Complaint Review: Daryl Kral - DK A/V Install - Scarsdale New York

Daryl Kral of DK A/V Install is an absolute crook.  Mr. Kral owns a company that installs, what are supposed to be, high end audio and video systems for nightclubs in and around NYC.  He claims to have 20 years of experience in doing so.  He's got a great sales pitch, seems to be very knowledgeable and thorough.  Once you give him a deposit....it's all down hill from there. 

I hired DK A/V Install to install a new sound system and 10, 70" flat screen LED televisions in my soon to open lounge.  We met several times to go over the specifics of the equipment that would be installed, it's functionality, capabilities, cost and installation time.  At this point, he seemed very on point and thorough.  So much so that I even agreed to a few costly upgrades that he suggested. He told me the work would take 4 days to complete.  I told him it was important to be finished on time because we planned our grand opening 3 days later.  He promised it would be no problem!

Kral insisted on a rather large down payment (almost 50%).  I was hesitant at first, but after listening to more of his sales pitch I agreed.  Bad mistake! 

Daryl Kral did not show up on the day the work was scheduled to begin.  I called and texted him, with no reply, for two days!  On the third day he finally returned my call with some sob story as to why he couldn't come on the day he promised.  He promised to start work the following morning at 9am and again did not show up!  He ended up arriving on the following day.....5 days late!

At this point the work was way behind schedule and we were dangerously close to missing our grand opening.  Kral promised he'd be done the day before we opened our doors. 

On the second day of work Dary Kral demanded another 25% of the money.  I told him I did not feel comfortable paying him anymore money until the work was complete.  He became enraged and said if I didn't give him more money that he was going to walk off the job. 

He really had me between a rock and a hard place.  I had already given him  $10,000, which he had no intention of refunding, we were 5 days behind schedule and in danger of missing our grand opening.  Against my better judgement, I gave Kral another $5,000.  Bad mistake! 

Kral continued to work on the installation the following day.  Mid way through the day he said he would need additional equipment that he hadn't budgeted for and that I'd have to pay another $2,000 or the system was not going to work properly.  Again....I paid him the money. 

At the beginning of the last day of installation Kral demanded the final payment.  I told him the work was still not complete and didn't feel comfortable paying him any more money until it was.  Again he threatened to walk off the job if the final payment wasn't made BEFORE THE WORK WAS COMPLETE.  Again...I had no choice but to pay him the balance of the money or risk not opening.  ANOTHER BAD MISTAKE.

Kral worked on the system for about 6 hours that day.  He kept complaining that he couldn't get some of the components to work and that I may have to purchase even more equipment.  I refused and referred to the estimate and system outline that he presented to me during his sales pitch.  Again he became enraged and demanded more money.  I told him I couldn't afford to pay anymore money then I'd already paid.  Kral said "If you don;'t want to spend another $3,000 then this system isn't going to work and you'll have to open with no audio system".  Whaaaat? 

At that point Kral said he had to go pick up a piece of equipment he had ordered to complete the job.  He never returned.  Now I'm 24 hours away from opening and NOTHING Kral installed is working and he has effectively walked off the job.  He didn't return the next day either and again my calls went unanswered.

In fact Kral NEVER returned to finish the job and neither did the $22,000 I paid him!  I ended up having to delay the opening for a week while I found another person to come in and finish the job Kral was paid in full to do! 

To make matters worse, the guy I hired to finish Daryl Kral's work told me that the equipment that Kral billed me for WAS NOT what he installed.  In fact it was cheaper, inferior product.  He also showed me that Kral had run a vast majority of wiring and fixtures incorrectly and also used cheap, low grade, inferior product to do so.  He was even so brazen as to bill me for 70" TV's and in fact the TV's that were delivered for the installation were only 60".

Daryl Kral is a liar, cheat, con-artist and thief.  He makes promises he has no intention of keeping.  He charges for inferior products, shoddy workmanship and rarely if ever arrives on time or at all. He outright stole $22,000 from me!  The work was not even close to complete! He walked off the job and I never heard from him again! 

Do not do business with this con-man Daryl Kral or his fly by night company DK A/V Install!