ComplaintsforThe Exterior Genie, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  03/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 12/14/2023, I signed a contract with The Exterior Genie for exterior and interior repairs to my home located in Columbia, SC after storm damage. The full scope included roofing, siding, gutters and interior repairs approved under insurance claim. Soon after signing, they placed a commercial sign on my property which prompted a neighbor to warn me about their poor reputation based on prior bad experiences. I immediately tried to terminate the contract, but they refused and threatened me with breach of contract. I paid the required deposit, and they proceeded to complete the roofing portion of the work. However, once the roof was installed, they demanded full payment and refused to perform the remaining interior repair work as clearly outlined in the original contract and agreed to before signing. When I sent them a Notice of Claim on March 9 citing their breach for incomplete work, instead of resolving the issue through the agreed resolution process, they engaged in a pattern of harassment and threats, including: - Demanding full payment despite completing only a portion of the job - Threatening improper lien action against my property - Stating they will take me to court and force me to pay their attorneys' fees Their unprofessional conduct, bad faith negotiation tactics, and refusal to finish the work as contracted have been highly distressing. I no longer wish for this company to perform any more work at my home. I am accusing The Exterior Genie of: - Breach of written contract - Failure to perform agreed upon work - Demanding full payment without completing job - Threatening invalid lien action - Harassment and unethical business practices I have documentation of the contract, scope of work, notice of claim, and their harassing communications. I am requesting the BBB's assistance in getting The Exterior Genie to terminate the contract per my wishes and provide restitution for the deposit paid and any damages from their actions.

  

  Business response

  03/25/2024

  Please see the copy of Mr. **** Contract. 

  No where does it say we agreed to do the interior work for one. Seconded We will need to be paid for the roof before we will move forward with any other trades as it states in the contract. Mr. **** is upset because he was served with a lien today and he has ignored us for weeks which is why we decided to move forward with the lien. 

  Mr. **** never answers his phone and refuses to meet in person so he has left us little choice. Our reviews speak for themselves, the ones that get upset are usually do to us having to take legal measures to be paid.  

  Customer response

  03/27/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  - Agreement on Interior Work: Contrary to the statement made by Exterior Genie, there was a clear understanding from the outset that the scope of work included not just the roof repair but also interior repairs. This was not only specified in our contract (The contract explicitly states insurance claim#, which outlines the total repair cost of $10,744.44 including $2063.51 for interior damage) but was verbally reinforced by their salesperson who explicitly stated, "once the roof is complete, we will start planning the inside repair." (See the attached screenshot) This clearly indicates an agreement and understanding that the project included both exterior and interior work.
  
  - Dispute over Payment Terms: It is highly unusual and against common practice for a contractor to demand full payment for one phase of the project (in this case, the roof repair) before commencing work on another phase (interior repairs), especially when such terms were not stipulated in our signed contract. This demand is not only inconsistent with industry standards but also lacks any contractual basis.
  
  - Contractual Payment Schedule and Insurance Claim: The contract explicitly outlines a total project cost of $10,744.44, corroborated by my insurance claim, which allocates $8,680.93 for roof repair and $2,063.51 for interior repairs. The contract does not state that payment must be settled in full before any interior work can begin. Therefore, their demand for full payment as a precondition for starting the interior work has no contractual grounding.
  
  - Communication Issues: The assertion by Exterior Genie that I have been unresponsive is not supported by the facts. I have consistently kept open lines of communication, primarily through text messages, and have no record of missed calls from the company. Attached is a screenshot of text messages exchanged on February 23, which documents an instance where Exterior Genie failed to appear for a scheduled roof repair without prior notification. This incident, which seemed to have been unbeknownst to the owner at the time, illustrates a significant communication breakdown within their organization. This detail is not mentioned to assign blame but to clarify the reality of our communication efforts and to highlight the challenges in scheduling and coordination that have contributed to delays.
  
  - Unjustified Lien: The decision to serve a lien for services not yet rendered is not only unjust but also questions the ETHICAL PRACTICE of Exterior Genie. Serving a lien under these circumstances is a severe and unwarranted action that disregards both the actual progress of the work and the terms of our agreement.
  Sincerely,
  

  

  Business response

  03/27/2024

  Please see the attached text. Please also review your contract once again. 
  

  you agreed to pay your deductible within 7 days of the first trade being completed. I asked about payment you told me no. I have attached his text. 
  

  he ignored all contact attempts and even told him we would be filing a lien if I didn’t get a response. 
  

