Oldja Enterprises Kitchen & Bath

Thank you very much for your business and the great review. I am glad to hear you love your new kitchen and I hope you enjoy it for years to come. Johnny Oldja

Thank you for taking the time to leave us a great report. We appreciate your business and hope you enjoy your new kitchen

The cabinets were not late. In this particular case we were hired as a subcontractor by the general contractor who was running this project. The cabinets were delivered and installed the exact day agreed to with the general contractor. I am not privy to what was discussed between the general contractor and these two ladies, but we were pushed back on our start date due to the overall project running behind. I never spoke to this woman or her wife regarding the schedule, as I always dealt directly with the general contractor.
My saw operator did make a mistake on a bar area and cut the top too short. It does not happen often, but when it does we correct the situation. I took full responsibility for the mistake and told her we were going to replace it, which is exactly what I did. I put the new top into production immediately and we returned two days later with the new top.
Furthermore, the cabinet handles that the customer was supplying were not onsite the day we needed them for installation. Our Terms and Conditions are very clear in stating that all customer provided materials must be onsite and in installable condition at the time they are needed. If they are not, we charge a remobilization fee, since we then have to return for an extra day of work that was not budgeted/paid for. I told them I would send someone back to install the hardware and wave the fee even though we were entitled to it per our contract. This was an attempt to try and rectify the incorrectly cut bar top. I did provide a free hardware installation saving this customer $200.00. One of these two women was very difficult to deal with and fought with every subcontractor on the job. She literally complained about everything and was an overall unhappy person who has gone on a social media crusade to trash my company's reputation. Luckily, this is not normal and we have hundreds of positive reports to prove otherwise. Thank you for your business. Johnny Oldja

Thank you very much for the great report! It is our goal to achieve 100% customer satisfaction so we appreciate the compliment and positive report. Johnny Oldja

I'm sorry you feel that way about my company. Fortunately, reports like this are extremely rare as we do everything within reason to keep our customers happy. Unfortunately, everything within reason was not going to make this couple happy.
I would also like it to be known the pictures shown in this report were taken prior to the completion of the job. The pictures do not look finished because we were never given the opportunity to complete the punch list.
After many negotiations without any progress we both finally agreed to allow an "expert" to assess the situation. Although the expert should have been neutral, I was even accommodating to the point of allowing this couple to choose the expert. Since the job was substantially complete (meaning the punch list had not yet been completed), I even agreed to allow their expert to create his own punch list that I agreed to complete. Once the list was completed, I was to be paid the remaining balance due on the contract.
Apparently, this couple was not happy with the list their expert made either because they then broke this deal. This couple refused to listen to us as professionals or their own expert. Subsequently, we were not allowed to finish the punch list and I was basically ripped off for around $6000.00.
To top it off, this duo then went on a social media crusade to trash my companies reputation by posting negative reports on every forum available. The fact that this couple started writing negative reports about my company in the middle of negotiations is an even greater testament to their lack of reasoning. I did my due diligence and offered every solution possible, but this was just a duo nobody was going to please. Johnny Oldja

Thank you for the compliments about my company and the wonderful report. It was a pleasure doing business with you and I appreciate the kind words. It is great to hear you are enjoying your new living space and I m glad I could assist you with this remodel. Johnny Oldja

Although I disagree with nearly everything stated in this review, I appreciate any feed back and use all reviews as an opportunity to improve my company. With that being said, I would like it to be known the author of this report was never a client of ours. She is the mother of our customer who, nearly a year later has decided to write a report. Until seeing the comments above, I had no idea our client's mother was unhappy. All of my interactions with our client (the author's 30 something year old daughter and son in law) were always civil, productive and a relationship I felt was a good one.

I would also like anyone reading this review to know this woman also gave me a bad check for her second installment, which ended up bouncing due to a lack of funds in her account. The second payment was never received after the check bounced and I waited for the second installment until job completion. Although scheduled payments in accordance with the contract were not met, I self funded the job and moved forward with her daughter's project. Not many contractors would do that, nor should they have to.

In an attempt to be as open and honest as possible, I pulled the job folder to accurately depict our version of the above events.

The final contract was actually signed on August 19 2015, which means we started the project approximately 4 weeks later around the middle/end of September. Given the multiple scopes of work (demolition of existing kitchen including modification of walls, removing soffits, all drywall work, removing flooring, installation of all new flooring, installation of new cabinets, new quartzite countertops fabricated & installed, wiring and installation of a new mechanical hood, texture and paint, installation of tile backsplash, full plumbing work, running power to new range location, installation of multiple recessed lights, installation of appliances etc) and being a permitted job, the customer was told to expect the job to last about 6 weeks give or take, which is exactly what the job took to complete.

