ComplaintsforNiagara Roofmasters Inc

• Initial Complaint

  18/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Niagara Roofmasters replaced our deck roof in 2016. We have the paperwork for it, which is dated August 5, 2016. The paper says it is covered under a 15 year warranty. It is leaking along the front edges because it was not done properly. It was cut at the edge without leaving an overhang so rain water is draining directly in between the roofing material and the fascia causing the wood to be saturated. Our paperwork has "paid in full" with the worker's initials beside it. Niagara Roofmasters will not offer any resolution because they claim they do not have a copy of the paperwork because they restructured their company around that time. They also claim the employee that signed ours is no longer with the company, which I don't think should make any difference. They also claim we should have a seperate invoice, but we only received the quote and they used that paper as a receipt as well. We are not happy with how they are handling this. They should be standing behind their work (it's only been 6 years since the roof was done) and it should be redone properly.

  Business response

  24/10/2022

  Niagara RoofMasters received a phone call from Mr. & Mrs. ****** on September 26, 2022 regarding a leak on their exterior back deck. They notified our office staff that RoofMasters completed the work in 2016. As per our company policy, our warranty department requires a paid invoice from the customer showing the date as well as the work performed on that job as all paid jobs get an invoice once they are completed and paid by the customer. 
  
  Niagara RoofMasters has documentation of all jobs completed dating back to 2014 filed in our system, through our investigation and due diligence we found no documentation in our system for work done at ******* and *******’s home. (**** ********** ****** ************). After notifying the ******’s we did not have any paperwork regarding their roof in our system, they mentioned they had a copy of an invoice and sent it over for reference. Once received, it was mentioned to the homeowners that this was not an actual invoice, this was an estimate, but as they had an active leak and seemed to be quite concerned, we sent one of our service techs to go and take a look at the issue. At the same time we started our due diligence process into the matter.
  
  Upon arriving our service tech immediately called our warranty department and notified us that it did not look like our work, but he would do what he could to try to stop the leak. We did not charge anything to Mr. and Mrs. ****** at the time of that service call. Shortly after our initial service tech went out, we received another phone call from the ******’s saying that the repair we performed did not hold, we immediately sent our other service tech out to go and inspect the area a second time. 
  
  Upon his arrival the tech called the office and also noted that the work on the roof, did not look like a RoofMasters job. He proceeded to take photos of the shingles on the main roof and also inspect the material that was on the deck roof that was leaking. Both of our service techs are long time employees of Niagara RoofMasters and both previously ran their own crew. The second tech reviewed the estimate that Mr. & Mrs. ****** sent to us from August 2016 and found that the materials were different than the actual materials that were currently on the roof. The shingles on the estimate that the homeowner provided shows *** ********** HD shingles - we have photos from the tech showing the shingles are ***** *******. Also shown on the provided estimate is a low slope 2 ply rubber and the material on the deck roof is a *** roll on material, not a 2 ply rubber as mentioned on the estimate. Since the products were not the same as the estimate that was provided by the ******, we notified the homeowners that it was not our work and that it must have been completed by another company/party.
  
  Niagara RoofMasters was purchased by ******** *** **** ******* in March of 2022 and we have continued to honour any and all warranties that have a paid invoice in the system or one provided from the customer. As part of our due diligence we spoke with the original owners of Niagara RoofMasters and they indicated the same information above. Since there was no invoice in our records, no cash deposits for that amount indicated at that time, nor materials/documents presented by the homeowner for this warranty, (as well as the differences between the actual products installed at the home compared to the products quoted by Niagara RoofMasters on the estimate #**** from August 2016), we are not responsible to provide warranty work on the ****** residence.

  As mentioned, we have no record of payment from this customer nor was a warranty registered with the Manufacturer which was the practice for *** products installed by Niagara RoofMasters. Therefore, we could not honour a warranty on another company’s work and we informed the ****** we would not be responsible to come back and redo the roof as they requested. If the ****** have any questions or have any further information we are quite willing to look into the matter further.

