ComplaintsforEcoTreck Environmental

• Initial Complaint

  05/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dates of work for this complaint - March 13-29th 2023 and April 27-May 1. My complaint against EcoTrek is that they are charging me nearly 70% more than the original estimate ($10,073.72 for the original estimate and $17,159.63 at the time of final billing), although only one change order for around $600 was ever signed, and I was not given a copy of that change order by the company. The contract specifically states that any additional charges over $500 I would be notified and have to sign a change order. I was not notified of any other additional charges, nor did a receive any other change orders. Therefore, the final billing statement of an extra $7,000 was a complete surprise, and goes against the contract I entered. I did pay the amount agreed upon in the estimate, plus the change order for the additional $600 that I signed plus all overages that were under the $500 change order estimate. These overages totaled $2227.50. I paid my remaining balance plus these overages on 5/12/23. Leaving an outstanding balance of $4,858.41 that was not in any way agreed upon in the contract or with additional work orders. On the afternoon of May 12th I received an email from the general manager at EcoTrek threatening to put a lien on my property and foreclose on my home. I have since been threatened with late fees and additional charges. Because they have shown completely unethical business practices I am afraid that they will continue to add charges and late fees and a mechanics lien will allow them to foreclose on my home.

  Business response

  05/18/2023

  Our response to this complaint is we provided an estimate. I have attached Patricia's final updated estimate and have highlighted the areas she was talking about.  In our estimate it states under each line item for example line 0040 general technician (hourly) Hours will be allocated to work that is found once building materials are removed that was not visible during the initial site visit. Hours will be tracked and adjusted accordingly. Unfortunately we cannot see through walls so we do not know the extent of damage until we open the wall up. We have these line items in our estimate and it plainly states these hours will be tracked and adjusted accordingly. Per our contract line 6 that Patricia initialed next to states: CHANGES TO SCOPE OF WORK: Owner may make changes to the scope of the work, including changes to the drawings and specifications, from time to time during the construction of the Project. Any additional work that is under $500.00 per Line Item will not require a written change order as it is stated in the estimate for it to be adjusted to actual time or square footage. “Change Order,” ,However, any such change over $500.00 shall only be made by written "Change Order" signed by both parties no verbal acknowledgment to be permitted. Such Change Orders shall become part of this Contract. Owner agrees to pay any increase in the cost of the Project because of a Change Order. Any additional work orders over $500.00 must be paid in full before starting the work. I will attach supporting documents. We send our final invoices out and give 15 days for our clients to go over this and ask any questions they have. Patricia responded on the day her payment was due and stated:

   Initial estimate $10,073.72
  Paid 1/2 deposit on 3/3/2023 $5036.86
  Paying the other half of estimate $5036.86
  and per the contract signed 2/24/23 additional expenses of $2227.50
  Total payment on 5/12/23: $7264.36
  patricia appelfeller

  Matt Jones owner of EcoTreck reached out stating: We appreciate your payment,  unfortunately the final invoice amount has not been met, there was additional work that you gave verbal permission to proceed with, there is also 3 days of final cleaning and sealing off communications that you have not even been charged for, if you would not like me to add the new additional cost of the cleaning and sealing off of communications I would request that you pay off the remaining balance, if the remaining balance is not paid by the date of the original 15 day grace period, I will be forced to follow up with an intent to lien on the property, after the 10 day grace period I will place a lien on the property, per Colorado law I can also foreclose on the property and sell the property for the remaining balance of the invoice owed. 

  We have done everything requested. We have passed all 3rd party testing and all we want to do is get paid for what we have done.

  Customer response

  05/19/2023

  Complaint: 20071517
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  That is correct we both signed a contract that stated  "Any additional work that is under $500.00 per Line Item will not require a written change order as it is stated in the estimate for it to be adjusted to actual time or square footage. “Change Order,” ,However, any such change over $500.00 shall only be made by written "Change Order" signed by both parties no verbal acknowledgment to be permitted. Such Change Orders shall become part of this Contract. Owner agrees to pay any increase in the cost of the Project because of a Change Order. Any additional work orders over $500.00 must be paid in full before starting the work." I have paid for anything under the $500 and for one $600 change order we signed, per the contract, which amounted to $2227.50. I am not responsible for the fact that Ecotreck never had me sign any additional change orders or even expressed these changes to the original estimate (except for the ones I have already paid). I was very surprised that the final invoice was 70% higher than the estimate because Ecotreck never communicated any of that during the remediation process. I am asking that my invoice is considered paid in full and that the threats of a lien stop.
  
