ZHDC Architects | Review

Accused Credit Card Thief Caught on Camera —Twice

2010-09-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

Oh dear! Zach Hefnawy seems to have got himself in a spot of bother with the law as the article reprinted from Darien Patch recorded http://darien.patch.com/articles/accused-credit-card-thief-caught-on-camera-twice#.

A Westport man was arrested Saturday after allegedly making over $200 in fraudulent purchases on a Darien resident's lost credit card.

Zachary Hefnawy, 60, was charged with theft of a credit card, seven counts of illegal use of a credit card, receiving goods obtained by illegal use of a credit card, and sixth degree larceny.

The charges stem from a May 21 complaint in which a Darien man told police he had lost his MasterCard after making a purchase at a Norwalk Kinko's the afternoon of the 20th.

Soon after realizing the card was missing, the man went to his bank, where he found that seven fraudulent charges had been made the same day he lost the card.

The purchases, all of which fell between 3:31 p.m. and 5:31 p.m., were made at a ShopRite in Norwalk, a CVS Pharmacy in Westport, a Trader Joe's in Westport. $203 in Metro-North tickets were also purchased in Wesport.

But what gave away Hefnawy's identity, police said, were two separate fill-ups at Tri-S Automative (211 Post Road). Surveillance tape reportedly showed a man matching Hefnawy's appearance gassing up both a Volkswagen and a Mercedes registered to his name.

Surveillance video from the Norwalk ShopRite also showed a similar man making a purchase there at the time indicated by credit card records, according to police.

Along with a member of the Westport Police Department, Darien Police arrested Hefnawy at his residence. He reportedly told officers on the scene that he didn't know what they were talking about and declined to answer questions without an attorney.

Hefnawy was released on $5000 bond and is set to appear in court Sept. 14.

ZHDC Payment Default Handed to Debt Collection Agency

2010-05-05T04:46:00.000-07:00

Since ZHDC Architects seem intent on taking no steps to pay their outstanding debts, we have now referred the matter to a debt collection agency. Let's see what success they have.

ZHDC Architects owner resorts to abusive language

2010-04-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

We actually received a phone call from ZHDC Architects today (Mr Zach Hefnawy) although as it turned out, it was simply a one-way diatribe with Mr Hefnawy blasting us with abusive and insulting language, calling us f****ing this and sh** ts and threatening to punch us in the head if we ever came near his office.

Hardly the sort of action you would expect of any professional organization. But of course it's generally indicative of someone who is unable to justify their position, and can only respond by abuse.

Photographs on ZHDC web site

2010-04-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

It is "interesting" to see that on ZHDC Architects web page http://zhdcarchitects.com/Our_Wooden_Outdoor_Tiles.html where they have made unsubstantiated libelous allegations about the quality of our products, that the pictures which say "The picture shown below is a rooftop in Manhattan, NY", and "It is amazing how you could improve the look of your rooftop with the Ipe wood tile" are actually pictures of wood decking tiles supplied by our company.

Does it not strike you as being rather strange that on one hand ZHDC Architects is attempting to justify a default in payments to us by making unsubstantiated complaints about the quality of our tiles, yet on the other hand and on the same web page, are displaying pictures of actual installations where these tiles have been used, as an example of the amazing way in which you can improve the look of your rooftop.

It is also instructive to note that the decking tiles shown in this particular photographs as supplied by our company constitute part of the consignments of products made to ZHDC Architects in 2008 for which they have defaulted in payment and for which we are still trying to recover payment.

ZHDC resorts to libelous comments on their website

2010-04-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

In the face of ongoing pressure from our company to recover money owed by ZHDC Architects, this company has chosen to make libelous and unsubstantiated allegations about our company and products on their website, which they have been alerted to.
It's interesting that a company that claims to be professional should feel the need to resort to such tactics.

But what is even more amazing, is that although this company was dealing with our products for over two years, they were unable to spell our company name or products correctly in their unsubstantiated allegations. And, would you believe that in these allegations, they even included a product range that our company has not been involved with. Just incredible!

Voicemail and 1 person companies

2010-04-06T05:13:00.000-07:00

I always find it amusing, when one person companies try to give the appearance that they are a much bigger company with several members of staff.

ZHDC Architects is a great example of this, because even during normal business hours their phone is rarely answered and simply reverts to voicemail where you get the faintly ridiculous request saying to leave a message indicating the person to whom you wish to speak, when its completely obvious that there is only one person in the company.
Why do people do this?
Who are they really trying to fool?
Is it really such a disgrace to be a one-person company?
Or are they trying to hide something?

ZHDC Architects web site

2010-04-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

It's worth taking a look at the ZHDC Architects website http://zhdcarchitects.com.
Now the vast majority of architect's web sites that we have seen have been very professionally designed, show selected examples of the works that the architects are currently doing and/or have done in the past, with references from some of their clients or may include a client list. So such sites are generally a reflection of the quality of the architect.

In the case of ZHDC however it would appear that the only activities in which they are involved are furniture design and selling deck tiles. But their website could arguably only be described as a very basic, low cost site, with the layout of images such as shown on the page http://zhdcarchitects.com/Our_Wooden_Outdoor_Tiles.html in particular, giving the impression of particularly basic web site design.

It certainly gives the impression that this is a company struggling financially and unable to afford good-quality website designer. It leads one to ponder, would you prefer to work with an architect who has a professional looking web site which shows good examples of their work and can provide a strong client list, or one with only a very basic website with few examples of what work they actually do, and no client list?

ZHDC Architects not a member of AIA

2010-04-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

It is interesting to note that ZHDC Architects is not a member of the American Institute of Architects. If you do a search within 15 miles of their zip code, there are 135 architects listed on the AIA site, but no mention of ZHDC Architects.

Since it would seem that the vast majority of reputable architects are members of this organization, one would wonder why ZHDC Architects is not a current member.
Is it because:
- they are struggling so much financially that they cannot afford the membership fees?
- they have been deregistered for some reason?
- none of the members of the firm are actually qualified architects?

If anyone has an alternative explanation, please let us know.

ZHDC Architects finally phones, but just to make derogatory comments

2010-03-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

Well,we finally received a phone call from ZHDC Architects today after leaving voicemail and e-mail messages for the last two weeks without any response. However it was basically just a tirade claiming that our products were sh** and that they had no intention of paying us anything. Hardly the response you would expect from a professional company.

Also it seems rather inconsistent (to say the least) that as of today they were still featuring our products on their http://zhdcarchitects.com website with our brand and product names together with a link to our own website.

ZHDC Architects defaulted on payment of over $13000

2010-03-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

I would suggest anyone dealing with ZHDC Architects in Westport CT should be very careful. In 2009 we supplied this company which is owned by Zach Hefnawy with over $13,000 of goods after we we were spun some very convincing stories about how careful they were not to supply customers they thought would not pay them. In fact we used to get several call a week from Zach Hefnawy and supplied some orders initially where he would pay by credit card in advance.

Then he wanted some orders shipped in a hurry to New York for a customer and promised he would pay the following week.

Unfortunately we took his word for this and so shipped product as requested in June & July 2009.

As of March 2010 we are still trying to get any payment. Zach Hefnawy has given no plausible explanation for failing to pay his debt and no longer responds to emails or phone calls.
In fact we are trying to establish whether this company is actually still in business?

We wonder whether they have also defaulted on payments to to other unsuspecting clients/suppliers?