- Report: #1434515
Complaint Review: Ruben Barraza - Paradise Valley Arizona
Reported By:
Rippedoff -
Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
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Updated:
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Ruben Barraza
Paradise Valley, Arizona, United States
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Ruben Barraza Posed as a licensed General Contractor, did a terrible job and stole money Paradise Valley Arizona
Consumer beware. Ruben Barraza is someone posing as a licensed General Contractor. He made promises to deliver a fully remodeled home using the crew of skilled subcontractors working for him at a very good price. He is very charming and will show you pictures of him being a referee for kids and make you believe he has successfully completed several projects for high end consumers. He has a background in sales for a new home builder in '04-06.
In October of 2017, I hired Mr. Barraza to do a remodel of a home in Scottsdale. He estimated the completion time at 60 days. From the start, things did not go well. He was late to start and his subs took far more time to complete the flooring install than they should have. Mr. Barraza claimed they were the best and good work takes time. I trusted him as he was referred to me by a friend who used his sub to complete a bathroom remodel. After the floors were installed, the job came to a halt for weeks. Mr. Barraza had excuses ready at every turn (guys on vacation, working other jobs, etc.), but just when I was about to fire him, he started work again.
After almost 3 months, not one room in the house was 100% complete and with hard money financing the project, I was already over budget. Along the way, more than 12 subcontractors were hired. 3 different carpenters, 3 different tile subs, 2 stucco people, etc. Mr. Barraza claimed they all kept trying to rip him off. In later discussions with some of these subs, I found out it was the opposite. Mr. Barazza wasn't paying them or was only paying them a portion of what he had promised (all while I was paying in full for the jobs to be completed).
Each job was taking weeks because Mr. Barraza was taking full payment from me, giving partial payment to the subs and pocketing the difference. Meanwhile the subs were quitting and he was hiring people on the fly to complete the jobs. The jobs were being done poorly and slowly.
Mr. Barraza was given enough money to have the job completed and he told me he ran out of money with more than $10K in labor and materials still needed and already paid for.
After doing some research (which I should have done much earlier) I found out he was not licensed and had actually been found guilty of contracting without a license previously and lost in court (check the general contractors registrar). When I confronted him, he threatened me. He refused to account for where the money had gone on his end and blamed me. I fired Mr. Barraza and had to finish the job myself using my own subcontractors. Once I began doing the job with my own people, almost all of the work Mr. Barraza had done had to be finished or redone. He had no care or attention to detail. His painters mixed paint with water, his carpenters didn't make things level and his plumber (the maintenance man from his apartment complex) actually broke one of my appliances.
Long story short, if you come across Ruben Barraza, do NOT hire him. He will overpromise, under deliver and leave you holding the bag at the end. He has nothing to lose, so good luck getting anything from him in court. He can't hold on to a sub because he doesn't pay them and you will end up paying the price in the long run.
