Complaint Review: L&L Services - Austin Texas

Heres the short, and long story.

Short Story:
I hired Louie to refinish a hardwood floor. His tech (Erik Berry) that was sent did not sand more than 4 sq ft of a 150 sq ft floor, and then put a coat of polyurethane over top of it. I knew it was not sanded, because paint spots from a job done a week prior were under the polyurethane he had applied. He only sanded one stained section of the entire floor. If he had sanded the floor, that paint would have been sanded away.

I called Louie and he agreed that if paint spots were on the floor, then Erik did not sand the floor. Louie assured me they were on their way to fix it. He no showed over 20 appointments. At least once daily for two weeks straight.

During one conversation he told me that he did not have time to come fix the problem because it was his busy season, and is too busy with new jobs.

During another phone call to setup an appointment, Louie Diaz threatened to file a false police report against me, and then quickly hung up.

He lead me on to believe he was coming for another week. Then one day he "Promised" he would show up that day, then I never heard from him again. He has never answered a contact since.

Very shady character and business practice. He seemed to enjoy leading me on to believe he was on his way, and then not show up.

Long Story:
I called Louie Diaz of L&L Services to refinish the hardwood floor of a bedroom. A price was agreed upon, and the work to be done was discussed. This work included sanding the entire floor of the bedroom with multiple grades of sandpaper, and coating the floor with a layer of polyurethane. They would close the door after the work was done, and it was to stay closed for 72 hours. I was told this was VERY important. This would keep dust from sticking to the floor.

Louie sent out one of his workers named Erik Berry. He came over and worked at the floor for about an hour, left for an hour, and then returned and worked for another 45 minutes. I was also surprised that he only brought a small handheld sander, and not a drum sander that I have seen every other job done with. I was able to see the floor from outside the room, but was unable to enter the room and closely examine. From outside the room, the floor looked the same as before, but with a coat of poly over it. I was slightly confused, but knew I could not enter the room with the wet poly on the floor.

As Louie had told me to do, I waited 72 hours before I entered the room. After closely examining the floor, it appeared as if the floor was not sanded. This was something that I was not sure how I could prove. Then, I saw the paint spots...

I had painted the ceiling of the bedroom a week before the job was done. Little spots of paint got on the floor, most of them I swiped with my finger, leaving only small smudges of paint. Some were spots of paint that were a bead rising above the surface of the floor slightly. They were consistently scattered throughout the room.

Underneath the coat of polyurethane, were the paint spots. Small amounts of cheap Latex paint would no doubt be sanded away even with a fine grade piece of sandpaper nailed to a wood block.

I heard the sander being used from the other room, so I wondered, what was he sanding?

There was a large stain in an area of the floor that was the most visible blemish in the room.  This stain was butchered by sandpaper. It looked like he was putting way too much pressure on the little hand held sander he used.

By looking at the paint spots, I could be sure, that he only sanded one part of the entire floor. A very small space.

I'm not sure if he ran out of paper butchering the one spot, had another job to get to, or just didn't care. He actually neglected to sand over 90% of the floor, and then put a coat of polyurethane over top of it. He broke a piece of wood trim, and left machine marks on the floor.

So, I called Louie. Louie told me he would fix the problem, and set a date he would come out to fix it. Then did not show up.

I called him again, same thing. This continued to happen over a two week period, DAILY! He would assure me that he was doing everything he could to get over there but "was too busy with jobs that are paying, to come over to return money to a customer." quote.

I had to start calling from different phone numbers to get him to answer, everytime he said, we are on our way, about an hour, two hours, 30 minutes, it always changed.

Then one day when I started to explain my frustration with him, he threatened to file a false police report against me.

Finally one day I called, and he said "I PROMISE you, I will be there today. I have not promised you until now. I PROMISE you." Guess what happened?
... I never heard from him again after that. Never answered a single phone call or email. This is when I realized, this guy is enjoying this.

This enjoyment that was he was clearly experiencing, along with the fact he threatened me with an action that is illegal (false police report), makes me realize this is someone that I would have never trusted in my home. I am thankful that nothing terrible happened in the time he was there. Looking back, I am glad he never came back to the house.

Louie Diaz practices terrible customer service, and in at least one instance, sent a terrible, neglecting, unqualified worker. He also seems to enjoy sticking it to ripped off customers, and is not above getting them off his back through unlawful actions.

I would strongly advise against using him for any of his services.