ComplaintsforAustin Signature Homes

• Initial Complaint

  01/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We hired Austin Signature Homes in Nov 2021 to complete a renovation of our home in ******. The renovation was to complete by Aug 31, 2022, and our budget was $250,000. On Nov 19, 2022 (11 weeks after our promise date for completion), and over $480,000 later (nearly double our budget), we were forced to move into our incomplete home, photos of which are below.A summary of our renovation includes 5 failed building inspections, resulting in huge delays and thousands of dollars of repairs that ***** passed along to us. More than once after ***** failed an inspection, instead of taking accountability, he chose to call me directly to yell about the f****** ******* at the **************.Due to ****** lack of supervision, we experienced sabotage by ****** subcontractors. ****** drywallers cut the wires of his electricians and filled their outlets in with drywall mud, costing us and the electricians thousands of dollars in repairs and weeks of diagnosis. ****** plumbers incorrectly installed the plumbing in all 4 of our bathrooms, resulting in leaking fixtures, not 1, but 2, showers where valves were installed backwards so the hot water setting resulted in cold water and vice versa, a flood in our mechanical room due to an improperly installed shower head in our new basement bathroom, and a leaking sink in our spare bathroom that was incorrectly plumbed and left to leak for over a month, causing damage to our cabinetry.2 of ****** subcontractors refused to continue to work with him because of his verbal assaults and unethical business practices during our job. We were forced to then hire both subcontractors directly in order to convince them to complete our job. 1 of ****** own subcontractors referred to ***** as a pathological liar, another said that guy couldnt get any slimier, and yet another informed us during our project that he has asked his boss to never be put on another Austin Homes project again because every build ***** does is a disaster.

  Business response

  01/11/2023

  Unfortunately, most of this review is untrue.  What ***** doesn't report is that she previously purchased one of our homes and lived in it for a few years and loved it.   She sold it for a tidy profit and asked that we do a complete remodel of a older home she purchased.   We emailed the clients a budget of approximately $***,000 in Dec of 2021.   This budget did not include cabinetry, engineering or architecture.   In addition, we gave them allowances for finish selections.  In Dec 2021 I have a copy of an email I sent them saying we couldn't come close to their overall budget of $250k because our portion was $***k and their cabinetry selection was well over $100k that they were purchasing directly from the cabinet supplier.  I also told them that since the project wouldn't be starting until the spring of 2021 that we couldn't guarantee the budget would remain at #***,000.   They agreed to proceed anyway.  Then they proceeded to make finish selections well over the allowances we gave them.  Also, we never promised them a completion date.  In our contract, we didn't provide a completion date.  Based on the timeline they are giving in this review we would have had to complete the remodel prior to all of their cabinets arriving.   So, these are all falsehoods.   In addition, she is blaming us for issues with the existing home.  As an example, the leaking sprinkler was an existing valve that our plumber didn't touch.  She also has accused us and numerous of our trades of intentionally sabotaging their house.  Obviously, that doesn't make any sense.   We have been in business for decades with only positive reviews and a great reputation and suddenly we are now we and our trade contractors are sabotaging work.  It makes no sense.  Yes, a valve in the basement bathroom was installed incorrectly but our plumber went back to correct the issue.  I have attached a picture of the "flood" in the basement.  It was maybe a half cup of water.  Yes, there was a leak in a P trap under her sink in the spare bathroom.  However, she knew about the leak prior to any damage and we asked that she put a bowl underneath it to catch the very small amount of water.   Our plumber went there 3-4 times to try to find the problem.   Yes, there were more issues with this remodel than normal but much of that was due to how the original home was built and what we found behind walls.  We tried to stand behind our work but unfortunately this client became completely unreasonable as you can see from her review.  My trades have been with me for years and continue to work on our current projects but according to her they all think I am a "liar" and "slimier"  Any reasonable person will understand that what she is saying is simply crazy.  She has left us nasty voicemails saying she will do everything to make sure I go out of business.  My trades know the stories she is telling and they all agree that this client was completely unreasonable and was not afraid of causing drama and making things up.  Our goal is to have happy and satisfied clients.  *****, ***** will never be a happy or satisfied person.     

  Customer response

  01/11/2023

   
  Complaint: 18683295
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  As ***** knows, nearly everything in his response is untrue. 

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

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