Today’s Troubleshooters report is about the nearly $75,000.00 a Beeville couple says they paid a contractor
to make their house wheelchair adaptable.
They say when they pointed out problems with the job, he told them one thing, but told us something else.
Jan and Maria Berdan say they’ve lived in this house in Beeville 43 years.
Jan is a retired Navy Seabee.
In June 2016 he suffered a stroke and was hospitalized in San Antonio for 3 months.
Before moving back to their home in Beeville, Maria hired Jesus Ramirez to make their home wheelchair adaptable for her husband.
That meant changing the bathroom and the bedroom doors.
They also had Ramirez replace the floor with laminated tile.
Mrs Berdan estimates they paid him $40,000.00 in cash.
The rest with credit cards, for a total of nearly $75,000.00
“$75,000.00 you paid this man off credit cards and cash ? $75,000.00. Yes. Yes. Yes,” Mrs Berdan told the Troubleshooters..
But they never signed a contract with Ramirez.
A tearful Berdan said “I’m sorry I got myself in, but I needed a place.
But another reason the Berdan’s say they called us is a big hole in the middle of the floor.
They claim the laminated tile floor began buckling after water from Hurricane Harvey seeped in thru the front door.
And that’s a big problem for someone who is dependant on a walker.
“My husband can’t even go to the bathroom. I have to give him a pee bucket because I’m afraid he’ll go to the bathroom and slip. We have to watch him.”
So they called Ramirez to come back and fix it.
“Jesus Ramirez came back and told you ‘oh yeah, my guys messed up ? Yeah. He told you that ? He told me that,” Mrs Berdan said.
The Troubleshooters went to the address listed for Jesus Ramirez. A phone on the wooden railing was ringing, but no one answered the door.
So we called him.
“Why is there that hole in the floor ?” we asked. “Maybe the house shifted or something because the tile was set right, like the way it’s supposed to. She tells me she’s paid you over $70.000.00. No,” he answered. ‘5 I guess. It’s a big job.”
The Berdan’s haven’t taken legal action.
They say their insurance company told them the buckling is not from water damage.
And Jesus Ramirez told the Troubleshooters he’ll be back at the house December 12th.
