Locations of visitors to this page
Showing posts with label 0. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 0. Show all posts

Friday, April 10, 2009

Pride of the Mediterranean - Blackhawk, CA


Pride of the Mediterranean
3407 Blackhawk Plaza Circle
Danville, CA 94506
(925) 648-1550
ilovehookahbh.com

It's a good thing I came here with a $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate that I bought for $2 (80% off) because this was one of the worst meals I've had in a long time...not to mention waaaaaaaaaay overpriced!

Pride of the Mediterranean (bad choice of name, IMO) is located in the Blackhawk Plaza behind Anthropologie and next to Alberto's Cantina. It's a teeny place (only 6 tables) but it has ample outdoor seating for hookah's, which I imagine is their big $$$ maker. Teenagers and 20-somethings started pouring in at around 9pm on a Friday night to smoke hookah on the patio, which is why they stay open till at least midnight.

The hummus they served as a complimentary starter was decent; it was about a 1/8" layer thinly spread across a small plate, but at least it was good. Everything went sharply downhill from there. We ordered a Mediterranean Combo Kebab, one skewer each of ground beef/lamb, chicken and lamb ($19.99) and a Kufta Kebab, two skewers of ground beef/lamb ($15.99). All the meat was severely overcooked, the rice was served cold and their veggie mix of raw cucumbers and unripe tomatoes was simply awful.

To make things worse, the owner came to our table and tried to tell us that in order for the $25 gift certificate to be valid, we had to order an appetizer and a dessert. However, we pointed out that the certificate only stated: "Minimum food purchase of $35 plus 18% gratuity added to pre-discounted check amount. Dine in only. Dinner only." After a bit of arguing back and forth, he told us that "he would let it go this time" and I thought to myself "uh, there will NEVER be a next time, dude!"







Hummus


Mediterranean Combo Kebab $19.99


Kufta Kebab $15.99


Dinner for two including tax and tip: $18.40

(courtesy of a $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate)

Pride of the Mediterranean on Urbanspoon

Monday, April 6, 2009

Las Fuentes - Pleasanton, CA


Las Fuentes
929 Main St
Pleasanton, CA 94566
(925) 462-7319

We bought one of the Restaurant.com $25 gift certificates for Las Fuentes and decided to give them a try for dinner tonight. The place was empty, but we sat down and ordered two combination fajita dinners. With nothing better to do than to look around, I noticed they had taped a Restaurant.com $25 gift certificate to the wall behind the counter and wrote "NOT VALID" on it. Uh-oh...that gift certificate was the reason we were trying this place out.

When we told the young male server we had a Restaurant.com gift certificate that we purchased online and asked why it wasn't valid here, he said the owner told him not to accept them because he didn't know anything about it...excuse me??? We've used 22 of these Restaurant.com gift certificates at 22 different restaurants and all 22 worked fine. The server did offer us $2 off our meal and told us that so many people have come in with the Restaurant.com gift certificates.

So they use Restaurant.com to attract new customers to come in to their restaurant, then tell them they don't accept the $25 gift certificates but take $2 off their meal and voila...another sucker bites the dust! Not me, though...we left before the food even came out. I'm going to contact Restaurant.com about this and if they verify that Las Fuentes did sign up for their program...I'm never coming here again.

Here's my e-mail to Restaurant.com:

Hello!

I've been very happy with every Restaurant.com gift certificate purchase so far and to date, I've used them at 22 different restaurants! However, this evening my husband and I stopped in at Las Fuentes (929 - B Main Street, Pleasanton, CA, 94566) and they had a copy of a Restaurant.com gift certificate with the words "NOT VALID" written across it.

I asked why they don't accept Restaurant.com gift certificates and the server said the owner didn't know anything about them, so he was instructed to decline them and offer customers a $2 discount instead. FYI, the server says that many people come in with these gift certificates! I'm just glad I noticed the sign and I don't like being the victim of a bait & switch, so we left before the food was even brought out and told them to cancel our order.

Please let me know the status of Las Fuentes restaurant...is it true that they didn't sign up with Restaurant.com? I didn't think you published gift certificates without the restaurant's knowledge, but thought I should ask just for the record! :)

My $25 gift certificate no. is ________, if you need that info to issue me a refund.

