Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  05/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had hired Mr. ****** to redo a deck on my back porch. He had done work before on a smaller scale and I was pleased so I wanted to try him again to take care of a deck that had rotted out and needed replacement. Mr. ****** and I met and an estimate was given. He contacted me about two weeks later and said he could start the next week or so and needed a down payment of $2000 for materials and to start the project. (About Half of the estimate) On April 28th Mr. ****** texted me and stated they were going to buy the material and could they bring it to the house and leave it at the house due to some vehicle issues and having to put a vehicle in the shop. I stated that was fine.The workers arrived at the house and I was present. They unloaded approximately 10 long sheets of rusted old tin, not new decking material. I questioned why they were bringing the tin because that is not new decking material. One worker stated that they were told to bring the tin to the house by Mr. ******. (The old tin is still in my back yard to date and was not used.) Later on April 28th I received a text from Mr. ****** stating he didn't know why "them clowns" brought the tin to my house but he would come and pick it up on Friday and he was sorry. Mr. ****** never came to the house on April 29th to remove the tin from my back yard. (The old tin is still in my back yard to date.) On May 3rd I received a text that Mr. ****** and his crew would be at the house on May 5th to start the job. May 5th: Mr. ****** and a worker arrived at the house around 12 noon on May 5th, six boards removed, left the house by 2 pm stating he had a vehicle of one of his workers in the road and he had to go help move it. Mr. ****** returned later that evening, no work performed. May 9th Mr. ****** returned around 9 am had material on flatbed but told workers not to remove it, left the premises at 1:30 workers by 2 only removed deck, left garage and gates open access and unsecured support post to overhang.

  

  Business response

  06/13/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2022/05/23) */ Contact Name and Title: ***** ****** Owner Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXX Contact Email: *****@yahoo.com In response to the letter from Mrs ******** I told her on Friday that I had to help a client of mine that's elderly got to Mrs ********'s home started pulling up some boards so I wrapped up for the day than we came there Monday morning and pulled up all the top deck boards and saw the frame was bad and the 4x4bracces weren't in concrete just sitting on top but I contacted Mrs ******** told her it's going to be a few hundred dollars more since we would either have to rip boards or do dirt work after the texti didn't get a response from her I lined my guys out on what they needed to do and to clean up area and lock up later that evening I get a text from Mrs ******** stating she didn't want us back on the property I have text messages between us with me begging and pleading to let me finish that I didn't want to leave a client like that and it got me know where so the guys left with the trailer that had all the materials thinking we were supposed to be back the next day which we were told not to show up on her property so the next day my guys brought the materials to her unload everything and took pictures and also put invoice and screws in mailbox because of threat of rain shortly afterwards I get a text from Mrs ******** stating that she could have me arrested for putting materials in mailbox then after I asked her to please let's drop it she started posting stuff on social media about us which was totally in fair since I never once said anything about it on social media if you need the text messages and pictures of the social media I have them and will be glad to send them to you thanks Consumer Response /* (3000, 9, 2022/06/01) */ In response to the letter from Mrs ******** I told her on Friday that I had to help a client of mine that's elderly got to Mrs ********'s home started pulling up some boards so I wrapped up for the day Mr. ****** was to be at Ms ********'s home at 8-8:30 am however he failed to show up that morning as he had stated he would be there. Ms. ******** waited all morning with no call or text from Mr. ****** that he would not be coming to the job site to work on the job that Ms. ******** had hired him to do. At 1:00 pm Ms. ******** texted Mr. ****** to check and see what was going on with Mr. ****** replied to her text, and I quote via text message, "Yes mam I'm working on one of my employees cars at the moment, he had issues with it this morning when I get through I'll be by there." It is apparent that Mr. ****** was not honest with the BBB in his response or either he was not honest with Ms. ******** on Friday May 6th, 2022. (Note BBB response: help a client of mine that's elderly) Mr. ****** arrived after 2 pm and left the job site twice during the time he was to be working. He stated that he could not get his employees to work that day, and had to send them home the day before because they were gripping about having to do the manual labor that was required with the job and was having to do it on his own. Mr. ****** removed 3 top boards on the deck during the time he was there on Friday late afternoon, while also taking multiple phone calls from people concerning recording his conversations, issues with jobs he had done and was not done correctly, etc. This raised some serious flags with Ms. ********. Ms. ****** still had not provided any material for the job nor had he delivered material for the job as he stated he was