ComplaintsforHeartland Roofing Siding & Solar LLC

• Initial Complaint

  08/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Heartland did a siding and roofing job for me which due to a siding manufacturer defect had to "re-do" the siding on my house. They handled that do over very well but the quality of worker on site and the cutting of corners caused me several issues and an enormous time drain (some of the job I did myself correctly) which I documented in a 7 page letter as requested by the owner. He handled the do-over extremely apologetically and with great communication. Upon re-siding the home there were a couple more issues that were documented to the owner including a mis-match in the corner pieces of the siding to the horizontal pieces that was not pre-disclosed prior to installing all the siding. I brought this to his attention and asked for a discounted final bill, no need to completely re-do it a 3rd time. I emailed him January 13th proposing a solution and asking for a response. I've successively emailed multiple times and left several voice mails (approximately every month or so) asking to discuss payment resolution with an agreed upon discount. I am getting ZERO response....they've completely ghosted me. I have not paid the final bill, and do not want an unpaid invoice hanging out there, plus they still owe me a 10 year guarantee on the work so we need to settle up. I can't get them to reply, and I don't expect them to write the entire balance off, however we need to come to an agreed upon amount and close out the project and finances. They broke 4 window frames and 16 window screens...one of which has still not been fixed by them, this also needs a final remedy. The lack of response over 8 months is completely unprofessional. If they don't reach out, I will file in court for a judgement against them, but am trying on last ditch effort to get them to come back to the table.

  

  Business response

  10/27/2023

  In 2021, the customer hired us to replace his **********************.  Nearing the end of the project, he had spoken to the assigned salesman and requested to meet with the owner to go over the project. He asked that I meet at his house to review the project, and also to take him out to lunch to talk about the next steps.  I sat down with him, and my goal for the day was really to listen to what he had to say about the project, what his concerns were, and what he wanted to be done as a fix going into the future. I listened to what he had to say, and he brought up many valid points including damage to his windows and window screens during tear off, as well as concerns with the installation of the siding. We looked over everything and again, I mainly just listened to what he had to say and wanted to make sure he was able to express what his thoughts were on everything. One of the concerns of the siding was that it seemed to be a bit wavy in a few areas on the rear elevation of the house. That day, the way we left it was that I would touch base with the siding manufacturer about the wave and get their thoughts before deciding on anything.

   

  I spoke to our siding manufacturer because there were some siding ripples within the siding, and they agreed to cover a small portion of the siding. From there, I spoke with the customer and determined that the only way that we would end up with a happy customer would be is if replaced the entire siding on the house. I let him know that I thought wed be able to sufficiently do repairs on the effected items and area, but we were willing to replace all of the siding on the house because we wanted to make sure we did everything on our end to keep a happy customer. My thought process was that by this point was I had been in contact many times with ***, and wed had good and productive conversations. Even though I didnt necessarily think the entire house needed replaced, I was convinced he was just trying to make sure this was getting installed correctly and didnt think he was trying to take advantage of us in anyway.

   

  Over the next several months we had taken time to determine what product he wanted on his house because he wasnt sure he wanted the same siding that had rippled a bit during the first install.  We ended up giving him an upgraded premium (thicker) siding on his house to ensure that he was getting both the color profile he wanted and a thicker siding that would not end up showing ripples. Heartland was not charging the customer for this upgrade.

   

  Prior to the job starting, I thought it would be a good idea to have our production manager, myself, and the homeowner do a walk through on the house to make sure the project goes smoothly.  We met out there, went over the details of the project, and had a good conversation with the three of us.  When we got into our vehicle, our production manager said to me, I wasnt going to ask you this in front of the customer, but why arent we just doing those few repairs?  They would be fairly simple instead of replacing the entire house.  I understand there are some things that need addressed, but none of it is to the point that its not fixable.  I responded to our production manager that this would be the only way to potentially come out of this with a happy customer, so were going to get him taken care of.

   

  Throughout the process of the second reside, he seemed happy and appreciated the communication throughout the process. We had a site supervisor there on site for the project making sure that we were getting everything done properly and that the customer was happy with how things were going. Near the end of the project, the customer seemed happy with all the work, and we were both excited because we are nearing the end of this long project. I had spoken to him as well near the end of the job, and we were both excited about wrapping up this long project and hed even made a comment about being able to get us paid soon. 

