This Calgary area general contractor is rated 1.0 from 3 reviews. Services offered include home improvement work. Read their reviews, ask about license and insurance information, and request a quote.
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We wanted to develop the Storage Area in basement of the house we had recently purchased. We received 3 quotes and chose a company called Advanced Contracting (Darren Weitzel), the value of the work was approx. $11,500, to include Plumbing, Electrical and the Supply and Installation of Bathroom Fittings.
November 1st, we received a Revised Estimate
November 2nd before the work started Darren Weitzel sent an email requesting staged payments, we gave him $5,000 on November 2nd
November 3rd the Plumber started work on the initial Rough-In.
November 9th, Weitzel requested another payment, to enable him to engage the Electrician, we gave him a further $5,000.
After the initial works, Weitzel did not turn up making up various excuses.
We had arranged to go on vacation at the end of November, Weitzel assured us the work would be completed. It was not.
We asked Weitzel for a Breakdown of what had already been spent out of the $10,000 we had given him. He advised us that he had paid out $4,800, for all the Sub Contractors.
December 16th the drywaller, Johnathan requested payment Weitzel had not paid him
Ryan the Electrician contacted us, he had not been paid.
Ken the Plumber had not been paid
The Carpet installer had not been paid either
He took our $10,000 and never did the work or paid the Sub Contractors.
We have received many stories/lies from Weitzel as to why the work was never completed.
He never returned or had anyone complete the work.
I was recently conned by this man in the past 2 weeks.
We met with Darren Weitzel of Advanced Contractors (He gave the business name Advanced Contracting) late February and hired him to do some renovations in our office early March. He was kind, non-threatening, seemed knowledgeable about what we were doing which was simple enough.. framing, drywalling, painting and a knock down style ceiling.
We requested the renovations be done by April 1st and he said this would not be a problem and stated it would take him 3 weekends maximum. We had him sign a contract and he proceeded with the work. March 8th, he requested the first instalment of $1950 on the first weekend to get the materials to start the job so we sent it to him.
At the end of the first week, he was still showing up and all the work seemed on target and looked good as far as I could tell. The next weekend, March 16th, we were again required to send another $1900 which we did. We just stopped in and he was there but I noticed that he had not done anything more than the previous weekend despite having told us of all his advancements and had at this point been there most of the day from what he told us.
He asked us why we were stopping in?!! and even had the audacity to pass the comment "you think i’m going to do a runner on you?”
I found that comment weird and I become suspicious in that moment.
On March 17th he gave us a status update and then became radio silent and unreachable for the next 4 days. March 21st he messaged us saying he was so sorry to have gone MIA and that his brother was in the ICU in BC and that he would know better later in the week when he was coming back. That weeks came and went and nothing.
We were compassionate but after 2 weeks there was still no communication from Darren.
Due to the lack of communication from Darren, we were now forced to hire another contractor who commenced work March 28th, 2019.
We contacted Darren repeatedly asking for a status update eventually threatening him with authorities. He then he responded by apologizing and said he would refund us but only after we sent him an email releasing him from the contract. I responded and said would give him a typed letter in person upon receipt of the refund where he proposed that he would only give a partial refund and tried to lie to us about the work he believed he had done.
Unfortunately in my case, my partner and I were so blinded we actually paid him 90% ($4200) upfront and then he ran on us and now the mess he made has cost us double if not more in addition I lost 2 weeks of work because of this and could not open in time for April 1st. Our current contractor told us that there was absolutely no way the person who came to do the work knew what they was even doing.
As of Today, April 10th, 2019, he has contacted me still requesting that I send him an email releasing him from his contract and then he will refund me?!?! I think Not Darren!
Darren is a con artist and needs to be stopped!
Darren Weitzel is one of the worst human beings I have ever met. Now before someone reads this and tries to justify to themselves why I may be over reacting, don't. Darren pretends to be a good guy, and to have an idea what he is doing, but he does not. He will tell you about his daughters and his family to get your business but under no circumstances should you hire him. In fact, the work he completed cost me more money to have removed and re-done, so if he himself paid me to do work on my home, I would not allow him to. I have attached the pictures of his concrete work, the people who repaired the work were appalled when they saw it. This was one of my first renovations, so I admit I was naive for trusting Darren.
Darren insisted I pay him for the materials and the concrete prior to work being completed as well as 50% of labor. Paying him was my mistake I will have to live with and learn from. He hired an alcoholic laborer to smooth and finish the concrete, when he had assured me it would be him himself. When I asked him why, he insisted this person was a concrete superintendent for many years and that he would do better job then he would. It was a hot day, so he asked if I could help as he didn't bring enough help, while I was outside wheeling the concrete to the basement window, he and his laborer attempted to smooth the concrete with 2x4's they found in my basement. They had no tools of their own. When I attempted to ask them about it, they said this is all they had and at this point the I had no choice to trust them as the concrete was drying and the truck was on my lawn.
When the pour was finished, I made comments about how poor it looked, but as the water had already risen to the top and it was beginning to set, it was unclear to see for sure and could not be smoothed further at the time. Darren assured me he would be back the next say to sand and smooth the surface and fix any "blemishes". He dodged me for several days until he went on a vacation. I tried to be patient and call after his vacation, eventually to find that my number had been blocked. He took my money and ran.
I since had to have the concrete removed and re-poured for 3X the initial cost, plus what Darren charged me. He has blown my entire basement budget and I will be waiting at least another year before I can save enough to get back to it.
I am warning you if you see this not to hire Darren Weitzel. I do not want any other people to go through what I went through on this.
Sufficient data is not available to establish a TrustScore for Advanced Contracting. The average TrustScore™ for other businesses providing similar services in Calgary and the surrounding areas is 3. For detailed information on how TrustScore is calculated, click here to learn more.
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This Calgary area general contractor is rated 1.0 from 3 reviews. Services offered include home improvement work. Read their reviews, ask about license and insurance information, and request a quote.
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