ComplaintsforProMaster Home Repair & Handyman of Cincinnati

• Initial Complaint

  09/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  ProMaster finished my basement framing, plumbing, electrical and drywall. The electrical inspection failed and their remedy was unacceptable. Additionally, I learned that they wired every outlet in the basement (17) to a single 20A circuit, that is only supposed to have 10. This creates a severe electrical hazard that must be rectified.

  

  Business response

  09/14/2023

  *****

  
  We are sorry to hear this complaint on your basement project, and we are aware of the issues that you have experienced and would like to rectify them.

  
  We would like to share our account of these issues and attempts to rectify that have not as of yet been satisfactory for you.

  
  -On September 5, we received a call from you to the lead craftsman on your project saying that the basement had failed inspection for three electrical items. Our craftsman shared your frustration and disappointment and assured you that these would be an easy fix. He talked with our operations manager and scheduled a return visit on September 12.

  
  -Upon hearing this, you told our operations manager that this was unacceptable and that we should be there the following day and clear our schedule. We moved our lead craftsman off another job to move your visit up to September 8.

  
  -At this time, our lead craftsman completed repairing the items that failed inspection, based on diagrams provided by you. One of the wires he installed fell out of the outlet, a repair he would have offered to immediately return and complete. However, you called our lead craftsman after 2pm and left a very aggressive and hostile voice message. You then proceeded to call the office and yell at our general manager, threaten a lawsuit, and hang up after a brief conversation. 

  
  -We then worked internally to provide a larger solution for your concern you shared here regarding the number of outlets on the circuit. While NEC electrical code does not dictate the number of outlets on a circuit, we admitted that general practice would be to keep that number to around 10, which would ensure everything that could be operated in the basement would be well within your own personal load calculations, which were not shared with the craftsmen at any point during the project.

  
  -We then offered to have a different craftsman return to your home to complete the addition of a second circuit at no cost. This was because you refused to allow our two lead craftsmen on the project into your home again. You originally proposed that we would add two more circuits, which you claimed was still not enough but would be satisfactory, along with running a new circuit for a microwave that was never part of the contracted scope of work that we mutually agreed upon and signed off on. This is far beyond the necessary scope of work and what would be required for safe operation of electrical in your basement.

  
  -In this time, you’ve filed this complaint and also left a lengthy Google review that covers a wide variety of topics and accusations not related to this electrical issue. 

  
  -When we offered this solution, you took 24 hours to think about it and then returned our call to our general manager and demanded repeatedly, without exception, that we would come to your home and install two circuits. You repeated that phrase, cut off our general manager and refused to let him speak, and then hung up on him when he tried to explain that this was not a solution that we were willing to consider.

  
  At the end of the day, we’ve attempted to patiently make a number of good-faith efforts to rectify the situation, despite experiencing rude and hostile behavior.
  

  
  

  

  Business response

  09/27/2023

  *****

  At this point, we appear to be going in circles and rehashing the same responses and disagreements. Our solutions of offering options for repair have not been deemed satisfactory, and we won't reach any solutions with more back and forth. It appears you are continuing through arbitration, which can ultimately bring about a resolution. Is that how you'd like to pursue resolving this matter?

  Customer response

  09/30/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ** ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** *****
  

  I would actually like a response to the latest finding that you buried a live outlet in the wall creating an extremely dangerous condition in my home.  Additionally, I would like a response to the fact that you do not appear to be following the current electrical code.
  

• Initial Complaint

  12/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  9/14/22 - Hired ProMaster to install railings, newells, skirt board, etc. and other miscellaneous work. 9/19/22 - Paid ProMaster a deposit of $2,060 and agreed to an installation date in early November. Early Nov - They called us and said they "forgot to order" our parts, so they were going to have to reschedule to December 7 and December 8. Late Nov - Confirmed with them that they had all the necessary items for installation. (I explained to them that I have a bad back and couldn't afford another delay.) They assured me that they had ordered AND received everything they needed. 12/07/22 - They came to the house with the wrong parts and told us that unless we used what they had, we'd have to push the installation to February 2023. Stressing my bad back again, I asked them to figure out a way to make it right. Eventually, we agreed to a compromise. They agreed to install temporary, unfinished railings and to send us pictures of similar product. (Both parties were hoping to find something that was in stock so we could schedule installation earlier than February.) We agreed and were willing to wait - worst case - until February as long as I could use the temporary railings. When I got home that evening, I found out that "unfinished" didn't mean unpainted/smooth, it meant raw, rough wood with splinters, breaks, etc. I asked them if they would be willing to sand them down, so I could actually use them/put some weight on them without the risk of getting hurt. (Temporary railings don't help me or my back if I can't use them for support.) 12/08/22 - Received cancellation letter that said they wouldn't give us our refund unless we agreed to release them from liability/future claims and "not make negative comments about them including anything unflattering or derogatory." 12/09/22 - In good conscience, we cannot sign that letter, but we believe we still have a right to our refund given the situation.

  

  Business response

  12/12/2022

  We are sorry to hear that you feel you’ve not had a good experience with ProMaster. We never want to disappoint our customers and want to ensure all customers are happy with the work provided for their home. 

  With that, ProMaster wanted to provide our point of view and review the claims made in this complaint.

  9/14 and 9/19 are accurate dates for the evaluation and down payment and reflect the attached PDF and ProMaster’s records. 

