ComplaintsforPhoenix Construction Group, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  06/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We worked with Phoenix Construction Group to build our home in ************. Throughout the process there were several issues with the home including but not limited to: garage flooding due to poor grading, kitchen cabinets installed warped and cabinet contractor of PCG is now out of business, Owner's shower and toilet drains needed to be snaked due to construction debris blocking drainage, hot water tank recirculating line for the home not correctly installed. We requested an interior *****-Door be installed in the bottom level of the home. Twice the door was installed with the lock of the door on the incorrect side of the door. I ordered the door through the same manufacturer used by PCG and it was done correctly the third time after I thoroughly explained the request to the manufacturer. I have paid approximately $5,000 out of pocket to fix these and others issues. Phoenix Construction Group owner, *****************, has refused my calls and when I visited their home office his wife asked me to leave the premises or she would call the police. I am seeking recompense for the money I have paid in lieu of ***** fixing these issues. Since PCG has received our final check for the construction loan for the house they have not completed the work we had contracted. We ask that they reimburse the amount paid out of pocket and apologize for the inconvenience they have caused us.The new address for this business is *********************************************************************

  Business response

  07/05/2023

  Phoenix Construction Group is in receipt of your letter dated 6/26/2023 in reference to complaint # ********.  This complaint was posted ** ****** ******* ******* ** *** **** ***** ****** ****** ****** ** *****.  Phoenix will be happy to address Mrs. *******’s complaints individually for the purpose of clarity. In addition, Phoenix will be providing documentation to support our position that we addressed all of Mrs. *******’s issues and tried to reach a level of satisfaction with her.
  
  Garage Flooding Due to Poor Grading
  Phoenix informed the *******s at the preconstruction walkthrough that their lot was exceptionally wet.  The water was at the crest of the lot which tells us that there is underground water present.  The *******s did not seem concerned with the water on site. (see exhibit A-1 and A-2)
  Phoenix did not have any water in the garage during the entire construction process.
  The Architectural Review Committee (ARC) sets the required elevations of the house and garage (See notes highlighted in yellow on exhibit A-3). 
  The ARC requires the builder to submit a Landscape plan for approval.  (see notes highlighted in orange on exhibit A-3)
  Phoenix installed the drainage plan as approved by the ARC utilizing ***** * ******** as the drainage installer and landscaper. 
  After the drain was installed, water started to come up through the control joints in the garage floor and along the cold joint of the stem wall.
  ***** * ******** was called back by Phoenix. ***** * ******** removed the plantings and mulch and excavated along the side of the garage down to the footing.  Once excavated, ***** * ******** applied foundation waterproofing and stone to eliminate the hydro pressure being caused by ground water.
  At the next storm, Mrs. ******* texted me on a Sunday evening at 8:34pm asking me to come over.  It was a Sunday evening and I cannot be in the neighborhood on a Sunday or after 6:00pm.  Mrs. ******* immediately perceived that as we don’t care. (see exhibit A-4)
  The drainage system and waterproofing installed by ***** * ******** was not stopping the ground water from seeping up through the control joints or at the base of the stem wall.  I contacted ***** * ******** who stated he would not go back and complete anymore work at the ******* residence based on how Mrs. ******* spoke to him.
  Phoenix hired ****** ***** Landscaping who came in and removed the drainage system installed by ***** * ********, regraded the yard, moved the irrigation, upsized the drain pipe, installed additional rock around French drain, added yard boxes and replaced the sod at the cost of $13,333.90 paid by Phoenix. (see exhibit A-5)
  At the next storm, minimal water was seeping in at the cold joint where the stem wall meets the slab.
  Phoenix conferred with Guaranteed Supply who recommended a two part epoxy be installed along the cold joint.  Phoenix purchased 7/12/22) and had the epoxy shipped in from Arizonia.  Once the epoxy arrived, Phoenix utilized four employees including myself to prepare and install the epoxy cant strip along the cold joint. (see exhibit A-6) Cost to Phoenix $188.33 plus labor of 4 people for the day
  We informed the *******s that based on the waterproofing, new drainage system, epoxy floor coating and epoxy cant strip application that the *******s should not have any more water in their garage.  But, if they do to contact Phoenix immediately. 
  Items to note from complaint:
  Pictures submitted by the *******s were from July 10, 2022 prior to ****** ***** redoing the drainage and Phoenix installing the epoxy at the stem wall.  They are not recent pictures.
  The *******s have had a patio installed between the house and the garage and placed the patio higher that the garage stem wall and have pitched the water towards the garage.  This alone is causing additional water towards the garage and they have reduced the permeable surface area of the lot to absorb the rainwater. (see exhibit A-7)
  Heavy rain noted in Phoenix’s Daily log on 1/23/23, no call from the *******s. (see exhibit A-8)
  
