ComplaintsforMolinaro Property Services, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  02/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  BBB, I hired Molinaro Property Services to do several landscaping things around my house on January 12, 2023. They gave me an estimate of $4,884.56 and asked for 50% down payment. I gave them $2,400 down. They worked the first day 5.5 hours and never completed any of the projects. The walkway they were completing was unsatisfactory and they used a broken paver, and it was not a good looking job. I immediately let them know I wasn't happy with what they did and they said they would make it right. They came back out the 2nd time and worked for 4 hours and put in a track drain incorrectly with such bad looking concrete. The concrete was only on one side of the drain meaning the drain won't work as intended. Within a couple of days the concrete was completely crumbling and the drain is ruined because you can't use it again. They charged me for that drain that I already paid for. At that point, I didn't want them back to do anymore damage on my property. I let them know what was wrong and that I didn't want them to finish, to send me a bill for work done and refund me the remainder. They made up a new invoice claiming that I owed them $2,400 for 9.5 hours of work and destroying my track drain system (pictures will be uploaded). They actually sent me an additional invoice to pay the rest of the estimate. They do not know what they are doing and no way did I want them back here. I was willing to pay them for the 9.5 hours (they purchased no material) I offered to pay for their truck and trailer. I offered to pay $95 fee for removing debris. I offered to pay them $1,000 which is more than generous considering the cost to me to have to find someone to fix their work. They refuse to refund me any money. I ask you what landscaper charges $2,400 for 9.5 hrs. of work? That's $252.63 an hour. Again, they had no out of pocket expenses other than driving here and purchasing a few (5) square concrete pavers which one was broken in half. I would like some help from BBB and to make sure to warn others of this company. I asked them for a refund of $1,400 which they refuse.

  Business response

  02/09/2023

  We were hired by ******** ********* to complete a few projects around here home. These were all projects that had been started by her son but never finished. We sent her an estimate to complete the work that included a breakdown of estimated labor , 40 hrs at $87 per hour  or $3,480. Material needed that totaled $694.56. Dump fees for $95.00 and equipment charges for $615. The total estimate was for $4884.56 She signed the estimate and sent it back to us. We arrived at her home on 1/20/23 to begin the projects that included installing a track drain in her driveway, digging a trench to redirect a drain pipe off of her house and install steps at her front walkway, pressure wash her paver walkways and patio, apply poly sand, remove debris that was left behind from her sons work and move some soil to her back yard where there was a low spot. She gave us 50% deposit for $2400 which is what we require for all of our jobs. Most of this work is weather driven. We had 3 employees on-site working a total of 5 hours. 5 hours x 3 people is 15 hours of labor. We informed her that we would be back the following Saturday to continue the work we started. On Saturday 1/28/23, 2 employees arrived on-site and began working on the projects. They were there for 4 hours x 2 people, for a total of 8 labor hours. ******** was not home when the people left on Saturday, she was at a funeral. Later that day, she texted me saying she did not like the way the steps looked. I told her np we will get it figured out and she even said that she had an idea that she liked better. I reached back out to her on 1/31/23 via text and let her know that the following week was looking a bit warmer and that we would shoot to come back out then. Later that day she texted back saying that she didn't think we could get it all done that next week and that we should talk in person. I said no problem, we will discuss it all on Monday 2/6/23 in -person as that was the day we were planning on coming back out. On Friday 2/3/23, ******** sent a text upset that the concrete was crumbling around the back side of the track drain and was concerned that the drain was unusable. She then stated that she no longer wanted us to come back out and that she was going to hire someone else to finish the work. She also stated that she believed we lied about our skill set. I sent her an email which I attached. In summary it said that we were not finished with any of the work and that the drain install was temporary as we had to discuss other option because it was not properly dug out by her son. I asked her to reconsider letting us come back out and finish. She declined. I then sent her an invoice for the labor and  material used so far as well as a dump fee for broken concrete that we hauled away, a partial equipment charge and sales tax. When I sent this, I included another email stating again that we were beyond halfway through the projects, 23 hours out of 40 and past the $2400 worth of labor, material etc. This set her off and she began with the threats, etc. She was very unprofessional in her communication, etc. I then decide to comp her $150 for replacing the track drain and $12 for the broken pavers. Thus owing her a refund of  $127.18. She has since slandered us on-line, and continues to send us threatening emails daily. We tried numerous times to finish the work we were scheduled to do, to fix the steps she didn't like, fix the concrete around the drain after we decided on the best route for the pipe to go, etc. She refused. That is all we can do at this point. We have the emails, texts, estimates and invoice to prove that she is not being truthful. 

