It is not an easy task to try to articulate the stress and pain that a customer experiences when trying to get a contractor to complete work under the timeline originally agreed upon but I feel inclined to at least warn others and share my experience with this one over the last couple of weeks.
To caveat this article, I am an Army Veteran with over 20 years experience in managing contracts in some of the most austere parts of the world to include 5 tours to Iraq and 4 to Afghanistan. Mr. Rizzieri's behavior and difficulty in satisfying the terms of this contract was without question, the most immature and difficult I've ever had to deal with. Without a doubt, he will rebut this review and point the finger elsewhere so I will abstain from being overly critical and simply present the facts and timeline to let you form your own opinion.
I will not belabor the point, however, would like to let you know if you do business with this company please be prepared to deal with an unfortunately immature owner who plays games if things do not go his way. We were extremely patient and understanding the first couple of days as he delayed our project but if you would like to take the time and see how things progressed,
All in all, the project took roughly 8 days, which should have been only taken 3 days by Mr. Rizzieri's original estimate. Ultimately, the work was completed because Mr. Rizzieri knew I was leaving town and he would not receive final payment until after I returned if the work was not completed before I left. Mr. Rizzieri was extremely pushy, rude, used profanity and threats and quite frankly, irresponsible in the management of his business. I trusted CPR falsely assuming that a bonded and insured business would be trustworthy and professional enough to complete the job. Mr. Rizzieri knew we had a timeline to vacate the home, however, played games and delayed our work out of spite for not receiving more work in our new home. His actions were extremely immature and created a ripple of delays causing the landlord to put off accepting new tenants.
The work was completed, however, there were multiple areas of the carpet that had paint on them that we could not remove, paint on the hardwood floors, cabinets, and doorknobs. When I contacted him regarding removing it, he insisted that I do it with "soap and water". I had a professional rug cleaner in there; however, his equipment could not remove the stains. Mr. Rizzieri only responded by blaming the professional cleaner for "not trying hard enough".
I wish I had something positive to say about hiring this company and working with Mr. Rizzieri, however, this has proven to be one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had with dealing with a contractor. If you hire him, make sure you get everything in writing and don't make him angry, otherwise, he will play games and try to make your life difficult. He lacks professional courtesy and is only motivated to get paid with no long-term consideration for future business. Review the terms of your contract and make sure you hold him to them, otherwise, he will try to entice you to take on more work and press you for exceptions outside of the originally agreed upon scope of work.
We also had Mr. Rizzieri provide a quote for our new home that, again, he was positive and wanted to complete both projects in 6 days (3 in the old house, 3 in the new). We did not, however, sign this contract and informed Mr. Rizzieri that we were probably not going to be able to afford this one right away. Mr. Rizzieri suggested that we put it on a credit card and reduced the price by $500 and offered to wave the 3% fee for credit cards. We were appreciative of the gesture but told him we would still have to think about it. We did not sign this contract with his company and did not commit to the work.
When we finally received a closing date, we contacted Mr Rizzieri to let him know when the movers would be there and the house would be vacant. While he wanted to get in the house the same day as the movers, we warned him that this might not work out. He insisted that he could put his guys to work in the afternoon and it would not be a waste of time.
In closing, I would be remised if I didn't mention the last act of indecency and incompetence when 3 days after finally completing the work he was hired to do, Mr. Rizzieri sends me a text message trying to charge me for a contract I never signed. He was unaware that we never entered into a contract but still tried to get me to pay a 25% cancelation fee. When I asked him whether I signed the contract, he was unaware of whether I had, yet chose to try to insult me one last time and threaten me to pay.