  Cabinet Issues
  The *******s are absolutely correct.  The cabinet order and install through Palmetto Building Specialties was a nightmare.  The cabinet brand was ************ who in the past provided a quality product and Palmetto Building Speciaties did the install.  However, on the ******* job Tru Cabinetry started having delays in shipments and parts availability.  But, Phoenix was there to represent the owner in resolving the issues.  (see Exhibit B)
  LOWER KITCHEN
  For the lower kitchen the *******s felt that many of the doors were warped and unable to be cleaned.  Phoenix had Palmetto Building Specialties as well as a representative from ************ at the residence multiple times to address the situation.
  TruCabinety sent a whole new shipment of doors to replace the warped and uncleanable doors. Unfortunately, ************ changed the formula they were using for their white color so they did not match.
  Phoenix went to bat for the customer on a daily basis and sent an original door to be color matched.  The second set of doors came and they did not match either.
  Having experienced two color match failures with ************, Phoenix reached out to ** *** *** ******** to perform an onsite refinishing of all of the cabinet doors, drawer fronts, boxes, frames and trim.  The cost for this service was $4,144.00 paid by Phoenix. (see exhibit B-1)
  Customer was elated and the problem was resolved.
  
  UPPER KITCHEN
  For the upper kitchen the *******s felt that many of the doors were warped and the trim installation was not done to our standards.  Phoenix had Palmetto Building Specialties as well as a representative from ************ at the residence multiple times to address the situation.
  TruCabinety sent a shipment of doors to replace the warped doors, and new trim pieces.
  Unfortunately, the replacement pieces did not match
  Phoenix sent their best three cabinet installers to the ******* residence for 3 days to remove and replace the warped doors and subpar trim work
  Having experienced another color match failure with ************, Phoenix reached out to ** *** *** ******** to perform an onsite refinishing of all of the cabinet doors, drawer fronts, boxes, frames and trim.  The cost for this service was $7,538.00 paid by Phoenix. (see exhibit B-2)
  Customer was elated and the problem was resolved
  
  Owners’ Shower and Toilet Drain Clogged
  The *******s received a closeout binder with subcontractor and vendor names, emails and phone numbers in order to address emergency situations if they arise (see exhibit I). After the *******’s moved in, the upstairs shower drain backed up.  Mrs. ******* never called Phoenix or *** Plumbing to address this issue.  Had Mrs. ******* followed the recommended protocol, Phoenix and *** Plumbing would have immediately responded to address the situation.  If Phoenix and *** were unable to unclog the drain, we utilize a drain cleaning service that responds for us within a short period of time and would have billed us directly.  Because Mrs. ******* failed to follow protocol, we were not given the opportunity to unclog the drain and/or send our drain cleaning service at no cost to the *******s.  I personally asked Mrs. ******* for the bill  from the drain cleaning service she contacted so that I could reimburse her.  Mrs. ******* responded with, “Don’t worry about it.”   So, Phoenix made the effort and was rejected.
  
  Water Heater Recirculating Loop
  The Navian water heaters were absolutely installed correctly by *** Plumbing.  Due to the size of the house the Navian water heaters were set up utilizing the Primary/Secondary configuration which allows one heater to be the primary and the secondary water heater only kicks in when the demand exceeds the capacity of the first unit.  This configuration is utilized in residential applications when there is a low demand for hot water as a means to save energy. (see exhibit C-1)  
  The only issue that ever occurred was the water heater had to be reset due to a power outage which Phoenix went over and showed Mrs. ******* how to reset.  There was never a complaint about hot water until this complaint with the BBB was filed. 
  