   

  The site supervisor did a walk through at the end of the project and the customer was happy with one item that he had a concern on. He brought up that the outside corner pieces wood grain didnt match the siding wood grain.  I explained that most siding manufacturers will have the same color of siding for their low, middle, and premium grades of vinyl siding and each of these grades have different wood grains, however; they all use the same outside corner post. With that being said, it would make sense that they are a different wood grain. I also mentioned that Id never been asked that before, so I would check with the siding manufacturer to confirm that.

   

  I spoke with the siding manufacturer representative, and he did confirm that there is only one outside corner post for that color and is made to be used with that siding line.  I also went out to multiple other siding manufacturers to see if this was the case, and I found out that every vinyl siding manufacturer does the exact same thing and uses the same post for all siding lines with the exception of oversized/decorative corner posts.

   

  I explained this to the homeowner and told him the other option would be to install a white corner as an accent because that can accent the windows nicely.  I also mentioned that the additional vinyl accessories on the house such as the **channel, Light Blocks, Split Masters all had a different wood grain and this is standard across all siding manufacturing lines as well.  At that point he decided he didnt want to change the color or corners and said, Well, if thats our only option, then thats all we can do. I appreciate you putting in the time to get that information.

   

  Shortly after that, I received an email from him stating that hes not happy with the difference in texture of the siding and corner piece and would like us to pay him $22,750 because of this difference and the experience with Heartland.

   

  As a resolution, we are happy to install a different type of vinyl outside corner piece, however; an outside corner piece is not made that matches the wood grain and color.  We would also be willing to replace the corners with an accent color, in this case white to match the soffit/fascia.  We are also open to other resolutions on this as well.

   

  To summarize, I agree Heartland fell short on multiple things throughout this job, but I also believe we went far above and beyond to get them taken care of.  I dont know of another contractor who would have replaced that entire siding job because of the repairs that needed to be done (meaning we could have sufficiently repaired the siding without a full replacement).  Were taking on the cost to fix the windows/screens from the damage during tear off.  We also upgraded the customer to a premium grade ********************** without charging him for it.  Lastly, the homeowner confirmed he was happy with the work except for the texture difference between the corner and the lap siding. From there we confirmed with the siding manufacturer that this was standard for that siding.  We also found out that this is not only standard with this siding manufacturer, but it is standard with all siding manufacturers (they have one outside corner piece used for multiple siding lines even in situations with different woodgrains).  At this point, we are open to other options/suggestions and look forward to getting this matter resolved. 

   

  Thank you,

   

  *******************

  Heartland Roofing, Siding and Solar

  Customer response

  11/03/2023

   
  Complaint: 20446633
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  Much of what Heartland claims in their response is not the truth.  It started with lies right from the start when I specifically, and repeatedly indicated the reason I researched and sought out Heartland was that I wanted an IOWA BASED CREW WHO HAD BEEN WITH HEARTLAND FOR MULTIPLE YEARS AND DONE MANY JOBS to do the work and that I would wait many months to have that happen so Heartland could schedule could get one of their IOWA BASED crews (not out of state because there is no accountability in those fly-by-night crews).  Almost a year later, they finally got my job scheduled and sent a crew from ***** that didnt speak English making communication difficult but they did tell manage to tell me they had only recently been doing work for Heartlandmaybe a couple jobs.  At this point after waiting so long, I decided to risk it because didnt want to wait another year.  Plan for Heartland to begin lies even before the job begins. 
  Thats Lie #1:  We will send an *********.
  

  Lie #2:  We pay attention to quality. 
  They broke 7 windows, and 19 window screens as well as did not put the siding on correctly around windows and also did not do the house wrap according to manufacture specs when I specifically told them I wanted that done correctly in the work kick off meeting.  As soon as the job began with tear off I could see them cutting corners and even throwing siding and trim pieces on two of our expensive shrubs. I immediately took the next 3 days off work to supervise/watch the progress and it resulted in over 4 pages (FOUR PAGES!!!) with 35+ separate is***s of quality and work approach is***s that I documented and gave to Heartland.  This isnt minor stuff, and any job might have a couple things, but this quickly piled up to an unacceptable level beginning in the first couple hours of the job starting.  I called to have the manager come intervene DURING the job to try to get things to improve in-process but they were too busy.  The site supervisor assigned to my project had multiple other projects and was hardly around, and when he showed up brought his wife and kids to sit in the car so clearly he had other things that were priorities than his work or supervising my job/project.  Plan for Heartland to break your shrubs and cut corners.
  

