ComplaintsforSmart City Texas

• Initial Complaint

  05/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am a homeowner in Mansfield, TX seeing resolution and assistance from the Better Business Bureau to get a refund from Smart City Texas, a contractor listed on your site with an A+ rating. I have been exceedingly patient and have attempted at no avail to try to resolve this matter with James Gyurkovic Jr, the owner of Smart City Texas, and his wife Tricia. I would like a refund in the amount of $11,500 for their breach of contract for my home kitchen remodel by the misappropriation of funds, failure to hold a valid contractor license, and failure to diligently pursue the completion of work. I would also like $1007.89 due to damage to personal property and materials. Due to numerous no shows, their inability to pay for the subcontractor labor as agreed upon in the contract, and the discovery that the license number provided does not exist I am unable to move forward with my business relationship with Smart City Texas. Additionally, the quality of work is not professional, and the subcontractors hired by Smart City were not professionals and did not possess the skillsets required to finish the job. I contracted with the owner of Smart City Texas, James Gyurkovic Jr. on 1/27/2023 for a Kitchen Remodel. Demo for my kitchen was completed on 3/20/2023 and James quoted that the remodel should take 3 weeks. The contractual agreement was for labor only and I was responsible for the purchase of all materials. The Base contract amount was $15,000 . I have paid over 75% of the base contract, a $2400.00 change order in full, and I had to pay $3000 for the labor to install counter tops because James misappropriated my funds and was unable to pay for the labor. Nothing for my remodel is complete and my kitchen has not been operational for 50 days. James has only come to my home 9 times in the 50 days with numerous no shows. The work quality is poor and he has also damaged my home due to incompetence and negligence. See attached document for detailed evidence.

  

  Business response

  05/19/2023

  Smart City Texas has Core values we adhere to.   1 every project is our priority.  2 what we do is important. 3. Top quality is what we deliver.  4. Integrity and our faith and family guide us..  

  This project is still under contract,   we had  3 week client delay for quartz countertops,  which was fine, our goal is perfect and the countertops by the sub I brought in are perfect.  

  This is an Ikea kitchen that arrived in 110 separate boxes,  which my team assembled , installed,  while we removed the existing large kitchen layout cabinets and granite ,  removed the corner wall and the hip xwall to reconfigure the kitchen layout.  

  We worked for 2 days on-site after this post by the client.  Smart City Texas always atrives to fulfill the client's dream and we aim to achieve the Vision set out.  We just do not finance it.   On Saturday the 13 as we were doing wall touch up and reviewing the just picked out backslash, and included a 100 dq. Ft change order for floor to wall tile.  An 8000 $ change order.  Our client insisted it was in the contract for 15,000 of which we were paid 12, and per our contract we have made every effort to complete our job.  The kitchen is at 85  % .    The additional crown molding was an add,  new baseplate an add,  and certainly new floor to wall tile an add.   

  The client violently disagreed demanding that Smart City Texas refund money clearly earned for work performed to that point.  We or any business cannot be held liable for indecision,  schedule delays and cost and schedule impacts we are not responsible for.  

  This was a great collaboration and we were at the finish line,   but when any client doubles the scope of work in the last 2 days then demands you do it for freeze had no choice but to exercise our 60 day option and pull off temporarily.   Smart City Texas has done everything in its power to professionally handle this including forfeiting funds owed providing a lien release just to move on .  The client determined she would rather escalate her demand that we provide out time, talent and services free of charge to complete the kitchen remodel.   

  The pictures I'll let speak for themselves.   We honor our contracts,  we are accredited A+ because of it,  and it is unfortunate that this situation is occurring.   And that's all I got.  We did the job,   we were at the finish line,  The client had a different course she chose to take.   In no way shape or form were we incompetent or unprofessional.  And we never get personal.   This is business.   We did our jobs , and that it.  

  Customer response

  05/23/2023

  Complaint: 20040624
  
  I am rejecting this response because the response is a lie. 

  Smart City Texas stated: 1 every project is our priority. 

  Smart City Texas was a no call no show 14 times after the demolition of my kitchen on 3/20/23. The first day they were a no-show was 3/21/23. The final straw was when they no-showed 3 days before my cabinet installation. My cabinets were not properly installed or level and this put my deposit on quartz at risk and would have potentially pushed my installation of counters to June. I had to hire another company to remove the cabinets from the wall and re-install them properly to prepare for cabinet install. I have included the copy of the invoice in the attached evidence. Additionally, I have a recorded conversation with James where he admits that he has been distracted for the past 2 months because of personal issues, but is working to get back on track. The delays in the project were never due to my decision making. Smart City Texas did not return phone calls or show up to my home to work, and that is the true delay in this project. IF they would have showed up at all then at least 1 thing in my kitchen would be completed, but even to date, nothing in my kitchen is completed. The cabinets that I received on 3/18/23, prior to demo even starting, have not been completed. There is no excuse for the work that they have not done. 

  Smart City Texas says; 3. Top quality is what we deliver. 