going to do on April 28th, 2022, after cashing a down payment check for materials and to start the job of $2000 from Ms. ********. Considering that Mr. ****** had already taken money from Ms. ******** for materials, failed to deliver materials when he texted and stated he would, being late to the job site two days, or not showing up as he stated he would Ms. ******** became very concerned. Ms. ******** asked about moving the dirt to even out underneath the old deck considering the deck had been in place for over 30 years. Mr. ****** said he would have his workers in the early 20's take care of that since they were younger and more able, it was also part of the original estimate give to do the job. than we came there Monday morning and pulled up all the top deck boards and saw the frame was bad and the 4x4 braces weren't in concrete just sitting on top but I contacted Mrs ******** told her it's going to be a few hundred dollars more since we would either have to rip boards or do dirt work after the text i didn't get a response from her I lined my guys out on what they needed to do and to clean up area and lock up. The original estimate and price included Mr. ****** knowing that new footers would need to be done as well as evening out of the surface area under the old deck. Mr. ****** stated via text on Monday (after arriving over a 1 1/2 late verified via Ring Doorbell video) that this would now cost more which was not agreeable. Mr. ****** had stated that he had three vehicles wrecked within the two-week period of time including his own vehicle totaled. Ms. ******** had a price from Ms. ****** that included everything that he said would now cost more money. Via text Mr. ****** said he tilled the area under the deck however photos taken on Monday revealed that none of the surface under the deck had been touched and the tiller that was in the back of one of the workers trucks had not been removed during the time they were there. Mr. ****** confirmed this via text message. Mr. ****** then admitted he never tilled up any of the area, merely used a cultivator attachment on a weed eater to cut around the edge of the framing area. Mr. ****** also stated he purchased and brought material to Ms. ********'s house however she could not verify this via video and asked her neighbor if they saw anything and they stated they did not see any material unloaded or brought to the home. Materials included 8 4x4 fence post which were removed from the property at Mr. ******'s instruction to his employee that Monday. Only two of the 4x4 post were finally delivered to Ms. ********'s home after everything that happened. She was charged over $30 per post for the two post (3X the original price) Mr. ****** stated via invoice, he delivered 4 posts not the 8 he stated he purchased with the monies provided by Ms. ********. (This is all verified by photos taken by his employee and by Ms. ******** when she got home and took a picture to match to the once provided by Mr. ******) Now via text and photo evidence it is verified that Mr. ****** took 6 4x4 posts from Ms. ********'s property on that Monday and failed to deliver the 8 posts that were purchased. It is believed to then charge another customer for a product that he actually stole from another customer. Mr. ****** stated he brought the material to Ms. ********'s home on his trailer and then told his employees to remove the material from the home when they left after Ms. ******** would not agree to increasing the price for the total job that had been estimated at $4500. (She had already supplied a payment of $2000 to Mr. ****** to remove the old deck, materials) Mr. ****** stated via text on Monday evening that he had purchased the material the week before and they had been on his flatbed trailer for over a week outside in the elements. Mr. ****** refused to provide any receipts to Ms. ******** to list the materials purchased for her job, after several requests to do so. Mr. ****** also failed to provide a detailed estimate of the total material cost and labor that was agreed upon when the estimate was given even though it was requested as well. Later that evening I get a text from Mrs ******** stating she didn't want us back on the property After Mr. ****** had not provided the material that he stated he purchased on April 28th as he stated he would, via text, but instead delivered old rusty dilapidated tin instead (that damaged her grass and yard) After Mr. ****** did not show up as he stated he would on two days and only did a minimum of work that included removal of 9 total top deck boards. (And only showing up Friday June 4th after Ms. ******** texted to ask him if there was a problem) Mr. ****** also admitted that he had gone out the night before with a group drinking for Cinco De Mayo and it was all over social media. Mr. ****** then contact Ms. ******** on Monday am, while she was at work and could not return calls or texts due to being in meetings, stating he would need to increase the total price of the job in order to move dirt to even out the surface, put in new footer, etc (which was all already including in the original discussion and estimate) He then left the job site without any notification to the homeowner. Mr. ****** instructed his two employees on site to stack up all the old deck in the back yard on top of the old rusty tin he left piled up in her yard and to take the new material back to his house. Again, all verified by the Ring doorbell video. Mr. ****** made no effort to tell Ms. ******** that they would not be working on the job as he stated he would be doing on that Monday and instead stating later via text he had to leave the job site to go to South Baton Rouge to check on a