The Town Carpenter’s Son
The Town Carpenter
5241-B New Peachtree Road
Chamblee, GA 30341
Office: 404-379-8317
E-mail: info@thetowncarpenter.com
http://www.thetowncarpenter.com/index.html
http://www.thetowncarpenter.com/gallery.html#
The title of this lesson in contractor swindles, is Never Trust Beautiful Business Web Sites. I would love to believe that a small owner business do better work than large companies, but the reality is with contractors it is six in one hand and half a dozen in the other when it comes to professional integrity.
We looked for months, seeking kitchen remodeling contractors. Contractors would draw up estimates and give us plans, but the conversational process would break down as soon as we requesting specific products. The owner of Paragon Construction, lost the kitchen contract when his subcontractors broke our bedroom ceiling by placing bags of insulation on the attic floor.
We visited Home Depot Expo and Lowe’s many times, and even had a kitchen plans with estimates prepared. Never hired Home Depot or Lowe’s but I heard that they use outside subcontractors and their cabinets are overpriced. A professional kitchen designer needs a retainer to work from, and these retainers may be $5,000 or $10,000.
Our kitchen is small, apartment size kitchen in home, with no room for kitchen table. So, it did not seem reasonable to spend $30,000 on cabinets alone. I wanted a floating island cabinet next to the range or cabinets that sat on legs so that I could clean the floor of crumbs and food particles.
IKEA, had the type of cabinets that I wanted, except they did not fit our kitchen. I tried unsuccessfully for four months to get the IKEA cabinets to fit the room. A co-worker suggested that we try a custom cabinet-maker to build the cabinets to fit in the room instead of buying pre-cut cabinets.
Great idea with the wrong cabinet-maker. Sometime in November 2006, I saw the Town Carpenter’s web page, contact them via emails and set up an in home visit.
The Town Carpenter owner is Mr. Gary Luke
Gary P. Luke – President/General Manager/Sales As founder of The Town Carpenter and its predecessor, Strictly Custom Interiors, Gary brings more than 15 years of business ownership and management experience to the firm. Earning his Journeyman Carpentry Certification in 1979, Gary also brings to the table over 25 years of carpentry and woodworking experience. Driving his company’s success on exceptional quality at a reasonable price, Gary Luke personally guarantees his customers’ satisfaction and stands behind each and every product. Gary lives in Atlanta with his wife and children.
Mr. Andy Luke, answered the phone and made an appointment to prepare a project estimate. Mr. Andy Luke, the Town Carpenter’s Son, in my opinion is a swindler and thief of the lowest rank. Andy represented himself as an authorized employee of the Town Carpenter with a lot of experience in cabinet design and fabrication. Andy does not have his own shop and claimed that he worked with his dad, i.e., father and son enterprise.
Before going further, I did not jump head first into doing business with this company. I got estimates from three other kitchen design centers. Also we needed a laundry pedestal for the new front loading laundry pair. Each pedestal, if purchase from the manufacturer would cost $230 each. We decided to get the pedestals made to save money. We hired The Town Carpenter to make two laundry pedestals for our front loading washer and dryer. Mr. Andy Luke made the pedestals, in the Town Carpenter’s shop and delivered them on time, $250.00 the total price for both pedestals.
The estimate Andy gave me, come in higher than the kitchen cabinet budget. So, I decided to use another company recommended by Paragon Construction, owner Mr. Bill James. This local company had a good selection of pre-made cabinets, however they did not have a rolling island and it would have voided the warranty to modify the cabinets.
Because we did not experience any problems with the laundry pedestal job, we figured to go ahead with the Town Carpenter design and installation. I called the Town Carpenter the third time in March or April 2007. Andy and I discussed at length all the things I wanted, he listened and told me all the things he could do for me, in addition he would add other things at no cost, such as counter height table for the microwave. He prepared a project sheet and explained that he needed half up front and half when the project was finished and that it would take him from start to finish 30 days and the installation would take him only 1 day.
This is the project sheet Andy wrote up:
Kitchen Contract and Project Sheet
Many contractors and skilled trades use these type of forms as contracts, project proposals and estimates, etc. One of the best plumbers, who has done work for my family and myself for more than 20 years used a project sheet as a contract for all his jobs. I accepted the proposal and agreed to the 50% deposit, which is a big, big mistake. Never agree to give any contractors more than 15% down-payment on any project. In addition, never agree to give any money without getting more information from the contractors, such as, his business license, complete home address and business address, liability insurance and a bond against defective work. I believe anytime a project cost more than $800, a homeowner should get a criminal records check of the contractor. Don’t rely on the absence of BBB complaints against the contractor, because swindlers change their business names and location, faster than they change their underwear.
