Consumers Beware: I am coming to you today, October 12, 2016, with inside information about Island Dream Homes of Edgewater FL., 32141. This company is owned and operated by Brett Jones and Mickey Mansfield; two of the most immoral, selfish, self centered, egotistical, con artists you will meet in the field of contracting, remodels, renovations, and all around home improvements. They operate in both the commercial and residential sectors of the industry and have a history of not paying their accounts and leaving their customers with unfinished jobs and liens on their homes by the suppliers they do not pay. I was a General Contractor along the NJ shore for 20 yrs., who specialized in "turn key"
additions, renovations, remodels, and custom homes; before moving my family here to Florida, just over two yrs. ago, and shortly after the post "Hurricane Sandy" construction boom; which was our opportunity to enjoy the second half of our lives in warmer climates. With 20+ yrs. in the industry, and not one negative claim or report, to the department of consumer affairs or the BBB; I searched for work here in Florida, to keep busy, and being to young to retire; with a company that took just as much pride in their work and reputation as I did, while operating my company in NJ. In comes my working/inside relationship with Brett Jones, Mickey Mansfield, and their company Island dreams Homes. Upon my
first meeting with Brett Jones, which by his request, was at Norwoods Tree house in New Smyrna Beach Florida. Brett went on and on telling me how he once worked for NASA and though he himself has never picked up a tool or has any idea of how to build something, that he, in fact, was a visionary, and an extremely intelligent man who's calling was knowing how to price a job to make money. That he alone was the architect, engineer, and builder of Norwoods Tree house, and that it had all come from within his head, and then was brought to life for the public's dinning pleasure. Not overly impressed with the Tree house, though a very nice establishment, I saw it as nothing extraordinary compared to
the homes along the NJ shore that I had worked on for 20 yrs. Brett Jones then proceeded to tell me to ride by and take a look at the Black Dolphin on Riverside Drive, a local Bed and Breakfastl, because this too was one of his very own creations. Needless to say and as I'm sure you can figure, Brett Jones and Island Dream Homes were nothing more than the company that pulled the permits and tried to coordinated the talented builders who actually did the work. If you speak with either of owners, they will each tell you that both projects were well over budget and well extended in there time frames, as well as the fact that 90 percent of the time Brett Jones and Mickey Mansfield were no where to be found,
unreachable by phone, and didn't have a clue as to what was going on and what the scope of work entailed. I also later found out that Brett Jones, did not in fact work for NASA. He worked for a communications company that was contracted to do work at the Kennedy Space Center and was let go by this employer for unspecified reasons. Before having this information I decided that I would give being employed by Bretts company, Island Dream Homes, a shot and see what he was really about. I began work the following monday after our meeting at Norwoods and remained employed for a period of four weeks before having seen all that I could stomach and morally endure. The final straw was watching and listening
to how they left several of their customers with piles of demolition debris, that had been there for quite some time, piled up in their front, back, and side yards; not in dumpsters; to deal with the threat of flying objects during Hurricane Matthew. When all the while, they had no intention of spending the money on dumpsters to remove this debris before the storm. Instead Brett Jones had myself and another employee come to his personal residence on North Riverside Drive the day before the storm and board up his windows, remove conveyable objects, and basically batten down the hatches, so to speak, while he set up for his boat to be stored at a local marina. Brett and his family then headed to a hotel room they
had reserved in Orlando Florida to weather the storm. Now mind you, this was just days after he had told these customers that he was either arranging for his employees to take care of it or that he was having a dumpster delivered to their homes to get the debris cleaned up before the storm. Neither of which occurred. This was just too much for my conscious and not only did I no longer want to work for these two, but I wish I could say I did not even know them. To give a brief synopsis of my four weeks working with Brett I will tell you that I encountered cat and mouse games of catch, every Friday, while trying to get my paycheck. I heard everything from, "I thought we were holding the first weeks pay"
When during our first meeting at Norwoods Tree house we clearly discussed the first week being paid in cash, as a trial to see how things went; to having his partner Mickey Mansfield tell me, " I could come pick my check up at Brett's house; and while in route, received a text, stating that Brett had had the checkbook in his possession and was unavailable. Upon arriving at his home anyway, I found he was in fact there, but was taking a nap. I found myself, after finishing up for the day late on a Friday, having to drive an additional 25 minutes further from my home than I already was, to find my check taped to the front door of an overgrown, nearly empty office complex on the back streets of Edgewater; when both Brett
and Mickey had to literally drive past the job I was working on in order to get home themselves. The best one yet, and another key in my sudden departure from working for this company was how they left us, there employees, with absolutely no paychecks before Hurricane Matthew, but tried to play the concerned employer, by giving us each a computer generated check for $200.00, made out to cash, to a bank that was already closed in anticipation of the storm; and stating that $200.00 was all the bank would allow because of the high demand for cash due to the storm. We ultimately were left with a check we could do nothing with, but deposit, and one that would not clear till the following
Tuesday after the storm which is when we finally received our regular payroll checks. All through the storm and aftermath with no money while Brett Jones exclaimed he had over $16,000.00 cash in his money clip. We received a statement of "I can't tell you how grateful I am that you guys came and boarded up my house and made it secure", and now basically, take this worthless check and go fend for yourselves. These were just some of the character trait's I encountered, while on the consumer's end of this company; I can tell you that neither of these two have any idea as to the scope of work that was to be performed on any of their jobs. I would be told to go to Home Depot each and every morning to pick up
