ComplaintsforGarner Roofing & Remodeling

• Initial Complaint

  11/15/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Entered into contract with Garner Roofing for $28,172.00 for replacement of a slate roof contract enclosed. Deposit of $9, 390.67 paid at start of work, completion date approx. Sept 12th 2021. Balance remains in escrow and has not been released due to the following reason. Mr. G***** has caused damage to the interior of the house as a result of his company not covering the roof properly knowing a storm was coming. As a result damage was caused to the 3rd level in which he has witnessed and agreed to. At this point he has an outstanding balance for the repairs and refuses to pay, agreeing to a lesser amount, however I would be responsible for the rest of this bill with my contractor. Mr. G***** has also attached additional charges to the outstanding invoice in which he did not clear with me even thought we were in contact during the job, HE SPECIFICALLY TOLD ME THAT NO ADDITIONAL WOOD WAS NEED FOR THE ROOF, AND THAT HIS COMPANY WAS GOING TO COVER THE DORMERS ANYWAY, before I agreed to pay for them, and they had already started doing so. When final invoice was issued he included an additional $900 for wood "used on the roof" that he did not clear with me before doing work or furnishing pictures , and then the next day sent me a "corrected invoice" to include the dormers which he told me would not be at my expense because his contract was vague and he did not do a walk through of scope of work to be done this added $780 to contract. I have a witness to the entire conversation and feel that this is a result of him trying to make up for his losses with the damage that HE CAUSED!. Per him I got off cheaply, that in some instances the price of a roof job could double depending on additional work done, I stated, I don't know anyone who would give him an open checkbook to be billed at his discretion without their prior consent. We have both attempted to solve dispute but he is unwilling to pay contract enclosed amount, work has been completed, he has viewed.

  

  Business response

  12/07/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2021/11/30) */ This contract included replacing an 86 year old slate roof which was in poor condition with a new synthetic slate roof as well as installing flat roofs on the front and rear porches. The customer had recently purchased the property in neglected condition and was in the process of renovating it as an investment. I learned during the process that as a condition of the purchase she had to comply with certain contractual obligations with the *******************************. Money from the purchase was being held in escrow by them to ensure these requirements were satisfied. She was performing the renovations using various contractors with one main contractor/friend (*****************************) doing most of the interior work. Unclear Contract - This conflict began on day 2 of this roof process. The customer contacted me (Dave G*****- Owner) by phone to ask if the wall areas of two dormers would be included. The contract language clearly described; "Roof Area Included: All currently slate shingled areas including dormers". The areas in question were vertical walls, not roofs, and they were covered with aluminum siding not slate. (Pics attached) At no time prior had these areas been discussed so they were never included. The customer expected me to add this additional work not contracted at no charge. When I politely declined and offered a reasonable price she became outraged. She told me it was "unacceptable", "the contract was unclear" and there was "no way she would pay it". Then she proceeded to attack my professionalism and ethics. Later that day she suddenly and strangely did a complete reversal. I received a text agreeing to the additional price of $763. Before I could even close the text screen on my phone some mysterious "damage" was conveniently discovered and blamed on us. Alleged Damage - I have several compelling reasons to believe the alleged damage was not caused by us but I agreed to fix it anyway. I was ready willing and able to complete the basic plaster repair required. First, I planned to use my painter and my labor and materials cost to do so would have been around $400.00. When this customer indicated she wanted her contractor to do the work I was open to this possibility until she tried to charge $2,700.00 which was absurd for the work required. Eventually a compromise was reached; I would overpay a generous $1,400 and her contractor would do the work. Additional Charges - This customer agreed to pay an additional $763.00 to add vertical wall areas not in the original roof contract. I have a time stamped text from her confirming this. She claims I agreed to let this charge slide while the work was in progress but this never happened. The other additional charge she refers to is for rotten wood we replaced during the roofing process. It is not possible to know how much bad wood exists on any given roof until the old roof is torn off and a wood inspection can be performed from the rooftop. For this reason every roof contract includes a wood replacement clause that specifically outlines the potential for variable additional costs if wood replacement is needed. Rotten wood doesn't hold nails and nails are what hold the new roof on. When we find rotten wood it must be replaced to insure the integrity of the installation and warranty compliance. Leaving bad wood on would compromise the new roof so It is not optional and payment is not contingent on getting permission. I do notify customers when wood is replaced if the amount is significant. I did mention the wood we replaced during one of our phone calls about the dormer walls. She claims I told her no wood needed to be replaced and then I surprised her with additional charges to make up for the damage costs. This makes no sense because the wood for this roof was purchased and replaced on day 1 of the project before any conflict existed. I have a time stamped receipt complete with her name system entered on it for expense tracking purposes and time stamped texts with her which confirm the timeline. I have provided her a copy of this receipt yet she still insists I invented these charges. In closing, when this customer received my final invoice containing the legitimate additional charges she refused to pay claiming falsely I told her I would waive them. Then she claimed she had to pay her contractor $2,800 to complete the damage repairs so now she is demanding I remove the additional charges and pay her contractor $2,800. I've asked for proof of payment to her contractor but she refuses to provide it. She has been holding $20,504.00 of my money since September while she enjoys the benefits of the new roof I installed. As a final resort to avoid having to take her to court I recently offered to waive the additional charges for wood and dormers (Value of $1,723.00) plus I offered an additional $500.00 for the repairs (total value of $2,223.00) Instead of replying to this offer or counter offering she submitted this BBB complaint.

*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. ↩