  Lie # 3:  A few areas that were a bit wavey.  The siding began almost immediately to bubble in multiple places on three of the four sides of the house.  This is not a few places, and not a bit wavey, thats a lie.  Heartland agreed they were seeing this in other houses with this siding, and it was a manufacturers defect.  They could not, nor could the manufacturer guarantee that the rest of the siding would not continue to bubble hence replacing the bubble siding was not an option.  We agreed they would file a manufactures warranty claim and reside the entire house sending their ********* this time to ensure better quality. 
  There is no customer that would have settled to leave defective siding on the house, so if thats what the manufacturer was really telling them, then we could have gladly taken that to court with them to get it cleared and heartland still should *** for full recovery of the siding cost.  Any customer would not accept a partial replacement, and any reputable siding company would never suggest thats even a possibility as a solution because replacing bits a pieces over the coming years would cause color fading and mismatch is***s hence the whole home would need replacement anyhow (not to mention no homeowner has the time for a never-ending siding project and multiple call backs, especially from a contractor that takes months to communicate back and even longer to get you on the schedule).
  

  Lie # 4:  We will do the work.
  Pretty basic understanding of any contractor but with Heartland its a lie.  The truth is the crew did not tear off the siding on the back of the screen deck. So I had to do it for them in order to finish on day three.  They also did not tear off the siding inside the screen deck or fix the soffit as agreed. I did both of those jobs.  They also did not attach the front railing, in fact they didnt even know how to do it, so I helped them figure it out, and then when they left without finishing,I completed the railing re-construction. They also spilled sticky soda all over my front porch and new siding which I cleaned up along with a bunch of nails in my vinyl pool.  All of this is work that the contractor crew should have completed that I was not compensated for as of this point.  Plan to do some of your own siding work if you hire Heartland. 
  

  Lie # 5:  All manufactures have mis-matched corner textures.
  My old siding did not, so how would I know this.  Heartland provided a sample of the siding,with the texture we wanted and selected. If corner and trim pieces were going to be different, this should have been disclosed with separate samples.  As a customer, Ive only done ********************** on my house once, so I have no way to know the corners would be different.  They are close, and Im color blind so I didnt notice as it was going up or would have said something and this crew was doing much better quality so I didnt stay and supervise all day (nor should I ever have had to do that the first time).  Bottom line, I looked at other houses in my neighborhood and their corner pieces match their vertices. My old siding did as well.  This was not disclosed, and it took a neighbor walking by when it was all done to say hey your house looks good, but why are your corners a darker color?before I examined it closer.  Not ALL siding has different grain in trim/cornerbottom line, the sample provided is what should show up on the house.  Explaining after the fact is a breach of contract, and a flat out misrepresentation of the product to the customer.  Plan for ********************** to show you one thing, but install another.
  

  Lie #6:  I would like to have him pay us $22,750 because of the corner pieces. 
  I calculated that as the amount of time and labor it cost me to take multiple days off work, supervise their work, do some of the labor of the job, and send dozens of unnecessary emails and documentation to them to get them to do what they simply should do to begin withside the house right the first time.  I asked **** to discuss this with me to come to a remedy, but that was my starting point. Plan for heartland to misrepresent your intentions and extensive communication attempts and instead overstated your concerns and understate their mistakes and lack of following basic expectations of the job they were contracted to accomplish.
  
  Lie #7:  We communicate.
  Through the entire process I had months (not days or weeks) go bye where Heartland would not communicate.  It happened DURING both jobs, and then in between jobs, and then after each job.  Communication turnaround was horrible.  Ive sent over 15 emails, voice mails, and texts to company and theyve completely ghosted me for over 9 months offering to work this out, zero reply.  Thus I had to file a BBB complaint to even get them to communicate.  This is HORRIBLE customer communication.  Plan for ********************** to completely ghost you if you ask them to do the job according to the samples provided and the specifications of the product being installed but even before that, plan for them to take very VERY long times to get back to you on just about any communicationexcept the bill, that came very quickly.
  

