David Carpentry

On July 5, 2012, I contracted with David Carpentry («David») for kitchen and laundry cabinets. The total for the cabinets was $ 9,900 and $ 2,100 for the granite. I gave David a check for $ 4,950 for the cabinets and $ 1,050 for the granite. I also entered into another contact for the installation of wood floors and gave David $ 2,000 to purchase the plywood, necessary for the installation process.
On July 13, 2012, David promised the laundry cabinets by July 27, 2012. He did not. He then told me not later than August 3, 2012. Again, he did not. He then promised he would have them for August 7, 2012, but he failed to show up at my house.
On August 8, 2012, he brought the laundry cabinets, BUT there are two BIG problems. First, the cabinets do not have doors. Second, the cabinets measure 24 inches in width when they are to measure 30 inches in width. He told me that he was not going to provide me with the doors to the cabinets because they were too expensive to make.
On August 9, 2012, I went to his business requesting to be given the address of the producer of the doors. I also asked David to provide a firm date as to WHEN he would provide me with BOTH the laundry and kitchen cabinets. HE SIMPLY REFUSED TO GIVE ME A DATE WHEN PRODUCTION WOULD BE COMEPLETE. I told him that delivery date is a basic contract term that has to be included in the contract.
I went to meet the door maker, Oscar, who told me that David asked him for «A FAVOR» and make the doors for «FREE» because he did not have the money for production.
David is also refusing to deliver the plywood for which he was given $ 2,000. He claims the plywood has still not arrived. After talking to other businesses who install wood, they say that in 24 hours anyone in Miami-​Dade County can get 1,500 square feet of plywood for a job.
My mother and I show up at David’s business to request just that, but David refused to give us back our money. I told David that if he continued refusing our monies, I was going to file a complaint with the licensing department. At that point, DEFINANTLY, he said, «Fine. Come with me.» He escorted me to his office and pointed to all of his licenses and permits on the wall for me to see them as if he did not care that I would report him. I started to take pictures of his licenses and permits with my phone. He grabbed my hand and yanked it hard so that I could not take pictures of it. I screamed that he better not touch me. Feeling impotent, I also started screaming over and over in chant of protest, «I want my money.» He then proceeded to close his workshop and attempted to lock my mother and I inside. I told him that if he locked that door that would be false imprisonment and that that was a crime. Instead, he called the police on me. I told him that I was not leaving until I had my money and that I did not care if he called the police.
When the Hialeah Gardens police arrived, they heard both sides. They sided with me. They told David that he had to give me my money and that they were going to give him 72 hours to produce a cashier’s check or money order. The officers that showed up were Officer Ramon Ceballos and Officer Gorotiza, as well as Alberto Rivero, an aide. The Officers told me that David said he just did not have the money, but that they were going to give him 72 hours. Officer Ceballos told me that he would pass by on August 13, 2012 to see if he had gotten the check and that he would call me.
On August 13, 2012, Officer Ceballos called me to tell me that he was at David’s business and that David said that his attorney told him not to give me the money because it was a civil matter and that he simply did not have to comply with Officer Ceballos’s request. Officer Ceballos told me that he was so sorry because he really felt bad for me, but that there was not more he could do because he did not have jurisdiction to arrest him since my house sits in Broward and that is where the work is to be done. Officer Ceballos added that he would be a witness to any compliant that I would file with any regulating agency because he would attest to the fact that David said, «I do not have the money because I used it for other things, and I do not even have the money to buy her materials.» Officer Ceballos IS MY WITNESS PLEASE CALL HIM at 305−558−3333. Officer Ceballos told me that he believes this is a criminal matter per a Florida Statute that dicates that one cannot use monies from a contract for another purpose other than to fulfill the terms of the contract. Now, David has misspent my deposits, and I can neither get my product nor my money back.