  
  Dutch Door
  The *******s requested changing the right hand in-swing door (RHIS) door from the lower kitchen to the laundry room after the original door was installed, trimmed and painted to a Dutch Door (see approved change order, see exhibit D-1) When discussing the Dutch Door, it was agreed upon that in order to save money, Phoenix would convert the existing door to a Dutch Door.  Meaning, the door would continue to be a RHIS door and the Dutch shelf would be on the Laundry Room side (see exhibit D-2), which replicates the true meaning of the Dutch door.  With the shelf on the exterior, the latch that keeps the two door panels together would be on the inside (see exhibit D-3)
  When my employees modified the existing door, it did not come out as expected.  Therefore, Phoenix chose to have a new Dutch Door constructed by *** ******** which is a local door fabrication company.  *** ******** provided a sketch to the *******s for approval (see exhibit D-4 =7 pages of email thread).  Once the *******s approved the drawing, Phoenix ordered the door and installed it. 
  After the installation of the second door, Mrs. ******* accused us of not changing the jamb which we did and said she doesn’t like this door either because she wants glass in the upper half.  I presented two options to the *******s:
  Option 1:  Phoenix would credit them back their change order and they could get someone else to do the door since we could not satisfy them and the new door differs from what they initially approved. This option was rejected by Mr. ******* during a meeting in our conference room.
  Option 2: I would order a new door from Rustica, but the Dutch Door with glass from Rustica will be far more expensive and the *******s would need to pay the difference.  This option was rejected by Mrs. *******. (see exhibit D-5)
  
  Interior Paint
  The *******s  were not happy with the interior paint.  Overall, it was a good paint job, but Mrs. ******* found issues with every wall and piece of trim.  Therefore, Phoenix had a second painter come in and repaint all of the walls and some of the trim until she accepted the paint job.  Phoenix paid the second painter to come in and complete this work as a good faith attempt to make the customer happy.  The paint job was completed by M&E Paint at the cost of $6,000.00. (see exhibit E-1)
  This item was not even listed in her BBB complaint, but I feel it is important to note as another example of Phoenix trying to make the customer happy.
  
  Mrs. *******’s Conduct
  Throughout the build, Mrs. ******* would arrive at our office on Monday mornings before 8:30am without an appointment.  Numerous times, Mrs. ******* would be reminded that Phoenix has Monday Morning Meetings from 7:30am to 10:00am to prepare the staff for the upcoming week.
  Phoenix also requested that Mrs. ******* make appointments if she would like to meet with a certain staff member so that we could make sure they would be available. Mrs. ******* ignored this request.
  On December 30, 2022, I reached out to Mr. ******* and provided 4 dates that we could complete the open items.  If you refer to the email you will see Mr. ******* did not even respond to the 4 dates.  Instead went off on a tangent about the Dutch Door and cabinets.  On January 23, 2023 I received an email stating the 4 dates did not work (this response was after all of the 4 dates given have passed).  An entire month went by and there was no attempt by the *******s to have the open items completed. (see exhibit F-1)
  Restrictions constantly prevented us from completed the open items. (see exhibit F-2)
  On Thursday January 19, 2023, at approximately 10:27am, Mrs. ******* entered our office without an appointment.  The conversation started out very calm and then Mrs. ******* accused Phoenix of not changing out the Dutch door.  I gave Mrs. ******* a tutorial that a standard 8’ door has the hinges equally spaced and if you look at the installed Dutch door it has the hinges split so that the top part of the door has two hinges and the bottom part of the door has two hinges.  At this point, Mrs. ******* went into a tirade and started screaming that we are lying and we didn’t change out the door.  I told her that I will not continue this meeting with her yelling.  Mrs. ******* left.  At 11:40am Mrs. ******* returned to the office and came in screaming and yelling.  The entire office staff came to the front of the office.  Mrs. ******* was told numerous times to leave as we were not going to condone her behavior.  She refused to leave until my employee gave her the ultimatum to leave or to have the police called.  Mrs. *******’s conduct was unprofessional, inappropriate and uncalled for.  After she left, my wife typed up the summation of the morning encounter and emailed it to herself, Georgie Wilson (witnessed entire morning of events due to being the office administrator positioned up front) and me for legal purposes.  After Mrs. *******’s conduct on this day, we have all blocked her from our phones as no one should be treated or spoken to in such a manner. (see exhibit F-3)
  
  Exhibit G
  You will find in exhibit section G multiple examples of:
  Phoenix going above and beyond to rectify the open issues
  Phoenix making attempts to rectify the open issues, but being rejected
  Compliments from Mr. ******* for our efforts to rectify the issues
  Cursing and personal attacks from Mr. *******
  Phoenix responding in a timely manner
  The *******s not responding for weeks
  
  
  Exhibit H
  Exhibit H is a printout of our internal Daily Logs showing what was noted for that particular day, as well as the weather. Included Daily Logs from 9/22/21 to current to show dates of rectifying issues.
  
