Chris Smith owner of several different shell companies has taken thousands of dollars up front with the promise to complete a premium outdoor kitchen. He brags of his history working as a law enforcement officer in Baton Rouge, LA for the Sheriffs Department. I belive he uses this resume to lure un-knowing customers into paying him up front as "Construction Draws".
He then many times partially completes the work or doesnt complete it at all. Then doesnt pay his sub-contractors either. For some reason there is always a reason for a delay. Also, once project begins the price always seems to increase again and again.
I feel sorry for anyone that doesnt know any better and hires this guy. I also feel sorry for the hard working sub-contractors that he continues to abuse and not pay for they labor and services.
He also claims to have vast experiance working in the banking business for countrywide/bank of america. If you will remember many people went to prison for mortgage fraud that worked for these guys. I should have known better but now he has disappeared and has thousands of dollars of my money.
Hopefully the Travis County Sherrifs Department will arrest this guy soon.
I just want my money back for work he didnt complete. Not asking for un-reasonable request.
My fear is that he has not only done this to me but has done it to many others and continues to take money up front and I am supporting his lifestyle which I didnt sign up for.
If you are looking for an outdoor kitchen please do yourself a favor and do not have anything to do with Flo Grills or anyone associated with them.
BUYER BEWARE !!!!
BRAD
Texas,#2Author of original report
Mon, July 23, 2018
THIS PERSON HAS SINCE RESOLVED THIS MATTER AND BOTH PARTIES HAVE RESOLVED THIS ISSUE.
Chris
Alabama,#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, July 07, 2017
rebuttal to the rip off report
We were hired to build an outdoor living project that included bathroom, refacing wood columns, extensive masonry, outdoor fire place, and an outdoor Kitchen. Then the customer added another project after we began the Outdoor living area. He wanted us to to build masonry columns for his fence. We normally require a deposit of 50% on every project. The customers asked if we would take a much smaller deposit and he would make a weekly payment until completed. The customer made a few payments but they were never on time as he promised. We continued to do the work. The customer would change his mind mid construction on finishes and other things that affected the way we build. We never charged a change order we just continued making the changes to meet his demands. The customer hired us to be the GC and schedule the entire project. He would then insert himself in as a GC and demand that we have subs come in at times he thought they should instead of at the point they realistically should. He wanted us to bring in the plumbing company to do small things between delays but they did not bid the job to make 10 trips but instead work for 2 days straight. I tried to explain that to the customer that if they did it they would charge much more than the bid. He hired his own electrical , and plumbing. They had no direction and they created more problems getting into every ones way and creating reworks. I would spend hours, for example, filing for permits with Texas 811 to dig trenches for electrical and plumbing. I had to go out on many occasions and meet with my plumber and my electrical guy to determine where the trench needed to be. Then once the permits filed I meet the 811 tech on site to make sure it is done right. The day we are allowed to dig the trench we are not allowed to dig before 11:30 AM The customer says the electrical guy said he will dig it before the time so he cancels that off our invoice. They did dig it and at the end of the day it created problems with the fencing company, no plumbing trenches were done and so on. The customer self inflicted problems and delays are all blamed on me. The customer says he would increase his weekly payment to 10K but again it never came, I asked about the payment 10 days after it was due and he sent me an email that he would not pay for anything till complete dated May 15, 2017. He then said he would pay in full once the fencing was complete. it was completed on May 30th, 2017. I sent him the open invoice that he owed $11,650 for the fence work. He response with an email telling us to never step foot back on his property or I would be treated as a treasposer. His words were he could not believe I have the "Balls" to send him a bill. I was only following his, (again modified), payment plan. The same day May 30th I had a second load of 6 Tons of Stone delivered to complete more of the Outdoor Living project. I spoke to the customer that day and told him that his latest modification to the outdoor kitchen would delay his framing being built up to another week due to so many changes. He asked me and my subs on the job if we were coming back the next day. We all said yes, of course we were. He then complained about the plumber he had hired as he was MIA without any notice and he was going to fire him if he had not shown up that day. The customer then called both my contractors and asked them to come back and finish the job working directly for him. He called the Travis County Sheriff Office and tried to have me arrested. They informed me that the customer was told we did nothing wrong and we were working and had been working till told not to come back. They then informed me that the customer was trying to get his monies back via Paypal. They said if he did to call them back and they would arrest the customer for theft of services. The customer tried to have my accounts frozen and get his monies back twice with Paypal and both times Paypal agreed with us and denied his claims. He has gone on every review site to bash myself and my companies. He has claimed we committed Fraud on some, on others he claims we took his money and disappeared, and on others he actually admits we did do the work but then we did not finish, (Again he would not let us). He has made offers to settle with me in private emails claiming he would remove or update his reviews, This is extortion and we have sent this to our lawyer as this is a civil matter.