  Regards,
  
  Patricia Appelfeller

  Business response

  05/22/2023

  Hello,

  As I stated in the previous response we provided an estimate and it plainly states anything done hourly is to be adjusted to actual time it took to complete the task. Unfortunately when Daniel opened things up there was more extent damage that needed to be removed. This happens very often in the work we do as we cannot see through walls. Daniel updated you daily telling you what he found and what he did daily. Unfortunately there is no easier way to do our job to make things more accurate when giving you an estimate as there are many hidden things behind building materials. We provided this service for you and passed all post clearance testing stating we removed all damaged building materials. I am sorry you are not happy with our service as we strive to make all our clients happy but we did provide a good service as we removed the microbial growth from the area of the home we worked in.

   

  Customer response

  05/22/2023

  Complaint: 20071517
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I completely understand that concept that anything done hourly is to be adjusted once things are opened up. 

  I also understood when we spoke to Matt on a 2 hour phone conversation to go over the estimate that we would be updated daily on progress and amount of hours (cost). 

  Again, I also understood the contract when it stated: "Any additional work that is under $500.00 per Line Item will not require a written change order as it is stated in the estimate for it to be adjusted to actual time or square footage. “Change Order,” ,However, any such change over $500.00 shall only be made by written "Change Order" signed by both parties no verbal acknowledgment to be permitted. Such Change Orders shall become part of this Contract. Owner agrees to pay any increase in the cost of the Project because of a Change Order. Any additional work orders over $500.00 must be paid in full before starting the work." 

  There was never any striving on making the client happy in my case. I did not receive daily updates. I had to basically beg for the updates I received. I asked for estimates to show my loan company that I never received. I had to ask to be shown images promised. I had to ask to receive daily updates. 
  Note in the document: "All TEXT MESSAGES with Ecotreck.pdf" that there were very few text messages from Daniel or anyone else. Work started on March 13 and the first text message I received from Daniel was on March 21st, one from Nolan on March 22nd, one from Daniel on March 23rd, one from Joe on March 23rd and a final one from Daniel on March 28th. None of the messages stated that the the scope of the project was going up so much to reach 70% more than estimated. 

  There was only the one work order that we signed and a verbal okay on removing the windows, both of which I have paid for.

  I am not disputing the work that was done, I am disputing that Ecotreck did not live up to the terms of the contract and gave me a surprise invoice. I am again asking that my invoice is considered paid in full.
  
  
  Regards,
  
  Patricia Appelfeller

• Initial Complaint

  11/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  EcoTreck started our remediation on July 11 and told us that it would be in done in 2-3 weeks. However, they found more mold than expected so we knew it would take them longer. It has been 4 months! Multiple times they have given us finish dates that were not met. We just want them to work on our house consistently and to finish the job. There will be weeks at a time that they aren't at our house. This is verified by us stopping by the house and no one is there or our neighbors telling us no one was at our house. They also do not communicate when they will or not be there. The project manager doesn't answer our calls or call us back unless he is at our house. My husband has also called the owner 3 times and left messages and he has not returned his calls. We never know when they will be there or not. Basically, communication has been terrible. There have also been several things broken or damaged. We are not able to live in our house because of the mold so this an urgent matter to us. We paid them half of our original work invoice per the contract. They have told us multiple times that they only have about 5 days work left. They were supposed to have a crew November 5th and 6th with post testing on November 11th. They did not show up to work on the 5th and 6th and we haven't heard from them. We want them to finish the project as soon as possible. We also want to be compensated for broken items.

  Business response

  11/28/2022

  EcoTreck and ***** ******** agreed it would be best for us to end the job. We completed our remediation part and credited her final invoice for items we did not complete. We also credited all items that were damaged during the work.

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