Pool Contractor in Houston charged with theft of $150,000

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red-beard

red-beard

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May 27, 2019
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Houston, TX
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www.click2houston.com

Pool contractor charged with stealing more than $150,000 from Spring, Conroe-area families

Investigator Bill Spencer is known for tracking down shady contractors. Hear from two families who say they lost thousands of dollars after hiring a man to put a pool in their backyard. Plus, three things you should do before hiring any contractors for your home.
www.click2houston.com www.click2houston.com

“He basically preys on vulnerable residents out here,” said Constable Mark Herman, Harris County Precinct 4. “He starts the work, leaves a big hole in their back yard and tries to vanish.”

Alleged victims told investigators that Cook “presented himself as a professional and a dedicated father and devoted Christian.”
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I am shocked! Just shocked!!

3 steps to take before hiring a pool contractor​


Consumer watchdog Leah Napoliello (with the Better Business Bureau) has three steps you need to take to keep this from happening to you.

  1. Before hiring anyone check to see if the company has been rated by the Better Business Bureau.
  2. Ask for 4 other customers the company has done work for, then call or visit those customers for feed back.
  3. Follow “the rule of thirds” when it comes to payment.
“So you pay the initial third up front, before initial work to be done,” explains Leah Napoliello, Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston and South Texas. “Another 3rd at the midway point if you’re still satisfied with everything and then the final third only when and after you’ve totally review the work and are happy and satisfied with everything.”
 
Tarred and feathered and then run out of town. And not that cold tar nonsense they sell at Lowes for DIY driveway seals … I’m talking the hot tar stuff you purchase by the truckload and has to be cooked up and kept fluid with a propane burner.
 
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For some unfounded reason, I always thought the BBB was some sort of government entity, looking out for the consumer. It's not, at all. It's a private enterprise that charges businesses for membership or "accreditation." At best their system is, uh, I'll just say "compromised." At worst, well, some reviewers of the BBB use the term "scam."

Members basically purchase their accreditation, and while the BBB does collect complaints against their members, depending on the complaint and the resolution the member provides, real or otherwise, the complaint may or may not be made public. Plus, the BBB has no legal authority, or obligation, to do anything about the complaints.

Personally, I wouldn't put any stock in a BBB rating. Bottomline: they accept money from the entities they rate. Do the math. Who's side are they on? A consumer that pays them nothing, or a member that pays upwards of $10K for an "AAA" rating? I'm not saying I wouldn't look for a BBB rating. Certainly a bad BBB rating might mean something. But a positive rating, or no rating at all, would mean nothing to me.
 
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I experienced the BBB uselessness with a big online pool supplier last year when I bought a new pool heater that had some minor shipping damage. The retailer kept promising to send someone out to pick it up but months went by with me calling every few days and getting promised someone would call me back the next day which never happened.

I filed a complaint with BBB and a few days later I got a reply back that the case has been “resolved” because the retailer replied that they would return the heater…except my issue was that they kept promising to come pick up the heater and wouldn’t. (It’s not like I can fit a pool heater in the back of my car and return it to fedex or UPS. Finally was able to get them to pick it up and get a refund after I filed a fraud complaint with the credit card company and got the charge removed.
 
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Bperry said:
I filed a complaint with BBB and a few days later I got a reply back that the case has been “resolved” because the retailer replied that they would return the heater
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That's my understanding of how the BBB system works. Member pays for rating. Consumer complains. Member tells BBB "We'll take care of it." BBB says "OK, good enough for us! AAA rating!" Really?

Follow the money...
 
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The BBB wouldn't publish my dispute against a non member business. I thought for SURE they would use that as leverage and help make the business look bad. They didn't care the least bit. They had a few other complaints and were already punishing them for not being a member. My new issue was of no use to them.
 
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Dirk said:
That's my understanding of how the BBB system works. Member pays for rating. Consumer complains. Member tells BBB "We'll take care of it." BBB says "OK, good enough for us! AAA rating!" Really?

Follow the money...
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Sounds like how the rating agencies worked rating mortgage backed securities (MBS) that almost brought the whole world down!! All of them should have gone to jail, but of course nobody did!!
 
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+1. $150k is like, what ? One backyard oaisis or 2 smaller ones?

We had this guy taking people's money a while back, and he sure made off.
 