  Customer response

  02/10/2023

  BBB,
  
  I'm adding a screen shot because I can't get my response to work through your system.  It keeps saying it's too large?
  
  There are too many numerous false responses made by Molinaro Property Services that I'd have to write a dissertation like they did.
  
  They damaged my property (pictures attached) and I want my money back.  If it can't get resolved this way, I will sue them in court.
  
  It wouldn't have been smart for me to have them back to do more damage.  They don't know what they are doing, and shouldn't have told me they did.  I also never agreed to (3) people.  The estimate (attached) says (2) people. It's on them if they showed up with (3) people, they shouldn't try and charge me for that.
  
  The most important thing I want is my complaint posted so it will warn others of this company. I'm aware the BBB can't force a company to do anything.

  Customer response

  02/13/2023

  ****, 
  
  Here is the cost of the items I had purchased and tubing they brought over.  If I'm going to get anything back from them at least I want it to be correct.  They stated the track drain was $150, and that is incorrect it was $198 from ***** (picture below). If I need to search my receipts for it I can do that as well but if you look at the pictures I sent of the track drain in my yard, you can see it matches the ***** screen shot below.  It's metal not plastic.
  
  They also broke a concrete paver at a cost of $12 (verified by them).
  
  They also charged me $140 for a piece of plastic drainage tubing (see below).  This is an example of 10 ft. of this tubing, and I have about 1 ft. of it and they charged me $140?  That is the question mark on my estimate I have sent over.  I've also attached a picture of it in my yard.
  
  They are also charging me for a 3rd person and I only agreed to 2 people (see the estimate).  When 2 people and the owner showed up (which he sat in his truck the whole time), I didn't say anything because that was the 2 people I agreed to.  The 2nd day was the owner Joey and one person.  They need to do their math again on what they should get for labor costs.  The total time here was 9.5 hours.  That we are not in disagreement about but it's 9.5 hrs x $87 per hour (not $87 per person, or double the hours for 2 people) = $826.50 labor.  They need to stick to the signed estimate and not change it now to satisfy keeping my $2,400.00.
  
  As you can see, they owe me a considerable amount of money back of my $2,400.00.  I shouldn't pay them any labor for the shoddy work, but I know you need to negotiate some kind of settlement for me.  

  Business response

  02/13/2023

  BBB,
  Here is our quick response to the last two complaints:
  -********** multiple complaints are inconsistent, inaccurate and contradicting. This is typical of what happens when someone is lying, they can’t keep their stories straight. 
  -******** came to us from our website, thus proving that we are, in fact, skilled enough to complete her projects.

  -We were 23 hours in on an estimated 40 hour project. 

  -******** claims that she let us know immediately on 1/20/23 (day1) that she wasn't happy with the walkway and step when in fact she did not let us know until 1/28/23 (day 2) after we had left for the day. She also had a solution that she wanted us to implement when we were scheduled back out on 2/6/23. 
  -She claims we charged her $140 for tubing, which we did not, we charged her $30 for fittings only. The tubing was placed temporarily as we realized the drain her son installed was not low enough.

  -The ONLY invoice we sent was a breakdown of work done thus far and to show her how her $2400 deposit had been applied.

  -She confused the Estimate (written BEFORE we started the work) with the invoice (AFTER we started the work.

