Read this and don't let this happen to you!! Taken completely by this talented scam artist; almost too embarassed to write this but we must speak out!
A year ago (July 2015) we hired Energy Plus to install 7 impact windows in the house. We looked him up on BBB and he had no complaints. He gave us copies of his license & insurance, had lots of references, and all kinds of warranties & guarantees. The job went pretty well. Took a long time, install was so-so (I did some finish work myself) and, unlike the other complaint here, we were very happy with the product provided by Custom Window Systems in Ocala, FL.
It appears that we were lucky. VERY lucky.
This year we decided to finish off our Florida room with the same windows, so we called Energy Plus and the owner, Mr. Kukor, came to the house 3 days later with his new installer, "Nick." I had looked up the license number on last year's contract and it seemed to still be in force. We agreed on a price on non-impact windows and we gave him a deposit of $3450. The next day we decided we'd be better off with impact windows so I called Mr. Kukor and we easily worked out an agreeable price for the upgrade. Probably TOO easy. He e-mailed the new agreement and asked for another deposit of $1500 "two weeks from start of work" which, according to his estimate, would've been about a month hence. He said he would send a new paper contract.
Next thing I know, he writes "Good News!" the windows are coming in in 3 weeks and he needed that other deposit. I resisted since 3 weeks was not the agreement but before we knew it Mr. Kukor was at our door with the permit for us to sign. We reluctantly gave him another check, dated 4 days hence, and he promised not to deposit it until then. Of course he immediately changed/forged the date on the check and cashed it which I found out two days later when I checked our account. At that point we knew we were in trouble. I called the window company and their exact words were, "Oh, he's out of business." We went ballisitic! But alas, Mr. Kukor being a very skilled scammer, made a lot of appologies told us he was working under a different license which he would send us in email. We knew it was bad but at that point what could we do?
A plethora of flowery empty promises ensued, from "Sorry forgot attachment, will get that tonight," to "will get that in the morning, please be patient, focusing on you and I keep my word, am very busy, have the flu, etc, etc, etc... Meanwhile we were struggling with what to do with this guy and trying to formulate a strategy. I remembered from my previous research that he had lived in the same house on Singer Island for over 10 years, I looked it up on Google Maps and the street view, taken this year, showed his truck with the company name on it sitting in the driveway. At this point we figured we were going to have to sue him small claims court. Amazingly, he continued promising the windows and eventually managed to pull a name out the hat of Bennett Aluminum. "Mr. Bennett is old fashioned and a striaght up guy." Yep, he was old-fashioned alright-- his license expired in 1993! We also found that the license on the Energy Plus contract was about to expire, actually in 4 days! As if that's not bad enough the real clincher came when I looked up the real estate records: His house sold just 2 months ago. Mr. Kukor was obviously in trouble, very, very desperate, and nowhere to be found. And we were out almost 5 grand!!
Lessons to be learned: #1- Just because they were legit last week doesn't mean they are now. Unfortunately we must always assume everyone's a scammer. DO THE RESEARCH. #2- The "installer" didn't measure all the windows, which appeared to be the same, and assumed my figures were correct. He even mismeasured by 1/2" after extolling his amazing carpentry skills. #3- The contract looked like it had been pulled out from under the car seat. #4- He was too quick to lower his price by a substantial amount. #5- He was very worried about "protecting himself," having us sign our drawings and telling us how everyone scams him. Scammers use this tactic to make people feel sorry for them. Of course it is usually the jealous lover who is cheating.
With the kind help of many of our friends we have formulated a comprehensive plan of attack:
1--Report him to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/ These people really hate scammers and will make his life miserable. There is also a "Florida Homeowner's Construction Recovery Fund," from which we *may* recover our money. This info should be on the back side of all contracts.
Energy Plus Windows and Doors Florida Reviews
Read this and don't let this happen to you!! Taken completely by this talented scam artist; almost too embarassed to write this but we must speak out!
A year ago (July 2015) we hired Energy Plus to install 7 impact windows in the house. We looked him up on BBB and he had no complaints. He gave us copies of his license & insurance, had lots of references, and all kinds of warranties & guarantees. The job went pretty well. Took a long time, install was so-so (I did some finish work myself) and, unlike the other complaint here, we were very happy with the product provided by Custom Window Systems in Ocala, FL.
It appears that we were lucky. VERY lucky.
This year we decided to finish off our Florida room with the same windows, so we called Energy Plus and the owner, Mr. Kukor, came to the house 3 days later with his new installer, "Nick." I had looked up the license number on last year's contract and it seemed to still be in force. We agreed on a price on non-impact windows and we gave him a deposit of $3450. The next day we decided we'd be better off with impact windows so I called Mr. Kukor and we easily worked out an agreeable price for the upgrade. Probably TOO easy. He e-mailed the new agreement and asked for another deposit of $1500 "two weeks from start of work" which, according to his estimate, would've been about a month hence. He said he would send a new paper contract.
Next thing I know, he writes "Good News!" the windows are coming in in 3 weeks and he needed that other deposit. I resisted since 3 weeks was not the agreement but before we knew it Mr. Kukor was at our door with the permit for us to sign. We reluctantly gave him another check, dated 4 days hence, and he promised not to deposit it until then. Of course he immediately changed/forged the date on the check and cashed it which I found out two days later when I checked our account. At that point we knew we were in trouble. I called the window company and their exact words were, "Oh, he's out of business." We went ballisitic! But alas, Mr. Kukor being a very skilled scammer, made a lot of appologies told us he was working under a different license which he would send us in email. We knew it was bad but at that point what could we do?
A plethora of flowery empty promises ensued, from "Sorry forgot attachment, will get that tonight," to "will get that in the morning, please be patient, focusing on you and I keep my word, am very busy, have the flu, etc, etc, etc... Meanwhile we were struggling with what to do with this guy and trying to formulate a strategy. I remembered from my previous research that he had lived in the same house on Singer Island for over 10 years, I looked it up on Google Maps and the street view, taken this year, showed his truck with the company name on it sitting in the driveway. At this point we figured we were going to have to sue him small claims court. Amazingly, he continued promising the windows and eventually managed to pull a name out the hat of Bennett Aluminum. "Mr. Bennett is old fashioned and a striaght up guy." Yep, he was old-fashioned alright-- his license expired in 1993! We also found that the license on the Energy Plus contract was about to expire, actually in 4 days! As if that's not bad enough the real clincher came when I looked up the real estate records: His house sold just 2 months ago. Mr. Kukor was obviously in trouble, very, very desperate, and nowhere to be found. And we were out almost 5 grand!!
Lessons to be learned: #1- Just because they were legit last week doesn't mean they are now. Unfortunately we must always assume everyone's a scammer. DO THE RESEARCH. #2- The "installer" didn't measure all the windows, which appeared to be the same, and assumed my figures were correct. He even mismeasured by 1/2" after extolling his amazing carpentry skills. #3- The contract looked like it had been pulled out from under the car seat. #4- He was too quick to lower his price by a substantial amount. #5- He was very worried about "protecting himself," having us sign our drawings and telling us how everyone scams him. Scammers use this tactic to make people feel sorry for them. Of course it is usually the jealous lover who is cheating.
With the kind help of many of our friends we have formulated a comprehensive plan of attack:
1--Report him to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/ These people really hate scammers and will make his life miserable. There is also a "Florida Homeowner's Construction Recovery Fund," from which we *may* recover our money. This info should be on the back side of all contracts.