ComplaintsforBig Kahuna Tiki Huts, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  11/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My wife and I hired Big Kahuna to re-thatch our 4-year-old tiki hut and they sent a crew out on July 11th, 2022, to complete the work. They did a terrible job. I reached out to the company on July 30th by email with pictures expressing our disappointment. I have attached that email thread as a PDF. After seeing the pictures, they agreed that the work was unacceptable. Two months later they sent out the same crew that did the unacceptable work to try to fix it. They added a few more palm fronds and put a bunch more sheet roofing over the cap to try to hide the holes they left in the thatch. This made the whole hut look even worse. They left the job without telling us or asking us if their repair was sufficient. They were probably there for 20 minutes but I'm not even sure about that because I went out to check on them to find that they had already left. Here we are about 2 months later, and the roof is leaking. I reached out and they blamed it on the storm that came through. The storms impact on my house was minimal. We may have seen 30 mph gusts of wind with light rain. In the four years I've owned this hut we have had several major hurricanes come through and our previous roof never leaked a drop. That is unacceptable and I believe the leaks are a direct result of the poor job they did re-thatching it. They themselves agreed that work their crew did was unacceptable. I am hiring a different company to replace the roof I have only had for a few months, and I want my money back from them.

  Business response

  12/09/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/16) */ On July 12th our crew went to this jobsite and rethatched their hut and collected a check on the jobsite after they finished the thatch. On July 30th, the customer decided that they were not happy with the job. During this time the thatch had started to dry out and was laying flatter which is normal and had a few pin holes. We agreed at this time to send a crew back out and fix the holes and the front of the thatch that needed to be cut back so it wasn't so long. We created a work order and explained to the customer that we would need to pair with another job in the area to get the crew back up there. The customer said he understood. I did not have another job in the area to pair with this job until the week of 9/16. On 9/26, the customer emailed again stating he was unhappy with the way the paper was done on the top of the hut. There is nothing that can be done with that as that is the way the Seminoles have passed down throughout the years. Since that day we have not heard from the customer stating there were any leaks until after 2 hurricanes had been in the area. Our warranty clearly states that if there is any damage done by any name storm it is not covered under the warranty. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/11/16) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I have had this hut a long time and it looked great before they rethatched it. It had been through many major hurricanes and never leaked a drop. The two storms that came by had no major impact on my property. In fact, for the edge of tropical storm Nichole, we didn't even bring in our lawn furniture! It was a non-event for my property. It looks terrible, the crew was unprofessional and now it is leaking. The whole thing about the Seminoles is ridiculous. My last roof was done by the Seminoles, and they did NOT drape a bunch of roll roofing to the cover holes they left. They did a proper job with no holes and used a proper amount of roll roofing to cover the cap and it looked fine. You could barely see it. I'm totally disgusted with the appearance and the function of the roof, as well as the experience dealing with Big Kahuna. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/11/18) */ When we completed your job you were satisfied as you paid the crew in full. We have been in business for many years and from the photos you sent we can tell that this is storm damage from the named storm. Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/11/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Your crew said that it would look good in a month or two after the thatch settled. We believed them and paid then. those pictures you are referring to were PRIOR to EITHER STORM passing by. By admitting that you see damage PRIOR to the storms coming by should absolutely tell you something went wrong! The first group of pictures and the video of the golf ball size light shining through the roof on to my bar were taken 7/30/2022 and emailed to you the same day. The second group was taken on 9/24 shortly after the crew left the second time. Ian didn't come by until October. The only 2 picture I took since the storms came by was the puddles of water on the bar top. I really am glad you were able to identify issues with the roof prior to the storms, though. That should settle this, no? Business Response /* (4000, 15, 2022/11/21) */ Regardless this damage was done by wind we can not control the weather. Consumer Response /* (4200, 17, 2022/11/22) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) That is how it looked since the first-time you guys were here. It is evident from the very earliest pictures we have well before your crew was back to *fix* it. Unacceptable.

• Initial Complaint

  09/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  At the beginning of May 2022, I contact Big Kahuna about rethatching my tiki hut at the recommendation from previous owner since it was leaking. I chose them because they built this hut and I thought they would do a good job at fixing it up, but that was not the case. The crew was suppose to get here on May 23rd, but they never show up, no call ahead either. The office told me after some back and forth that they will send them again in a week or two. They did show up the second time on May 27th and rethatch my roof. After a couple days, as soon as, it rains I noticed that it leaks. I called the office and was told to call back between 30-45 days to let the leaves dry and there is a warranty for the job. I called back after 30 days when the roof still leaks and was told they will send a crew my way when there is another job. I waited a month and no crew shows up, the roof still leaks so I contact them again, was told again they will send a crew when there is another job this way. I had reach out to this company several time over the next couple months, texting the scheduler and even the owner. They ask me to take picture of the hole on the roof and agrees that it is an issue, they would send a crew to fix it but so far it is just lies. On September 9th, they reach out and say there is a crew that can come by and fixed the roof, September 12th they say the crew is 20 minutes away and then never show up, no reason given. It is now September 25th, about 4 months after they did the job. I had reach out to this company about 10-15 times and so far all I got was "we hope we can find a crew to fix your roof". This company is extremely unreliable. They need to either fix their roof or reimburse me for the trouble and paying for another company to fix it.

  Business response

  10/11/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/07) */ On Tuesday, October 4th we were able to fix the problem where the rolled roofing had been misplaced and correct the problem the customer was having. Customer was very happy with solution. Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/10/07) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

• Initial Complaint

  06/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  3/12/2021 Tiki Hut & Bar Build agreement. The timeframe that the Tiki Hut and the bar was verbal and was agreed that the whole job would be completed in the few months after 3/12/2021. Agreement: Tiki Hut build - $3,628.00, Bar build - $9,300.00 Billing Agreement: $3,800 deposit, $5,000 upon completion of the Tiki Hut, $4,182 due upon completion of the bar. 3/12/2021 paid $3,800 deposit for the supplies 5/19/2021 paid $5,000 upon completion of the Tiki Hut. I keep getting promised that the work would begin on the bar asap. It's been well over a year! I would like this completed or get my money back for the amount of $5,172.00 I've had a guy come out in February and said he would begin next week. I had a guy take pictures last month and said he would begin next week. Then silence. They claim they are busy but they do not communicate and break promises.

  Business response

  07/21/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/06/24) */ We spoke to Mister ****** this morning after speaking to our bar builder and he has promised he will be there first thing Wednesday morning June 29th. We have also issued a $500 dollar discount to Mister ******. The customer responded saying thank you. Consumer Response /* (2000, 12, 2022/07/07) */ Big Kahuna responded quickly and sent a team out to complete the tikihut. I would like to set this as resolved.

*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. ↩