salesman assured me they would never be seen again.There are many more things in the contract Sunstate failed to do, but apparently lagally, the only thing that carries any weight is item #6, where Sunstate claims(falsely) that I checked smooth.
There is no texture to this paint, much less is it "20 times thicker than regular paint". When I asked the crew leader if they were coming back the next day to apply the Tex Cote, he told me they were done, "this is what you get for $7000.00 nowadays." They plucked their sign from the front lawn and took off.
The story is involved and lengthy, it's been going on since January 9,2004. It took a month to find an attorney who would even allow me to come in and talk this over, she said Sunstate has a RIGHT to come back and try to make repairs.
I'm confused and angry,Sunstate intended to defraud potential customers from the moment thet placed the ad in the paper, They delivered nothing as advertised, they charged at least 21/2 times what the job is worth, and they're the ones with the right??
Something's wrong in Florida if the state allows thie type of deceptive business to continue cheating people for years on end!
Write to Attorney General Charlie Crist; the Dept. of Business & Professional Regulation; Bethany Roza @ the BBB of Clearwater; your local political representative;the Federal Trade Commission; your local newspaper. I am currently filling out a complaint form to the Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
The only way to stop such businesses from cheating us is to bring attention to their less than honest business dealings.
The squeaking wheel gets the most oil.
Grace
Fruitland Park, Florida
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Mary
Spring Hill,Florida,
U.S.A.
Sunstate Designs
#4Consumer Comment
Fri, January 11, 2008
Hi Claire.
I know what you have been through with this Company. They have an answer for us all in their Rebuttle. The Guys who are doing this to us are the Smart ones in the Office calling themselves Doctors. In turn they put some Guy Answering our letters letting us think they are the Innocent Party. I wish someone would help us put them out of Business as they are a real menace to our State.
Sunsate Designs
St. Petersburg,Florida,
U.S.A.
Correct information
#4UPDATE Employee
Thu, November 15, 2007
This Customer is confusing TWO (2) seperate companies.
Homecare is NOT SunState Desings. His complaint is with Homecare and he should categorize it as such.
If he is not willing to do so, he is the one pulling a scam and trying to involve companies that have no reason to help him only to file suit to protect their good name.
Grace
Fruitland Park,Florida,
U.S.A.
Off the Hook! Sunstate Designs/Homecare Industries settled
#4Author of original report
Sun, March 07, 2004
On Feb. 23rd. Mike from Sunstate called and advised me my credit card company had rescinded the $7000.00 payment for their paint job; he also said that under these circumstances they wouldn't be able to come out and "redo" my home. (they were scheduled to come back on Wednesday 2/25/04)
For the third or fourth time, he said Sunstate was going to place a lien on my home, this time for $2000.00. I said OK. For whatever it's worth, their contract states that Sunstate has relinquished the right to place liens on property in such a case, but as they ignored all other aspects of the contract, there's probably no reason to place any faith in that item either.I was curious to see how that would work out.
Unless this law is different from the rest of the world, even in Florida, a lien holder is not paid until the owner decides to sell the property.
I'm still stunned that Florida with it's disproportionate dependence on the elderly retiree for its'financial survival has absolutely no agencies responsible for protecting one of its' elderly from unscrupulous businesses. $7000.00 is no drop in the bucket!
My acquiescence to his threat was apparently not what he wanted to hear, he kept talking, advising me of his right under law to do this. Once again, I said OK.
In the end, we agreed I would pay Sunstate $2000.00 and the contract would be ended. I consider myself extremely lucky to have escaped for this amount. If my credit card company had not come through for me at that precise time, I would have been saddled with an exorbitant amount for an inferior product.