Rufus Thayer Review

This "review" is from publicly available court documents, in which a customer of Ben Hunter and Moe Elkarif details the problems they had with them. Please note that Welbilt's previous name is Moonlight Construction. The case number is 22STCV08701, it is still ongoing and was filed in LA Superior Court. Mr Thayer gave them almost $1 million dollars and he wants his money back.

MOONLIGHT performed substandard construction work and provided inferior materials, as more fully described herein. MOONLIGHT was negligent in the placement, in the materials used and the design of the French drain System at the Thayer Residence. The installation was deficient and did not comply with Code requirements since a permit was not provided. In addition, it resulted in lack of functionality of the system and in water ponding and damage to the adjacent foundations. MOONLIGHT was negligent in the installation of the drainage system, due to the lack of civil engineering and design. It also lacked the required city permits to evacuate at the sidewalk or city curb section. The deficient installation resulted in lack of functionality of the system and water ponding and damage to adjacent foundations. MOONLIGHT was also negligent in the construction and repair of the fireplace. The original fireplace chimney and foundations were removed by MOONLIGHT without permitting. Additionally, repairs to the existing foundation sections are lacking structural details, and missing anchor bolts to the framed section. Therefore, the work performed was non code compliant, non-validated and it diminished structural capabilities, caused cracking at stucco and non-connected framed sections. MOONLIGHT was also negligent in the slab repairs. The concrete slab sections were jack hammered and removed by MOONLIGHT in all rooms at the slab on grade elevation. No rebar was placed within the removed sections of the newly poured concrete. As a result, sections are now shrinking, cracking and there is a horizontal offset at multiple locations. MOONLIGHT's negligence resulted in a diminished structural value of the slab, damage to the exterior doors and finishes, as well as damage to the existing concrete section. MOONLIGHT was negligent in the placement and floor preparation of self-leveling overlay concrete. Its negligence resulted in failed sections of concrete and the inability to complete flooring applications. It also created code violations at stairs and doors. MOONLIGHT was negligent in repairing the plumbing pipes. Instead of repairing them from the exterior, MOONLIGHT cut and removed a 6" vertical section of the front elevation masonry wall which caused a significant deflection and a horizontal displacement of the wall. It also caused the window wall to be dropping and the interior finishes are no longer operating. As a result, the structural capabilities of the designed and bearing wall section were compromised. MOONLIGHT defective work also resulted in structural issues, compromising the structural capabilities of the Thayer Residence and creating life safety issues. The non permitted framed section at the fireplace compromised the structural capabilities. Also the excessive load of plywood sheathing overloaded the original design and structural capability of the conventional framing. Additionally, the damage and deflecting structural masonry wall resulted in deflection of the structural components. MOONLIGHT cut, notched and drilled ceiling joists at floor joist, in all upstairs bedrooms, kitchen, dining, living den and lower floor bedrooms. Additionally, the second-floor sections are no longer properly supported and will require structural repairs. In addition, MOONLIGHT negligently overloaded the roof structure by applying an excessive load of plywood sheathing, causing deflection of structural components and life safety issues. MOONLIGHT improperly secured the roof sheathing; and damaged and deflected the structural masonry wall. Additionally, the beams at the entry and garage door have severe deflection and continue to move, which is likely related to the improper securing of the roof sheathing, which resulted in non operable doors, lack of egress, damage to exterior finishes and damage to framing. MOONLIGHT was negligent and performed substandard plumbing work at the Thayer Residence. Specifically, MOONLIGHT improperly installed the water main line; inadequately connected the main sewer line; improperly installed the building copper water lines, the water fixtures and components, the building drains and waste lines, the plumbing vents and the water heater. As a result, the new water main line is undersized and not connected to the house. There is no water from the meter to the house connection when the meter is turned on and will require replacement. Additionally, the main sewer line is nonfunctional, does not properly drain, backs up and may result in possible water damages at the interior of the Thayer Residence. As a result of the improper installation of the water lines, the lines do not function or provide adequate supply. Also, the copper is damaged within the walls and has failed solders. These deficiencies created life safety issues and are not code compliant. MOONLIGHT also was negligent in the installation of the HV AC system. The installed system has no calculations, design or permitting and was undersized. The installation was incomplete, with no ducts connected to plenum and no electrical provided. The ducts are damaged, pinched, and incomplete. Additionally, the exterior units were not provided or installed, and the attic installed unit is improperly supported and has no pan or condensation line. Furthermore, all the registers at walls and ceilings are lacking blocking or backing for proper installation. The electrical work performed by MOONLIGHT was also negligently performed and deficient. The wiring at outlets and lighting was improperly done and the work was not completed. Recessed lights throughout the Thayer Residence on both floors were improperly installed with screws and directly attached to cut and damaged framing members. Also, lights were missing in code required locations. Additionally, skylights were installed improperly; the dedicated circuits were missing or incomplete; the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors were also improperly installed or omitted, and the low voltage system was improperly installed. The subpanels and the main panel were also improperly installed. The negligent and deficient electrical work performed by MOONLIGHT resulted in life safety issues, inoperable systems as well as damages to interior finishes.