  **** ******

  CFO

  ******** * **** *******

  Customer response

  24/10/2022

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

  On Monday September 26, 2022, I called Niagara RoofMasters to let them know about our leaking deck roof that they did on August 2016. I was transferred to the warranty department and was told they couldn’t find the paperwork for our house. I sent her 2 pictures of our signed paperwork on Monday September 26, 2022 at 9:42am. A short while later I called to ensure they received the pictures. She said she did get them and we agreed upon Friday September 30, 2022 for a repair technician to come out and fix the leak. When the repair technician inspected the deck roof, he said it wasn’t done properly and tried to caulk along the edge. He said Niagara RoofMasters did not do the roof properly because there is no drip edge.
  Thursday October 13, 2022 the deck roof was still leaking following some rain. I texted the warranty department to let them know and I sent pictures of the wet/moldy wood. I mentioned the wood would also need to be replaced because it was so damaged. Now that the caulking attempt did not work, suddenly our signed paperwork was no longer good enough. They were great about validating the warranty up until this point but everything suddenly changed once they knew it would now involve new plywood and a new roof with a correct drip edge.
  Back in August 2016, once the job was completed, we paid cash and the estimate was signed “paid in full” along with the worker’s initials. This was the only “receipt” that we were given. Paid in full means exactly that: paid in full. We did not get a separate invoice and it shouldn’t be our fault that they decided to use the estimate as a receipt as well to minimize the paper trail. I also have bank records showing we withdrew $2,700 in cash on August 30, 2016, ($2,800 minus the $100 deposit).
  We were not trying to cheat the CRA by paying cash. Niagara RoofMasters were running a save the tax special and it was even advertised on their ******** page on April 13, 2016 and January 18, 2017. I’m obviously not familiar with Niagara RoofMaster’s accounting, but cash deals should also be on the books. It’s not our problem if they were trying to pocket the CRA’s portion by excluding the cash deals from their books and conveniently having no record of the work completed at our house.
  Their claim about us having ****** ******* roof shingles is correct – but on our house. We had our house roof re-shingled on March 30, 2022 by a different company. I have paperwork that states they only did our house roof, and not the flat roof area of the back deck. I can’t believe Niagara RoofMaster would insinuate we would have a different company/party redo our deck roof when it is only 6 years old and it’s supposed to be covered by a 15 year warranty.
  We stand firm on wanting Niagara RoofMasters to redo our deck roof that was not done properly by them in August 2016. We have signed paperwork that says paid in full and a bank statement showing the cash was withdrawn. They were running a save the tax special and there is no denying the deck roof was done incorrectly. I have proof the deck roof was not included in the house roof work in March 2022, and we are still well within our 15 year written warranty. If they do not want to redo the roof, it would also be satisfactory to have another company complete the work at the expense of Niagara RoofMasters.
  

  I included pictures of the signed paperwork, our bank statement, the ******** save the tax postings, and our new house roof paperwork from March 2022. Please let me know if any of them did not upload properly. 

  Sincerely,

  
  ******* And ******* ******

  Business response

  01/11/2022

  We appreciate the response and at this point we are trying to find related records to this address or the names involved and we still have not found the necessary documents. We would ask for some more patience as we have been speaking with the original owners, they believe at this point that this was not a job completed by them/Niagara RoofMasters. We have requested old bank records and other documents and through these efforts we did not find any record, nor the deposit amount (each deposit (cash or cheque) has a property address attached to it), nor the final payment amount indicated in the bank statements related to the estimate provided. The original owners of Niagara RoofMasters have requested that both sides of the estimate be sent. On receipt of both sides (and any other documents they have as proof) of the estimate we will make a final decision and post it on this BBB board. We wish to do our best for all consumers and to ensure their homes are looked after properly and we do appreciate the patience of the consumer as we try to resolve this matter.

  Customer response

  04/11/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  That is no problem at all. I will send a picture of each side of the paperwork. If needed, I could also bring it to your office at an agreed upon day/time so you can be assured it is the original paper without any alterations. I’m not sure what else you could possibly need. We have the signed paperwork, the bank statement showing the withdrawal for the proper amount, ******** pictures advertising your cash specials, proof it wasn’t included in the house roof that was completed in March 2022, and your warranty department confirming the deck roof wasn’t done properly. It’s unfortunate your records are lacking. Your slogan is “trust, honesty and integrity is our business” so I’m upset we are even in this situation. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* And ******* ******

