ComplaintsforDesign Innovations, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  01/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company was contracted to build a fence on our property, assuring us many times they had enough information on the property map to extrapolate the corners. The fence was built in February of 2022, but they missed two of the five corners by almost four feet each. For nine months, we had almost weekly communications, initiated by us, where they said they were too busy, they threatened legal action if we kept bothering them and at one point they said they never promised to build the fence correctly. They finally came out three times from June 2022 to December 2022 to take measurements, each time admitting the fence was built incorrectly. We even had the property professionally surveyed. In mid-December, they said it would be a few weeks before they got the materials, but we asked for an immediate quote. We said we would pay for the extra materials, but not the labor. Since mid-December, we have heard nothing. After almost a year, we established a five day deadline to get the information and they failed to contact us.

  Business response

  02/03/2023

  We are in receipt of the complaint. I'd like to first point out that there is some false information in the complaint which I would like to clarify upfront.

  1. The company and it's employees did not make promises or assurances regarding marking of the property line as we are not surveyors.

  2. Neither the company nor its employee's have admitted to the fence being build incorrectly as we do not agree.

  The fact is that fence was installed, completed by the terms of the estimate and paid for as acceptable. Prior to the installation of the fence we sent the client via email a final design plan of all the project components which included the patio, fireplace and the final measurements on the fence for them to review. The client reviewed and accepted the final design (email attached). The fence measurements were approximate measurements determined by a plat and a sketch provided to us by the homeowner, neither of which had the exact measurements for the rear of the property.

  By the terms of our master service agreement, Line 15 (available to everyone on our website ****************) we are not responsible for marking property lines or corners. It has been determined that ALL corners were not market by the client/homeowner prior to the fence installation. Instead, the property corners were marked in September 2022 after we advised them to do so so that we could help them once we agreed to terms and had a team available to do the work.

  We were and are still willing to help them to extend the fence to the property corners now that they are marked appropriately however we do not agree that we are responsible for covering either labor or material costs to do so.

  I do hope that we can find an amicable solution to this issue.

  Thank you, 

  Cherry

  Customer response

  02/03/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because 

  1.  We have a signed contract with Design Innovation that committed to installing fencing "around the perimeter of the homeowners backyard."  By definition, perimeter is the border or outer boundary. It is more than four feet off in two of five corners which is significantly different than the perimeter.

  2. At their request, they were given two documents, a plat map and a developer's map.  By definition, a plat map is a survey map, filed at the county to define the property perimeter.  In addition they were given a developer's map that showed the position of the house on the property.   These provide the exact measurements of the property perimeter, but a mathematical calculation is required. When asked if they had the ability to read a plat map, they said yes.  When asked if they wanted a survey, they said no. They assured us several times that they could put the fence in the correct location.

  3. A Master Service agreement found on their website in January 2023 is not a legally binding contract in 2023, much less applicable to a contract signed in December of 2021.  I would assume if this document were available in 2021, it would have been part of the contract.  It was not.

  4.  Design Innovations sent employees to the site three times, June 22, 2022,  September 14,  2022, and December 13, 2022 and each time   they remeasured the property.  Each time a different employee admitted that the fence was installed in the wrong spot. They apologized, and we didn't hear from them again for weeks. It was our decision to have the property surveyed in September 2022  to guarantee that the repairs would be accurate.

  They had enough information and they made a mistake.  They were also clearly confident that they had enough information to install the fence correctly or surely they would not have started the project with no disclaimer or warnings.  We paid all three installments within 24 hours of getting the bill because we believed they were a small company with limited cash flow and we wanted to support them.  We tried for almost a year to resolve this, with approximately 125 text messages exchanged,  but they said they were too busy to talk to us during the summer.  Waiting until fall was to give them the chance to catch up on their summer jobs and we said we would be patient.  Yet we still waited.  On December 13, 2022, they finally agreed to send us an estimate.   On January 9th, 2023, we still hadn't heard from them and we said that we would move forward with other options if we did not hear from them by January 13th.  We did not hear from them and we hired another contractor.  We are asking to be reimbursed for the labor costs to remove and re-install the new fencing.  We still agree to pay for additional materials, including the posts that will be destroyed when they are removed.  

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

  Business response

  03/01/2023

  Response to complaint:

   

  Unfortunately, we are not in agreement with this complaint as it is factually inaccurate.

  Customer response

  03/02/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because the installer has not provided any details to change my position, but  I am including additional facts to support my claim.  First is the developer's map that was provided to the installer at the time of contract.  I am also including a series of pictures to show that the fence does not run along the perimeter of the property as agreed to in the signed contract.   Note: The neighboring fence in the photos was built by **** ***** and belongs to the HOA.  It borders the outside of the HOA common property.   

  In summary, we have a signed contract with a professional fence installer that states the fence would be built on our property perimeter and it was not.  At the time of installation, the fencing company had two of the five corners professionally staked plus they had the county plot map and the developers map that showed the house in relation to the property lines.  This was enough information to put the fence in the correct spot, but the installer declined our offer to have the other three corners staked.  We tried for over a year with a hundred plus text messages to get them to even admit that they were willing to rectify the problem and made no progress on a resolution before hiring a third party due to property ownership concerns.  We are asking for a reimbursement of the labor costs for the incorrect installation and an admission that the company made an error in their installation. 

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

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