  Exhibit I
  Exhibit I is a printout of the primary vendors and utility company information that was included in the closeout binder.  The proper protocol is for the owner to contact the aforementioned vendors when a problem arises.  The *******s never followed protocol.
  
  Summary
  Yes, the *******s as well as Phoenix had to endure delays, product availability and a company closing all while trying to build a house during the Covid-19 Pandemic.  No one is to blame for the uncertainty and the hurdles that we all had to overcome.  But, Phoenix Construction Group never stopped trying to make the customer happy and trying to rectify the issues the *******s seemed to have.  However, from a business point of view, Phoenix went above and beyond and redid the following items with the associated costs with no charge to the *******s.
  Removing plants and waterproofing wall: $4,500.00
  Redoing landscape drainage and sod: $13,333.90
  Additional epoxy work at cold joint of stem wall: $188.33 plus $900.00 labor
  In-house labor to redo areas of cabinets: $2,500.00
  Refinishing of lower kitchen: $4,144.00
  Refinishing of upper kitchen: $7,538.00
  Cost of 2nd Dutch Door: $627.64 (Does not include in-house labor to remove and replace door)
  Repainting of entire interior of house: $6,000.00
  Fixing the floor Mrs. ******* damaged trying to hang a picture: No charge
  ADDITIONAL COSTS PAID BY PHOENIX TO DATE: $39,731.87
  
  The only additional costs the *******s have incurred is for the new Dutch Door that they allegedly installed themselves that had glass in it.  A Dutch door that greatly differed from their original request that they approved. Another cost was one sewer snaking that Phoenix tried to reimburse the *******s for but was told, “Don’t worry about it.” The last cost was the restaining of the front door which Phoenix made numerous attempts to schedule but there was always an excuse why the date wouldn’t work.  So in conclusion, the only costs the *******s are entitled to would be a $150.00 sewer cleaning (which they declined) and a $150.00 re-staining fee (which was attempted multiple times, specifically shown in exhibit F-1) for a total of $300.00 which is a far cry from $5,000.00.
  As you can see with the cost that PCG spent on rectifications for the ******* house, PCG far exceeded in trying to satisfy the customer and went above and beyond. PCG continued to rectify open issues long after their one-year warranty. Moreover, PCG absorbed many of the costs to deliver the home that the *******s came to PCG to build. Unfortunately, the Cabinet company went out of business which was beyond PCG’s control. However, PCG did everything possible to resolve the cabinet issues. PCG did make continuous attempts to satisfy the *******s. However, some of the issues that started to arise were due to wear and tear and misuse on the homeowner’s part.
  It got to the point where Mrs. ******* continually failed to respect our protocol and numerous requests for her to make an appointment to discuss concerns. Instead, Mrs. ******* would show up unannounced, often during our Monday meetings which she knew we had. She would start off by saying, “I’m going to be calm and not get upset” and acknowledged she did not want to create a scene. She would begin speaking calmly but soon it escalated to her displaying erratic behavior by yelling and crying. Each time PCG would stop what they were doing to address her unannounced visit and concerns. However, after several incidents like this when Mrs. ******* showed up twice within hours on one day, ******* *** asked her nicely several times to leave the premises. When Mrs. ******* did not leave, Mrs. *** then resorted to telling Mrs. ******* if she did not leave, she would call the police due to Mrs. *******’s exceptionally erratic behavior on that day. Our customers are very much our priority, but so is the safety of our employees.
  
  Thank you,
  
  The initial response included 104 pages of photos, receipts, emails and daily logs which documented all of the aforementioned.  Unfortunately, the BBB portal is unable to upload the PDF packet of exhibits mentioned above which support PCGs efforts to rectify the issues.
  
  
  
  

   

  Customer response

  07/05/2023

   
  