and load in my own vehicle whatever material it was that I needed for the day and then have to wait while the cashier from Home Depot tried to get Brett to answer the phone to get a credit number from him. This was only after he would question why I needed every item that was on my cart,.... and if he felt something was to expensive I would be directed to get the cheapest thing possible even if it was not uniform with the existing materials in the home. This all occurres because neither Brett Jones nor Mickey Mansfield, have any idea as to what's involved in building what they have promised their customers, so therefore they cannot make material lists and cannot have deliveries dropped at the jobs as
needed. This leads to huge delays in the works progress, under bidding of jobs to where the customers are told that things were not included in the contracted work and that they would be extra, and customers left receiving inferior materials and products, or materials and products they do not like or want. Their so called lead carpenter, Joel is a complete joke and has caused the flooding of homes due to not using the proper water supply line for a refridgerators ice maker when the proper one was actually supplied with the refrigerator. This causing the destruction of a brand new pre-finished hardwood floor after a kitchen remodel was 90% complete. Then even though the new flooring had been run
under the new kitchen cabinets all the way to the walls, Brett Jones told his customer that he only intended to replace the flooring in the visible areas leaving the soaking wet damaged flooring under the cabinets to build mold and continue to fester until they eventually, if at all, dried out. This woman ended up having a lien put on her home by a supplier they did not pay. The bottom line here is, I am not a bitter ex-employee who has some sort grudge against Brett Jones or Mickey Mansfield or Island Dream Homes. I left them, so don't believe otherwise. I am a seasoned carpenter who takes pride in the work I do and I have always seen customers homes, for what they are; Their sanctuaries, safe havens, lifetime
investments, and places they find comfort in their surroundings and the visions they have intrusted licensed professionals to bring to life to the best of that professionals ability. I have worked for 20+ years to uphold these traditions and fought to keep people like Brett Jones and Mickey Mansfield, and companies like Island Dream Homes from giving the true talented professionals with integrity and values from getting a bad reputations as contractors. You can Google my company "James S Humphreys" Const. & Remodeling and see that in 20 yrs. I have not one complaint or claim with the NJ dept. of consumer affairs or the BBB, nor have I ever been in any type of litigation over a job. To this company,
carpentry, is simply a money making scheme. Neither of these two know anything about carpentry. They are BS and con artistes, looking to make as much money, as fast as they can, with as little effort as possible; while having no regard for your home. You are a paycheck to them. Do your own homework. Research them for yourselves. The information is out there. Talk to you local building dept., consumer affairs, and the BBB. You don't have to take my word for it. They will try to tell you that they had a Secretary who embezzled a hundred thousand dollars from them right under their noses and they never knew. That it was their roofing partner that didn't pay their accounts.They will play on your kindness and look
to your sympathy for their misfortune. Believe me, these two keep way to close of tabs on their money to let something like that happen. They are con artists, liars, cheats, and thieves. Consumers Beware: This is information they do not want you to have from the inside. Good luck to all and do yourself a favor and avoid doing business with Island Dream Homes. There are plenty of other reputable contractors out there.
Greg
New Smyrna Beach,#2Consumer Comment
Thu, December 21, 2017
Please read and take to heart every word this gentleman, Jim, has to say about Bret Jones and Island Dream Homes. While we have never met, his words are as if they came from our mouths. My wife and I bought a 980 sq. foot condo in New Smyrna Beach in September 2016 and got the exact line - NASA, Norwood's Tree House, the entire saga. We too found out that Norwoods Tree House went well over budget and took much longer than necessary and Brett Jones eventually sacked. Bret Jones has no concept of the time value of money, except, when it's his money.
In short order we figured out he was taking our weekly installments and buying material for other projects while making a long series of lame excuses of why work was not being accomplished on our site. In short, he is dirt broke and each day plays Robin Hood, spinning money off one project to finance another. Interestingly enough, as we were signing our initial contract he told us he had hired someone specifically to work on our project, that person I assume authored the attached letter.
I wish so badly he would have stayed on as we probably would have sacked Island Nightmare Homes ourselves and hired him to complete our project! As it turns out, the $16,000 cash Bret Jones was sporting around like a peacock in his money clip was in fact ours! That was our exact down payment! Shame on you Mr. Jones! I can, therefore, attest to the truthfulness and validity of Jim’s testimony! We both had the misfortune of looking behind the mask and seeing the true Bret Jones - not pretty.
Our four-month project ended up taking six and a half months and went through the majority or the peak renting period, costing us roughly $18,000 in lost revenue. Bret Jones lost not a moment of sleep over this minor technicality. Towards the end of our disaster he actually prided himself on the fact that he never gave us an actual completion date, therefore, in his own demented way, he was never behind on our project. If you’re on a budget or have any kind of time constraint, run away from Island Dream Homes!!! We feel compelled to share our horror story in detail and we are writing a complaint of our own detailing our experience with Bret Jones, so rather than duplicate my story here, please look for own tale of woe on this site, the Better Business Bureau and Angie's List.
Island Dream Homes
Florida,#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, March 24, 2017
This report was made by a former employee who worked with us very briefly and was not happy. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss this issue further. You can go to our website at www.islanddreamhomes.com or call us at 386-428-0064. Thank you.