I had some significant difficulties with Aqua-Glass pools a couple of years ago.  It’s under new ownership now and I’m sure the new owners are much more capable and sensative to customer needs that Rick, the original owner. But for several months, when we couldn’t get our pool completed or outfitted with the equipment we originally ordered it finally took a trip to a good lawyer here in town and suddenly Rick was very interested in making us happy customers. 
Of course we’ve met other customers of Rick’s Aqua-Glass and we have yet to meet any who had a good experience.  My suggestion to anyone who is anticipating installing a new swimming pool by anyone is to set aside a couple of hundred bucks for lawyer fees and try to NOT pay for everything up front.  Next time I’ll use an escrow account kind of like building a house - and the contractor would have to ask me for a “draw” on the various stages of construction. 
We foolishly paid for all of it up front and that was a big mistake.  It’s all fine now, everything is to our liking and the experience of seeing a big lawyer drill it to Rick wasn’t unpleasent for us either.

I can really sympathize with HarperG’s plight. A close friend had contracted with a “remodeling firm” to renovate some bathrooms in his house.  He had even checked up on this outfit through the Better Business Bureau. To make a long story short, this contractor sent unskilled employees in to do the job, and eventually walked off before the job was finished.  Complaints to the BBB were useless; they are powerless to help.  It took 3 years and complaints filed with the State Licensing Bureau before civil and criminal charges were ever filed against this guy.  It turned out that the contractor was never certified to do this kind of work. It got his attention though, and he finally coughed up some compensation money in order to avoid prosecution.  It really gripes me because I work for a reputable contractor and hate to see these “bad apples” bringing the industry down.

We truly need to look out for each other when it comes to contractor scams.  It isn’t fair to the homeowners or to the good contractors. 
Let me give you some info about the BBB are selective on the complaints that they disclose therefore giving callers a false sense of security.  I have tested this as I called them and the building dept to check the status of a local contractor to see if the existence of my complaint was disclosed.  No and No. 
The best source of information is the county court house baycoclerk.com It is free and search on case history.  I love that site.  I only wish that I had known about that before I hired a local monster.  I checked on his license and the BBB and was told he was in good standing.  Well, the county court house certainly painted a much different picture.

Know the facts before you hire someone!!!!  I wish that I did.

Here’s a Contractor story for you in a nut shell.  I didn’t do a back ground check since he had a license I thought that he was already checked out by the state.  Boy was I wrong!!  He is a several time convicted felon on crimes of dishonesty and violence and is running around like a loose cannon destroying anything in his path.  He demanded pay advances from me regularly and I gave in at first to help him out then the situation got way out of control. 

He offered to throw in a few extras as offsets, incentives or to correct his subs errors at no extra cost to me.  I asked him once to put things in writing but they were after all small things and he just said “I’M AN HONORABLE MAN” you can trust me just ask anyone.  I sure wish I had asked the criminal division at the court house or even in Kentucky.  Oh my gosh what a mess I have gotten my family into.  I live in fear!!!

What a nightmare this contractor has turned out to be.  He has taken advantage of me like you wouldn’t believe and those little extras he is now suing for me claiming I refused to pay him.

MY QUESTION TO ALL OF YOU IS:

DO YOU THINK THAT HE INTENTIONALLY DIDN’T HAVE THE EXTRAS IN WRITING AT “NO CHARGE TO HOMEOWNERS’ KNOWING THAT HE WAS GOING TO USE THAT AS A BASIS FOR A BOGUS LAWSUIT LATER

OR

DO YOU THINK THAT HE THREW IN THE EXTRAS IN GOOD FAITH WHEN THINGS WERE GOING WELL THEN WHEN HIS PROFITS WEREN’T AS HIGH AS EXPECTED AND I WOULD NO LONGER ADVANCE HIM MONEY HE WANTED REVENGE??

I guess the courts are going to have to decide.  Can you believe that at the mediation the mediator in my opinion seem to favor the builder’s case. 

I can’t believe that this guy’s abuses are allowed to continue.  After he’s done screwing me over he will prey on someother unsuspecting woman.  What a fool I was.

After the DEAR FRIENDS story, I had to check the contractor that built my home to see if it was the same one. Well, it looks like he isn’t but he’s cut from the same mold. I sat across from the AH and his lawyer with my lawyer trying to get my punch list done which by the way was just things I had specifically spelled out on the plans that he bid on. He sat in that official meeting and said he would have those things done in the next two weeks. I haven’t seen him since and he won’t answer my calls.

I found out some information on the Florida today news site. It said that due to the constuction industry lobby that complaints made against contractors aren’t allowed to be disclosed unless an agency steps up, investigates and prosecutes.  Like that is ever going to happen.  What a scam for consumers to be misled when we call for a reference to hire someone.  Like I always tell people after I got burned by a builder.  bay county ovation web or baycoclerk.com (case search) Know the facts about anyone you hire!!