Submitted by tequilaanddeadlifts t3_1276kwy in rva
This happened between 3/21/22 and 9/12/22 when i finally received my money back, but I want to warn y’all.
Feel free to share.
I’m sharing this today because I want to make sure no one is ever taken advantage of like I have been by Peter Savage and the Savage Door company. If you’ve been following my posts and stories you’ve known that I was a beyond excited to move forward with doors and HVAC in my building and started that process on March 21st this year when I paid Peter $12,500 down payment for the replacement of my bay doors. I wanted insulated doors with half glass so there could be more visuals into my gym and so I could install HVAC because we’d have sealed all the gaps in the door jambs. I cannot do HVAC without the doors being replaced.
The original lead time was 20 weeks. I started calling and texting in June of this year to find out what was happening, he claimed COVID related delays and extended the experience by 4-6 weeks. (Which as I’d been experiencing delays with other equipment didn’t sound so far fetched.)
I started following up again in July and August to see the status and trying to nail down a ship date, I had an HVAC contractor and installer ready but we couldn’t move forward until the doors were done. Peter was incredibly unresponsive and difficult to get a hold of. There was another issue, and another. I was begging at this point to try and have them done by the time of my open house. He said they’d make sure of it.
Then something else happened and it was another delay. At this point I’ve looked into legal action but I’m not financially flush enough to go after him and try and move forward with another company with a long lead time. I’m disheartened and extremely depressed. I’ve lost thousands of dollars in client loss, trainer loss, and in rent because I can’t keep my promises to my team. I get on medication for depression and anxiety. I struggle with a lot of self hate and suicidal thoughts over the following months.
In October I reach out again. After several delays we finally get an install date. On Thursday, November 3, he calls at 10:30 pm and Sam and I show up to the gym with the wrong doors installed. He claimed the company loaded the wrong ones on his trailer. It will be another 4-6 weeks. He’s going to speak with them directly. I ask for the manufacturer and he refused to give it to me.
So I started calling every door company in Pennsylvania until a lovely woman at AIM doors finally got me in contact with the owners of Alto Doors, the manufacturer of the model I ordered.
They’ve got zero records of an order for my doors. In fact there was a phone call in September to try and rush order the doors (they’re now on a 4-6 week lead time) and an order still wasn’t placed. Until three weeks ago when he ordered the temporary doors himself and installed them.
He’s lied this entire time. He committed fraud. He cost me thousands of dollars and my health and sanity. He’s damaged my reputation with my team. He fully admitted to never ordering my doors and using the money to get through a rough patch. Through my investigation I’ve found that Peter doesn’t have a current contractors license and that it expired in October of 2021 and his business license expired in July.
It wasn’t until I threatened legal action and proved that I knew he had lied this entire time that he admitted it and that he showed up to pay me back the money I’ve spent so far.
He’s a vile, disgusting human being and a shady business owner and I hope no one ever works with him again.
I’m so grateful to Barry and Allison at Alto Doors for helping us to get the doors in the next 4-6 weeks and to help rectify this. Thank you to my man, team and friends for standing by me over these last few months. I’m sorry this took so long. I’ve learned some hard lessons this year. Onward ❤️
Schmergenheimer t1_jee54db wrote
That sounds horrible. To protect others - DPoR would love to hear your story. They're a regulatory agency, so they're not going to charge you like a lawyer would. Contracting without a license is a big deal, and they'll hit him with some pretty big fines. I'm really glad you got your money back, but if this ever happens again, they can probably help you.
The Virginia SCC may also be interested in him conducting business under an expired LLC (I assume that's what you mean by business license).