  Business response

  07/11/2022

  Thank you for your response and we do appreciate your position based on the information provided, but the original owners have indicated that the work done on your roof was not done by Niagara RoofMasters. They have indicated to us that there would be an invoice proving payment and work completion, this is the only way a warranty can be certified. (Which they do with the manufacturer). I have checked the bank account records for Niagara RoofMasters for the period involved and there is no amount deposited for $2,600 or $2,700. All $100 deposits are allocated a file name with the address indicated of the job location, and none correspond with this address. Further the material use on the flat roof portion of the roof was also not the material used on the estimate provided. They also indicated that the 15 year warranty only applies to *** ********** shingles (which is on the back of the estimate) and not any other roofing work completed such as the flat roof. They seem to imply this was side work done by someone else using the Niagara RoofMasters forms, not the company itself.

  We find ourselves in a difficult position at ******** * **** as the purchaser of this company. Our corporate policy is to honour all warranties under the terms of the contract, we have done this for over 40 years and have done this with the thousands of customers we have had over the decades. We would like to state that all calls from customers are responded to and we help them wherever we can. All calls coming into warranty and responded too by our technicians/warranty department are to resolve the customers issues, i.e. do what we can to stop a leak ASAP. At the same time the technician with the office staff will ascertain if it is a warranty item or not based on the original contract terms. Just because we send someone out to help the situation does not mean it is necessarily a warranty item.

  Having said the above, we do want to resolve this issue if we can with the consumer. I might suggest at this point it is best for the consumer to call me directly on my cell *************, we do really want to work out something for them.

  Paul

  Customer response

  11/11/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  Sorry for the delay in responding. Since we didn’t seem to be making much progress with this problem, we decided to contact a lawyer for advice. We were informed that once an estimate is signed: paid in full, it becomes a binding contract. An invoice is not legally required. She brought up a valid point: if we didn’t pay Niagara RoofMasters the $2,700, they would have sued us for non-payment and would not have let it go for 6 years and counting. Plus, we have the bank record showing the amount withdrawn. You believe a previous employee may have committed fraud by keeping the cash. That is not our responsibility and it doesn’t affect our contract. During the initial phone call with ******* ****** prior to submitting this BBB claim, it was admitted that the person that signed the estimate was a known previous employee that no longer works for Niagara RoofMasters. We were told your company can decide if you want to pursue an investigation, lawsuit, or criminal charges against that previous employee.
  

  We were also able to find some pictures of the roof that shows the lack of an overhang. They are time- stamped Sept. 2, 2017, Aug. 24, 2020, and June 2021. Upon zooming in, it’s obvious the roofing material is cut flush with the edge. Our deck roof has not been altered, repaired, or redone since it was originally completed by Niagara RoofMasters in August 2016. This is not a material defect problem, but rather a workmanship error. It is not leaking anywhere else, just at the edge where it was improperly cut. Therefore the 15 year warranty on the shingles is not applicable, but the 15 year workmanship warranty is what we are asking you to honor.
  

  We are not comfortable calling your personal cell phone. We tried to work this out initially over the phone and that didn’t go well. We’ve never had to make a claim through the Better Business Bureau before, but a phone call doesn’t seem appropriate now that the BBB is involved. The lawyer also advised us against calling.
  

  After talking to our lawyer and having our case validated, we are even more adamant on having the roof fixed properly at your expense.
  

  Please see the attached letter from our lawyer. 

  Business response

  11/11/2022

  Someone from the office will reach out to the ****** via email on Monday or Tuesday to set up a time, weather permitting for a crew to come and replace that portion of the roof.

  Paul

  Customer response

  24/11/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because we want to wait until the deck roof is fixed before we close our complaint.

  Niagara RoofMasters have agreed to fix our deck roof in the next 3-4 weeks. We intend to have a third-party roofing company inspect the roof (at our cost) once the work is finished for our peace of mind. After the inspection, if everything is satisfactory, we will be able to close the complaint.
  
  We look forward to having this problem resolved soon. 

   

  Sincerely,
  

  ******* And ******* ******

  Business response

  25/11/2022

  Thank you for the reply and we are in agreement. We are moving ahead to make the repair/replacement for the Homes. We booked an earlier date, but they indicated they wanted a third party to review the replacement roof at there cost. On this basis, they requested the work to take place after a certain date which we agreed too. We will hold the matter in obeyance until the replacement is done and reviewed by the third party.

   

  **** ******

  CFO

   

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