Here is where everything falls through the rabbit hole, Mr. Gary Luke, owner of the Town Carpenter understood that his son worked on my kitchen cabinets. In fact, according the Gary, he gave Andy permission to do the project.
In March 2009 Andy approached me about doing a small kitchen telling me it was for the mother of his supervisor at Yellow Freight. Andy was planning to marry in early May and said he needed extra money for his wedding and honeymoon. He asked to use my production facility after normal business hours for what he claimed was a few kitchen cabinets. Though his request was against company policy, I said would consider it and later gave him permission to use the facility one time only. I would learn in July 2007 that the project was in fact for _______ _________, who has no ties to Yellow Freight or anyone there and was for an entire kitchen renovation, written by Mr. Gary Luke to the BBB on 5/12/2008, Case #27049141.
We paid Andy $2,637.50 March 2007. In May, he showed up with half the work finished. I had the entire kitchen, walls and floors removed and replaced, so that he could get the kitchen completed in one day. I pushed other subcontractors to get the room finished, so that Andy could install the cabinets on May 4, 2007. By May 3rd, Andy brings part of cabinets explaining that he needed more time, cause he worked another job, and that if I gave him more time, then he would discount the cost of project by 10% and build and design the kitchen cabinets with a rolling island and the microwave cabinet. Andy also wanted the rest of the money paid to him that day. In fact, he begged me for the money, with the plea he really needed it for personal reasons. Note of wisdom, be very careful when contractors asks for favors in the form of money and never pay for work before it is totally finished.
I decided to draw up another contract, that Andy signed and dated. Note of wisdom, swindlers don’t care about contracts, they will sign anything to get your money in their pockets.
Homeowner's Contract for Kitchen
June 2007, we still did not have a completed kitchen. Andy installed the cabinets and the trim but he left a 40% of the project incomplete. He kept asking for more time with the project, but he make and broke appointments every week. July 2007, we still not see any progress made on completing the kitchen or correcting problems with the installation, so I telephoned The Town Carpenter business line and spoke to the owner Mr. Gary Luke.
Mr. Gary Luke and I wrote several emails and he also visited my home along with his wife and another time with his production manager. I later learned from the court records, while Mr. Luke and I discussed the kitchen cabinets, that she used the opportunity to spy about our home and taking notes about the appearance of our office/den.
We basically wanted to get our kitchen finished and all the problems Andy’s caused corrected. We took the position that Mr. Gary Luke, gave permission to Mr. Andy Luke to work as an independent subcontractor from The Town Carpenter, that Mr. Gary Luke knew that Mr. Andy Luke answered the business line for the purpose of stealing clients and that Mr. Gary Luke knew about our kitchen project. Nonetheless, Mr. Gary Luke failed to protect his customer and clients and therefore he holds total responsibility to correct all problems without any cost to us.
Mr. Gary Luke wanted us to pay him $867.06 to complete the project and correct problems. From July 2007 to April 2008 we still did not have kitchen finished. We had other kitchen cabinet makers look at Andy’s work and discovered that Gary had missed telling us about certain problems with the cabinets. Andy had made the range hood cabinet the wrong size, which caused the range hood to sit too low about the range, as a result the burner flames had started to melt the hood lights. We also spoke to several attorneys, who advised us to give Town Carpenters an opportunity to correct the problems at no cost to us and if they did not then file a lawsuit against the company owners and Mr. Andy Luke.
June 9, 2008, I filed a complaint with the Dekalb County, Magistrate Court, Case # 08M051368. Statement of Claim
Breach of contract, contractor fraud, misrepresentation and negligence. Failure to comply with terms of contract of May 3, 2007. Misrepresentation, intentional and neglient regarding ability to renovate, design, fabricate and install custom kitchen cabinets. Contractor fraud, contractor refused to complete kitchen project and to repair the numerous mistakes and damages, after being paid in full.
We hired another kitchen remodeling company to finish the work.
Cost More to Repair Bad Work
To be continued the story is not finished.
Personal stories about the problems caused by hiring negligent home repair, remodeling and building contractors.
