ComplaintsforRealty Group of Southwest Florida, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  05/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  ******************************* took money for maintenance that was in some cases never performed and in other cases incomplete. When I complained, they terminated my contract and refused to refund me, and sent rude emails to me. I provided photographic evidence for the outstanding issues from their own "after photos" (which I clarified were taken after the work several times before complaining), which I attach to this complaint with further details. ******* also then trespassed on my property after the termination of the contract.Full Interior Cleaning was not done, as they sent pictures of dirt in the kitchen after this was 'done'. They failed to remove all of the tree debris, and on their inspection didn't even notice a collapsed fence. The lawn maintenance was incomplete and the areas that had been 'mown' were uneven and done to an extremely poor standard with no edging. Weed spraying paid for never occurred. Debris remained. The finish on the removal of an overhang was messy and was done to an extremely poor quality. They charged me for a toilet seat they didn't replace and refused to provide evidence of the work. They charged me for lightbulbs that were clearly missing on the 'after' photos. The shower recaulking was incomplete, with black holes remaining - they then tried to take more photos from further away to stop me seeing this until I zoomed in. Perhaps worst of all, my back door was damaged during their management of the property with a hole in it - as ******* has anger issues, I worry this was caused directly by him. I'm seeking a full refund of my maintenance payment: $1000, plus compensation for my damaged door.******* and ***************************** are scammers who must be stopped.

  Business response

  05/26/2023

  In response to the complaint by **************:

  
  Background: ************** hired ********** to lease his property in ***************. As he is an out of state owner, we as a courtesy, as part of our onboarding process reviewed the property and advised of some maintenance/clean up items that should be addressed. Quotes were obtained and approved by the owner (attached). The work was completed and we paid the vendors directly from funds ************** provided to us via his owners portal. 

  
  We provided pictures of the completed work and ************** was not happy with the results, and began demanding a refund. I as the business owner stepped in and attempted to rectify/resolve the with the following steps:
  

  - We verified with the vendors that the work was indeed completed. 

  - We offered to walk the property with ************** or a representative of his choice to review the repair items.
  

  - As a courtesy, after a visit to the property with ************** or a representative was denied I told **************** would visit the property personally, verify the repairs were completed and satisfactory and that I would re-send pictures to verify. I sent ************** an email with detailed before and after pictures and confirmed that the repairs were completed (attached). In response, he said I was trespassing on the property and to never return. 
  

  The vendors had already been paid and with the work completed there was no justification to ask the vendors to refund for the repairs. We are very strict with our vendors on their completion and quality of work. ************** did not like that outcome and began accusing me of personally damaging the back door out of anger towards him.

  
  We decided to terminate our agreement with ************** after these bizarre requests and allegations began, among other things he was also requesting that we utilize his lease agreement for placing a tenant.
  

  Realty Group of Southwest Florida never charged ************** for any services rendered photography, advertising, vendor coordination, multiple prospect showings. 
  

  We strongly believe that ************* was left with a now rent-ready property which was in much better condition than when we received the property. As stated above, we are very strict with our vendors and they have agreed to return and resolve any of the clients concerns.
  

  
  

  Customer response

  05/31/2023

   
  Complaint: 20041300
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The response provided by the business is not a good faith attempt to resolve the issue, because ******************************* both does not at all address the serious issues of quality and incomplete/unstarted work identified in the photos appended to the complaint - which he took, and belittles the issue calling my well-documented founded complaints bizarre. Expecting that when I pay money for a service, the service ought to be completed to a reasonable standard, is perfectly normal. ********* disagreement with that is telling of the standards of him and his firm.

  
  First, ******* tries to distract from the issue. His concerns about onboarding (inspection is not a courtesy, this was the process presented to us when we entered into contract with his firm - his inspection failed to spot a broken door, meaning either the quality of their work is poor or it was damaged on ******** watch), his lies about the order of events (he immediately terminated the contract when we asked for more photos, as evidenced in the emails attached), his unilateral decision to enter my property without consent after the termination of the contract (evidenced in the emails attached), his insistence we didnt pay any money (we transferred money to Realty of SWFL via their portal to cover maintenance, and then pay the company at the end when a tenant is placed, he didnt earn a profit on tenant placement because he terminated the contract), suggesting that we cant use our own lease (not specified in the contract, and as out-of-state clients we need some alterations to language), suggesting that photographs are a courtesy (he claimed we couldnt have them, despite the contract saying nothing), the idea he should be allowed to harass our new property manager (a lone woman who did not feel comfortable as I showed her the communications from *******) all of this distracts from the actual complaint in question, and demonstrate his unwillingness to actually review the photographic evidence of the low quality, incomplete and unstarted work that Realty of SWFL conducted via their contractor.

  
  Notably, when ******* references checking in with the vendor, the vendor Property Pros is one he has a commercial and perhaps even ownership interest in, according to their website (linked here: ************************************). Our review uses the after photos ******* himself took, after I tried to contact the vendor several times over the phone. The vendor does not even recognise my house, and says they havent done work on it, suggesting the work was not done and ******* did not show them the evidence I submitted at all. If he had or they had done work, they would have at least recognized my property. I have enclosed a screenshot proving they do not recognize the issues, further demonstrating the work was not done. As a result, his claim that he confirmed with the vendor is meaningless and likely false. Indeed, if it wasnt true to say that the quality of the work wasnt questionable, why did he feel a need to confirm the work had actually taken place? It should have been obvious, given the amount and type of work requested. This supports the evidence in determining that the paid for work was in part incomplete, in part uninitiated, and in part completed to an extremely poor quality. As a result, the firm should issue the refund specified in my original complaint. 
  His new solution: the idea that the contractors are happy to resolve the issues, acknowledges that there are issues with the work and thus my complaint is valid, but fails to properly represent that we have lost faith with the contractor and any company linked with *******************************, as he has repeatedly claimed the work has been done to a good standard. Im glad he acknowledges in writing that there are outstanding issues, and would like him to refund the money paid for the problematic work as specified in the complaint, as I will be using a different vendor to complete the work.

  
  Further evidence that ******** and the business are not engaging in good faith is the threatening text he sent me two days before I received the response, accusing me of slander. I have submitted the - written - complaint to BBB with plentiful evidence. Thats not slander, its my right as a consumer. Its a shame that the Realty of SWFL does not have the same standards of professionalism in either the experience we have had with them or in resolving this matter. The fact that his firm thinks the appropriate way to deal with a BBB complaint is through a lawsuit demonstrates they do not and will not take my complaint seriously and deal with it properly. If he continues to make such baseless claims via harassing texts, emails or any other format, I will have to issue a cease and desist to protect my first amendment rights to complain based on the awful experience Ive had with ******** and his company. His response exhibits the level of anger and unprofessionalism I have experienced from *******, but *** also included my emails with him to show you the difference between my polite and reasonable tone, and ******** angry explosions. ***** note the trespass issue, that I have decided to set aside for now in order to hopefully reach an amicable solution, such is my desire to engage in an arbitration process.

  
  It is clear that when you pay for a service (maintenance and contracting work) and that work is not done, done to a shoddy standard or half-completed, the money must be returned because the service has not been rendered. This is the basic foundation of economic exchange and consumer rights. Instead of acknowledging this work was not to an appropriate standard, ******* and the Realty of SWFL have attempted to bully me out of my money and ensure they waste as much of their time and energy as possible worsening the issue instead of simply refunding me. I wish their time was worth more, such that we can settle this dispute and move on.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

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