  Lie #8:  We guarantee/warranty our work.
  There is no warranty or guarantee available from a contractor who will not reply to multiple, patient, and repeated communication outreach attempts.  How would I ever get them to do any warranty work in their 10 year guarantee when they wont call me back and just ignore me?  How could I trust them to do any work ever again?  How can any customer trust a company with that level of horrible communication?  Even the better business bureau said they had to call multiple times and email multiple times and threaten suspending their BBB Accreditation before finally on the last day (causing the maximum delays in getting any remedy and requiring multiple follow *** by me) of their month and half deadline they responded with mostly lies.  
  

  Lie #9:  We believe we went far above and beyond to get them taken care of.
  Really?  All a customer, including me wants, is their home sided without 19 broken windows, without doing labor themselves, without quality specifications being violated, without nails in their pool, without scraps thrown on their shrubs, and without changing the product from what was provided in the sample and agreed to up front.  They didnt deliver any of thatthe fact is they were fixing problems they created, and in the end still didnt deliver the agreed upon outcome.  Thats more below expectations than above and beyond.  Any contractor should expect to be ***d if they try to push manufactures defective siding as a solution, or dont reside a house they created over 30 quality and specification violations on.  Thats not going above and beyond at all, thats simply doing what you should have done to begin with.  The fact that I have to even file this BBB claim, proves they are not going above and beyond.  In fact, its clearly too much to ask to get one phone call or email over the course of 9 months.  Above and beyond is the biggest lie of all.  No customer should want to work with a contractor that considers creating problems, then kind of fixing some of them, to and calling that above and beyond a contractor that is reputable or trustworthy.  Plan for heartland to tell you they went above and beyond when they cost you 100 hours of time to get what should have been done right the first time.
  

  The acceptable remedy would include the following criteria:
  1) Contractor should email me back, discuss the remedy.  Communicate.  This whole BBB complaint could have been avoided with simple communication.
  2)  Agree upon a discounted amount to be applied to the final bill for the almost 100 hours of time Ive put into getting the house sided correctly as was agreed to up front.
  3)  Compensate me for a full warranty to be purchased on any future siding/roof defects for the next 10 years to cover what they would have coveredor an agreed upon amount of discount off the bill to mitigate that risk(since there is no way this contractor will ever work on my house again should anything fail, not by my choice but by the fact they have proven how unethical they are willing to operate if they dont like you by simply ghosting you).
  4)  Document and put into practice remedies to ensure this nightmare never happens to another customer.
  

  The acceptable remedy would not include:
  Offering to do more work of any kind because it would predictably be low quality and cause hours and hours of follow-up nightmares over months of time while they continue to NOT communicate. I dont have more time to manage their projects and put to-do lists together to communicate over and over while being ghosted.
  

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

• Initial Complaint

  08/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Heartland replaced ******* and gutters over 4 months ago. I've made one payment but the majority of bill is still unpaid. I've been trying to get them to send the final invoice to my insurance company without any success. Not sure what else to do. I've attached an email with more details.

  

  Business response

  08/30/2022

  Good Morning - Homeowner now has the final invoice for the project.  We do agree the supplement process between ourselves and the insurance company took longer than we would've liked.  Additionally, our Project Manager has reached out to address any final repairs with the homeowner and will be addressed ASAP.  If any additional concerns please call our office directly at ************.  Thank you.

  Customer response

  08/30/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************************

• Initial Complaint

  12/21/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I contracted heartland roofing back in September and signed a contract, I just got my roof done, I have received bills via email and mail after my check was cashed, and they invoiced me for additional amounts that should have been submitted to insurance. I finally received a paid notice. I called Nov 24th and spoke to ***** to inquire on my siding and gutter job and have yet to hear back from them. I was told a supplemental claim would be filed for all my gutters and spoke to my insurance who stares one hasn't been filed. They are unprofessional, unorganized, and customer service is terrible. No one has pulled my siding off to see what color to even order. I called the owner as well and left a voice mail and my call has yet to be returned. I want them to get the job done and do what they said they were going to do or end my contract and supply my insurance with the pictures of damaged gutters so the money can be dispersed. There is no goof communication with this business. My dad whom I referred is also having issues.

  

  Business response

  02/22/2022

  To whom it may concern:

   

  Heartland Roofing, Siding and Windows, LLC has been in communication since the complaint was made, and at this point, all concerns have been addressed, resolved, and taken care of to the customers satisfaction.  This includes the siding work and the gutters/downspouts/fascia repairs as well as any confusion with the invoice and what the insurance was allowing for the project.

