Business ProfileforCreedmoor Heating & Cooling LLC

Brief description of complaint:I hired ********************** for two projects related to a house I am building for myself and my wife near *****, ********, in *************. The first and biggest project was to install geothermal heat pumps in this house. I paid *******************************, the owner and Registered Agent for **********************, $78,104 on March 1, 2023. He stated this amount was to purchase all of the equipment and for half of the labor, which included 8 weeks of labor to install the systems. Almost one year later the job is still not completed, and he has repeatedly refused to deliver the two heat pump hot water heaters ($5,600 total) to my job site. The delays are completely unacceptable and have caused me significant problems, delaying the start of other contractors, delaying the completion of the house, and adding substantially to costs. He has refused to bring these heat pump hot water heaters to the site and states that he will not bring them until after drywall is installed. I told him that after one year of delay after delay, I have concerns about his financial viability and that I want the hot water heaters on the property and that I will see that they are not handled in such a way as to be damaged. But in any event it is my decision to make and not his. I have contacted the manufacturer of the geothermal systems, EnerTech based in ************, and they have been very helpful. They tell me that the installation should normally take about 8 weeks, and that they find much of the behavior of this individual very unacceptable. I told them that my initial preference was to continue to allow ************************* to work on the installation but that his behavior over the last few months leads me to believe that is no longer a viable option. Among many reasons for this, is the fact that he misrepresented a lengthy delay, a delay of several months, by stating that EnerTech was out of stock of a reservoir tank needed for the radiant heat, and that was the reason for many months of delay of the install of the radiant heat in the concrete floor. I wanted the radiant heat installed first since it is not impacted by the dust that can accompany finish carpentry and drywall installation, a fact corroborated by the manufacturer. The manufacturer tells me that this tank has not been out of stock and that Mr. ********************** only inquired with them, asking for a quote on the tank, 7-10 days prior to my filing this complaint, while he had been telling me for months that he had ordered the tank but it was out of stock. Being untruthful as in this example, and a number of other behaviors I have observed, lead me to believe ********************** is in financial distress, or there is some other major problem with the company that portends poorly for the completion of my house in any sort of timely manner going forward. I have no doubt that I will be able to find another qualified installer to finish the job, but my problem is that ********************** is holding my materials hostage, materials that I have fully paid for long ago. I believe **********************'s actions amount to theft. I initially was happy to do business with a veteran, and I wanted to help him be successful and be a good reference for him. However, I now believe that I have been badly taken advantage of and need to move on with a new contractor. At this point, ,regarding my geothermal installation, all I want from ********************** is a refund of my money forundelivered materials or delivery of the materials I am owed to my construction site. The second project that I hired ********************** for was on October 17, 2023 when I paid him $8,637.15 to install gas pipe to several locations within the same house as the first project, from a propane tank near the house. Four months later there is no gas pipe or related fittings at the job site, which of course means that no work on this project has begun. For this project there is not even an attempt to dissemble, as he tells me he has the pipe in his possession. On one of many occasions when I asked him in person to bring the gas pipe, (I asked many times also via text messages) he said that he was afraid I would attempt to install the pipe myself and would damage it. It is my hope that the Attorney General will be of the opinion that in the state of Missouri one does not need to convince a contractor that he is sufficiently wise or careful to be entrusted with materials that he has paid for in full. In my opinion, ********************** either no longer has the funds I provided the company to purchase these items, or ************************** is holding these materials hostage as leverage to be able to continue to complete my job in his spare time over the next 12 months. At one point he told me I should consider myself lucky, since sometimes projects such as mine can take two years, or more, an assertion that is contradicted by the manufacturer who states my project should have taken approximately 8 weeks. These delays have caused me lots of problems, and I would have taken action sooner but he has over $14,237 of materials I have paid for and he flat out refuses to deliver them to my job site, refuses to return my money, and recently has stopped taking my calls or responding to my texts or emails. On October 6, ********************************************************** a few days, and would remain on the job until completion. That was over four months ago. On February 15, he showed up as he has done sporadically and worked on the geothermal units attempting to bring water circulation to them to begin operation of the systems, but was unsuccessful. He left stating that he needed to go pick up a part but did not return. Temperatures in the area were predicted to be in the teens for the next few days, and I texted him about the danger of frozen water damage inside the units, but he dismissed my concerns in spite of the fact that the heating systems were not operational and would be subject to catastrophic damage with these freezing temperatures. He instructed me to remove a valve at the end of the suction pipe in the water source, disregarding the fact that water was in the internal areas of three high dollar geothermal heat pumps along with three pumps full of water none of which would drain if I had simply followed his instructions. There was a lot of pipe inside the house that would have been subject to freezing. . I had to take steps to provide temporary heat and monitor the temperatures inside the house for the next ***** hours to prevent this impending damage, getting up multiple times per night to assure adequate temperatures, and refueling the temporary heat source. He has not been back since that day, Feb. 15. Based on his behavior I have deemed that he has abandoned my job. I would like to job completed or if he will not do that, I want return of the money I have paid him for materials he said he would bring to the job site.