Better Business Bureau of Chicago & Northern Illinois — Local services in Chicago

I found Ricky or Rick Ziko of American Roofing and Construction Solutions on Angie’s list and he presented himself as a license general contractor with the city of Chicago and his four references checked out.

During our walk-through on May 23, 2024 he told my brother and I that he was a licensed general contractor.

Therefore on June 1, 2024 I signed the contract and gave him a $2300 deposit for the job that would cost $6900 while I waited for him to provide me with a copy of his license and insurance.

For days Ricky has been trying to force me to sign a separate contract and give him another deposit for a different job that will start simultaneously yet he continued to ignore my efforts for him to provide me with proof that he has a current general contractors license.

This morning Ricky stated that he would return my $2300 after he returned some items to the store.

Shortly thereafter, he sent me $1900 via Zelle however, he refuses to return the $400 balance.

He stated in his multiple text messages that because he provided me with the contract and a list of materials, he has a right to withhold my $400 for the work that he put in.

And via multiple text messages this morning, Ricky stated that per the law, he can charge me up to 15% of the entire $18,000 in contracts legally.

I only signed one $6900 contract with him and there is no cancellation fee indicated on the contract that I signed nor is it on the contract that I didn’t sign.

The job that I hired Ricky to do requires a licensed general contractor. And, I was told that no permits were needed, but I found out that permits and drawing were needed so I asked for full refund considering he does not have a general contractors license with the city of Chicago. He only provided me with an EIN number which has nothing to do with him being licensed as a general contractor.

Ricky stated that he plans to move to Chicago. Therefore, he had not renewed his license since March because the city would not have an address to send the license to. He also stated that if he wanted to, he could get a GC license in three days so I don’t understand why he won’t do that to be legit.

Because I did not agree with his terms, in his text messages this morning, Ricky is threatening to put a lien on my property (that he only saw once and he never worked on) and, he has threatened to call the city of Chicago on me for violations.

He stated that he has other jobs lined up so why not return my $400 and move on with his life.

At this point, I honestly fear for my safety and well being because Ricky presents himself as a disgruntled and hostile contractor who is out for revenge simply because he does not have a general contractor’s license with the city of Chicago. And, I am not comfortable with hiring him based on that and...

I live at 357 N Canal Chicago 60606. In early spring a company called Spray O Bond from Milwaukee Wi started repairing the exterior of the Fulton House at 355 N. Canal. The north end of the building is adjacent to an unused RR track, my property is adjacent to this empty lot. During the last 6 months I have been unable to sit outside during the day as it is like a sandstorm,the outside decks 5 in number are constantly covered in sand, I have had to repair two air conditioners on the roof. The decks have to be swept daily. The company has leased and or confiscated the empty lot next to me using it to store vehicle, loading and unloading bricks and creating noise and dust from dawn to dusk. I have called Alderman Reillys office on at least four occasions with no results. The police have been out on two occasions, one for storing toxic materials in the yard and another time on Aug.15th when a large section on the northeast upper corner collapsed into the Chicago river, the next night Sunday under the cover of darkness they were out repairing the damage, very strange. The next day they were back at work as if nothing happened.I guess the city will wait till someone dies and we the taxpayers can shell out another 20 million dollars for their incompetence. The foreman showed up one day with a so called city inspector a latino gentleman,who after hearing me vent stated he was only checking the scaffolds, he would not give me his name nor did he have a card, again very strange as he ran off. I did talk to the apparent owner of the company early on,he stated that it was impossible to have sand coming over on my property despite myself having multiple photos of the sand on the deck, and the workers taking no precautions to prevent it. The foreman offered to sweep the decks.These people aren't from Milwaukee they are from Mars.I know for a fact they are low bidders on the building by many millions. My concerns are many do they have valid permits is this responsible restoration technique and are they registered to work in the city.Also are they skilled masonary workers licensed to work in Chicago. The individuals I talked to at the RR seem to have no knowledge of these guys. Finally who is liable for damages caused by...

The Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois is a sham business.

Like other reviews have indicated the BBB is unregulated, and answers to no one.

They make money by taking business fees to advertise them as being a reputable business that the public can trust.

If you have a problem with a business they dismiss the customer's compliant e.g. case #20387467 with no arbitration, and no posting to the public of their unresolved dispute.

The supervisor Eric Gonzalez is never in the office to speak to regarding his lack of professionalism from the people he has running the office.

My case involved US Cellular accusing me of not sending back the phone and continued to bill me every month when in fact, I paid them in full and used their own UPS tracking number slip to send back the phone. This dispute went back and forth with on supervisor acknowledging I did send back the phone, but did not read the case notes to see I owed them nothing. Instead of $300.00 US CELLULAR said I owed them $123.00. This was also false.

I was sent three separate email codes from the BBB to access my case response NONE of them worked. My email messages sent to this office were responded back not even read just an auto message telling me to fill out a web compliant. THREE WEEKS OF WASTED TIME EMAILING THE BBB who obviously long ago canceled my case causing the ERROR MESSAGES.

Eric Gonzalez left a phone message 8/23/2023 stating, "We are sorry for the inconvenience we caused we lost your case, but reactivated it.

BBB representative lead Kenya W. again cancelled my case after a very rude unprofessional exchange where she told me the BBB decides if and when they will provide any assistance e.g. arbitration. She put me on hold when I was talking and then HUNG UP on me after refusing to direct my call to the supervisor.

The BBB needs to be reported to the Attorney General's Office for fraud under false representation that they are here to serve the community in providing honest and reliable company ratings or any resolution services. Shame on this business that is suppose to be here to help people. Disgusting behavior from the employees. Karma is...