Best regards,

Leilani Souza

***UPDATE ON 4/7/2009***

Here's the reply from Restaurant.com:

I apologize for the inconvenience, I checked the account and yes, there is a contract. We don't put restaurants on our website without a contract. Our cancellations department has been notified that the restaurant is not accepting certificates.





Las Fuentes on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Western Wall Systems, Inc. - Hayward, CA


Western Wall Systems, Inc.
(aka Bay Foam Inc. and BayStone Group, Inc.)

20273 Mack St
Hayward, CA 94545
(510) 786-9663
westernwallsystems.com

A couple of weeks ago, we noticed that our interior walls have started to crack and come apart at the tape joints. We took photos and sent a letter to Western Wall Systems and their attorney on 2/24/2009 asking them to respond to their construction defect and let us know how they were going to proceed (if you read the first review, they never actually finished installing the drywall throughout the house). Our builder even sent them a letter notifying them of the problem and as of today, we still have not received any response from Tim Ritter, owner of Western Wall Systems or his attorney.

We also filed a complaint against Western Wall Systems (aka Bay Foam Inc. aka BayStone Group Inc.) with the California Contractor State License Board (CSLB) on 2/24/2009, so maybe they can help us get a response from Tim Ritter. We've also retained an attorney to assist us against Western Wall Systems, who is demanding payment for a job not even completed.

I created a website in defense of our situation...anyone interested can visit westernwallsystems.com for more info and photos.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Law Office of William Webb Farrer - San Francisco, CA


Law Office of William Webb Farrer
300 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 765-9100

Update regarding #4 on my initial review: We finally received communication back from William Webb Farrer (aka Billy) on 12/1/2008...only 30 days after he said he'd send us an email!

0 points for punctuality...

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Oakdale Plumbing - Oakdale, CA


Oakdale Plumbing (Bruce Gellerman)
17091 Victory Avenue
Oakdale, CA 95361
(209) 838-8190

Bruce Gellerman of Oakdale Plumbing is a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and more importantly, a lousy excuse for a plumber. I do NOT recommend under ANY circumstances. Here's the scoop:

When he was trying to get our job (plumbing our new custom home), he was offering to do extras for free and begged for the job, claiming he's been out of work and REALLY needs the money. So we hired him, after he kept contacting my husband to see if we had made a decision. He's in his 60's or 70's so we felt pity on him (poor old man) and our neighbor who referred him was using him on their new home as well.

He was so pleasant and appreciative when he asked us for an advance upfront (without starting any work) and again, we thought "poor old man" because he told us he was behind on his mortgage payments.

So he does the rough plumbing on our house...and now, fast forward to the time we start installing tile on the shower floors. Well, the drains are OFF-CENTER in 3 showers...WTF???!!! I don't mean 1/2" but like TWO INCHES!

Then the 4th shower, the one in the master bathroom, has 4 body sprays. Well, not only are the body sprays NOT LEVEL, but he installed the top 2 sprays to spray directly in my eyes...again...WTF???!!!

There's more. The rough plumbing for the 2 of our toilets were OFF-CENTER and TOO FAR AWAY from the water line he installed...yeah, again...WTF???!!!

When our general contractor and us told him about these issues, all he could do was start the blame game. Blah, blah, blah. He couldn't validate any of the numerous excuses he came up with when we asked, so now he turns into Mr. Hyde.

He actually gets into my husband's face (!!!) and yells indecencies and because my husband is a gentleman, old man Bruce didn't get knocked to the ground. He also told me to shut up. Seriously. My husband and I were actually in awe at his transformation and felt embarrassed and sorry for him to be an old man and not have his sh*t together and act like such an idiot.

The end result is that Bruce is UNWILLING TO COME BACK AND FIX HIS MISTAKES UNLESS WE PAY HIM TO DO SO. He also had the nerve to come back to our jobsite and demand that we pay him for the finish plumbing, which was work he did not even do!

As the job progresses, we find more problems caused by Bruce. He never installed a water line to our fridge and also did not install one to our pot filler. Good thing we have a raised foundation and were able to install these after the fact!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Law Office of William Webb Farrer - San Francisco, CA


Law Office of William Webb Farrer
300 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 765-9100

This is a review on William Webb Farrer (aka Billy) as an attorney. He came to my house 2 days ago with the project manager of a stucco/drywall/plaster company in Hayward and my 1 star rating is because:

1) He did not introduce himself or even present me with his business card and he was at my house for over 2 hours. Not very professional.