   

  To summarize the situation up to the point of the complaint, Heartland *** was contracted by ***************************** in September of 2021.  On November 8^th and 9^th, the roof work was completed, and our site supervisor performed a walk through with the customer on November 10^th who confirmed she was happy with the roof installation.  The invoice was sent to the homeowner and their insurance company (this allows the insurance company to release the remaining funds to the homeowner).  The confusion on the invoice came because the homeowner hadnt received the additional money coming from the insurance company for the remaining part of the roof invoice.  Heartlands invoice matched the exact amount from the insurance estimate.  Once the homeowner received the remaining funds for the roof, she paid the balance of the roof work.

   

  For the gutter and siding work, it sounds like we had some breakdown in communication on our end.  The homeowners insurance company only approved a small part of the gutter work that needed to be done, so our sales representative reached out to the adjuster after the initial contract was signed.  He was unable to connect with the adjuster to confirm if they were approving the full gutter work, so we had not scheduled the gutters to be completed.  For the siding repair, the customer had just recently replaced the ********************** on her house.  Our sales representative had thought she was looking for her prior receipt from the company that had previously installed the siding to find out what siding manufacturer it was.  That way we would make sure we were installing the exact same siding on the house.  He hadnt heard back, so he had assumed the customer just had the prior company do the small siding repair.

   

  Once the complaint was filed, Heartland has been in touch with the customer to get the ********************** and gutter items taken care of.  With the customers assistance, our sales representative was able to get in contact with the insurance adjuster who did approve all the gutter work that needed to be completed.  We also were able to match up the current siding and have completed the siding repairs as well.  Heartland has sent the invoice for this work as well, and the homeowner has paid the invoice in full.  To date, our site supervisor and production manager have confirmed that the customer is happy with the completed work and our financial controller has spoke to the customer to make sure there werent any questions on the invoice or insurance funds.  Upon completion, I (Heartlands owner) have also reached out to the customer to confirm we had addressed all the issues and concerns on the project. I was not able to get in touch with her, but I did leave my direct number if she has any additional questions or concerns. 

  Customer response

  03/02/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  12/02/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Prolonged delay of services for roof and siding repair beyond work agreement. The repair is per hail damaged, paid by home insurance company which has limited time frame to be completed. Heartland company has failed to perform the promised start date, and now the repair time frame allowed by insurance is coming to an end. The delay of the repair is causing deterioration on the house and tremendous stress to the customer. ********************** did not communicate with the insurance company effectively and put the responsibility on the customer. At time of filing, the company is unable to provide a firm start date for the repair. This request to BBB is to seek enforcement to have Heartland provide repair service as soon as possible, with the selected materials and colors described in the signed agreement. First contact in May 2021 Signed agreement in August 2021 Cost $11,000

  

  Business response

  12/27/2021

  In the complaint, it states the homeowner had originally contacted Heartland in May 2021.  Heartland *** originally received a call from the homeowner on July 20th, 2021, which was the first contact between Heartland *** and the homeowner.  Also, the hailstorm date listed on the insurance paperwork for the claim is July 9th, 2021. 

  On August 17, 2021, the homeowner signed a contract with Heartland to replace the siding.  Near the end of August, we were prepping customers that we were roughly four months out, and it would be close if we would be getting to it by the end of the year.  On the day of signing contracts for work to be completed with Heartland, we never give exact dates because of unforeseen changes including weather, material shortages, labor shortages, and unforeseen things that *** arise on current jobs.  We normally will prep the customer with an approximate timeframe, and then let them know when they're a couple weeks out.  From there, we'll give them a few days notice of the exact date that we're planning on starting, but again, letting them know that the day is fluent depending on weather and current projects.

  With that said, we have ran into both material shortages due to logistics around the country and labor shortages as well which have caused us some delays on our projects.  I've spoken to the customer and have a game plan on proceeding forward.  First, I let them know that we do want to get them taken care of, but if they are dissatisfied currently, we are more than willing to let them out of their contract and go elsewhere.  I also asked at this point if they would prefer to wait and be first in line for Spring or if they want to proceed at the earliest time.  They did state that they wanted to proceed working with us and wanted to get this project scheduled as soon as possible.  I let them know I would personally be calling them back by Monday, January 3rd, with an approximate start date, again pending weather. At this point, we are looking forward to getting this project started and wrapped up for the customer as soon as possible.  

  Customer response

  12/28/2021

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  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. ↩