Screwed over

COMPLAINT: Melissa Zmerzlikar, Houston
"I hired Decorative Wall & Design to faux paint my walls and outlet covers. They took my outlet cover plates and screws, and were supposed to bring them back the next day. They haven't returned any of the cover plates, screws or my phone calls."

DESIRED RESOLUTION: "I want them to return my outlet covers and screws or send $200 so I can have someone else do it."

STATUS: Penalty box 

A payment pickle

COMPLAINT: Paul Schoenfeld, Houston
"My tenant hired Tempco to service a thermostat they installed less than a year ago after a lightning strike. The original repair was hired by my tenant, but paid for by me. I assumed a warranty would cover the parts for this repair. [When they came out the second time], they installed a new thermostat, replaced a wall plate that covered torn Sheetrock from their initial installation and replaced two A/C boards and a blower motor.

"They incorrectly installed the thermostat wiring and an A/C board. I called them and they offered to send a check for $75, which I never received. I contacted Rhonda [Sears, accounting], to explain the issue and she became very difficult with me."

DESIRED RESOLUTION: "I want a 10 percent reimbursement for the initial work, plus [total] reimbursement for the thermostat replacement, minus parts, [which comes to more than] $362."

RESPONSE: Rhonda Sears, accounting, Tempco
"[After our initial visit] the tenant paid for our services. One year later, we went out to replace a thermostat [for] the owner of the property, the member. He praised our work and asked us to write a letter against the tenant. When the letter wasn't in favor of the member, he made ridiculous allegations, including that we wired the board incorrectly. The tenant never had any issues in the year after the repairs, and they only became issues when we wouldn't write the letter in favor of [the member]."

STATUS: Stalemate