Leisure Tech

Owner would never return calls. Talked to him once at time of signing contract in April, could not reach him again until we canceled in July (only time he called back was in response to cancelation email). Never received promised plan. Salesperson said bulldozer to be delivered on a Friday. Bulldozer did not show after we took off from work to wait for it. Too many red flags so we canceled. They said they won’t return my $3,300 deposit. Realized after looking at other companies that many necessities to pool installation were not in contract (plumber, etc.); estimated cost above contract approx. $10K. Salesperson said they do not install stone around pool (keeps patio from sinking, if you don’t wait 6 months for ground to settle), after insisting that we needed it to install patio, he said “ok, but it will cost you $4,000”. Went from “won’t” to “$4K” pretty quickly. Run far away from this company and the owner Mike. Mike takes your deposit and you don’t hear from him again!

We first learned about Leisuretech at the Hudson Valley Home Show in April, 2013.  We wanted to do something with our porch, which had fallen into disrepair.  They had a very nice display of a vinyl sunroom, and my wife and I had talked about replacing the screens with glass to make a three-season room.  We submitted our names to be contacted.
About a week or so later, we were contacted by Jim.  He came to our house, talked to us, and showed up pictures of jobs he had done in the area. We explained what we wanted done; he did a back-of-the-envelope calculation and came up with a figure of $20,160.  This was to include the new sidewalls with window, latticework between the floor and the ground, new stairs and landing to meet code, and provision for electrical outlets.  It also included a base floor; we asked about having something more put down and he said they could do that.  He also said they could do the electrical work and also look and see if the current ceiling could be replaced with a vaulted ceiling with a fan.  We asked if a building permit would be required, and he said he doubted it.  It was estimated we could be using the room by the end of August.
We said we would have to arrange financing, which finally came through in early May.  He came out, took some measurements, and a contract was signed.  A first payment of $5040 was made on May 22nd.  Nothing was heard from them until early July, when another person came out and again took measurements so that drawings could be made- 6 weeks after the initial signing and payment.  Drawings showing the room and the location of where electrical service could be provided were on the drawing.  We approved the drawings, and another payment of $5040 was made.
At this point my wife said we should check with the town ensure a building permit was not required.  It was.  I informed Jim of that fact and he said he would talk with the town building inspector about it.  Net result was we needed one, which required an engineer's report, a copy of the plans, a copy of the survey, and a copy of the contractor's insurance forms.  An engineer came out, reviewed the existing porch as best he could, and submitted a report.  Jim sent me pictures of the insurance forms which I printed out.  In the meantime the material had been received and he wanted to deliver it and receive the third payment of $5040.  We refused at this point because without a building permit work could not begin, the material would be left out in the weather, and if there was any problem with obtaining the permit we might not be able to build at all.  He eventually agreed to hold the material until a permit was issued.
I rearranged my work schedule to be able to get the permit application into town hall on a Thursday.  Everything was in order except they would not accept the pictures of the insurance forms; they needed the real forms.  I informed Jim of this and he said he would get them to me.  I made arrangements to go back in the next Thursday.  As of Tuesday I had not received the insurance forms needed; I contacted Jim and he sent me the PDF files of the forms.  I went back into town hall, submitted the forms, and made the appointment for the inspector to come the following Thursday.  He did, and about a week later I was
able to pick up the building permit on October 3rd.   I informed Jim and arrangements were made to have the material delivered on October 8th, at which time the third payment of $5040 was made.  On Thursday the 10th I asked Jim when work would begin, and he said that it would start the next week but he was unsure of the date and that he would get back to me.
The next day I received a call at 8:50 a.m. from one of the people actually doing the work, asking if anyone was at home as he was at the house ready to begin.  Since we had planned to use the weekend to empty the porch, this was a surprise.  He said they could take stuff off the porch and put it in the garage, and work began on demolition.  It continued the next week, but another inspection had to be made since the original plans only had the room on them and not the new landing, so that had to be looked at before that could be done.  That did not appear to delay the project any.  An inspection of the electrical work was required and I am assuming it was done as everything was put back in place (for the most part) the afternoon after the inspection was going to be done.
In the meantime, we had ordered tile floor to go over the wooden floor in place.  At the flooring place I asked about whether or not molding for the floor would be required, and they said yes.  I asked if that work could be done by them as well and I was told yes at an additional price. 
With the landing and new steps in place, electrical work done, the greenboard ceiling up, lights and electrical outlets done, payment was requested.  I asked Jim if a final inspection was required and he said no, and that he had submitted the paperwork for the electrical work done.  I called the town building department and they said an inspection was required; I wrote to the town building inspector and he replied a framing inspection is done and possibly a final inspection if required.  I have replied detailing where the project stood and will be making an appointment on Monday to have a final inspection completed.
There is still a gap under a window where the siding was removed and not replaced.  The rough edges of the new concrete landing are exposed and need to be covered up.  Loose concrete from the previous landing is still under the steps.  According to a friend who has build decks and porches, there should be caulking along the joint where the walls meet the flat part of the floor.  More than once information regarding what needs to be done regarding the sealing/painting/treating of the new wooden steps has been requested with no answer. 
The new walls, steps, and latticework do look good.  The poor ratings are due to the following:
1.  Delay from the signing of the contract and the taking of initial measurements to the time "real" measurements were taken to be able to draw up the plans.
2.  Lack of knowledge of town regulations regarding the need for a building permit.  It cost us a month of time; it could have cost us an additional $150 had we done the construction and not gotten the permit until after the work was done.
3.  Not aware that a picture of insurance forms would not suffice for proof of insurance.
4.  Request to deliver material and receive payment when they were aware there was no building permit in place, which would have resulted in the material left out in the weather for over a month.
5.  Plans and drawings that did not include the new steps and landing which meant another inspection to insure the footings were done to the right depth.
6.  Unaware of when work would actually begin after delivery, even when it was the next day.
7.  Request for payment for completion of the room and steps when the issues listed above remain unresolved.
This review will be updated as additional work is completed and at the completion of the project.

Update- November 7, 2013

Some of the items listed previously have been cleared up- the ceiling was "finished", which did not include the painting of the green board, which to us did not seem to be a "finished" ceiling.  The area around the window was finished, and top molding added.  The concrete under the steps was removed, and excess concrete chipped away from the landing.

A final inspection (which LeisureTech said was not required but the town says was) was done on October 31st and it failed for not having an ADA compliant railing on the new steps, and

Wonderful, the did what they promised and even showed up when they promised. I recommend them highly!

They put in a ground pool for us.

Excellent, I would recommend highly.

Joe at Leisure Tech is rude and very nasty.  After you sign the deal, there is no talking to him.  He talks down to you and demeans you.  While installing the pool, the installers ripped the liner.  Rather than tell me, they patched the rip and quickly filled the pool with water, hoping I would never find out.  Several days later I saw the ugly gray patch and called them to confront them.  Of course, at this time, they decided to lie and say it was a manufactuer's defect.  However, they still did not apologize for not telling me, all they wanted was the balance due.  We did not pay the balance until they came and brought us a replacement liner.  They refused to reinstall the new liner and pay for the new delivery of water ($750).  So now we have the replacement liner and will use it when we need it.  However, we will NEVER use Leisure Tech again.  I highly recommend that you find someone else to buy your pool from and install it.

Good start bad ending