  I would also like to note he didn’t do this complaint until we filed the lien. 
  

  Please refer to page 1 and  line number 5. About deductible. 
  

  he’s in breach of contract on that one line item alone. 
  

  follow what the contract says. Respond when we reach out and things will go smooth. Our contract is not a suggestion. We have to follow it and Mr. Kazuo is going to be held to those terms also. 

• Initial Complaint

  03/15/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Exterior Genie started a contract for roofing and gutters. They finely started the roofing portion of the job. The work was done and then I was invoiced for $10,000 more than the agreed upon amount. The manager called to get paid for the roof work and became irate and insulting when I told him I would pay for the work when the contract was complete. Yesterday, Exterior Genie sent an estimate to my insurance company that included work not performed. They skipped adding the drip edge to my roof and then are still including it in the estimate. The estimate has grown from $25,000 to $47,000 after the work was completed.

  

  Business response

  03/15/2024

  Mr. ****** is very confused and seems not to understand the agreement he has with us and how insurance works. 

  We didn't Add Drip Edge to his roof because he has a lip on his fascia metal that acts as a drip edge and along the his eves also drip edge would not be able to fit over that lip .  When we install the gutters we would be adding the edge metal at that time. 

  Regardless his insurance had drip edge on there estimate we never requested it to be added to the job. When we Supplement items to the insurance company we include everything they have on there estimate and show on the bottom of our estimate what they are missing and why 

  Per his Contract we need to be paid once the Majority of the Job is complete, The roof is 75% of the job. We are not moving forward until we have been paid for the Roof that is completed. 

  1.3 Payment Schedule: Upon execution of this Agreement, Customer agrees to pay 35% of the total price under this Agreement for roofing and 35% of the
  total price under this Agreement for siding and gutters as a down payment. The balance of the total price, less the reasonable value of any punch list items,
  under this Agreement shall be due upon substantial completion of the work.

  His contract has to do with insurance and additional damages were discovered once we started the job All of which Mr. ****** agreed to in his contract. 

  Please see the comment below that Mr. ****** said about the worked performed and that he would agree to pass those funds on. 

  Thank you for writing and explaining your position. We are much closer to complete agreement that you realize. I really like the roof that was installed on my house. Nice work!!
  Because I signed the certificate of completion, you are able to provide that to **** and they are able to issue the rest of the payment for the roof.
  You have my commitment that every dollar that **** provides me will be passed on to Exterior Genie, once the work you agreed to is complete. That work includes the gutters, leaf guards, and down spouts.

  We had no set Price for Mr. ****** because we deal with his insurance company. If you see the comment above you will see he agrees to pass on funds we get approved for the work we have done. 

  Below is his contract language for the price.  

  The Price: The price is the total insurance proceeds ("Insurance") collected from the insurance policy(s) for the work, including paid overhead & profit and all applicable taxes. The Company will provide the customer and its insurance carrier(s) with a detailed estimate, including all supporting documentation, and in accordance with current insurance industry pricing. 

  No One has been Irate with Mr. ****** we have simply explained the terms of our agreement that he seems not to want to follow. Mr. ****** is the one that has become Irate when he didn't get a response that suited him. 

  We are stand behind our work and our agreements with our customers

   

   

   

   

  Customer response

  03/16/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  Exterior Genie disregards the terms of our agreement and demands payment prior to finishing the work.  Most recently, I agreed to send them the proceeds from my insurance company, once the work is complete.  The very next day, Exterior Genie stated that they would not proceed until they have further negotiated with my insurance for the roofing costs.

  He says, "I noticed they are still Missing Over Head and Profit, Painting of the pipe jacks Starter Strip, Underlayment SQ AMOUNT IS Wrong and the updated price list for March. I have sent them those corrections    Once that has been updated we can move forward." 

  This vendor can't seem to finish negotiating with my insurance.  I have terminated them from doing any further work on the contract because they refuse to finish the work.  The gutters and downspouts will be done by another contractor.  So, Exterior Genie gets what they wanted.  When I receive payment for the roof, they will be paid, exactly as it says in the contract.  

  Now, Exterior Genie refuses to send the completion certificate to my insurance until after they are through negotiating.  The insurance will not pay the latest estimate supplements until they receive the completion certificate.   Still Exterior Genie demands payment from me within 10 days.  