vehicle his youngest son had wrecked over the weekend. When Ms. ******** arrived at home at 5 pm her garage door was open and all the gates to her property were left wide open. Her entire garage and yard were left unsecured, which was not how Mr. ****** found the property and he was under the instruction to make sure that the property was secured before he left it when doing any work for Ms. ********'s. Mr. ****** then stated later via text "Well all I can do is tell my guys to clean up before they left and I guess I should of drove all the way over there from riverbend subdivision in LSU but me saying they got the clean up part for sure but guess not." Mr. ****** was seen walking around Ms. ********'s ditch and yard, he also texted saying he found a key in the ditch that was dropped by a neighbors family member the weekend before, walking and pacing around her garage looking at things, removing the fiberglass handle garden rack and putting it in his truck that was Ms. ********'s, verbally telling his employees he was done with it and to clean up and leave the job site, taking the materials that belonged to Ms. ********. I have text messages between us with me begging and pleading to let me finish that I didn't want to leave a client like that and it got me know where so the guys left with the trailer that had all the materials thinking we were supposed to be back the next day which we were told not to show up on her property so the next day my guys brought the materials to her unload everything and took pictures and also put invoice and screws in mailbox because of threat of rain shortly afterwards I get a text from Mrs ******** stating that she could have me arrested for putting materials in mailbox then after I asked her to please let's drop it she started posting stuff on social media about us which was totally in fair since I never once said anything about it on social media if you need the text messages and pictures of the social media I have them and will be glad to send them to you thanks I have all the text messages as well but after Mr. ****** actions, not completing the work, leaving my property unprotected when walking off the job because he had more important things to do but do the work agreed upon and me refusing to increase the price due to his personal financial situation, I had no choice but to fire Mr. ****** which apparently set him off on a text rampage that included threatening my neighbors. He finally stated he would return all the materials he purchased with my money to my residence; however, the next day Mr. ****** never returned the material. That is when the complaint was filed. Any post on social media did not point any fingers or list any names at all, it only stated that a black truck was viewed on my ring doorbell camera pulling off with a flatbed with material and I requested whoever took it would bring it back. That is when Mr. ****** became even more abrasive via text and admitted he had had the material removed from my residence that was brought that day. It wasn't until after that and a call to the local police department requesting advice on how to handle the situation that Mr. ****** then finally agreed to bring the purchased material back to my residence. Mr. ****** then proceeded to price gouge me for material cost, tripling charges, not delivering all materials purchased for my job as well as tampering with my postal mailbox to leave a zip lock bag with 6 1 1/2 inch screws (in which Mr. ****** stated was all the screws he purchased to do the job) and an inflated invoice that included a $400 delivery charge for materials. To sum it all up, the deck is in now. I had received a price of $1000 to install the deck since I had purchased any missing material needed and also those finally brought back by Mr. ******. However, at the age of 56 and a single female, I evened out the ground myself that included tilling up the dirt and removing 10 roots (max of 1 1/2" in diameter max with a reciprocating saw) It took me about 3 hours to do this work. Since the deck is a square deck (16X16) the joists were run the opposite direction to avoid the large root. (taking it out of play) I have installed the frame properly that Mr. ****** did not complete, I installed all the joist boards along with a proper ledger board with the current fasteners and hangers. The old board that was propped on my sewage main pipe has been removed along with all the old debris and tin that was piled up in my yard by Mr. ****** and his crew. It took me three total days to do this work by myself. Mr. ****** had not bought or supplied any fasteners, joist hangers or proper footing material. So I was out of that money and had to purchase the needed items. The four bags of concrete he stacked on the material brought to the home, he admitted, had been on the flatbed since the previous week and were mostly hard concrete and rendered useless. I learned a valuable lesson, never hire a friend to do work because they will take advantage of you if you are not careful, especially if you are a single older female. I work with contractors all the time and have had many jobs performed at my home with complete satisfaction and positive reviews but they also were very professional during their time at my residence, spoke respectfully to me as a customer, never handled personal business while working on my job, not to mention been on time and provided a proper estimate and material pricing has never been inflated. It is a shame that a 56-year-old female did the work that a man who is running a contractor business and two 20 years old's would not do because it involved sweat and manual labor.

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