ComplaintsforGarners Construction And Contracting

• Initial Complaint

  11/08/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 9-25-2021 we contracted with Garner Construction (GC) to remove wallpaper on all walls, paint all walls, ceiling, cabinets, trim, and window seal caulking and painting, and remove all carpet, power wash the outside of the house, and more items listed in attached contract. Items that were added as repair got underway were to remove 4 windows and replace them, fix garage block and trim, change out all outlets and light switches, mud drywall where wallpaper removal caused damage. Prior to signing the contract it was discussed that the work would begin on 10-1-2021 and the time frame for the work was to be 2 weeks, GC assured us they had plenty of workers to get it done. The carpet was not removed completely in a timely fashion and the flooring company had to reschedule. There was no estimate given for the extra mudding or the outlet/switch replacement prior to them being replaced, when given the bill for those 2 items $6,687.63 was charged for 75 electric outlets/switches (there was no extra wiring needed) charged $80-$137 per outlet/switch, after checking with 2 local electricians we were given prices ranging from $1500-$2500 for the entire job (we checked after seeing the gouged price) and charged $2664.90 for mudding 1 wall and blemishes on other walls, did not finish removing the wallpaper in the kitchen, painted over it. At the end of 5 weeks of working on the house, the new floor was damaged the by mud dust, all ceilings not painted, did not do a sufficient job on trim painting, left paint and paint smears on the windows. GC did offer to remedy the situation but after 5 weeks of shoddy work and us losing $40 income per day we did not want to waste more time. We were cussed at by the owners wife and had 3 different facebook live 'rants' posted about us by the owner prior to the job being 'completed'. GC was paid in full by us, he was told to refund us what he thought we were due but refused as we would not allow him any more time once he pulled out.

  Business response

  12/06/2021

  Business owner informed BBB that they did a good job for the consumers and he believes the consumers were trying to take advantage of his business. He stated that the business was there for 14 hour days getting the job done and it was taking the time frame that it did because they were making sure to do the job right. He believes the consumers were trying to kick him off the job at the last minute when all the hard stuff was already done. The business states that the only job not completed was the ceiling in the closet, that his employee missed that. They did offer the consumer money off many times. The business offered to take off an amount that was fair. The consumer refused that offer. The business has a signed receipt showing that the business offered the resolution to the consumer.

  Customer response

  12/13/2021

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  the business owner did not do a good job, as attested to by the photos and comments sent with the original complaint. The business owner took advantage of the consumer in this case by grossly overcharging for the electric work and additional mudding that was required when the drywall tore when the wallpaper was removed. The business owner stated that they put in 14 hour days, which they may have put in a few over the 5 weeks of work, but most days the only person on the job before 11 am was a hired hand that sat and waited on the owner most days as he was unsure of what to do, the employee would try to call the owner but seldom got an answer. Then most days the house was locked up and everyone gone around 6 pm, although there were some longer days. The consumer went into the house once the business owner sent a text stating they were finished and found many tasks not properly completed, when brought to the business owners attention later that day, he told us to take off what we thought was fair, as the consumer is not versed in what is a fair price and we had to finish the job ourselves, we told him to give us an amount he thought was fair for our work. He verbally told us that he would bring back the trim that was missing and the left over paint that we would need to finish the job and asked him to bring us a refund for the amount he thought we were entitled to to for the unfinished work. He never brought the trim, paint, or refund. The consumer signed because the owner said he would be back with the items. The consumer wanted to be honest and uphold their end of the contract and trusted that the business owner would uphold his end when he wrote on the receipt that he said he would make it right, but he did not do so.
  
  As stated in the original complaint, the business owner knew the consumer was under a time constraint to get the job done and he verbally said the job could easily be completed in 2 weeks, at the end of 5 weeks the job was not completed to the consumers satisfaction, and the pictures sent with the original complaint should clearly show that. At the end of the 2nd week of work, the business owner told us he would be done the following week, then at the end of the 3rd week he told us he would be done at the end of the following week, at the end of the 4th week we asked him for a firm date he told us they would be done the following Wednesday, they pulled out on Thursday and sent me pictures of what he said was a completed job, but his pictures were staged and when we went in later that day, found the incomplete job. The business owner threatened legal repercussions if he was not allowed to complete the entire job when we asked weekly about getting the job completed and we were told repeatedly about the stacks of completed contracts he had, and he believes that he did a good job and completed the job to satisfaction as he posted his staged pictures on Facebook to promote his business without our permission.
  
  The business owner was not professional as he went on Facebook live and had a 22 minute rant when we did not agree on a price for the electric, which was up for a few weeks but has since been deleted. As well as his employees using verbally abusive language in talking about us because they were not being paid enough for the job.
  
  As a consumer and living in a rural area where we have spent millions of dollars on building projects and having our word and the word of the people we have worked with trusted over the years, we trusted that the business owner's verbal agreements would be held to as well. As a consumer, we trusted in giving a young startup business a chance at a good start and even told him before he started work that we had more jobs that could be available as well. In the time since the business owner has left the job we have spoken with someone else that had the same thing happen, where the business owner gouged them for a job not listed on the original contract and do not want this to happen to anyone else which is why we have taken the complaint to the BBB.
  
  Thank you for your time, please let us know if anything else is needed.

*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. ↩