Arron Saenz

We called Aaron Saenz for repair and re-plastering our pool, who names his business MTYfaming, from his advertisement on Craig?s list. He returned our phone call to set an appointment to determine a proposition. He arrived with his wife exhibiting several one inch square samples of quartz finishes. He also invited us to visit his current work project to view his work in-progress as a reference and provided his website address for examples of his work. During the conversation, my wife asked them where they resided. His wife was going to respond, but he cut her off and claimed he lived on Plantation division in Pharr. I missed the cut off but my wife did not, the first warning we both neglected. He emailed us a proposal of $1800 for surface preparation and re-surfacing the pool and whirlpool with a quartz finish; additional was extra, i.e. concrete repair. After considering his proposal for several days, we called Aaron to accept his proposal. On June 25th, we paid him an initial down payment of $600 with a check. Since his proposal did not state when the remaining balance was due, throughout the work project he asked for small payments that we paid in checks with one cash payment. Second warning occurred on his start date and time. After claiming to start the following day, Tuesday June 30, he failed to call to notify us with delaying starting the work. We called him on Wednesday to inquire about the delay; he apologized for not starting or calling about the delays; he would and did start our pool repair on Thursday. His unpunctuality became a continuous pattern. When his workers were ready to leave for the day, Aaron would call or knock on our back door to inform us they would return the following day between 8:00 and 8:30. Only once did they arrive with the stated arrival time. After the first few times, we never believed him with any provided time frames. The expectations eventually encompassed progress and completion targets. I was aware re-plastering a pool required removal of all plaster down to the cement; it provides a visual inspection of the concrete foundation and repair if required. Additionally, no warranties are available if old plaster is not removed for nothing will adhere to old plaster for any length of time. Aaron assured me he had a coating that would adhere to the old plaster and all cracks in the cement would be repaired by applying a bounding agent that he had. Each day, he tended to leave two workers, normally one very young adult, in his late teens or early twenties and seemingly experienced older adult. The deficiencies were evident from beginning to they day the stopped working on the pool. As work advanced, we began to notice the deficiencies in workmanship with his employees? work caused by his lack of supervision through his absence during the work day. After sweeping the pool of debris and removing most of the water jet covers (only two of five were removed in the from the whirlpool), they started pneumatic wire wheel brushing along visible cracks in the plaster for access to concrete damage and applying a sealant on the cracks. The removed plaster was placed into thin black trash bags, not the thick contractor trash bags. The bags were placed in a row parallel with our fence in the alley which looked unsightly. I moved the bags onto a pile; some of the bags broke that forced me to use a couple of my own contractor bags. I had hoped Aaron would notice the plaster on the ground, and piled ?contractor? bags, and contractor bags to motivate him to pick up and trash the plaster properly. It did not work. An additional payment was required for materials and labor for the cracks. After the cracks and holes were exposed, the top plaster layers were also wire wheeled. I asked if the wire wheel abrasions were going to be filled in. Aaron responded, ?The top quartz layer will fill in the abrasions.? On the pool floor, large swaths of plaster was removed that resembled pits. Concrete was used as the filler that was not properly finished; the concrete is uneven, looked pitted and I did not see any type of bonding agent on the concrete. The bounding agent was applied; the quartz was spread by hand onto the bonding agent and a clear topcoat on top of the quartz. I do not know if the bonding agent works on both the plaster and the concrete. Small squares of about three feet by three feet were worked on at a time for applying the quartz. The quartz application should have had the same even shades of blue. Instead, there are different shades of blue squares. Areas where cracks were treated have a darker shade of blue. Aaron also recommended having the steps and a circle around the drain a different shade of color to for better visibility stepping into the pool and debris around the drain. I thought it was a good idea and opted for a lighter shade of blue. I though he was going to apply a lighter colored quartz; instead he simply the painted the plaster on the suggested areas. Instead of removing all the jet covers, quartz was applied on the rubber covers; how are they supposed to be removed? After they left for the day, I removed the quartz from the covers. After applying the quartz, the clear topcoat was ?smeared? over the quartz. The clear topcoat should have been the final procedure to protected the quartz and provide a smooth finish, it does not. As the workers progressed from square to square, they applied uneven topcoat thicknesses. Instead of leaving the topcoat clear, additional quartz was applied to try to cover imperfections. By applying the quartz on top of the clear coat, the final finish was rough that tended to scrape the skin, cut hands and feet. When he claimed the pool was finished, I told him is not. I informed him his worker had applied a topcoat on the tile and only 50% of the pool. I could see where topcoat shined and where his worker had stopped applying the topcoat. When he arrived, I pointed it out to him and he blamed his worker. I told him he is still responsible for the work for they work for him. He said he needed to purchase from Lowe?s some type of clear coat to add to his topcoat for greater protection. He came the following day, July 18, to apply an additional topcoat himself. Still, the final product was ugly. Between the preparation and applying the quartz, a man came by the house to ask about Aaron?s work. Since the quartz application had not started, we gave the man positive feedback. I asked Aaron why the different shades of color. He claimed all the quartz was going to darken. He said to commence filling the pool after 8:00PM; instead I waited until Thursday night to start filling the pool. The pool was used Saturday, July 21st. When our adult children and grandchildren swam in the pool, several of the kids received scrapes and cuts from the finish. They complained their feet hurt. One grandchild said there were air bubbles underneath the blue paint surrounding the drain. I called Aaron on Sunday, July 21st to notify him of the problems. I informed him I had started draining the pool and would be ready for him to view on Monday. He came late in the afternoon and said he had contacted his supplier who had recommended allowing the pool to dry a couple of days and at least three days after reapplying the topcoat. Since July, 22 Aaron has not appeared and does not want to answer our phone calls. We have tried to contact him numerous times and left messages without success. He called our daughter under the impression of a proposal request. She told him we were upset he had deceived and taken advantage of us. I do not know what transpired during their conversation; however Aaron did call and initially talked to my wife until I arrived. When I arrived my wife handed me the phone and I asked Aaron what is the problem. He said he needed to talk to his lawyer because my wife had claimed she had called the police and had retained a lawyer. I told to forget about what my wife had said and I asked him if was still willing to complete the pool repair. He provided several excuses for not appearing at our house to complete the pool repair; the major excuse was in Monterrey Mexico. He had left for an emergency and planned to return soon. I asked why had he not called to tell us about the delay; ?I did not think about it,? was his response. We discussed the issue several times on how he was going to complete the work. He reiterated about discussing the issue with his lawyer. I told him without getting lawyers involved, what will to take for him to complete the work. He responded, ?To protect myself, I will come over with a contract outlining specifically what need to completed.? I told, ?Fine. You can include the $300 refund that you said we were going to receive from McCoy?s from the canceled cool deck repair and the $300 you borrowed from us to pay for additional materials to complete the work. The check that you cashed for the borrowed $300 has ?loan? written on the check. However, the $300 from McCoy?s you can keep to pay for the additional materials.? He answered, ?I will pay you the borrowed $300 from my pocket. I will come over on Monday (Monday, July 30th) with the contract and the money.? I replied, ?We will not be here on Monday, make it on Tuesday.? He hesitated before saying, ?Okay, I will be over on Tuesday. Today is Tuesday, August 14 and still no Aaron and no phone calls from him.