Complaint Review: Caudle Way Construction - Orlando FL

My experience with Caudle Way Constructions has been anything but great.  To begin on March 12th, 2018 I signed a contract with Demetreiss Caudle of Caudle Way Constructions Stating he would begin work on my yard which included Grading, sloping yard, Tree and grass removal, framing bottom of trees, framing an area for my dogs, putting in pavers and designed rocks, as well as placing mulch around trees and dog`s area, and framing play area. He removed the trees because he felt the yard would look better and bigger without the trees which he wouldn’t charge me extra because it would benefit him to take pictures when done to be able to show new clients his work. As Per our contract he would begin work March 19th, 2018 and have it completed by March 24th, 2018. I stressed to Demetreis it was important I had my yard completed by the 24th because I had already purchased party supplies and a play set that would be used for my grandson’s birthday party

April 14th, 2018 the party was set to take place in my yard and I still had to have someone come in and build the playset. Since my yard was not complete by then there where decoration and food that were wasted and even though he found us a location to have the party and said we had authorization to have it there at last minute it was an inconvenience as the day of the party after we got there we found out we did not have permission to have the party there so we had to share an area with people we didn’t know and worry about getting thrown out. Unfortunately, Mr. Caudle didn’t even begin work on my yard till the first week of April already breaking our original signed contract. In the agreement I would pay a $2,250.00 deposit and $2,250.00 at time of completion for a total of $4,500.00. I also gave him an additional check for $700.00 because he said he needed it ASAP in order to finish the yard. This agreement was broken as well as I had to pay additional money out of pocket for certain supplies and tools. From the time we signed our contract

Mr. Caudle has given me nothing but excuses and showed terrible work ethic from showing up late in the day working two hours and then stating it was too dark to continue, on days he would come in the morning he would spend his time on the phone taking cigarette breaks and cracking jokes with his employees, to stating he couldn’t come due to rain although I understand bad weather there were days it did not rain and he simply did not show up.

On June 12th 2018. I reached out to Mr. Caudle to express my frustrations letting him know that if he didn’t communicate with me and finish the job I would have to contact a lawyer. Mr. Caudle apologized and said he would come by to work on it. When he came to my house he suggested a weed eating chemical to help kill the grass and make the job easier which should not have been needed as he used a machine to remove all grass and roots and said it would not grow again. So it’s obvious he did not do it correctly the first time and maybe had he came to work as scheduled it would not gave grown back. Getting this product took 3 days and I had to pay for the product out of pocket even though it should have come out of the job money for my yard. During the 3 days Mr. Caudle explained he had issues with his work truck delaying the process. The weed eating chemical was put down on June 16th ,2018 I didn’t hear from Mr. Caudle Until I reached out to him on June 20th, Letting him know the weed chemical did not work, he explained then that he would be there the next day. He said he was working on getting a Machine to help kill the grass and said he had been dealing with an issue involving his children. Again I was understanding and told him to come the next day.

On June 21st he did not show up when I asked him what happened his excuse was that it had rained and the place he was renting the machine from was closed. That day it hadn’t rained until late in the afternoon, had he came in the morning he would have been able to get plenty of work done before the rain. I didn’t hear from him again until the 25th where I reached out to him again to let him know this was ridiculous and he was leaving me with no choice but to take legal action. He responded with yet another excuse about his personal life this time he had not come by because of his mother’s birthday, I thought this was very unprofessional but still made an attempt to understand and communicate on my yard. On June 27th he explained to me he would be getting the machine to remove the grass from my yard and he would be coming on the 28th. On the 28th Another day wasted no call no show.  I texted Mr. Caudle on the 29th no response. I waited a week and on July 6th I texted Mr. Caudle to find out what was going on his response to me on that day was that his aunt was in the hospital and he was there with his father. I had gone a week with no response from him only to receive yet another excuse and empty promises about getting the job done. I was finally fed up and scheduled a meeting with my lawyer. I message Mr. Caudle to keep the communication open and stop receiving responses from him. My lawyer advised me to write Mr. Caudle a letter to let him know I would be pursuing legal action. I sent my letter Via email and mail on July 9th, 2018.

Yet again I received no response from Mr. Caudle. I waited 3 weeks and my lawyer reached out to him directly with another letter explaining to him that we would have to pursue legal action if he did not respond. Mr. Caudle called my lawyer the very next day and explained he had not finished the job because he was fired and felt he didn’t need to refund the money as the contract states no refund. This is not true at all as I have reached out to him several times to finish the job. Since then we have not heard back from Mr. Caudle On August 14th I made an attempt to resolve the matter in a civil matter and called Mr. Caudle his number was disconnected. I have not had any communication with Mr. Caudle in a month. The lawyer I was speaking to did a free consultation as he is a friend of the family but cannot pursue further unless I pay out more money. I can’t afford to hire him as I am a single mom and it took me a long time to save up money to pay to get my yard fixed. In this entire process I have spent more than originally planned. This has affected not only me but my family as well my children and I have all taken time off work to be there on days he stated he would show up only to have him come for an hour or to or not at all. The parts of my yard Mr. Caudle stated were finished are not level at all the people who came out to set up my grandson`s play set where not able to do so because of the ground not being leveled. I have pavers Mr. Caudle picked out himself that are not to my liking and set up or leveled properly either. In the beginning I simply wanted Mr. Caudle to finish the job he started that I paid for. Now I feel I have been taken advantage of and cannot trust him or his company.

After further investigating I`m not sure Mr. Caudle even has a business license which worries me even more. I would like for the money I invested to be returned to me so that I can find a reputable company to complete this nightmare of a job. I reached out to another company in which they stated the pavers were not put down correctly, were not leveled and didn’t have a strong foundation. As for the rest of the yard it was not leveled and that’s why I continued to have water drainage problems. My kids have not been able to enjoy the yard as it unsafe for them.