ComplaintsforCapital Guardian Builders LLC

• Initial Complaint

  01/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hello, Capital Guardian Builders recently completed a project that has not met the criteria of our agreement, and they have stopped responding when I ask questions to help close those gaps. They provided a quote to repair a tile floor that was not level and had cracks. They stated they would do so within 4 days. Now that they have completed the project, the floor is still not level and has cracks. The project lasted for 7 weeks instead of 4 days, requiring me to find another place for my family to live for the first 2-week period. I have been asking Capital Guardian Builders to either (1) repair the floor to make it level and without cracks; or (2) provide me with information on the materials they used so that I can repair it myself. However, they stopped responding approximately 7 weeks ago. I even paid them more than the original quote after they stopped mid-project until I agreed to send such a payment. I had not been informed previously of such an increase. Therefore, I request a 50% refund ($3,272.50) so that I can afford the materials and time to repair the floor, and to compensate me for finding another place for my family to live due to project taking 14x the duration that Capital Guardian Builders quoted to me. Thank you for your support.

  Business response

  02/13/2023

  To Whom It May Concern:

  This message is to notify all parties that we have received the complaint. We are in the process of reviewing the details and correspondence related to this matter and we will provide a more detailed and specific response to this matter as soon as possible. Thank you.

  Respectfully,

  Byron L*******

  Capital Guardian Builders, LLC

   

   

  Business response

  03/14/2023

  1. I hired Capital Guardian Builders to fix an uneven floor with cracks. They were aware that there were issues under the floor that was causing these issues. The entire purpose of this contract was to correct these issues. The floor still has cracks. All I ask is that they either come fix the grout/caulk cracks or provide me with the materials to do so myself.

  CGB Response: The only problems with the sub-floor initially known – and only problem which could be known - at the time of the initial estimate, is that the tiles were not bonded correctly to the floor and that this was a likely cause of the grout cracking and that the floor was not perfectly level. This was known because there was a hollow sound to the existing tiles, suggesting there was not good contact between the tile and the adhesive under it. It simply was not possible to have known that there were the following additional problems concealed by the tiles:

  A) there was an abnormal 1” thick layer of tile adhesive under the previous tiles which was very difficult to remove – it was not possible to know this until the existing tile work and adhesive was being removed.

  B) Similarly, until the old tile and abnormal adhesive layer was removed, it was not possible to know that the existing OSB subfloor had been constructed of unsatisfactory material, by the previous contractor.

  2) See response to item #8, below.

  3) Tim P****’s assessment when making the estimate included the assumption that the sub-floor was not constructed sufficiently. That was the root cause for my previous floor not being level, and hence why I hired Capital Guardian Builders to correct it.

  CGB Response:  It subsequently became evident – again, only after it was exposed by demolition of the previous tile floor - that in addition to be unlevel, the subfloor was constructed of unusually thin material.

  I have never requested that they make my sub-floor perfect.

  CGB Response: Agreed. We made note of this in our prior response – the client chose the more minimal repair option which involved moving forward with the tile work without our correcting the floor to perfect condition.

  I am only requesting that they either come fix the grout/caulk cracks or provide me with the materials to do so myself.

  CGB Response: Perhaps we misunderstood, but it was not initially clear to us in prior correspondence from the client through the Better Business Bureau that the client would accept this to resolve the case. We are interested in pursuing this path forward. Please see response to #10

  4) This response fails to mention that the technician worked an average of approximately 4 hours per day to demolish the old floor and install the new one. I was informed that this was because his truck was being repaired. I am happy to provide further documentation of my correspondence with Capital Guardian Builders that shows this dynamic. Regarding Tim P****’s injury, please see #8 below.

  CGB Response: We appreciate Mr. ******* sharing this - we worked to communicate openly with the client regarding complications affecting the project. We informed the client at the time that this issue (and complications inherent to the project itself) had occurred and that it would affect the project’s schedule. And at the time, the client expressed understanding and flexibility to us as we worked around the situation.

   6) I have paid more than any agreed-upon balance. Capital Guardian Builders never provided me with any estimate of cost increases.       

  CGB Response:  There were ample communications regarding the additional work which was required due to the discoveries of additional and substantial problems. The client knew these problems were being encountered and that additional work was being done to address them. This extra labor was billed at or possibly slightly below fair market value and an invoice including the cost for this extra work was sent to and paid by the client. By the standard of any reasonable person, one understands that when a project requires additional work because of problems which could not have been known prior to starting (see response to #1), that the additional work and material are not free and additional to the work and material initially estimated. This is why initial pricing is called an “estimate”. If there was a problem with the pricing it is curious that Mr. ******* paid it anyway, as this otherwise suggests informed and voluntary participation in a willing exchange.

