Granite Depot Inc

UPDATE - CRIMINAL PRO SE FILED w/ THIRD DISTRICT COURT: Status: Filho no-showed for Feb '15 arraignment. A well-deserved warrant for his arrest has now been issued. Other important info if you are a consumer: Birthday is November 29, 1966; SS# likely begins in 218 (issued in Maryland); has resided at a dozen addresses spanning from Maryland to Florida to Massachusetts. Status: Filho no-showed for Jan '15 court hearing. Is reported to have fled to Brazil sometime between September - November 2014 (which is highly unlikely but a a 'nice' story). UPDATE - FRAUD REPORT w/ MELROSE POLICE DEPARTMENT: http://melrosepolice.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/03/August-29-2014.pdf UPDATE - FRAUD REPORT submitted to CONSUMER AFFAIRS, REVERE; ATTORNEY GENERAL, BOSTON (I'm not the first!); DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SALEM. FIVE-STAR SCAMMER! UNLESS YOU HAVE a GOOD LAWYER and/or WANT THE HASSLE of INVOLVING LAW ENFORCEMENT, DON'T ENGAGE ... In March 2014, I engaged with Granite Depot, Inc. + J. Filho to purchase Seville-branded kitchen cabinets for my new home. A deposit of $18,750 was paid via check -- 75%, which I have since learned is non-standard / excessive in the industry. Per Filho, cabinets were to be ordered thru partnership with another vendor in Seekonk, MA. While I did meet with the vendor, I have no evidence to confirm or deny to what degree this vendor was ultimately engaged. This is simply the claim I got from Filho both verbally and in writing. After a significant amount of back-and-forth, I received word from Filho on on 4/7 order for cabinets had been signed off on, indicating a May delivery. On 5/5, I began pushing Filho for a firm delivery date, which resulted in a series of conflicting & false responses (all in writing). On 5/22 I received first solid indication there was a problem; Filho claimed his business partner in Seekonk had taken the deposit but did not order. Again, I have no evidence to confirm or deny whether this if fact. It's important to note that before this Filho came "half clean," he said was engaged in conversations with Seville, the cabinet manufacturer, directly to 'check on escrow' and indicated that he had 'threatened to cancel as a result of the delay' (this is all in writing). Skeptical because the pieces did not fit together, I separately contacted Seville twice. During first conversation, I learned the only approved reseller was in Rhode Island -- but both Filho and his associate operate out of Massachusetts. During the second conversation, I learned no order was placed and neither party had authorization to resell despite promoting so (also have a note from March in writing indicating that Filho "had done a lot of business with Seville"). Needless to say, demanded my money back from Filho. While Filho has claimed to be an "honest person" and has made many promises to make good of this situation, I have not received any return of that deposit or any demonstration of goodwill. In early July I called an in-person meeting to go over the situation and highlights of the timeline of events. Filho again indicated he'd resolve but all evidence to date remains to the contrary. In fact, he's used my long-delayed reporting of this horrid situation to the Attorney General as another convenient excuse not to start returning the deposit of $18,750 -- as he promised he would do both in-person and in writing. Further, and while all this nonsense has gone on and on, I was faced with reordering cabinets through another company and paying for them. I also was subjected to other resulting costs and hardship including no occupancy of my home & 4 mths/$10k in rent for shelter, etc. Not only is the situation unethical and immoral it's also illegal and equates consumer fraud and grand larceny. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE'S MORE ... Previous to this, I foolishly engaged in November 2013 for granite counters. While the matter is 'resolved,' it's also not a happy story. I provided a deposit of $5.6K, which was only half of what I would have owed Filho had I continue to engage on the countertops piece. Due to the above (and more!), I asked to stop the churn and cut ties. At the in-person meeting in July Filho agreed that he would 'release' the granite to me. He also insisted the granite had already been paid for / 'was all set' and 'not to worry' even when probed and asked if he could produce a receipt (he said he could; he never did). Not only was it not paid but the cost to him was a modest $3K. It was a fraction of what I'd already paid Filho in November! So, to add insult to injury, I was being subjected to complete price gauging. Further, when Filho did finally attempt to pay for the granite, he bounced the check to the warehouse. This again caused delays, hassles and complications. So, if you do the math, Filho, for all my hassle, extracted $2.6K profit on the granite counters alone. Oh, and as a side, Filho had promised that for doing business with him vanities would be done free-of-charge (in writing!). When the cabinet situation unfolded, he then attempted to associate value with a vanity and a way to "work off the missing $18,750." A vanity top did show up and was installed cracked from top to bottom and front to back. The sink hole was cut crooked. The holes were drilled willy nilly. Installation included damaging my sink to the point I had to reorder. And damaging my vanity including sawing through it, requiring extensive repairs. When I sent a note saying I was rejecting the vanity, there was no response. When I finally got attention, he'd said he'd not heard from me but retracted when I sent him the note in writing. My husband and I had to remove the mess and return it to his store. Yes, I could write a book! Or Filho could -- a book for fiction, that is!