5/2011 I signed a contract with Mr Jara to have an addition built to my home for $109,000.Thecontract included Adding a new bedroom with bathroom over the existing garage, adding an outdoor kitchen,install a gate, replace entire existing roof & also installing the roof for the new addition(all materials for the roofwere included in the price) installing new driveway & building a porte cochere in the front of the house. Not included in the price was floor tiles, light fixtures,bathroom fixtures& driveway pavers.The plans were submitted to the City of Hialeah Building dept by The Fortress Group (Architect).Due to an easement on the front of our property directly beneath where the porte cochere was to be existed an easement.The City gave Samuel of The Fortress Group a list with contact info of all utilities with a right to the easement. Permission was obtained in writing from each one to build over that easement. All permits were approved by the City of Hialeah. Prior to Manuel commencing I had already paid him $50,000.He started demolishing the existing driveway & lawn in preparation for the porte cochere. A few days after he started a notice was posted on the house that theconstruction had to stop. It was posted by Everglades Pipeline. The City of Hialeah did not have a record that this company had a pipeline in that easement also. I hired an attorney to handle this situation for me. Her name is Annie Diaz. She obtained permission from the Building Dept. for us to continue with the rest of the project while the issue with Everglades Pipeline was clarified. Weeks passed after the City gave permission and nothing else was done on the property. After much insistence from me Mr.Jara began work on the house again (Its 2012)
In February Mr.Jara told me that I had to leave the house because the electricity had to be disconnected. He told me that I was going to be out of my house no more than 2 months. Mr.Jara contracted High Performance Electric to do the electrical work. During that time Mr.Jara built the room above the garage. 4 months had already passed and electricity had not been restored to the house. I passed by everyday and nobody was working on the house. One day I passed and saw Fernando Canizares (owner of High Performance Electric) working there & I asked him why was it taking so long.He said that Manuel had not paid him.The problem was money.I called Manuel and told him this and he said not to worry that it would be solved in a few days and In 2 weeks max I would be able to return to my home. Months passed. All this time I was living with my wife & 4 kids in a small 2 bed apartment.I rented furniture since he told me it would be 2 months max I figured it was more cost effective to rent than to buy them. I called the company that I rented the furniture from (Cort) and told them to pick it up. I was relieved because I could not afford to pay the rental.The apt. was without furniture we were sleeping on the floor. Manuel was aware of this, he went to the apartment.More months passed & electricity still wasnot restored.After my wife had a nervous breakdown upset because she didn't want the kids to spend Christmas sleeping on the floor Manuel finally finished the electrical work in mid Dec.
During the time we were out of the house water leaked through the area that was removed for the new addition.Large parts of theceiling fell inside the house in the livingroom and the dining room.Mold grew on the furniture & the walls.He told us that the Cityof Hialeah was to blame because they didn't let him continue & that was the cause for the delay and he said we shouldsue the City.He told us that we should change the price on the contract to a higher price in order to be able to file a claim.Isaid no. Manuel referred me to an attorney and took me to the City of Hialeah building Dept. At the building Dept the person that spoke with us was very clear that the only responsible person for the damage to the house was Manuel for failing to complete the work.He was clearly permitted to finish the rest of the project.After that months passed and he did nothing.
In May of 2013 we asked him to come to the house to talk.We had already paid him $90,000.The porte cochere could not be done due to the easement. The cost of the porte cochere was $20,000Deducting that he was paid in full We told him this.He said that he is sorry that even though we cannot build the portecochere we have to give him the money because he is broke and doesn't even have money to buy milk for his kids.He implied that he usedthe money on another project and they didn't pay him. He said that he placed a lien on that property and once they paid him he could finish our house.He threatened me by telling me that he would have all the permits closed if I did'nt give hime more money. He had to request an inspection for plumbing and lied to us.He said that he had already done so and that the inspector didn't come, then a few days later he said he never requested it because he didn't have the money.After that he stopped answering my calls.He didnt do the roof, didn't purchase the materials for the roof,didn't finish the otdoor kitchen, didn't buy or install the sheetrock,didn't install the floor, didnt do the driveway or install the gate. Left holes and debris all over the front and back yard.
All
Miami,#2UPDATE Employee ..inside information
Thu, January 25, 2018
First of all let us start by saying that we appreciate all of our customers’ feedback and reviews. We take your comments seriously and we are always looking for ways to improve and make our customers experience more pleasant. Our goal here at All Coast Builders LLC is to provide exceptional customer service to all of our clients and we regret that in your particular case this was not the situation. However, in an effort to preserve the truth and in order to protect our honor and good name, as a business we feel is necessary to make some of clarifications you’ve opportunely omitted from your feedback/review.
An agreement was reach to make an addition to your home that is correct; however you failed to mentioned on your feedback that the initial agreement was signed due to you insisting and pressuring our team to sign the agreement only with only architectural plans on hand and without the construction permit approval of the City of Hialeah Building Department, you were advised then by one of our specialist that the prices were subject to change pending on the additions or changes that the electrical, mechanical, plumbing and structural plans provided for the project and once the plans were authorized by the city of Hialeah. It is worth mentioning that with this advice you agreed then to pay for any difference in the project that may have been under estimated due to the lack of construction plans.
As you mentioned in your review you did provide us with a down payment, this down payment was use for demolition and excavation machinery, demolition workers, and also material such as steel, wood, nails and reinforcement tools and we were on track with the project until the company Everglades Pipeline stop the construction due to an oversight by however was in charge of approving the plans with the city which clearly is not our responsibility.
After this, construction did slow down and as you mentioned weeks passed until we retook the project, however what you failed to mentioned is that you stop making the payment installments that were due in order for us to be able to continue working, these payments were your responsibility and was part of the agreement we had reached, yet you failed to delivered as promised. However, after a few discussions with you and following our good will to help our customers we agree with you to continue working and we accepted a new payment schedule proposed by you, because you claimed your financial situation had change and you needed us to work with you which we did against our better judgment.
You also mentioned in your reviewed that you were asked to move out of your home for a period of several months so we could work on your electrical grid. We did request and advice that you move out of your home for that period of time, this was done for your safety and for your comfort as you know Miami has some extreme temperatures during certain times of the year, we imagine you wouldn’t like to put your family and loves ones at risk when there is no air conditioner or if there is an electrical malfunction while construction is going on, it is unfortunate that you are using this, that was initially intended for your safety as an instrument to voice a complaint. Regarding the company High Performance Electric there was never any issues with them at all, prove of this is, that currently we still have a personal and professional relationship that keeps growing strong with mentioned company.
After most of the project was completed and after working with you through your lack of payments for nearly all of the project, you unilaterally decided to stop paying for the project and you expressed your desired for us to finish the project without collecting any more money, money that was owed to us and that you had agree to pay, considering that we had lost money by helping you when you couldn’t make payments and the project needed money to be finish we sat down with you explained what the situation was to which you responded by making treats, intimidations and offenses to our team, not happy with this you also decided to collect all materials from our providers without our consent, materials that you pay with bad checks, as a consequence police got involved and a case number was assigned which is public record and can be found by simply searching your name in city records.
Not happy with all of this and with the obvious agenda of destroying our good name you decided to complaint with the Florida Department of Business Professional Regulation which after taking a look at your case dismissed it and closed the case.
As stated at the beginning of this reply, our goal is to always provide great customer service and we go to great lengths to achieve this. However, it is clear to us that your only objective is to attack our good name and reputation. We are truly disappointed you never had any intention of fulfilling your agreement or even made the effort to try to reach a solution instead you prefer to attack our business with arguments that stir away from the facts in an attempt to sabotage our good reputation.