All Forum Posts by: Donald Hendricks

That is strange, I was assured by Natalie Pilkinton that this does not happen.  That is why I have chossen to "review" both Scott Flynn of Road Runner Construction, a Lifestyles Unlimited endorsed vendor, AND Lifestyles Unlimited right here, where they have zero control over the content.  Should either party choose to make this right, I will be happy to update the masses.  Until then, the facts as they are speak for themselves.

Its almost like dealing witht the Democrat party, everyone has their talking points down.  

Same holds true for Lifestyles Unlimited.

Texas requires neither.

If I "manipulated" something you said, feel free to point it out.  I don't believe that I have.  Its not like I said that you told me that it was "hard to tell" from the pictures if the quality of work was bad or not, which you did say at one point.   Here you say that the work was not acceptable, which is in my opinion, an understatement.  You are right, the story here is incomplete, I didn't post all of the pictures of the deplorable work, just the most outlandish ones.  My "actions" in the manner in which Scott Flynn of a Road Runner Construction, a Lifestyles Unlimited endorsed vendor, was terminted really has no bearing on the quality of the work, rather it is a result of the work.  Yes, I did send you an email thanking you for talking me down off the cliff, to which I was referring to not pursuing Scott Flynn in small claims court. "Poking the bear" as you put it, because as you said, I "still owe" Scott Flynn money.    And he still owes me quality work.  While it may be true that "ALL vendors no matter their source are good only until they are not", the same holds true for Lifestyles Unlimited.  In my opinion, it is Lifestyles Unlimited that is getting the black eye from this.  You, as the Vice President of Vendor Program, have the leverage to force Scott Flynn to make right by this or force him out. However, you choose to "monitor" him and subject other memebers to his talents. 

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From: Donald Hendricks
Sent: Friday, February 06, 2015 2:05 PM
To: Natalie Pilkinton
Subject: Thanks

Thanks for talking me down off the cliff today. In the big scheme of things, this really is a cheap education and a new tool in my tool belt to draw on moving forward.

Donald

Sent from my iPad

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No where did I say that I was happy that Lifestyle Unlimited has choose to leave me hanging when they are the ones with the leverage.  Also note, I have never said, nor inferred that Lifestyles Unlimited should pay for Scott Flynns hackmenship, as some others have opined that they should. 

True words of wisdom.   Thanks!

UPDATE:

I should have listend and fired the contractor, a Lifestyles Unlimited endorsed vendor, Scott Flynn of Road Runner Constructin, but decided to give him a chance to fix the issues.  The pics below are just a few of them gems that he presented as his final product. Nothing that he was contracted to do was done to even a mediocre standard, nevermind a professional standard.

I am then told by the Lifestyles Unlimited vendor Vice President, Natalie Pilkinton, that I was too harsh in firing him and that I needed to give him as many chances as it takes to get the job done right.  "Punch list" items you know.   Long and short of it,  Lifestyles Unlimited charges big money for vendors to be on thier list of endorsed vendors and they will not use the leverage that they have to get their vendors to perform or do right by the members.  I was told that they will "monitor" him to see if his performance improves.  This is a far cry from my first contact with Natalie Pilkinton where she told me ths they would suspend him from the program until he made it  right. Lifestyles Unlimited brags about having no BBB complaints, I am pondering ruining their record.

Ironically, the new contractor who I am having to pay $3050 to correct the screwed up work of Scott Flynn, is his previous boss.  He was floored at the deplorable work that was done and astonished thst he would present it as a finished product.

I appreciate your help, he has been in contact with me and assured me that he is not happy with the subs work either, and that he will do what needs to be done to make it right.  

I will be back to check up on the work Saturday.

Learned.   

I just moved out of my primary house, which I am converting to a rental.  I hired a LifeStyles Unlimited (real estate investors club) recommended vendor from their magic vendor list.  Regardless, it appears that this guy is in over his head with the mediocore quality of work that is being done.  All I wanted was popcorn scraped, ceilings prepped, knockdown texture to applied consistent with knockdown texture that is in the master bedroom. Replace existing doors with 6 panel doors, and paint interior of house.  Also there were a few cosmetic areas of wall textured that needed to be touched up

Job was suppose to be done yesterday, then today.   I have been out of town.  Not concerned about timeline.  Went by today and now I am concerned that a troop of Boy Scouts could do better work.   The popcorn was scraped , in the process ceiling was gouged, popcorn remains at edges, torn seams, no prep work, some type of texture was applied, I would hardly call it knock down, not consistent witt the master bedroom.  Painting is amature hour. He painted light fixtures and other hardware.   6 panel doors have turned out to be 4, no biggie they look good, so I am ok with that, but not consistent with scope of work.  None of the touch ups too the few areas that I requested were done.  

I am so at a loss for words or what to do at this point.

Kick him to the curb?  It'll cost me more than the original job to fix his "handy" work.  I have paid him 60% of the job already up front.

Give him a chance to remedy his mess?

Really at a loss what to do at this point.

I found an off market 4 plex, asking price 240,000. Fully rented at $600.00 each unit. 2bd 2ba units built in 1980. It is a single story structure. Never been updated cosmetically. 3 year old 30 year roof, 5 year old central AC units, 2 year old appliances and hotwater heaters. Located in great area of town, and is the only 4 plex that i know of in the surrounding blocks. I estimate about 30k in updates. ARV 320k and the rents can easily be raised to 800-850 a month. Owner is out of state and has not kept up with property or local market.

I can use my VA loan and live in one unit (1 lease due in November) with the other 3 turning over staggered until July 2015. This will give me time to update each unit as they come open. I am single, so I don't don't mind living in a construction zone or moving unit to unit. I'll do what work I can, contract out the rest. Fulfill my requirement to live in the property and move on in a year. My out of pocket to get in will be a 2.5% VA funding fee and some other expenses. About 10k total. Taxes are killer at $3500 a year and I am not sure what insurance will cost. Plan on keeping it for the long run.

What say you?