2) He was wearing a flannel shirt, blue jeans and Vans shoes...in my experience, the attorneys I've seen were always in business attire. Again, not very professional.

3) He waited until the END of the meeting to ask my husband and I if we had retained counsel. I believe that should have been the first question to ask us at the BEGINNING of the meeting. I think that was a BIG NO-NO as far as proper attorney procedures.

4) He told us that he would send us an e-mail and it's 2 days later...no e-mail. Well, he didn't specify when he would send the e-mail, so maybe I only have an assumption that he should follow through on his word within 1-2 business days.

***REVIEW UPDATE AVAILABLE***

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Viking Pools of the Greater Valley - Lathrop, CA


Viking Pools of the Greater Valley
16349 S. Harlan Rd
Lathrop, CA 95330
(209) 982-9800
vikingpoolsgreatervalley.com

On 8/11/08 I gave Gabe Young of Viking Pools of the Greater Valley a check for $200.00 (towards a $45,000.00 installation of an "Acapulco" pool at my home in Livermore). Now that my check cleared, Gabe refuses to return my phone calls and will not come back out to the site. He also refuses to give out his cell phone number and his office assistants are no help. It's been two weeks and I just filed a complaint with the BBB...I doubt he can complete a pool installation if he cannot even return a phone call.

My advice: STAY AWAY FROM VIKING POOLS OF THE GREATER VALLEY AND GABRIEL NOLAN YOUNG!

Update as of 9/11/08: It has been one month since we signed the contract and I gave the $200 deposit. Gabe Young of Viking Pools of the Greater Valley has not done ANYTHING to install my pool (no permit was applied for, no pool was ordered, he has never even returned to my home) and has not refunded my $200. I've also filed a complaint against him with the CSLB (Contractors State Licensing Board) for non-performance.

Update as of 9/25/08: I still have not received a refund of my $200 deposit (for absolutely NOTHING done on their part except cashing my check). Haven't had time to file in small claims yet, but I will soon.

Speaking of which, Gabe Young of Viking Pools GV has hired an attorney who sent me a letter demanding $900.00 by 9/23/08 or they will take me to small claims court saying I owe them this additional money because now they are accusing me of canceling the contract.

I'd love the opportunity to obtain justice in a court of law, so I am anxiously awaiting notice of a hearing date since of course, I have not given them the $900 they asked for. We'll see what happens next, I'll either be filing suit or a countersuit!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Chevys Fresh Mex - Sacramento, CA


Chevys Fresh Mex
1369 Garden Hwy
Sacramento, CA 95833
(916) 649-0390
chevys.com

First of all, did you know that this Chevys is the ONLY one in the entire USA that does NOT have Happy Hour (M-F, 3-7) $3 Drinks & Appetizers? Management says it's because they have such a "desirable" location...hah!

Anyway, last summer my husband and I were on a motorcycle ride and decide to stop in and give this place a try. We sat in the cantina and waited patiently for some water (it was a HOT summer day!) for the first 8-10 minutes. No one even came to our table, so disgusted, I went to the bar myself and got two glasses of water (the bartender got them for me right away and apologized for the slow service).

We finished our waters and still no server...but she finally showed up 15 minutes later when we had already decided to leave...and we're NEVER coming back!

Chevy's Fresh Mex on Urbanspoon

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Bo Happy - Pleasanton, CA


Bo Happy
3550 Stanley Blvd #3
Pleasanton, CA 94566
(925) 931-0083

All right, so I've eaten their $3.99 lunch specials 4 times in the last 3 months and tonight decided to try them for dinner. Here are my reviews:

1) Friday's special - deLISH shrimp and broccoli over fried rice...yum! The shrimp was fresh and not overcooked (thank you!) and the fried rice was decent. Great first time experience and I thought I was on to something!

2) Monday's special -mongolian beef...yum again! Everything was fresh and this dish made me re-discover mongolian beef as it usually isn't something I'd order. I was excited about trying another lunch special!

3) Thursday's special - orange chicken...now this is a dish that I usually like and order...but they really disappointed me this time. The chicken was tough, stringy and overcooked and the sauce was NOT orange chicken at all. It looked like orange chicken, but it didn't smell like orange chicken and it sure as h*ll didn't TASTE like orange chicken!

4) Friday's special again, I needed a pick-me-up from the orange chicken nightmare, so I was craving some good shrimp and broccoli...and I got it (thank you!)