I do wish the first article would remove the paying by thirds information. That doesn’t sound right either.

We were lucky our builder only billed us after the work was done and advised us that was the law in California (except for a nominal deposit—ours was one percent, my friends was even less) for licensed contractors. I looked into fiberglass briefly but saw some required 25-40 percent deposits upfront. Had a friend recently finish a build with a different builder and again, payment was made after the work was done.

Edit: Want to add payment after each step. I did ask about paying for materials after they were delivered (coping tiles etc…) but was told no, no material fees until after installation was completed.
 
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Cena_sea said:
I do wish the first article would remove the paying by thirds information. That doesn’t sound right either.

We were lucky our builder only billed us after the work was done and advised us that was the law in California (except for a nominal deposit—ours was one percent, my friends was even less) for licensed contractors. I looked into fiberglass briefly but saw some required 25-40 percent deposits upfront. Had a friend recently finish a build with a different builder and again, payment was made after the work was done.

Edit: Want to add payment after each step. I did ask about paying for materials after they were delivered (coping tiles etc…) but was told no, no material fees until after installation was completed.
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100% agree. Rule of thirds might be OK for, I dunno, a gazebo or something, not a five- or six-figure swimming pool, no way. Max 10% deposit, then more like 20%, 20%, 20%, 20% and then 10% after all permits are finaled and all subs are paid. Each of those 20% draws triggered by milestones spelled out in writing, and only after the milestones are completed. Rule of thirds is more like: 1/3 down payment, 1/3 of those contractors never show, 1/3 of their customers sue and lose again. (OK, exaggerating, maybe.) Like you, I live in CA. I've never actually heard of the rule of thirds before. Maybe that's an east coast thing?

We can complain about CA for a lot of things, but they are definitely on our side when it comes to contractor law (pro-consumer).
 
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One of my major complaints to my construction was the only job the Foreman's did was to collect checks. We had major problems in our construction including a crack from side to side, poorly applied tile and coping, poor finish on the coping (tool cut marks everywhere), poor installation of deck jets. And (found only years later) poorly installed skimmer (one is higher than the other hydraulically). As far as I know, the foreman's job is to ensure the subs do what they are supposed to do, and on-time.

On my pool, the subs had subs (tile and coping).

It took the President of the company reviewing the poor job of my pool to get any action. And he lives in my Neighborhood! This pool company was/is one of the big ones in Houston, on the TV and radio advertising AND the president had a radio program to "help" people choose the right things for their pool...

Like Ozone and Mineral cartridges.
 
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With pool costs I was wary due to the amounts. For landscaping we did the exact opposite of what I’m advocating and we paid 100 % upfront and was happy with the work. In retrospect I probably should’ve asked about a payment schedule instead.

I have a friend wanting to get some work done but said she’d paid someone a $200 deposit for materials a while back and he disappeared. She hadn’t hired anyone else because she didn’t want to get scammed again. I gave her our handyman’s info and told her he has never asked me for a deposit and usually he picks up all the materials. She could buy the materials herself if she preferred. I don’t know if that’s rare but her being scammed even $200 was making her avoid getting any work done.
 
Cena_sea said:
With pool costs I was wary due to the amounts. For landscaping we did the exact opposite of what I’m advocating and we paid 100 % upfront and was happy with the work. In retrospect I probably should’ve asked about a payment schedule instead.

I have a friend wanting to get some work done but said she’d paid someone a $200 deposit for materials a while back and he disappeared. She hadn’t hired anyone else because she didn’t want to get scammed again. I gave her our handyman’s info and told her he has never asked me for a deposit and usually he picks up all the materials. She could buy the materials herself if she preferred. I don’t know if that’s rare but her being scammed even $200 was making her avoid getting any work done.
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Personally, I wouldn't pay up-front for anything. Even in a grocery store the goods are in your bags before you hand over the cash! Regarding materials, sure, it's not unreasonable to pay for materials before they're installed, but only for the materials (with purchase receipt in hand) and only after they've been delivered! If you have a contractor asking for $200 up front, that's all you need to know about him. Ya fired! He doesn't have $200 to his name? Or hasn't established any credit accounts with local suppliers? Or had them revoked? No credit card? He's basically telling you he has no business sense and is completely insolvent. Even if he's the most skilled craftsman ever, you're asking for trouble if you do business with someone that isn't actually in business.
 

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