The kitchen cabinets were installed exactly as pictured, discussed and agreed upon on the final design. Once we come up with a final design, the customer is required to sign off on it. From that point on there are no changes allowed without changes to the price. The cabinets were installed exactly per the signed off final design. We sat through several design meetings and once the customer was happy, she signed off on the design. She received everything listed on the final design. Again, I never heard any complaints regarding the layout until now.

With regard to the inspections, all inspections required by the city were passed and signed off by the appropriate building officials. If this was not the case, I would not have been paid.

In addition, once we opened the ceiling it was discovered one of the kitchen walls was load bearing. This required additional labor and material, which we never charged for. We also absorbed the time and cost of having a structural engineer sign off on our work.

All of the complaints regarding the quality of our work are simply not true. Again, all inspections required by the city of St Pete were scheduled and passed. Had the construction not met code, the contractor is required to fix the outstanding issue until the inspection is passed. I am personally a Class A General Contractor, which is the highest licensed attainable in Florida. Even as a General Contractor, sub contractors are required to do trade work. The electrical panel was never mixed up by our electrician as we never rewired/upgraded the main breaker box. There is a specific note on our electrical contract which reads "appliances will be reconnected to existing electric, price is not to upgrade electrical system". Our electrician simply connected to the existing main panel, which was already mislabeled. Had you wanted us to upgrade your daughter's service, we could have given you a price to do so, but this was clearly not included in our contract. I'm sorry for your misunderstanding.

The fact my electrical contractor was hired again by the author after this project's completion makes no sense. Also, throughout the project more scopes of work continued being added to the project. The garage door was just one of the scopes not originally agreed upon at the time I pulled the permit. That is the reason it was not included on the original permit. Hiring a company to do additional work once you are unhappy with them just does not add up.

The "cut" (seam) in the quartzite countertop is made at the sink for several reasons. Structurally, this is the weak point in the countertop since only 4" of material is in front of an under mount sink. If the countertop was to crack anywhere, this is where it would crack during installation or in transportation. By placing the seam here you only have a 4" seam, rather than a 25.5" seam (the depth of the countertop), which is more desirable. This too is discussed with the customer onsite by the template technician.

There was absolutely no mistake made in the pricing of the countertop. The reason you paid $1700.00 more for your daughter's countertop is because according to our final contract her pricing was based upon 46 square feet (please refer to page 3 under NOTES). After taking the template and measuring all the pieces your daughter had us template, the job totaled 71 square feet. Since the material your daughter chose was $68 per square foot, you paid for 25 additional square feet at $68/sf for a total of $1700.00. There are several reasons for the difference between the amount stated on the contract versus the amount templated. Some of those reasons include desired overhang sizes on peninsulas or islands, lengths and widths of backsplashes, additional pieces being added such as window sills or knee wall caps and many other factors. You were charged for the amount of quartzite installed at your daughter's residence, plain and simple.

At substantial completion I personally made an appointment with our customer (with her mother present) to go over the final product and come up with a punch list. It was our agreement we would come up with a punch list together and once assembled, we would return to take care of the items on the list. I still have a copy of the punch list which consisted of only 8 items, which I have listed below for the reader to decide for themselves

1. install scribe molding at floor, left side of drawer base
2. caulk finish nails at top of cabinets
3. install molding on face of microwave cabinet to conceal mark made while customizing cabinet for appliance
4. fix dent in fridge panel with wood putty
5. install AC grill in ceiling
6. re grout tile at exterior door to garage (about 2 inches)
7. install molding below granite over hang
8. GENERAL NOTE- adjust/check hinges on cabinets as needed

As any reasonable human can see, this is an extremely acceptable punch list considering the multiple scopes of work we completed. Furthermore, we completed all the above noted items.

All of the personal attacks directed to my inexperience and lack of knowledge of are completely inappropriate and unsubstantiated. I refuse to engage in ad hominem attacks and I encourage any reader to qualify my credentials with any reputable local contractor or building official. I am a 3rd generation contractor, born in St Petersburg and I am friends or personal acquaintances with nearly every other reputable contractor and building official in this area. My father too works with me and has been a licensed building contractor in this area for over 30 years. In 2015, my company successfully completed 391 full kitchen remodels; experience is not our weak point.

The intention of this report is to slander my company due to my unwillingness to give even more discounts for materials and services provided. We absorbed multiple unforeseen costs in an attempt to satisfy our client's mother, but no good deed goes unpunished. Everything that was paid for was identified and priced per our signed agreement.

If there was something that was meant to go on the punch list, but was forgotten about, please let me know. As a person interested in progress and standing by our work I can always be reached via email or my personal cell phone at 727 906 1300. If you truly wish to work this out, I'd love to hear from you.

In return, I ask you reconsider rescinding this one star review as it is completely inappropriate. Thank you for your business. Johnny Oldja CGC1517184

**please see the attached pictures which show the kitchen and judge for yourself whether this truly is a one star project. Thank you for reading my response**