Texas Outdoor Designs

They were quick. They did their job and were not overpriced. They are great!

nli

In November 2011, we paid Texas Outdoor Designs for the purchase of
outdoor Christmas lights, and installation and take-down of those
outdoor Christmas lights.  Their charges include storage of the lights
for the year, and the company will bring them
back and install the
next year.  Around $1500 total.  The service at that time wasn't great,
they showed up a week late to install, and a week late to take down, and
the lights didn't work most of the time they were up, we had to keep
calling them to come replace the timer.  We were extremely busy with
family issues during the holidays that year, so we let it go.
In
Fall 2012, since Texas Outdoor Designs was already in possession of the
Christmas lights we purchased, and had charged us for storage all year,
we again paid them for their installation/take-down services.  Again,
there were issues with the timer/breaker and the lights didn't work. 
However, this time when we called repeatedly... REPEATEDLY... leaving
messages asking them to call us/come look at the lights because they
weren't working, Edward Karram/Tx Outdoor Designs never called us back. 
My husband and I both called multiple times, with no call back. 
Finally my husband went  out and purchased a timer, replaced it and got
the lights working on his own.  He then called them REPEATEDLY and left
messages letting the company know we NO LONGER wanted their service and
we did NOT WANT them to come take our lights down.  We planned to remove
them ourselves and store them.  We made it clear in the messages, but
no one ever called us.  In January, three weeks after Christmas, Texas
Outdoor Designs/Edward Karram's company, just showed up, removed the
lights and took them.  They didn't call, they didn't knock on the
door... nothing.
I consider our ~$700 worth of Christmas lights to be STOLEN PROPERTY, STOLEN BY ED KARRAM/Texas Outdoor Designs!!!
 I
would like either 1) a refund of the cost of the Christmas lights, or
2) to have the Christmas lights I purchased returned to me IN
WORKING ORDER and EXCELLENT CONDITION, as they were when Mr. Karram stole them!

At the end of the day, I dont think Edward is a criminal, but he is probably the worst businessman I have ever met and he is more than willing to act like he knows how to do things that he has never tried before.  He sells his services with a flashy computer design package that spits out nice pictures and his prices appear fair when compared to other bids, but at the end of the day it isnt worth the savings because he is an amateur, in way over his head.  And neither he nor his employees, or whoever they are, dont know what a professional job even looks like.

And his aproach to billing is offensive.  NO contractor should be paid until the work is COMPLETE, and that means to the satisfaction of the homeowner.  I knew better, but because I had signed his lousy contract saying that I would pay him when the granite was installed, I did so.  I will never make that mistake again - and I have found that contractors understand completely when you tell them that they dont get paid until the work is 100% complete and everyone is satisfied.

Hope this saves someone the pain and frustration I have had in dealing with this guy.

On August  1, 2011 Texas Outdoor Designs began the project of a custom outdoor kitchen design and arbors structures. 

On August 5, 2011 the company also installed a gas, water and electric line without any permits and had the water line running into the yard which is against city code living on the water. 

On August 7, 2011 the wood deck was not installed with wood galvenized wood screws therefore most of the deck has split and installed unevenly with large gaps between the wood.  Since the wood deck was installed on a previous deck the company did not replace the old wood underneath and just adjusted new pieces with the old rotted pieces. 

On August 8, 2011 Texas Outdoor Designs began what was supposed to be "custom arbors" and repeatedly assured that it was in fact a custom arbor.  It was, however, discovered that Texas Outdoor Designs simply ordered an arbor kit from Home Depot and had it installed through the store.  Since it was not custom it did not fit my house in both height and width.  They did not create a custom arbor and lied about the construction of the arbor. 

On August 16, 2011 I had to terminate Texas Outdoor Designs for false, misleading and deceptive conduct.  Texas Outdoor Designs misrepresented the quality of work with false website photos and portfolio binders.