Chateaus, Villas & Cottages

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• By a user in Palatine

  May 12, 2017

  addition

  UPDATE - Joanna and Stan Szymel are now operating under another name, Classic Homes by Keystone Builders, Inc with a Lake Forest Il address. Could this be because Joanna and Stan received several negative customer reviews operating with the name of Chateaus on another website? Could it be because customers indicated in their reviews they fired Stan and Joanna Szymel and were glad they did? Could it be because they want to get away from a bad reputation they seemed to have built for themselves? I think so.
  
  TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE! I am appalled by this firm led by its’ president, Joanna Szymel and her husband, Stan Szymel ( chief contractor) This firm’s website claims they are trusted professionals in the industry with 25 years of experience but their actions were far below my standards of any trusted professional. First, the project manager on this project was not the chief contractor, Stan. It was Joanna, who is listed as an interior designer.
  Too many things to list I found disturbing about working with the Szymels but here are a few. Entered into written agreement to build home addition. When we signed agreement, also agreed to change order for service required by village to proceed with addition. After we signed agreement, Joanna informed us the actual total cost of the service required to start addition would be more than double the initial change order amount. Not what I expected from trusted professional with 25 years of experience. We were now over budget and work on house had not even started! We had to change plans and relocate addition.
  Work on house did not begin many months until after we signed agreement. Agreement was for 340 sq. ft. room with specifications including: 3 3x4 windows, 2 transom windows, 300 sq. ft. concrete patios (later changed to 275) and 3-way switch with lights. Room delivered was 254 sq. ft. with 2 windows approx. 32 in wide, one transom window, a 178 sq. ft patio, and a 2-way switch (confirmed by the electricians they hired). When I mentioned to electrician the switch was to be 3 way, he looked around room and asked , “where would it go?” His response seemed to validate the very uneasy feeling I had that we had been deceived and cheated and not just on the switch. Another subcontractor also informed me that other work was not done in accordance with the plans. Contract price included overcharge of $5k for a non-construction service that had been completed and paid for separately. Their excuses ranged from they thought the windows were bigger, a light switch was put in another location, it was difficult to estimate the patio’s area, the $5k overcharge was Fresh Books issue and sometimes no response at all. They eventually stated they performed “extras” for the project, but if any “extras” were performed, they were done without my prior knowledge and written consent.
  When work was completed, there were obvious issues that needed to be resolved. Despite this, Joanna scheduled a final inspection. The room did not pass inspection as I suspected and two sets of workers had to come and resolve the issues.
  Their website indicates payment options of MC, AMEX, Discover, Visa. I told Stan that I was going to pay with AMEX but he said we could not pay with credit. He said he did not have card reader and then he said he did not know credit cards were listed on the website. Trusted professional - No! Also, subcontractor came to our house more than once to inform us that he was still owed money by the Szymels. Lastly, this firm did not provide consumer notifications as required by state of Illinois.
  Beware - This couple worked hard to gain our trust and appear honest – even brought their kid to our home several times. Unfortunately, the costly lesson we got from this is not to support a small business with thin record but rather work with larger firms that have PROVEN track records of reliability and can guarantee their work. Also, check with the Il Attorney General and BBB before hiring a contractor. In good conscience for the reasons I've cited, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND trusting this firm, Joanna and Stan Szymel, with your home and hard earned money.

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