FIREPLACES AND BBQS

Derrick originally cleaned our small smoker and barbecue on April 16th. We paid him $500.00 for the job. That day he did finish the initial cleaning the barbecue but it did not worked properly again until we hired another company to replace parts and complete the job. Derrick told us on his initial visit that some of the parts were worn out and gave us a quote for new parts. We agreed to purchase the parts and have Derrick install the new parts as the barbecue was 5 + years old and was an expensive built in model. We waited about a month for Derrick to deliver and install the the new parts. In the meantime, Derrick had to come back twice to adjust the barbecue because it was not lighting or working properly. After one such adjustment, my husband attempted to use the barbecue but flames came out through the knob and burned his hand. Derrick said the burners needed to reinserted in the gas valve and he would fix the problem. While our barbecue had initially needed cleaning, it had been working before Derrick's cleaning and we had never had any safety issues with it. On May 19th Derrick came back and installed some of the parts but said the burners he ordered were the wrong size. He asked for payment in full, including $300.00 for the two new burners and $250.00 for new briquette trays. We paid him an additional $750.00 on the 19th. Derrick said he would be back the next day with the proper size burners. He never showed up the next day nor did he call to let us know he would not be there. On May 22nd, Derrick again promised to return but, once again, did not show up. We had planned on using the barbecue for dinner guests and told him that when he promised he would indeed come. He did not show up and, when pressed, Derrick then told us that the burners he was supposed to pick up were accidentally sold but we could use the barbecue as it worked "fine". This was the time that flames came through the knobs and burned my husband when he tried to use the barbecue. On May 27th, we were still waiting to get the burners and for Derrick to fix the barbecue. He finally showed up on May 29th after several requests by us. On May 29th, my husband told Derrick we were not comfortable using the barbecue until the new burners were installed and, after the burned hand incident, everything was completed and checked out. Derrick reiterated that the barbecue was safe to use. It was, in fact, not safe. On June 8th, we again asked Derrick when he would install the burners we had paid for on May 19th and he said he would be there at an unspecified time that day. He again never showed up and later said he was "slammed" and would be there June 9th in the AM. We once again arranged to have someone wait for him. He never showed up that morning. He texted us later that day and said he was in the hospital with a finger injury but his associate would deliver the parts to us in the morning on June 10th. Again, no one showed up or called. We expressed our sympathy about his injury but told Derrick we were, by this time, completely fed up with the un-kept commitments and no shows, We asked him for a date he would DEFINITELY be able to deliver the parts or give us a refund of our money. On June 15th, we still had not heard from Derrick. On Wednesday, June 17th, Derrick told me he would be at our home before Saturday the 20th to deliver the parts. He did not show up on Thursday June 18th but on Friday June 19th said he would be at our house by 3 PM the next day, Saturday, June 20. For the last time, we arranged to have someone wait for him and, once again, no one showed up on Saturday. When he originally told us he would be there Saturday June 20th he added that, if he was not, we would have a refund of the money by Monday June 21 or, at the latest,Tuesday June 22. To date,we have not received a refund and we had another company come to inspect our barbecue and install the new burners. It has now been two and a half months of broken commitments, excuses, missed appointments and general frustration with derrick and BBQ RENU. We are now preparing a small claims action to recover our $550.00 and cover any work that needs to be redone by the new company as we do not trust anything Derrick has said or done. On his initial visit, Derrick tried to sell his services to have our patio furniture redone, our patio tiles refinished and our cars detailed. The only bright spot in this experience that our contact with Derrick was limited to our barbecue! Today is June 30. We still have not received payment and have had an established and reliable BBQ contractor come and inspect our BBQ. Our BBQ parts have been replaced and installed by a new, established and reputable company. This was done within three days of their initial visit. When the new company inspected the work Derrick had done, it was discovered that Derrick had plugged holes in our old burners with aluminum foil and that was how he determined that the burners would "work just fine" until he delivered new ones. The new contractor told us the burner was indeed a safety hazard and a liability for anyone to suggest we use it that way as Derrick did. We also discovered that Derrick had not replaced the two briquette trays which he had charged us $250.00 for. We now had a new charge for the parts Derrick charged us $550.00 for. The parts were replaced and installed for $150.00 less than what Derrick charged us for 5 1/2 weeks ago and never delivered. Since this all began, I have looked up Derrick's "License" that he represented on this site as TL12467017 and that he was licensed as a Handyman.The State of California does not issue Handyman's Licenses. There is, in addition, no record that we could find of a valid Contractor's License with the State License Board. The State also requires all licensed contractors to display their license number on all advertising. The Angie's List ad did not have a valid California Contractor's License in it. A Trade License is not the same as a State Contractor License. In addition, the State Board website states that it is a crime to contract for home improvement services (for which built in BBQ repair qualifies - I checked) for more than $500.00 without a valid State Contractor's License. Derrick charged us $505.00 for his first service and $750.00 for his second service including $550.00 for parts never delivered. Both amounts are in violation of State law for operators without a valid Contractor's License.The penalty for doing so is a monetary fine and or 6 months in jail. The State site said it is currently very active in cracking down on offenders. We intend to pursue a complaint with the State in addition to our small claims action. As my husband and I are also over 65 years of age, we intend to report BBQ RENU to the State Consumer Affairs Board as "Elder Abuse" statutes also apply for payments made and merchandise and services not supplied to consumers over 65 years of age. On Friday, June 26, Derrick said he was putting a refund check to us in the mail. When it did not arrive on Monday, June 29, we asked Derrick if it had indeed been mailed. He stated that it had not been mailed on Friday but had been mailed on Saturday, June 27. As the check had not arrived on Tuesday, June 30, we again questioned Derrick and he first said he had mailed it from Los Angeles but, when pressed if he had really mailed the check, Derrick said he would deliver the check at an unspecified time to our home on Wednesday, July 1. We declined his offer of an unspecified time (we had been "burned" by him too many times by his unspecified appointments ) and offered to meet him and pick up a check. We received no answer to this demand and have notified Derrick that we would be filing all relevant civil, criminal and Elder Abuse claims if our money was not refunded by July 1. This series of events has been most distasteful and has left us with doubts about using any service not personally recommended by a trusted source. It is our hope that Angie's list will investigate our experience. We are happy to provide extensive documentation to any interested party.

THIS IS A SMALL LOCALLY OWNED COMPANY. THEY WERE VERY FRIENDLY AND WILLING TO SERVE THE CUSTOMER. EXCELLENT SERVICE AND I WOULD RECOMMEND TO ANYONE NEEDING FIREPLACE STUFF.