Owner Ray Kerarti (aka Rena Kerarti, Rena Ziana-Kerarti) is a living stereo type for the scamming renovation contractors.
Mr. Kerarit presented himself as a licensed general contractor. He is not licensed.
We contracted R&G to renovate an investment property. Fairly large sized job, $32,500 budget. After signing a contract we paid the deposit to R&G using a credit card. As soon as the deposit was paid, Mr. Kerart immediately began pressuring us to pay more money up front. I told him to make some progress on the job and I'd be happy to pay more at that time.
Work started and progressed at a very slow pace. His crew only worked one or two days a week. After each small bit of progress, Ray would ask for large sums of money. For example, after drywall was hung (about 50 sheets) he asked for $8,500. I'm no expert, but I know hanging drywall--not hang and finish, just nailing the stuff up-- doesn't cost $170 per sheet. Finally, I told him in no uncertain terms to STOP with the high-pressure tactics to squeeze cash out of us for work that was not completed. Personally, I don't feel like I should have to raise my voice at someone who keeps pestering me for money. He was like a baby bird sitting on my job (getting nothing done) with his mouth open always screaming for more food.
Long story short, the pace of work and the quality of his work was so poor that I finally had to terminate his contract. A couple days after I terminated, I got an alert from my bank saying my credit card was over limit. I was astonished to find that Ray had made an unauthorized charge to my card for $10,000. I contacted Ray and he said the charge was for work he'd done. I told him he had no right to pay himself directly out of my wallet. If he was owed, he should send an invoice and we could go from there, but he had no right to reach into my wallet and take money. Period. FYI, there was no reoccurring billing agreement nor anything authorizing him to charge my card at times when the charge was not first approved by me.
Two other very concerning things are also worth mentioning:
1. I spoke to my bank on the day Ray made the $10,000 unauthorized charge to my card and they indicated that he had tried to authorize a total of $51,000 that same day but only the one charge went through. No matter what Ray may or may not have been owed, the thief tried to steal far in excess of our entire contract.
2. Upon reviewing my credit card statement, I found that for the charge I did approve to him, he had over charged for those without any explanation.
Currently, criminal charges are pending, a civil suit has been filed, and a complaint has been made with Georgia Secretary of State for posing as a licensed contractor.
Please. Please. Please. Steer clear of this scammer. Don't hire him to do any work on your home. You will regret it.
R&G Renovation Experts, LLC Reviews
R&G Renovation "Experts", LLC.
Owner Ray Kerarti (aka Rena Kerarti, Rena Ziana-Kerarti) is a living stereo type for the scamming renovation contractors.
Mr. Kerarit presented himself as a licensed general contractor. He is not licensed.
We contracted R&G to renovate an investment property. Fairly large sized job, $32,500 budget. After signing a contract we paid the deposit to R&G using a credit card. As soon as the deposit was paid, Mr. Kerart immediately began pressuring us to pay more money up front. I told him to make some progress on the job and I'd be happy to pay more at that time.
Work started and progressed at a very slow pace. His crew only worked one or two days a week. After each small bit of progress, Ray would ask for large sums of money. For example, after drywall was hung (about 50 sheets) he asked for $8,500. I'm no expert, but I know hanging drywall--not hang and finish, just nailing the stuff up-- doesn't cost $170 per sheet. Finally, I told him in no uncertain terms to STOP with the high-pressure tactics to squeeze cash out of us for work that was not completed. Personally, I don't feel like I should have to raise my voice at someone who keeps pestering me for money. He was like a baby bird sitting on my job (getting nothing done) with his mouth open always screaming for more food.
Long story short, the pace of work and the quality of his work was so poor that I finally had to terminate his contract. A couple days after I terminated, I got an alert from my bank saying my credit card was over limit. I was astonished to find that Ray had made an unauthorized charge to my card for $10,000. I contacted Ray and he said the charge was for work he'd done. I told him he had no right to pay himself directly out of my wallet. If he was owed, he should send an invoice and we could go from there, but he had no right to reach into my wallet and take money. Period. FYI, there was no reoccurring billing agreement nor anything authorizing him to charge my card at times when the charge was not first approved by me.
Two other very concerning things are also worth mentioning:
1. I spoke to my bank on the day Ray made the $10,000 unauthorized charge to my card and they indicated that he had tried to authorize a total of $51,000 that same day but only the one charge went through. No matter what Ray may or may not have been owed, the thief tried to steal far in excess of our entire contract.
2. Upon reviewing my credit card statement, I found that for the charge I did approve to him, he had over charged for those without any explanation.
Currently, criminal charges are pending, a civil suit has been filed, and a complaint has been made with Georgia Secretary of State for posing as a licensed contractor.
Please. Please. Please. Steer clear of this scammer. Don't hire him to do any work on your home. You will regret it.