Business ProfileforJL Designs

My wife and I were looking for a contractor to renovate an existing built-in barbeque grill structure to fit a new grill and cabinet.  The owner of JL Designs solicited our business on a ******** forum designed specifically for residents of our city and we entered into a $3,000 contract on March 26, 2021.  Note that that JL Designs isn’t located in the city that we live in and the owner doesn’t reside there either.  The sole purpose of the owner participating in the ******** forum was to solicit business from the residents of our city and he has since been banned from that forum.

I purchased the grill and cabinet for $4,050 and paid a plumber & electrician an additional $4,306 to run a new gas line and electric to the grill structure.  JL Design’s responsibilities were to pull up the patio pavers for the new gas line and to retrofit the existing structure to fit a specific grill make/model and a matching cabinet.  As requested, I paid the owner of JL Designs, $1,250 up front.  Note that he requested that I make the check out to him personally and not JL Designs.  Everything started off fine, the owner removed the patio pavers for the new gas line and replaced them after the new gas line was installed.  I promptly paid the owner $500 as soon as the work was completed.  He picked up the grill and the cabinet 2x the from dealer for me (the first being the wrong model), which was a nice touch.  The owner then began work on the grill structure and removed several stones from the existing structure.  From the naked eye, the modified structure seemed too small to fit the new grill and cabinet.  I measured the modified structure that JL Designs “built”, and it was indeed too small to fit the new grill and cabinet. It turns out that the owner didn’t read the directions that came with the grill and didn’t include the 2” drip tray in his measurements making the structure 2” too small.  When I pointed this out to him, he apologized and proposed that be bury the lip of the cabinet 2” below grade to compensate.  I did not agree to this and proposed that I hire another contractor to complete that part of the job at my own expense and to pay JL Designs $750 of the remaining $1,250 to install the grill and cabinet once the structure was fixed.  He initially agreed to this but followed up that evening with an email stating that he had changed his mind.  This email was sent on April 29th and included the following statement: “I do apologize for the miss (sic) measurement”.  He also requested the opportunity to properly fix the measurement error by building the structure back up with the remaining stones and to complete the project for the remaining $1,250.  I agreed to this.  After that, he never showed up to complete the work.  He was scheduled to come out on 5/5 and that morning he sent a text stating that he’d be late due to rain.  He later stated that he hurt his back and needed 3-5 days to recuperate.  He stated in a subsequent text on May 9th that the project would be completed by May 12th.  He was scheduled to come out on May 12th and sent a text that morning stating that he would be late but that he’d stay until the project was finished.  At 2:10, he stated that his truck broke down and that I’d have to wait until the following week.  I responded that I’d see him in small claims court. My wife also posted a review about our experience on the ******** forum and he threated to sue us for libel, slander, and threats.  We went to small claims court on 5/18/21 and the court ruled in my favor for $1,250 on 6/16/21.  He appealed the decision on 6/29/21 and court upheld the ruling in my favor for $1,250 on 8/16/21.  This is a matter of public record and can be found on the **** ********* ***** *******.  In order to find it, go to SEARCH COURT RECORDS and then click on the CASE TYPE tab and type 05/18/2021 in the fields for BEGIN and END and choose CIVIL for CASE TYPE, CLOSED for CASE STATUS & DEFENDANT for PARTY TYPE.  You’ll see it at the very end of the list on page 1 (entry number *****).   After I reached out to the owner to coordinate payment of the monies owed, he responded by telling me that he was appealing the decision again and he was going to put a lien on my house, all bank accounts and contact my employer.  For what, I’m not sure?  It doesn’t look like I’ll ever recoup my money and I wouldn’t recommend ever working with JL Designs for the following reasons:  he’s clearly not a competent craftsman, he’s not reliable and he’s prone to verbal abuse and threats.  Note that I did hire a competent contractor to fix the mistakes made by JL Designs and complete the grill structure.  I am very happy with the results and it proves that doing your research and paying a little more for a competent and reliable contractor is worth its weight in gold.