ComplaintsforTrademark Renovations and Realty development group

• Initial Complaint

  05/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On March 9,2022 I signed three contracts to have my home remodeled. One was a garage conversion to a bedroom, another was a complete kitchen remodel and the third was a deck replacement/extension. I paid the company a total of $********* to complete these projects. None of my projects have been 100% completed and the work that has been done is less than satisfactory. The Company advertises that they are fully licensed. I found out towards the end that no permits were ever pulled. When I realized this I started looking into the business further and discovered they are advertising with an expired license that isn't even in their name. I have requested valid license numbers on several occasions from the owner but have yet to receive anything. I also questioned the permit situation and requested they correct this by not only pulling the permits but correcting any issues that may arise upon inspection since there was electrical and hvac work completed as well. All I received were promises that the office would email me everything I needed, this never happened. I'm left with a deck that has nails sticking out under the handrails, a garage conversion I cannot utilize and a kitchen with all the wrong cabinets. The Company left me without a kitchen for over 4 weeks when I was told it would be completed in a week. They left an inch gap between the cabinet and the wall and then shaved two cabinet because it was an inch too long. No hardware was installed the microwave wasn't re-installed and I was left with a non draining sink. The dishwasher that they did reinstall was not installed correctly and had I not been home when I ran it for the first time after the renovation my house would have burned to the ground due to faulty wiring. I now have to replace my dishwasher. The garbage disposal wasn't properly installed and came crashing down. They left several bags of concrete in my back yard and trash in my front yard. Along with random boards in my living room.

  Business response

  06/29/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2022/06/29) */ The customers complaint is a misrepresentation of actual events. Text messages videos and emails sent between the customer and Trademark have been saved as documentation of the true occurrence of events. A detailed account of this project and interaction with the customer has been written utilizing daily logs and job notes. A pre construction walkthrough was conducted on March 9th. In attendance was the customer. Trademark owner, their sales manager, site superintendent and the lead foreman for the primary subcontractor. All met at the customer's home. Together we walked the property and discussed each scope of work individually and each line item from the three separate contracts. All work to be performed and specific materials were discussed in FULL DETAIL. This walkthrough is done at the beginning of each and every job to ensure nobody has questions and guarantee the customer is aware of EXACTLY what would be installed for each scope of work. GARAGE CONVERSION We clearly discussed each line item in the contract. The customer asked about the flooring installation and our need to apply "cement floor leveling products" . I explained padded vapor barrier material would first be taped to the concrete before the laminate flooring was to be installed on the concrete garage slab . Therefore, a leveling product would fill in any pre-existing low spots providing a better finished floor. She asked if we were building the raised floor that had been discussed by her and the sales manager. I showed her the signed contract and specifically told her that the raised floor framing had been removed from the contract due to her budgetary requirements. At that time I did offer to have the framers build her a new wider set of steps or even a small platform down to the floor at no charge. I specified that Adding the raised floor back to the scope of work at this time would constitute a change order, and potentially delay to the project. Furthermore Any requested change order requires a fee due immediately upon request. With the balance of the change order due in full at the time of contract agreement. The customer declined the change order and thanked me for offering the free steps. On Saturday March 19 the customer sent a text message to the sales agent asking why the floor was not being raised (quote from actual message) "is the floor not being raised?? "We talked about it being raised to the current baseboards so that is what i thought was happening"??? Because you mentioned raising it. The sales manager reminded her it was not in the contract and we specifically discussed that question at the walkthrough. Adding the floor would have to be a change order. Trademark owner was never consulted regarding this matter by the customer or sales manager. NO CHANGE ORDER was ever created by Trademark, Unwilling to pay any additional fees to Trademark The customer decided to purchase materials and negotiate directly with the laborers on site. She personally paid a subcontractor who had been hired by trademark to build her a raised floor in the garage. This subcontractor was hired by Trademark to perform a SPECIFIC scope of work at the property. This caused delays in the project schedule, AND loss of revenue for the company. The contract specified adding trim boards to cover the exposed block which now could not be done. By choosing to do this work herself the customer immediately became her own contractor and all liability for permitting, or inspections regarding this specific garage contract became her responsibility. This action was also a direct