CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Jim Gruber said he expected a paved pool last summer when he paid local contractors thousands of dollars for a renovation. Instead he said they took his money and went out of business.
Now he’s stuck staring at cement. He said he paid a $6,800 deposit to Unlimited Paver Supplies Inc. and Premier Pavers last June, and they haven’t started working on his pool yet.
“We just kept asking when, when, when, when. We’d get a date, they don’t show up. We get another date, they don’t show up. That gets a little aggravating,” he said.
Gruber said the contractors at least finished the job for his driveway, but his wife Judy Gruber said it’s not right.
“They never finished the street here,” she said.
She said they violated Cape Coral code by stripping asphalt, left pavers uneven, and rubble covered their storm drain.
Gruber said a couple months ago they got hit with a lien warning for unpaid pavers.
“We realize they never spent the money on the materials we had ordered,” he said. “They spent it on their own use.”
Premier Pavers told Fox 4 the new owner of Unlimited recently filed for bankruptcy and went out of business, and their the ones that stole money from people.
A spokesperson for the CIty of Cape Coral confirmed Unlimited Pavers Supplies Inc. went out of business in the fall of 2019 and re-opened later in the year under the name Unlimited Paver Services.
Gruber said he’s fed up with the excuses.
“We’ve reached the point where we must do something now,” he said.
He filed a complaint with the city’s code enforcement department for unfinished work, and said he’s considered hiring an attorney and new contractor, but hopes it doesn’t come to that.
“I would like them [Premier] to finish the job and refund us the excess deposit,” he said.
Once Fox 4 got involved Wednesday, Premier Pavers reached out to Gruber to say they plan to finish the job.
