So Cal Cottages

They must not want new business. I’ve called them several times, filled out their web forms asking for a response — got nothing. Glad that I checked Unilocal because I now see they’re probably a shady business — thankfully I’ve been able to avoid the disaster of money exchanging hands.

We just received our cottage after paying for it. There was so much wrong with it. They didn’t put tar paper on the roof. The plumbing leaked. There were problems with the electrical. The flooring was done improperly. The door jams were not sanded and they painted right over the rough wood. The shower was put on backwards. They put a door on backwards. This is just to name a few. They lied to us several times. John does not return calls or texts. I don’t think they deserve one star.

I was thinking about contacting and buying a guest house from this guy/​company. I’m glad I didn’t. I think he also runs the
site/​blog. Beware.

I am in the process of trying to my $ 2000 deposit back from John at SoCal who has never been able to work with me on working out a cottage to fit my budget. Over the past 4 weeks, I have called several times and sent mailings but no response. I fear I will have to take them to small claims court to get my deposit back.
If they refund my deposit, I will come back to improve this review.
Otherwise, don’t give them any money up front if you do business with them.

Spam spam spam to my website sick and tired of it! If you spam people the way SoCal spams why would any body do business with them! I never would! I guess some people go for it but I feel that it’s a very untrustworthy way.

If there was a «no star» rating I would use it. We’ve gone through months of lies and frustration with this guy. Like Mim A., the first reviewer (thank you!) we paid our deposit trusting that they would follow through, then had sparse communication for weeks. Then we didn’t hear back for a month and had given up when he emailed to say he’d been «out of the country for the soccer games» but was now starting on our unit… This after it was already due to be delivered. We then saw the complaints on the better business bureau site (do read them) because there was nothing on Unilocal at the time.
We would never have done business with this con man if we’d known how many people he has already ripped off!!!
Do NOT do business with him. He will lie to you over and over while being the nicest person on the phone (when he decides to answer).
DO let the San Diego DA’s office know what has happened… they need the complaints to pursue him. Also, the California State Licensing Board, as he does not have a contractors license.
Hoping everyone who orders from him actually gets what they ordered in a timely manner (good luck).

I signed a contract and paid Socal their down payment and then NEVER HARD BACK. These guys are THE WORST. We have called and emailed them daily and they rarely get back. Plus, their voice mail is FULL more often than not. When they do get back they are full of excuses why nothing has happened. Now I am just trying to get my money back. Do yourself a favor and avoid doing business with these guys. Once they make the sale, they drop you like a bad habit.