You can read more here.

Another Verified Review of an Unhappy Homeowner

This is an anonymous review, however the homeowner was verified as having used Welbilt through public records. The homeowner requested to stay anonymous due to the harassment that they have received from Ben and Moe.

"Ben is a con artist pure and simple. His intention is clearly to just steal your money. Every word out of his mouth is a lie. He tried to convince me that the people in his employ were licensed in their fields. I think I could have found better skilled people at the home depot. His employees would tell you after the fact that they weren't paid by him and try to guilt you into paying them directly. Moran seemed like a nice guy but he is just a lap dog for Ben. He knows exactly what is happening and does nothing to stop it. I know for a fact that they steal from the elderly. They are making money off of scamming people and their attorney stays busy for sure. The contractors board is aware that they use other people's license numbers because they can't get them in their own names anymore. How they don't put a stop to them is beyond me. I am sure the amount they have stolen from people is at a criminal level by now. I am hoping karma catches up with them soon, before they rip anyone else off. Ben told me at one point to go ahead and write a bad review, he will have his team in India that will just take it down." -- Homeowner JT, 2020

Review from Laurie Swingle

This review was taken from Yelp, however Laurie Swingle has been verified as a customer of Moonlights (Welbilt's predecesor), both through court records and public records.

"The only thing I regret more than hiring Moonlight Construction in the first place is that it took me so long to fire them. The below details are personally embarrassing (normally, really, I'm not this stupid) but I'm going to share my experience to hopefully prevent you from enduring a similar one.

During my initial consultation Mo and Ben had a number of helpful suggestions and both were extremely professional. After day 2 of work however, things went from bad to crazy. I'll just try to relate the key facts.

The original job was to determine the feasibility and costs to enclose my back porch. I also wanted to replace my front door and already had someone lined up to replace my windows with retrofit windows. Mo/Ben convinced me to let them do new construction windows and also to deal with some termite damaged siding. There were a few overgrown shrubs completely blocking a few of the existing windows - so first day's work (Tuesday) was to remove these, but they just piled the debris in my yard which I mentioned was unacceptable and they assured me they would resolve. The next day they started removing the siding and again just piled the debris in my front and back yards, which given that I have a dog and two kids and the debris included nails was not ok. I was again assured that this would be fixed (it never was). The next day while inspecting a drainage issue from the front yard, Mo said his foreman found a plumbing leak and that my PEX plumbing hadn't been properly strapped. This led to a change order to fix the plumbing (with another large deposit). Due to the unexpected additional costs - I asked to cancel the planning work on the porch, but Mo stated that the plans had already been completed and they'd already submitted numerous permits that were included with that contract. The next day (Friday) Mo said a city inspector showed up and pointed out numerous structural and foundation issues. Mo couldn't give me a straight answer on why an inspector was even there (during demo??), but this was late Friday and I had two exterior walls exposed at this point - so I went ahead with another change order (another large deposit required) to fix the additional issues. On Saturday, I asked to be emailed the plans and the window order, because I wanted to review the window specs. I also told Mo I was going to reach out the city myself Monday.

When I spoke to the city permit office when they opened Monday morning they told me no inspector had been to my house and further - no permits had been pulled for my house. The "inspection" was a code enforcement visit (which is not done by an inspector), due to a complaint/the lack of permits.

When I confronted Mo/Ben on Monday afternoon, they stated the city made a mistake and texted me a permit that was dated as being submitted that day. Ben said that the submit date on the permit was incorrect. While it's possible the city had an incorrect submit date on the permit, the permit was for the window replacement, but didn't cover the siding work that had started days prior. So - still an issue. I again asked for the plans/window order or I wanted the change orders canceled, Mo refused. Mo then threatened to put a lien on my house if I didn't pay the rest of the very large deposit he was demanding for the Friday change order, and he finally threatened to sue me. At this point, I asked Ben/Mo to leave my house - which they repeatedly refused to do and Mo continued to repeat his threats. It took 5 requests before I finally got them out of my house. I'm a 5'6 female, so really not a fun experience. End of day Monday - I sent them a letter firing them and requesting over $50k of my multiple deposits back unless they could provide me with an accounting of why they thought they were owed more. I actually thought they'd go for $18k and it was worth that amount to me to not deal with them again. As of today Moonlight has not responded to my letter, or refunded me.

The following week I had a licensed plumber come out - he couldn't find a leak and said the plumbing was adequately strapped. I had two different foundation companies come out, one said my foundation was so strong I could put a 2nd story on my house, the other just recommended some waterproofing.

In order to re-close the 3 missing exterior walls, the city is requiring me to get structural plans and submit these. The structural engineer didn't find any structural issues, and is only requiring additional strapping to meet new code. But, all this takes time and in the meantime I'm living with a single layer of drywall and plastic sheeting between me and the outside world, and I live on a corner. Not fun...

I reached out to Mo a month later before I submitted a complaint to the contractor's board and he's still insisting I still owe him money. 4.5 days of demo, no materials delivered, $68k paid." - Laurie Swingle