  However, an important phone call was omitted. A call is logged in our system on October 17 at 11:45 a.m. ET from our craftsman assigned to you to inform you that the special order railings would be delayed and if you’d like to proceed with those same railings, knowing there would be a delay, or if you’d like to see in-stock options to keep the work on time. This was our best good-faith effort to ensure the work was done on time, knowing that this railing was important to you and your health. You agreed to wait for the original special order railings, acknowledging the likelihood of a delay.

  Unfortunately, these delays and supply chain issues are affecting all industries, particularly home repair. We do everything we can to alleviate those issues, but there is still much that is out of our control as a company. 

  The railings then arrived prior to your rescheduled installation in December - again, in an unfortunate shipping issue, the company from which we ordered the railings sent the incorrect model. We realized this was the second time shipping issues affected your project, so we made every good-faith effort to make it right. This included multiple options of stock railing, installing the railing that was received, and any other solution possible to keep the project on time.

  This led to installing the temporary railings as another gesture of good faith - though the request to sand the railings down was much more demand than request.

  At this point in time, we realized that in the midst of all our good faith efforts to make things right from start to finish, including offering in-stock options in October which would have kept the project on time from the beginning, we wouldn’t be able to come to a satisfactory resolution together.

  We are simply invoicing you for the work that was completed on your home, unrelated to the railing, as noted in the PDF you attached as part of the contract that was mutually agreed upon. Your ask for a full refund of your down payment is essentially an ask for free labor and materials.
  

  
  

  Customer response

  12/13/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ***

  The issue isn’t “supply chain issues” or “supplier error.”  Adam admitted that he input the wrong information on the latest order.  The issue isn’t that Adam lied to us about having ordered AND received the correct materials days before installation.  The issue isn’t that they showed up with the incorrect supplies.  The issue isn’t that Adam and Don (the owner) wanted to unload subpar materials in what could have been a thinly-veiled bait and switch.  We weren’t happy about any these issues, but we were (and still are) willing to honor our end of the contract by agreeing to wait until February. 
  This is the issue:   Adam and Don didn’t order the supplies, they didn’t do the work, they unilaterally cancelled the job, they breached the contract, and they are now trying to keep our full deposit.  While we had no intention of widespread negativity on their business website or social media, we fully intended to contact the BBB to share our concerns.  For Don to withhold our deposit because we wouldn’t agree to stay silent seems unethical at best and illegal at worst.  With all their talk of “making every attempt” and “good faith” offers, it appears the obvious solution has escaped them.  An easy win/win for both parties is that they order, show up with, and complete the project with the correct supplies by the end of February as we agreed.  Otherwise, if they don’t want to honor their end of the contract and wish to breach the contract, they should return our full deposit without unethical strings, bribes, and/or threats attached.
  

  

  Business response

  12/19/2022

  Suite 700
  8044 Montgomery Road
  Cincinnati, Ohio 45236
  Chris@C*******Legal.com
  
  December 16, 2022
  
  Via Email Only
  
  
  ************************
  ***** ****
  Senior Marketplace Resource Consultant
  Better Business Bureau
  
  Re: *** Claim
  My Client: Red Pill, Inc./Promaster Home Repair
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  Dear ********* ***** be advised that Promaster has sent a refund check for *** ***** deposit. This
  payment of the refund is being done without any admission of liability.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  
  *********** ** ********
  
  cc: Don K****** (via email)
  
  

  Customer response

  12/20/2022

  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. 
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ***
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/22/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Working with Promaster has been another long list of contractors who promise everything, yet Im going to have to find another contractor to get the work I requested to get completed. My original request was verbally with your representative to fix the ceiling corner, mount a mirror, correct a ceiling fan housing that another contractor installed that tore my drywall around it, remove the original tile in the bathroom and replace it with the tile I purchased, remove the toilet and replace with a toilet that I purchased, and remove the entry tile under the door with tile that I replaced. I went out of my way to purchase the tile from Floor and Decor ahead of the job. I provided a list of work that needed to be done, put a down payment on the work - and only half of the work was done. I have pictures and full documentation of what was not completed. And was rebuffed by their owner when even complaining about the work. Totally unprofessional way of handling customer disputes when I requested another one of their contractors and perhaps even the owner himself to inspect the work. I had to spend more money with another competitor of theirs to get the job done.

  

  Business response

  10/25/2021

  *** ******** contracted for $5,430 of work on his home on 06/10/2021.  The scoped of the contracted work included:
  
  Remove existing vinyl flooring from front entry and bathroom.
  Install transition strips, and prep floor for tile.
  Install new customer provided tile and grout in bathroom and front entry.
  Install existing baseboard and shoemould.
  Install new toilet provided by customer
  
  *** ******** signed the contract acknowledging work being contracted, including notice of cancellation acknowledgement, also signed off on the final invoice accepting work completed as stated (signed contract and final invoice attached).  All work was performed as quoted.  Upon *** ******** contacting us regarding his concerns of ‘unfinished’ verbal work and a broken vacuum hook, the craftsman who performed the work, attempted several times to make contact with Mr. ******** via phone, leaving messages.  Which were not returned to the craftsman. 
  
  With *** ********** lack of response to the craftsman, ProMaster closed his file. 

  Customer response

  10/27/2021

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ********
  

*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. ↩