ComplaintsforHardscapes By Pooters LLC

• Initial Complaint

  08/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My parents (*******************) moved to The Villages in November 2021. They provided a $1,350 for a down payment on 1/26/21 for pavers to be installed (50% down payment). When I asked my parents if Pooters would get the Architectural Review Committee (ARC) approval, they did not know about ARC. I informed my parents they need ARC approval before proceeding. They then called Pooters on 1/28/22 (2 days after the contact was signed) to inform them to 'hold on' before proceeding because they needed to get ARC approval. My parents proceeded to try and get ARC approval but was declined. Pooters tried to deliver the pavers (I believe it was May 26, 2022) and my parents declined to accept delivery due to ARC not providing approval. On June 24, 2022 Pooters sent my parents a letter requesting them to sign which also committed them to owing more money. I phoned Pooters after hearing they had been refusing to return my parents down payment. In the letter sent by Pooters is states "We will not take a deposit or start a contract if ARC review is in questions. Because once we have a signed contract, we wait the obligatory 3 days and then proceed to ordering all materials needed.". During my discussion with Clint (and I believe his wife) over the phone I pointed this out and advised I have the phone records where my mom called them on 1/28/22 for 6 minutes. Clint (and the lady on the phone with him) continued to raise their voices at me and at one point said they need to order material right away due to long lead times with supplies. I informed them that they did this at their own risk and my parents did the right thing by calling them 2 days after signing the contact (w/in the 3 day period of signature) to advise they have not spoken to ARC yet. They eventually hung up on me. I have may documents - Phone bills showing the calls to Pooters, the signed agreement, the letter from Pooters to my parents. Attached are just a few.

  Business response

  11/04/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/08/09) */ This complaint is being filed by the son of the persons that our contract was with. I have provided a copy of the contract as well as the request for cancelation and a letter sent to the customers. The short version of this story and the exact one told to Mr. ******* is this. On January 26th, Clint went to home of Jan ******* and provided a contract for the installation of 1 pallet of pavers for the property. A couple days later, supposedly on January 28th per Mr.***** *******, Clint received a phone call stating that the homeowners were going to apply for ARC review. Clint told the customer to "Let us know if their is any problems". We did not hear from the customers again until May 26th. On May 20th the paver manufacturer tried to make the delivery of the pallet, and delivery was refused by the customer, so the pallet was shipped back to the factory. We did not actively speak to the customer until the 26th of May when they decided to tell us that they were cancelling the contract and that they wanted their money back. Clint spoke with the customer and tried to explain the situation, being that because we NEVER received another call to let us know that their ARC review was denied, the pavers had been paid for and released for delivery. The attempted delivery is what happened on May 20th. And because they refused the delivery we were now responsible for the freight,fuel surcharge and restock fees to the factory. We also told the customer we still needed "in writing" a cancellation of contract. To date we still have NOT RECEIVED A WRITTEN ORDER OF CANCELATION and are still requesting that we get one. While I feel bad about the situation at hand, the blame does not fall on us. When we didnt hear from customer again we went forward with our contract just as clint said we would. We were never contacted again after that initial phone call on January 28th. We did not hear from the customer again until May 26th. We were never told that their ARC review was denied. We were told nothing! No follow up to explain they had an issue and no requests for reimbursement. Absolutely nothing, which is not uncommon when the pavers take roughly 16 weeks to be made and delivered, and our customers know they have to wait. I am sorry but your average person would be calling and at the very least be demanding the money back for the deposit. But we were never called or otherwise contacted again until after the delivery was made by the factory. As of now we still have to pay the remaining fees due to the factory for the refusal of product. We outlined in the letter what these fees are and exactly were we are with the money issue. Their is NO money to refund. We have tried to work with the factory and get them to dismiss some of the charges, but to date we have been unable to get them to wave any of their return fees. Though we are still trying, and we even told Mr.***** ******* that if we can get any money back we would be more then happy to pass that along to the customers, however as on this letter, we still owe them. As I said before, we feel for these customers. This situation has our hands tied though. This whole issue could have so easily been dealt with had we ever received another call letting us know their ARC review request was denied. But we were never contacted again about ANY issues, and continued with fulfilling our end of the contract. While it is not nice to blame the customer. Unfortunately, in this circumstance, we have to put the blame where it lies. The customer never followed up with the information that there was a problem, they also never contacted us asking for a refund, and never provided the necessary "written cancellation" we would have needed. Not in the 3 1/2 months that we had to wait for the materials. As I have stated before, IF we can get the factory to waive some of the fees due them, then we will happily return what we can. But to date, we owe them $69.53. If the customers want to pay for the redelivery charge, we can possibly do an install some where else for them, as allowable by their ARC rules and regs., or even try to sell the materials for them to recoup some costs. The pallet of pavers is still theirs until we close out and pay for the charges. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/08/12) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The letter to my parents states "We will not take a deposit or start a contract if ARC review is in question. Because once we have a signed contract, we wait the obligatory 3 days and then proceed to ordering all materials need." I have phone records showing my parents called 2 days after the signed contract to tell Pooters to not proceed because they need to get ARC approval. Pooters later told me and (and also said the same thing to Seniors against Crime) that they did order the material within one day of the signed agreement. I don't accept Pooter's response and in my opinion they are taking advantage of a new, senior resident in The Villages. This is not acceptable. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/08/25) */ As I have stated before, the phone call 2 days after the contract was signed, was to inform us that the contractee was going to go to their ARC review board and ask for ARC APPROVAL. We told Mr. ******* (whom is not the Mr. ******* making this complaint) "To let us know if there is a problem as soon as possible." We did not hear from the contracted until May 20th. And were not actually able to get Mr. ******* on the phone until May 26th. The contract has never been cancelled to date, as we still actually have no written notice of cancellation. And as I said before, while I understand the frustration over what has happened with regards to this contract, the fault does not lie with us. Mr.***** ******* is NOT the person we are contracted with. We asked to be told if there was a problem with the ARC approval. We NEVER received a call between Feb 28th and May 20th. NOT a Hello, my ARC review was denied, NOT a, I need to cancel, NOT a I need money back...NOTHING! When we did not receive any phone call telling us there was a problem we proceeded with the contract and had the factory make and deliver the pavers. As for a refund, there is NO money to refund. After paying for the pavers, 2 delivery charges with 2 fuel surcharges, a factory restocking and returned goods fee we currently OWE THE FACTORY MORE MONEY for this order. Like I have already stated, I can understand the frustration surrounding this contract, and even understand Mr.***** ******* desire to handle this issue for his parents, BUT the fault does not lay at our feet over this job. Any contractor would have handled this contract the same way. We have to be able to rely on a homeowner/contractee to provide all known and necessary information. We got a call telling us that they needed to go thru there ARC REVIEW, after the contract was signed. We told them "LET US KNOW IF THERE IS A PROBLEM AS SOON AS THEY KNOW". We never received another call that they had a problem. The fault lies squarely on the heads of the contractees for NOT informing us and we can refund no money because their is no money left. We have said that we will pay the extra money owed to cancel this job once we receiving IN WRITING a cancellation of contract request. And we have offered to install the pavers if the contractees want to pay for another delivery charge to get their pavers back from the factory. That is all we are willing to do. Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/08/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I would simply caution anyone from doing business with this company based on my family's experience (and from talking to others based on their experience).

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