material breach of contract with Trademark. KITCHEN We discussed all of her new cabinet selections, sizes and layout for installation. Our sales manager spent several hours designing the order to correctly fit the existing kitchen space. The customer did not pay for a custom kitchen design prior to contracting the job and she did not provide her own drawing or request a specific layout. The sales manager interacted directly with the customer while at the cabinet shop. She was un able to take time from work so we utilized an application called "marcopolo" which allows for real time video interaction. This application was used by the sales manager to interact and demonstrate all cabinet options to the customer. Cabinet information was confirmed prior to placing order. In order to stay on budget The customer selected readily available standard sizes from cabinets to go. They offer various styles with sizing in 3" increments. During the walkthrough we all discussed and confirmed the design, measurements, and layout for her kitchen. While discussing cabinets The customer asked if we could possibly re-locate her dishwasher during the renovation. She wanted it moved from one side of the sink to the other side so it would be more "functional" . Relocation of the dishwasher was Vividly discussed during my pre construction walkthrough on 3/9. I took several measurements of the available space and told her that if she really wanted it moved that badly we could make it work. I offered to waive the change order request fee and told her because the sales manager was here with me he could sit at her kitchen table and create the change order "right now" but she would have to accept and pay for the change order today. I explained the process would require us to cut drywall drill through studs and run a longer electrical service wire by placing a junction box inside one of the cabinets. Also the plumbing would have to be altered to accommodate drain and supply lines coming from a different direction. She was not happy about paying for a change order saying that she was already spending way more money than she initially planned and asked why we couldn't "just move it when everything was torn out"? I apologized and very politely explained that we simply would not do the work without a change order. At some point during the project the customer had someone move the dishwasher for her. Trademark was NEVER consulted or notified. This is again a material breach of contract by the customer. Same as with her decision to install a raised floor in the garage. This activity to have the appliance relocated makes the homeowner responsible for any and all liabilities, code violations, penalties etc.... Trademark is not engaged in any wrong doing. attached nis a file of the customers original complaint with individually numbered responses to each of her claims Consumer Response /* (3000, 21, 2022/07/12) */ This company is filled with nothing but lies. A walkthrough was completed however they were over an hour late and I had to get back to work so it was extremely quick majority was spoken in Spanish, which I cannot speak but again I had a meeting I could not miss. Raising the floors was agreed by all sides we would not charge it to the company to save me the additional 20% add on since the quote was supposed to include this. The garbage disposal was installed by me on my old sink and it worked perfectly fine until Trademark came in and changed it out onto the new sink I received. Trademark did install the dishwasher I did not hire a separate company to complete this and my security cameras throughout my house that record 24/7 have a perfect view of the kitchen. It is absolutely insane that trademark is trying to claim zero liability when they are the only ones who were in my house completing this. My sink drained perfectly fine I had something in the garbage disposal and once I cleared that out I had zero issues the only reason I asked about cleaning everything out is because I hate reaching my hand in the disposal and they were supposed to be there the following day to tear the kitchen down. They didn't come until the following week so I went ahead and cleared the disposal while it was still connected. This company is nothing but a joke DO NOT take your business here. Business Response /* (4000, 23, 2022/07/16) */ To whom it may concern. This customer has publicly accused me and my company of being liars. I personally take great offense to such accusations. As such i am going to provide TRUE AND FACTUALLY BASED answers to each of this customers complaints. On Wednesday 3/9 Trademark crew met at the customers house for our initial pre construction meeting. In attendance was: **** ******,(sales director) ***** *****,(Owner, Director of construction) ******* *****,(Superintendent), and ********** *******(Lead Subcontractor. This meeting was scheduled by the Trademark sales manager and customer during a text conversation on March 8. **** offered to meet either wednesday or thursday. Per the customers request the meeting was scheduled for 3/9 @ ***** Wednesday morning. On 3/9, Wednesday morning at **** AM **** sent a text message to the "******** ***** job" group chat. to notify EVERYONE that he was stuck in traffic and running late. At ***** **** ***** responded saying that we also were stuck in traffic and our collective ETA was going to be *****. The customer responded by saying "Alright". We apologized for our delay and We all arrived together at *****. exactly 30 minutes late due to the construction traffic in Clarksville. In the customers complaint she accused our company of "being full of lies" and stated that we arrived "over one hour late" for our initial meeting. ( this is a false accusation by the customer) I take great pride