  This company has almost doubled their estimate for completing my roof.  They had opportunity to review the job and complete an estimate prior to starting.  Because they did such a poor job (intentionally ??), they are now negotiating indefinitely.  

  This company is confused and demanding.  I would wish this threatening and harassing treatment on no other customers.  

  One last item.  Exterior Genie has sent me a bill for 8 sheets of decking replaced.  This is inaccurate and it can be proven by taking measurements from within the attic.  The level of dishonesty is intolerable.  

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

  

  Business response

  03/18/2024

  We will enforce our contract in full with Mr. ******, In the event he doesn't let us finish the work we got approved for him then he will be on the hook for those amounts. 

  We took 8 sheet of decking over there that we used. The decking is cut to fit the repair spots. There is also waste to consider. The decking repair is not based off the sq footage. 

  We never told Mr. ****** we wouldn't do the gutters, We told him that we need to be paid Per our contract agreement which says 

  1.3 Payment Schedule: Upon execution of this Agreement, Customer agrees to pay 35% of the total price under this Agreement for roofing and 35% of the
  total price under this Agreement for siding and gutters as a down payment. The balance of the total price, less the reasonable value of any punch list items,
  under this Agreement shall be due upon substantial completion of the work.

  5. The customer agrees to pay it deductible l liability in full, as outlined in its insurance policy(s), to the Company
  within 7 days of the first completed trade.

  To Start with Mr. ****** has not Paid his Deductible nor the full 35% to Start with which he agreed to and he agreed to pay the balance once the Majority of the work is complete. Now if Mr. ****** wants to pay out of pocket while we are waiting for the insurance to approve the other amount then we can move forward but Mr. ****** wants us to complete the work when he has not meet his part of the agreement. 

  I guess the biggest question does Mr. ****** deny he signed the agreement that is stated above?  And if he doesn't deny it then why wont he follow the agreement in order to get his work done? 

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  10/04/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We reached out thru **** **** on 04/28/21 to see about having roof rep*** done. The company sent a guy out named Brian H*** who told us that we were able to file a claim for damage to my mother in law's home because she had damage to her home from hail storm that we had back in May 2020. Started claim process with our insurance company during 05/2021 and told them exactly what Brian said for the claim to be done and it was approved on 05/17. We were hounded for a week from Brian if we were going to have them fix the home. On 06/01, they sent our a rep from their company to have the contract signed. Contract was signed for $7500 and they stated we needed to sign the check the insurance company sent over BEFORE the work could begin. Check was signed, and we didn't hear from the company for MONTHS. Roof work was finally done the week of 08/23. Owner sent harassing texts saying that more money was owed and insurance company refused to pay more money due to fraud after they investigated.

  

  Business response

  10/12/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/10/04) */ To start with we have finished the Job. Second Insurance approved an additional funds for work we performed and the customer told the insurance company not to tell us. They were trying to keep the extra money we got approved for the work we performed. Only person committing Fraud is them. I have reached out to them and they wouldn't answer or cooperate. only reason there complaining now is because I have moved forward with filing a lien and taking them to court. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2021/10/04) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) We never told the insurance company to not speak with anyone at Exterior Genie and the insurance company even said that we never said that, and he was the one who no longer wanted to speak with the company because of the misinformation that was being given. The checks were never held at all. We had a death in the family, and then we caught COVID and had to be quarantined. This is an absolute lie. The insurance company has all the recordings of their interactions and the company admitted to double charging for items per Brian H***. Ebben A**** never came out to do the work. The only work that was done was for the roof. The interior work was never completed at all. The insurance agent has all the recorded calls and he is willing to give over all the info for review. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2021/10/05) */ The only work we invoiced was for the roof. We did not bill you for work we didn't do. And yes you told your adjuster **** not to send us the updated paperwork showing the new approved amount. Just to prove a point as of 10.5.21 we still have not received any updated paperwork from you or your adjuster or from you that we asked for. Per your contract you have 10 days to provide that or the amount we billed the insurance is what you owed. You guys had a ton of excuses not to pay. The adjuster told us that he sent you payment. All you had to do was sign the check and leave it at the front door and give us a copy of the paperwork and there would have been no issues. You signed a contract that you agreed to pass on any approved supplements for work we completed. **** payed you so there is no excuse! And I am glad they recorded the calls cause you will get to hear your adjuster say that he was told by you not to send the approved revised scope of work. You were going to try to keep it would be the only reason for it. And to make a further point you never decided to complain to the BBB until we took legal action against you.

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