5) Tonight, we tried takeout and ordered:

Wor Won Ton Soup - utterly disgusting...I couldn't even finish it and I am someone who does NOT waste food! The won tons were tasteless, there was no bok choy (broccoli was the only veggie??!!) and not only was the bits of pork also quite tasteless, but I didn't even enjoy the soup itself!

Shrimp Chow Fun - another failure...WTF??? How can anyone mess up chow fun??!! Sorry, Bo but I am NOT happy...even after adding all the soy sauce packets you gave me, this dish was another one I couldn't even eat...and I was HUNGRY! :(

General Chicken - UGH! This really resembled that dish you called "orange chicken" and again, this didn't smell like general chicken and sure didn't taste like general chicken! Where's the spice??? Where's the flavah???

If this wasn't take-out, I would have asked for my money back. No matter how much I enjoyed my first visits here, tonight's dinner trumped all and I will not have a problem walking next door to Subway or the other restaurant the next time I'm hungry and in the area.

Western Wall Systems, Inc. - Hayward, CA


Western Wall Systems, Inc.
(aka Bay Foam Inc. aka BayStone Group, Inc.)

20273 Mack St
Hayward, CA 94545
(510) 786-9663
westernwallsystems.com

How do you spell Western Wall Systems? P-R-O-B-L-E-M-S.

1) Sheetrock/Drywall.

a. They sheetrocked my new construction custom home and did not finish the job as of today, 11/7/08...and yet, they placed a mechanic's lien on my home on 10/20/08. (Evidence shown in photo of raw wood with no sheetrock; Western Wall Systems project manager is in the photo taken on 11/5/08).

b. They did such shoddy workmanship on the bullnose corners, that they had to re-do them several times throughout the entire house (see photos for an example of their work). First, they nailed the metal bullnose pieces, causing dents throughout. Next, they used a lightweight joint topping compound (intended for topping use only) on the bullnose corners and now they may be susceptible to shrinkage, which would cause the walls to crack.

c. The texture they put on the walls is very, very inconsistent. The drywall crew from Western Wall Systems did not demonstrate the ability to apply a consistent finish. In an attempt to hide these inconsistencies, we hired a faux artist to apply a faux finish technique on the walls.

2) Stucco/Lathe/Plaster .

a. They mistakenly applied a rough brown coat (intended for rough stucco finishes) when our contract specified a smooth stucco finish. So they had to apply a second brown coat, this time a smooth coat.

b. They neglected to apply a primer coat (which should have been applied under the light cream-color we selected for the acrylic stucco finish) and caused streaks and spots of gray to appear throughout (see photo for an example). When we confronted them about the primer coat, they first said they did apply a primer, then they said they put the primer in the stucco mix, then they finally admitted the truth and said they did not apply a primer coat.

c. They installed the stucco finish around the recessed windows unevenly; high on the sides, high in the middle or sloped to one side. Although they re-worked some windows, there are still uneven windows that remain.

3) Bayfoam/Baystone.

a. We paid a 50% deposit for bayfoam/baystone (simulated travertine used as window and door trim and roman columns) on 4/1/08. It has been over SEVEN months and we have not received anything yet.

4) Owner, management and staff.

a. The owner of Western Wall Systems, Tim Ritter, refused to come out to inspect our home despite our reports of problems, problems, problems. He finally agreed to come and then became a no-call, no-show on an appointment we had scheduled for 8/6/08. The one and only time he came to our house was finally on 9/5/08.

b. Bosco Leon, the superintendent, was basically absent from the jobsite most of the time. His foreman was there sometimes, but was either incapable of supervising the crew properly or the crew themselves lacked expertise, because there was absolutely no quality control. Cordell Ross, the project manager, is controlled by the owner. Our request to have him come out and do a walk-through to show him the incomplete work and shoddy workmanship was denied because the owner instructed him not to have any further contact with us without the presence of their attorney.

c. Flo Samuels, the contract and billing manager, did not even obtain a fully executed contract between us. She also billed us prematurely and when I asked her why she would bill for work still incomplete, she suggested that we deduct $1000 because that is just an amount she came up with...and she has never set foot in house to even determine this! In the spirit of cooperation, I asked her to send a contractor to finish up and fix their work for $1000 (knowing there was waaaay too much work for ANY contractor to only charge $1000) and of course, she could not perform.

If you've read all of the above...then you know why they deserve 0 stars.