  The cost for this project was reasonable and the expense for the additional labor is also fair and reasonable.

  7) Yes, please do provide these materials, as I requested from Steven T******* several months ago. As you know, you can reach me via my email or cell phone number.

  CGB Response:  We will compose a list and email it to you within the week. Although, please see response to #10

  8) Please see the original attachment that I provided in the complaint titled “No response since mid-December.” This documents my attempts to communicate on December 17, January 15, January 17, and Friday, January 20 (well beyond Nov. 6). Please note that this is an objective, documented example of Capital Guardian Builders providing false information to the BBB, so please consider what this indicates regarding the likelihood that the rest of their response is accurate (for example, their incorrect claims that I have paid late or not in full, per the attachments I submitted in the original complaint, etc.). Due to Tim P****’s extended absence due to injury, Capital Guardian Builders instructed me to work with Steve T******* instead. That is exactly who this text message thread is with. He had been responsive up until this point.

  CGB Response: (We don’t see the attachment the client is referencing in the BBB portal, but we do have our own copy of the text message dialogue he’s referencing. If the BBB needs to review this we ask the client to please upload it, or we can provide it).

  We appreciate Mr. *******’s intriguing appeal to ‘objectivity’ and thus encourage anyone to review the text message record in question and decide for themselves. In our subjective view, we disagree with Mr. ******* and find it simply doesn’t support the hasty insinuations Mr. ******* is making – rather, to the contrary…

              Indeed, as Mr. ******* points out, the record shows:

  1. The client texted Mr. T******* on Dec. 17^th to say, “My phone didn’t ring yesterday, sorry if I missed you. Happy to chat next week.” (Neither Mr. T******* nor Mr. ******* followed up on this message, though it’s worth pointing out that while attempting to reference this message to suggest that we failed to communicate with him, Mr. ******* – in this very message - is apologizing for missing our attempt to contact him and while he extends his availability, he does not directly request a response, nor indicate a problem, nor does he attempt to contact us again, through any means, for nearly a month.

   

  2. The client then texted Mr. T******* three times, on January 15^th, 17^th and 20^th, respectively, to indicate there was a problem and ask what grout was used on the floor. Mr. T******* made it a point to respond to the third message, same day on the 20^th, to apologize and explain to Mr. ******* that he didn’t respond immediately to the preceding two text messages simply because he had broken his phone a few days prior and hadn’t replaced it yet.

  As we indicated in our previous correspondence through the BBB, while we did initially advise after Mr. P****’s injury that Mr. ******* correspond directly with Mr. T******* directly, Mr. ******* had also been provided – in the very same message in which he references he was advised to correspond with Mr. T******* -  with the emails and personal number of another senior staff member, in addition to already having several other key staff’s contact info including email addresses, our company main phone number, our office mobile phone number, and personal cell phone numbers. If he was unable to connect with Mr. T*******, he was provided with multiple and ample reliable channels to reach us, which he did not pursue. In other words, it appears that what Mr. ******* is referencing is a single missed text message in December, followed by a single occurrence where Mr. Tomkins took a few days to reply (which he did) due to a broken cell phone, while never making a single attempt (that we can find) to reach anyone at Capital Guardian in any other way.

  While we feel his other concerns deserve fair consideration, this is simply a transparent and bad-faith attempt by Mr. ******* to suggest that Capital Guardian attempted to evade him or otherwise impeded him by making communication impossible, then suggesting that we’re lying about it in mediation with the Bureau, in an apparent attempt to debase anything else we say. We are satisfied to let the record speak for itself where it concerns our availability and willingness to communicate and kindly ask Mr. ******* to work with us toward a positive resolution to this dispute, rather than resorting to baseless, flagrant accusations.

  9) Please see #6 above.

  CGB Response:  Please see our response to #6 above.

  10) Please see previous commentary. Again, I will happily accept my original request instead of a refund, i.e., that Capital Guardian Builders either fixes the grout/caulk cracks or provides me with the materials to do so myself.

  CGB Response:  Tim P**** (the owner of Capital Guardian Builders) has returned to work full time this week and would like to connect with Mr. ******* directly to assess the problems with the floor in person and discuss options to resolve the problem. If Mr. ******* would agree to this, Mr. P**** will reach out to him this week to pursue next steps. We assure Mr. ******* that everyone at Capital Guardian Builders sincerely seeks to go forth in good faith to find an amicable resolution to this matter.

   

  Respectfully,

  Management, on behalf of Timothy P****

  Capital Guardian Builders, LLC

  Customer response

  03/17/2023

  
  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.
  

  I accept this response based upon Tim P****'s agreement to fix all outstanding issues with the floor. Thank you so much Tim for coming back today and your support addressing these items!

  
  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. ↩