  Smart City Texas delivered poor quality work. James and Tricia came to my home on our final attempt to get them to fulfill their contractual obligation, and during the review of the work performed by their subs James himself stated that the work "looked like shit" which I have in a recorded conversation. We gave them a final opportunity to fix the poor quality of work on the walls and repair the damage James and their subs did to my home before moving on to anything else. Tricia and I discussed the upcoming project schedule and I have acknowledgement from them both that the first order of business required to move forward with any work would be to fix the walls. I have this documented in recorded conversations and the text messages provided in the attached evidence. Additionally, the pictures that James took and submitted as evidence are not a reflection of the way he left my home. These pictures are pictures of the work completed by the additional contractor that I paid and the counter sub that I paid in full when Smart City Texas did not have the money to pay for the labor as contractually required

  Smart City Texas says: 4. Integrity and our faith and family guide us.  
  

  Integrity is the last word I would use to describe James and Tricia or Smart City Texas. They have been repeatedly caught in lies and continue to lie throughout this complaint. 1.) Smart City Texas charged me $1000 to obtain permits for my pot filler installation and contract a master plumber (evidence provided in original document). James installed the pot filler himself even though he does not have a plumbing license. Additionally, I found out from the plumber I hired to complete the work he abandoned, that a permit is not required to complete a pot filler install. I have reported him to the Texas State Board of Plumbing for the damage that his shoddy work has done to my home. To date I have had to pay a plumber  $975.00 to complete the work he abandoned and repair the damage he caused. 2.) James Gyurkovic has been defrauding people in the community for years. Once he extracts as much money as he can, he then abandons the work and does not show up to complete the job. He then changes his company name and continues with this scam. Please see the attachment for evidence of other hardworking families he has ripped off over the years, including other BBB complaints that were posted under his previous business name. 

  I did not double the scope of the work to be performed by Smart City Texas. I was very clear with my requirements. I told him and Tricia and they both agreed that the wall repairs would be completed and then once we evaluated their trustworthiness and quality of work we would determine if we could move forward with the contract. James did not come to my home on Saturday March 13th, he was at my home on Friday March 12th. I did not ask him to complete the tile feature wall that I had decided to add. Smart City Texas is claiming that my wall is 100sq ft and $8000, and this is another example of their dishonesty. I have a quote from another contractor who measured the feature wall PLUS the remaining backsplash in my kitchen at 63 sqft. at the price of $1,134. I have included a copy of the invoice in my attachment. The timeline to complete the tile installation was 2 days. I would have never agreed to allow him to do any additional change work when he couldn't complete the original work. I was trying to get the completion of the contracted work, which included the installation of the standard backsplash so that I could move on. They have damaged my home, caused me to have to cancel my son's (who is a high school senior) pre-prom send off, and graduation dinner due to his lies, dishonesty, and have attempted to extort money to get them to complete the work they were already paid to do. This is another example that fits the pattern of James and Tricia's deceptive, predatory behavior. They tried to extract additional money from me and when I would not budge on our agreement that he complete the wall repairs before we move on to any additional work, he abandoned the contract. Additionally the baseboard was a compromise because Smart City Texas did not complete the floor repairs they were paid to do and therefore the subfloor is exposed under the cabinets. I have documented this conversation in a recording where he agreed that this was the compromise we should move forward with since he failed to show up and complete the floor work that I asked him to do repeatedly. I have provided the latest pictures of my kitchen as of the current date, after Smart City Texas "started" on the wall repair. James also performed electrical work in my home and he is not an electrician. I have reported him to TLDR for this violation as well. I have also reported him to the State Attorney General's Office along with evidence of the other people that he has defrauded over the years. What they have done is criminal. They should not remain an accredited member of the BBB or serve on any community business boards or councils. I will continue to pursue resolution for this. I have provided an overwhelming amount of evidence on the lies and failures of Smart City Texas. If you would like copies of the recorded conversations, please let me know and I will provide those as well.  

  For a full accounting of the most recent experience I've had with Smart City Texas and James Gyurkovic and Tricia Lyons see the attached document.

  The assertion that I as a mother of 4 sons, one of whom is graduating from high school this year, and a home owner would start a kitchen remodel and then delay it for 2 months is absurd. As you can see by the numerous texts asking Smart City Texas to show up and complete the work and the fact that I have already contracted someone else to repair the shoddy work done by Smart City Texas and complete the remainder of the remodel demonstrates that I have remained consistent and vigilant in my intention to get my kitchen back in livable condition. James and Tricia are thieves and scammers based on my experience. I plan on showing my lengthy evidence file to the district attorney along with several other homeowners he has scammed over the years. Additionally James Gyurkovic has a criminal history that includes fraud and this should be something that the BBB takes into consideration when providing accreditation to businesses. I will also pursue this civilly through the court system. My goal is to ensure that they do not defraud another person as they are in the community continuing to do this to others, and their A+ BBB rating and accreditation lends them credibility they do not deserve.  We as the public have faith in the BBB and the fact that we can trust businesses to whom you provide accreditation. It certainly swayed me to believe they were a legitimate business.

  
  Regards,
  
  Alicia Lawrence

  

  Business response

  07/27/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of Arbitration. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID .20040624, and find that arbitration is necessary.

  Sincerely,

  Alicia Lawrence

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