CHANDLER, AZ — Any time you hire anyone for anything, you take a chance, and when it involves a contractor and your home, the stakes are higher.
Richard Quinonez thought he did the right thing and hired a contractor for a Chandler house after seeing positive referrals.
But after spending more than $30,000 for a complete renovation, he says he got little more than demolition and some beginning work.
He says Finished Touch Renovations took his money and left.
Finished Touch owner Scott Riley says he did "tons of demo work, carpentry.. plumbing prep, pool demo and tile" at Richard's house.
Riley says he is a victim too.
He says a partner left him hanging and that he tried but couldn't finish the jobs himself. And he says he has no money to give back.
So Richard tried a different way, wanting Wells Fargo bank to refund $4,000 he charged on his bank credit card. However, the bank denied his request, saying "we have confirmed the merchant provided the services for which you were billed."
The bank sent Richard documents and pictures it says were provided by Finished Touch Renovations as proof of the completed work. Richard was shocked.
"These are not my cabinets. This is not my kitchen," he thought upon seeing Wells Fargo's documents. The pictures appear to be a different house.
The paperwork Richard received describe Finished Touch Renovations completing a $2550 job of painting kitchen cabinets.
But Richard's job was supposed to involve new cabinets that he says he never received.
He says a $3935 kitchen countertop installation and a $1440 baseboard installation also listed as completed never happened.
Richard says one of two things happened: Finished Touch Renovations sent information on the wrong house or Wells Fargo got it mixed up.
In an email to us, owner Scott Riley says he didn't send anything to Wells Fargo about Richard. Riley says "I let (the) claim go through so he would get some funds back."
Riley does say he disputed a different homeowner's claim because they still owed him money.
We sent all of this to Wells Fargo asking them to take another look and reconsider, but they stood by their decision not to refund any money to Richard.
Richard says he had to sell the house after he paid thousands more to finish the job he says Finished Touch Renovations did not.
Meanwhile, the state's Registrar of Contractors tells me they referred seven cases involving Finished Touch Renovations and Scott Riley to be prosecuted.
Always make sure you check a contractors license hereand make sure it's current with no problems.