  -Joey was sitting in his truck, locating the best place to pick up all the additional materials needed to complete the project and then left to go and pick them up. 

  -The broken pavers were left behind bc we were scheduled back out on 2/6 and were bringing 2 replacements. 

  -******** is confused about working hours.

  Here is our detailed response to her complaints:
  Complaint on 2/10/23 ******** says that we “don't know what they are doing” but ******** reached out to us directly from our website which clearly showcases our skill set.
  Complaint on 2/13/23:******** told us the cost of the drain pipe was $150 (email sent on 2/6/23) We are happy to pay her the additional $48, even though we do not know if in fact the drain is not re-usable.(it was not damaged as of 1/28/23) The concrete can be broken up and removed. The drain can most likely be re-used without any damage. This is what we explained that we would do in the email sent on 2/6/23 but she refused. ******** is confusing the ESTIMATE, sent on 1/9/23 with the INVOICE, sent on 2/6/23. I have attached both for clarity. The estimate, that ******** agreed to and signed, states “estimated working hours to complete project with 2 people''. It also says Quantity or Hours at 40. Ultimately, the goal is to finish all the work in 40 working hours whether its with 2 people, 3 people or 5 people. Staffing can change quite a bit in this industry.
   Again, this is an estimate, and at the time it was written, we only had 2 laborers available. Ultimately, she agreed to 40 hrs at $87 per hour. Labor is calculated as per person, per hour. Day 1, 3 people x 5 hrs = 15 labor hours. Day 2, 2 people x 4 hours= 8. 23 total hours worked at $87 per hour. On the Estimate that I attached, I have underlined and circled key verbiage for clarity. Not all projects go perfectly, especially when you are dealing with the elements, but we were more than willing to fix and complete these projects to ********** satisfaction with no additional charge! (see emails attached in original response)

  We have provided more than enough factual information to show that we are not being dishonest with ******** and that we have tried our best to be fair and respectful with her. She is not showing us the same and continues to slander not only our business, but me personally on public forums. 

  We will only refund ******** $169.17 for the unbroken track drain and the 2 broken pavers. 

  
  

  Customer response

  02/16/2023

  ****, 
  
  I have received and read the 2nd response from Molinaro.  This is not acceptable to me for these reasons:
  
  1-I never agreed to pay (3) people, only 2 people and you can't change that when you show up for the job.  So the math for hours worked is not correct.  According to the estimate (I have emailed), it clearly states 2 people - 40 hours (not per person) - times $87 per hour (not per person) = $3,480.00.  It's on the estimate as such; now they are coming back with no, it's 3 people - hours worked times 3 @ $87 per hour.  That's not what the estimate has on it or it would show 3 people - 40 hours x 3 - times $87 per hour = $10,440.00.  BBB, please let me know if you don't have the estimate.
  
  2-They NEVER dug any trenches in my yard.  They dug down a few inches in one area and hooked into an already existing drainage tube that goes out to the street.  The drainage tube was already there with sod and grass growing over top of it.  It's a lie that they dug a trench.  I'm not confused about any of this other than the cost of the track drain I purchased....I didn't know it was $198 until I looked.
  
  3- Immediately upon returning home from a funeral on their 2nd day here, I saw their work and contacted them that I was not happy with it.  Two days later when the concrete started crumbling is when I knew I would never have them back here. Now, they claim it was just temporary...who pours concrete for temporary work and then offers to 'chew' it out and redo it?  They used MY concrete bags and I still haven't mentioned the loss of bags of concrete (too many other more important problems).  They did leave broken concrete pavers the 1st day they were here and I thought that was pretty sloppy work.
  
  4- They didn't purchase any products to use here except a couple concrete pavers (which they broke) and a concrete block.  All the other material was provided by me.
  