  I am rejecting this response because: in the emails we sent back and forth he would reply multiple time that he needed to get everyone together to make repairs, which we waited for until we had prior commitments, to attend to. the drains in the master bathroom, when we had it snaked out the plumber told us he found construction debris. the cabinets were a problem from the time they installed them, and it took multiple months for them to address the issue  the film on the cabinets, the cabinet company and Pheonix blaming each other. it's funny how *****'s wife claim of my wife shouting and screaming in their office, if I built a house for them and waited for responses and din't get them she'ed be yelling and screaming also. The Plumber he put on the closing sheet was called multiple times to come fix the insta hot under the inlaws kitchen and he never called us back, my wife called him and he said he was busy and would call her back, were still waiting for the call. the tankless hot water heaters, we had a company representative, come to our house and he told us they were not piped in correctly, that is right from the company rep. it took a couple of months after we moved in my wife went to Phoenix construction to get the list of approved contractor that didn't come in our closing package as ***** claims, *******  ( his front office secretary) told my wife that she must have been on vacation and they weren't put in the package.  the man he sent to install ************** was a total hack, and we stopped him from continuing, we reached out to the same company Phoenix bought the first to doors from and we bought and installed the door, the door was ****** dollars more than the solid door Phoenix tried to install, It seam ***** only put in his response everything that was put in "*************" which we can't access now because our house is finished, The water issues in the garage started way before we added the paver patio. our drive way is a good 10 to 12" lower than the 2 houses next to ours, if you raise the driveway you raise the floor in the garage we have a 2 step down into our garage to get to the floor instead of it being level with the door jam, he showed pictures of water being on the property after, but he still put the garage in to low. as far elevations of the house, the by laws of this community state the builder will pick the elevation not the ***** architectural review board). so he picked the wrong elevation not us. We could go back and fourth with the builder, but one thing comes to mind, his own workers (*** and ******) me and my wife that the company got to big to quick and the quality of the product had gone done sine they were building 5 homes a year to 30 homes a year, because his project managers could not get to all the houses in a week, to catch the poor workmanship like they could before.    ***********************

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

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

  Business response

  07/07/2023

   

  PCGs RESPONSE TO *********************** ON 7/5/2023

  July 7, 2023

  Dear *****,

  
  Phoenix Construction Group rejects the ******** rebuttal for the following reasons:

  
  Complaint was filed by a *************************** so a response from a *********************** has no merit

  
  I am rejecting this response because: in the emails we sent back and forth he would reply multiple time that he needed to get everyone together to make repairs, which we waited for until we had prior commitments, to attend to. This response from *********************** does not make sense.  We gave multiple dates within one email of dates that we were available and never got a response back from the ******** until after the dates had passed. **** stated that we waited for them to have prior commitments. It is unreasonable to say we waited to schedule dates when they had prior commitments. How would we know their social calendar?

  
  We acknowledged that the drains had construction debris, its not uncommon that construction debris would be in a drain after the construction of a new house. We offered to reimburse the customer. We were told, Dont Worry about it.

  
  We acknowledged that the cabinets were a problem and we paid to have them fully refinished.  Phoenix had to go through the proper channels to have this addressed by the manufacturer before we could proceed forward with having them refinished by a third party.

  
  "The Plumber he put on the closing sheet was called multiple times to come fix the insta hot under the inlaws kitchen and he never called us back, my wife called him and he said he was busy and would call her back, were still waiting for the call." This is an incorrect statement because the plumber fixed the Instahot within the warranty period.  ******************* reached out to the plumber within the past month regarding the Instahot but it is out of warranty.  The plumber prefers not to work for the ******** based on how ******************* treats and speaks to him.  

  
  Mrs. ******** behavior in our office was erratic and over the top.  We understand she was upset but the screaming, crying and yelling was unacceptable and created an unsafe environment for Phoenixs employees.

  
  the tankless hot water heaters, we had a company representative, come to our house and he told us they were not piped in correctly, that is right from the company rep. ******* as we stated, the piping was not piped incorrectly, so the water heater was installed correctly.

  
  The closeout page is in every binder, so that is an incorrect statement.  If you didnt have the closeout page, how did you allegedly call the plumber multiple times about the insta hot?  In addition, my Office Administrator personally delivered and went over the contents of the binder with ******************* on Saturday, October 16, 2021 at the ********* house.

  
  We acknowledged the first ***** door was done incorrectly and that is why we ordered the second door and I had our most experienced trim ********* install it. A design of the second ***** door was drawn by the vendor to show the ******** for approval. They approved the second ***** door design. Thus, we installed it.  It is not our fault that the ******** didnt like the look of the solid door after it was installed. Please note ************** was not part of teh original contract and was an afterthought at the end of the project.

  
  *********************** is correct when a project is completed, access to ************ is no longer needed by the customer. **** also stated that ********************** only included Daily Logs in the BBB response packet.  That is correct.  ************ is a portal for the builder to enter daily activity that occurs on the job as a means to document progress. 

   

  Phoenix Construction Group acknowledged the deficits with the cabinets and painting and went above and beyond to rectify these issues. 

   

  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. ↩