ComplaintsforClean Break Home Services

• Initial Complaint

  16/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On July 16th, 2021, I paid Piero C******* of Clean Break / Westrade Projects $1318.00 to process a permit on my behalf with the City of Richmond. On September 26, 2021, I gave him a deposit for $7429.46 in the form of a cheque to secure a spot for my renovation project. On January 30th, 2022, we scheduled the renovation to begin on July 12, 2022. Piero informed me that he would initiate the permit process on January 31st, 2022; however, by the time July 4th came around, we still didn't have a permit to start the renovations. I expressed my worry and concern, but Piero assured me that we would be getting the permit soon so I proceeded to hire movers to move my furniture and belongings out of the house. I left for holidays on July 12th and returned back home on the July 25th still without a permit; therefore, no work had begun. I didn't have any of my belongings on my main floor- nowhere to sit, nowhere to cook, nowhere to eat, which has caused a great deal of stress and inconvenience for my family, especially with two children. I took it upon myself to contact the City - only to find out that they did not receive the complete permit application package from Piero until July 13th. Our relationship at this point was tainted and I had loss trust and confidence in him; therefore, I felt it was best to stop the project. I was willing to compensate him fairly for his time, but when we met, he presented me with a $4600.00 invoice which I rejected. After discussing the matter with his partner, he emailed me back with an invoice a few days later with a 10% discounted rate of $4181.63. I am attaching the invoice he sent me. In it, he is billing me for 20 hours of work that he says he did but he doesn't give exact details of the work done. Moreover, he is charging me $1400 for a complete design package that is incomplete and is missing key information for the construction plan. I have requested him to provide me with a detailed invoiced outlining the charges.

  Business response

  18/08/2022

  We were unable to start work at this location due to the permit process taking longer than anticipated. The city was extremely slow in getting back to us and kept on bringing issues to our application that we had not experienced before with previous projects. After some time to correct and provide everything they needed it was July and close to the project start time. Unfortunately, at this point ******** decided to stop the project due to the delay in the start of the project, even though the project could have started the following week once the permit got approved which I had communicated with her but decided to ignore. At that point we told her we would return her deposit after we cover our costs associated with the work already performed. We billed fairly and according to all the hours put into the job but she does not agree with pricing and wants us to provide a further discount to what we have already provided. At this point we will be contacting the client and explaining that we cannot further reduce the price and we will return the difference to her which initially was a non-refundable deposit but we are returning in good faith.

  Customer response

  26/08/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  I decided to terminate the project due to the company's inability to fulfil the steps necessary to begin work on my renovations.  The permit process began in January, and they did not start the permit process with the City until June - only to run into delays because the City needed plans to be redrawn for submission.  I was patient but after two weeks of delay, I had lost trust in the company's ability to complete the project altogether therefore didn't feel confident moving forward.  

  I've asked for a detailed billing that breaks down what work was specifically done that warrants the 20 hours I am being billed for since no physical work was done to my place at all.  I am also asking the company to give me a detailed billing for the design work their designer provided as what she provided me was insufficient and I have had to have the drawings redrawn for an added cost.  The company has not responded to either of my request.

  When I gave the deposit to the company, they gave me a receipt but didn't provide me with a contract that outlines the conditions of the deposit.  They did not inform me that deposit would be non-refundable.  

  I have also not received any contact from the company other than their response through here regarding my original complaint.  They have not informed me of when they plan to give me back the residual amount of my balance with which they see fit.  

  Sincerely,
  
  ******** ***

  Business response

  27/09/2022

  Since our last response and communication with client we have given her a refund of the remaining balance.on her account. We have lowered the bill towards her due to her complaints and beliefs. She has now received the funds and communication has stopped.

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