  5- I really dislike being called a liar, confused, contradicting, inconsistent, inaccurate by this company that scammed me out of my money.  Also, claiming slander which means telling something that is false.  There is nothing false about what I have written; it's what happens when you scam someone.  People warn others.  If you want a good reputation, you have to be honest about what you can and cannot do, do a good job, and if the customer wants you to stop working and get a refund, that's what you should do...not make up another estimate and try to prove they owe you that money because you worked for it.  I'm out a lot of money, not only what I paid them, but I have to pay someone else to fix what they did.  
  
  6-Their offer of $169.17 is unacceptable.  That doesn't even cover the $198 for the track drain.  That doesn't cover the concrete bags they wasted.  That doesn't cover the concrete paver they broke. That doesn't cover me having to pay someone else. That doesn't cover unused money they never worked for.  I offered to pay these people $1,000 for what they did and to refund me $1,400 and they refused.  That is my final offer before this goes to court where I will ask for all of it back.  BBB, I hope you can work with this company to come to a resolution but I have my doubts.  They would have sent me some money by now which they haven't.  They've shown no good will offer; only slams upon my character here and online.
  
  I've attached a copy of the email after I told them not to come back and the final bill they sent me.  I already paid them $2,400?  Was this to try and scam me out of more money? It doesn't even show the $2,400 I already paid.  Of course it was...why would they send it unless they thought they could scam me some more.
  

  Business response

  02/21/2023

  The estimate we did for ******** for all the work needed to be done was for a total of $4884.56. (Pre tax) The hours estimated for all the work that needed to be done was 40. 
  We put in 23 out of 40 hours and collected $2400 as a deposit. We did more than half the work, we collected half of the money. 
  ******** can pay for the remaining work with the remaining money that she had planned to pay us for all 40 hrs. or $2484.56.

  
  The issue that ******** had with the concrete was that it started crumbling. We informed her that because it got to cold that night, the top layer did crumble but that we would fix it for no additional charges. We tried to rectify the situation multiple times! That is all we can do. It was her decision to not have us return. She says thats because “ we don't know what we are doing” but that is simply false. 
  She claims we only worked 9 hours which would mean that she would also miscalculate the final invoice if thats how she was doing the math. Meaning, she would have thought that we could have finished all of the work in18-20 hour. (keeping with the pace that half the work could have been done in only 9 hours) This in turn would mean that she could have tried to short us approximately 20 hrs. 

  
  The $2400 was applied to her invoice that she requested for the work that we had done. We never tried to double charge her. 

  
  We are still willing to pay her back $169.17 plus an additional $20 for the three bags of concrete. That is a total refund of $189.17.

  
  We have done everything that we could have possibly done at this point. We have shared all of the communication, estimates and invoices, etc. to back it up. 
  We genuinely wanted to make her happy. I wrote her emails trying to do so as well as a few text messages. Most jobs do not go perfectly in this industry and we tried to work with her to complete the projects to her satisfaction. 

  
  We do not take these kinds of accusations and claims lightly. We know that not only the work, but the relationships we build with our customers make us successful. We have never had this happen with anyone else we have ever worked with. 
  
  
  

  Customer response

  02/27/2023

  I have reviewed the third response from Molinaro Property Services, and again, I reject their claims as untrue and dishonest.
  
  1.  I never agreed to pay (3) people and this has never been addressed.  It says (2) people on the proposal that I agreed to.
  2.  They completely improperly installed my track drain, thereby, ruining it and it cost $198.  That has never been addressed.  They have refused to refund me even the $198 I paid for the drain.  
  3.  They misrepresented their skills just to get my money and didn't care about the damage they did.  The rain now runs underneath my concrete driveway which will eventually cave in my driveway if I don't get it fixed.  I would never have been able to drive over the track drain because they didn't put concrete underneath it, and admitted they don't know that you have to do this.  You can go on ******* and watch how to install a track drain in front of a garage and they didn't even bother to do that.
  4.  I would never allow them back on my property to do more damage. They left me with a mess, therefore, they don't deserve to get paid for shoddy work and damage caused.
  
  I will save the estimated proof, pictures, and their own words for the judge.

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