ComplaintsforL & E Bustamante Concrete Co

• Initial Complaint

  09/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Jesus with L&E Bustamante gave me an estimate of $7,440 (see attachment) for a stone base & future concrete pad. Jesus then proceeded to bring in $10,500 of extra material and even fill dirt that is not in the contract and bills me for this without my knowledge (see attachment). ***************** (builder) sent me a material list of the correct fill Jesus can use, material no bigger than a softball or 4 inches. Jesus is made aware of this months before construction. (see attachment) Jesus uses the wrong material due to its size and it not being able to be compacted (see attachment) I verbally express my displeasure of the material being wrong and he assures me it will work. Jesus continues to this day to tell me I am at fault for the material used. I am purely the customer and have no knowledge of fill. Pioneer has even confirmed the fill can not be used. He also has no roller on site and does not compact the bottom layer. Once I ask him about compaction he brings a roller but only rolls the top of the material, leaving the bottom material loose. ***************** comes out to drill their footers, due to the pad not being compacted and the wrong material being used, the holes collapse on themselves and create a void. (see attachment) Making the job come to a halt due to Jesus incompetence and negligence. Jesus then becomes very aggressive with the barn company and says he can "help" not "fix" the problem by having a crew hand dig the holes. The holes are 5 foot deep and would surely collapse due to them not being shored. The fact Jesus would put his workers in this situation (an obvious OSHA violation) shows you how they work. I then ask Jesus to leave the job site and take his material. He becomes combative, refuses, threatens a lawsuit, and leaves. His wrong material being in place makes me unable to continue my barn and makes the barn company and I lose precious time and funds. Jesus then even admits he knew the material could only compact so much. (see attach)

  Business response

  10/11/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/26) */ Contact Name and Title: Liza ******** Contact Phone: (XXX) XXX-XXXX Contact Email: ****@lebustamante.com The estimate for $7,440 that was agreed and signed by **** **** includes a Note that states that "If pad is out of level beyond 4" of stone, L&E will add stone at $38/ton installed." The elevation for the pole barn was low so Jesus had a discussion with **** **** and asked him if he wanted to keep the elevation or if he wanted to raise the elevation level with existing driveway. **** **** chose the option to raise the elevation therefore requiring material over 4". L&E actually only billed **** **** at $31/ton vs. $38/ton as stated on the signed estimate. On 8/16/22, Jesus ordered only 4 loads of material (RC#2) onsite to begin work. Jesus contacted **** **** and asked him to take a picture of the material and forward to his Contractor for approval. **** **** showed up onsite while crew was onsite and then informed Jesus to "move forward". Additional material was brought in (both RC#2 and then RC#6 to finish the surface) and installed for the next 2 days as required to raise the elevation as requested by **** ****. A ride-on vibrating machine with a roller was used to compact all of the material - this type of machine is commonly used for the type of compaction required. When the contractor, Pioneer Pole Barn, begins augering the holes to install the poles, the RC#2 material did cave in but the RC#6 was stable. Jesus received a call and showed up at the jobsite within an hour to meet with **** **** and the contractor. The contractor from Pioneer Pole Barn immediately starts yelling at Jesus aggressively while Jesus was trying to diffuse the situation between them by offering to provide solutions for the problem at hand. Jesus offered to dig out all of material at the rear where the 4 holes are located to expose the footings and stabilize them by installing concrete sonotubes then backfilling the entire section using CR#6 material - AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO **** ****. ***** also offered to arrange for an engineer to certify the materials and work. The contractor at Pioneer Pole Barn was agreeable to this after the explanation and Jesus waited for **** **** to respond. As the contractor and **** **** and **** ****'s wife who also arrived onsite talked, Jesus walked away from the discussion and waited in his vehicle ON SITE until a decision was made. **** **** and his wife then approached Jesus's vehicle and informed him he needs to remove the material installed from job site. Jesus was informed by our material vendors that **** **** contacted them directly to request the stone and fill dirt tickets which they will not do. Jesus immediately provided copies of the material tickets to **** ****. Subsequently, **** **** then emails Jesus on 9/20/22 offering to pay L&E $3,000 for the material and Jesus responded by asking what the terms of the $2,000 payment (second offer) for the material would be, but to date has not received a response from **** ****. L&E has offered to remove the material at rear 4 piers, provide additional stabilization and backfill with additional material and engineering certification for all of the material installed to **** **** at no charge in order to resolve the situation, but has not heard back from **** **** and instead he files a complaint to BBB.

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