in honest communication with customers. This and all the other false accusations have been addressed with factual and truthful statements in the paragraphs below. THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS ARE FALSE ACCUSATIONS. I HAVE INCLUDED FACTUAL AND TRUTHFUL ANSWERS CUSTOMER "This company is filled with nothing but lies. A walkthrough was completed however they were over an hour late" " and I had to get back to work so it was extremely quick" Trademark We did arrive 30 minutes late due to uncontrollable construction traffic, we notified the customer and provided her with a polite notification and apology CUSTOMER: " majority was spoken in Spanish which I cannot speak but again I had a meeting I could not miss". Trademark :Spanish was utilized by ***** **** and ****. in order to discuss specific details of the scope of work and answer questions from **** the subcontractor. *****, ****, and **** utilized English every time we spoke with the customer. customer: " Raising the floors was agreed by all sides. We would not charge it to the company to save me the additional 20% add on since the quote was supposed to include this." Trademark NO THIS WAS NOT EVER AGREED ON OR DISCUSSED!!! I HAVE TEXT MESSAGES OF THE CUSTOMER ACKNOWLEDGING THE LAMINATE FLOORING WAS TO BE INSTALLED ON THE CONCRETE SLAB Monday 3/7 **** sent a revised proposal for the garage WITHOUT THE RAISED FLOOR OPTION, asking customer to review it. her only response was that she would move the washer and dryer herself to avoid the appliance moving fee. She signed the proposal knowing the raised floor was not going to be installed. The raised floor was not in the contract. The customer avoided a change order and paid the laborers DIRECTLY to install this floor. Customer The garbage disposal was installed by me on my old sink and it worked perfectly fine until Trademark came in and changed it out onto the new sink. Trademark I have text messages from the customer stating the sink was not draining, and the garbage disposal was clogged before we started working. Trademark did install the dishwasher I did not hire a separate company to complete this and my security cameras throughout my house that record 24/7 have a perfect view of the kitchen. TRADEMARK WE were not contracted to re locate the dishwasher to the other side of the sink. The dishwasher was on the left side of the sink when we started the job. The customer had the subcontractor or laborers move the dishwasher to the right side of the sink. This work is not in the contract. the customer did not pay trademark for this re-location of the dishwasher. She KNEW FULL WELL THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A CHANGE ORDER. So she avoided the change order process. It is absolutely insane that trademark is trying to claim zero liability when they are the only ones who were in my house completing this. Mrs. ******** It is very unfortunate to hear these complaints. We took our time during the meeting, and I personally described the scope of work for all 3 contracts one line at a time. Garage contract: I explained THAT RAISING THE FLOOR IN THE GARAGE WOULD BE A CHANGE ORDER. I have text messages acknowledging that the flooring was being laid on top of the concrete. You asked how we planned to conceal the blocks with trim boards. I described in explicit detail how the trim was going to be used to conceal the concrete blocks. We also discussed the need for the floor leveling material to be utilized prior to rolling out the underlayment padding. Kitchen contract: The first question you asked when we were discussing the kitchen scope was if we could possibly re-locate the dishwasher. I told you THAT MOVING THE DISHWASHER from the left side of the sink to the right side of the sink WOULD ALSO BE A CHANGE ORDER. And that it would require additional plumbing and electrical work. **** the Trademark sales manager and estimating staff worked extremely ******* these 3 estimates. SEVERAL revisions were made for each of the three contracts. Many labor and installation techniques were "value engineered" to cut costs in order to meet the customers modest budget. MULTIPLE LABOR ITEMS WERE HEAVILY DISCOUNTED FROM OUR STANDARD INSTALLATION RATES. AND SEVERAL ITEMS WERE EVEN PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE!! Trademark did everything possible to keep all 3 jobs within your budget. Below is a list of all discounted items that you received. " 1. CABINET ALLOWANCE PER THE CONTRACT $***** ACTUAL COST OF CABINETS $******** = DIFFERENCE PAID BY TRADEMARK $****** WE DID NOT CHARGE THE CUSTOMER FOR THIS COST DIFFERENCE 2. CUSTOM COLOR PAINTING OF ALL CABINET DOORS, DRAWERS, AND FACE FRAMES TYPICAL COST FOR THIS TASK IS $****** Trademark gave you this item at no charge 3. MATERIALS AND FABRICATION FOR WATER HEATER STAND, DRIP PAN, PLUMBING CONNECTIONS $*** 4. Trademark gave you this item at no charge 4. VINYL FLOORING INSTALL STANDARD RATE IS $3.25 PER SF. THE CUSTOMER WAS ONLY CHARGED $****SF= $****PER SF DISCOUNT ON FLOORING INSTALL X ***SF = $***** **** OFFERED THIS DISCOUNT TO HELP KEEP THE CUSTOMER ON BUDGET 5. DEMOLITION OF OLD DECK COST SHOULD HAVE BEEN $300 6. Trademark gave you this item at no charge TOTAL DISCOUNTS RECEIVED BY CUSTOMER $2******* 6. LASTLY: ON WEDNESDAY MARCH 23 OUR CONTRACTOR **** WAS IN THE PROCESS OF RE CONNECTING THE WATER HEATER. HE LEFT THE JOB TO GO BUY PLUMBING FITTINGS. WHILE AT THE STORE HE HAD A MAJOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT AND WAS NOT ABLE TO RETURN TO CONNECT THE WATER HEATER AND TURN THE WATER SUPPLY ON. TRADEMARK OWNER LAINE WAS NOTIFIED OF THIS AT **PM HE LEFT FROM A FAMILY DINNER, WENT TO THE HARDWARE STORE, PURCHASED ALL NECESSARY PLUMBING SUPPLIES, AND DROVE 90 MINUTES TO THE CUSTOMERS HOUSE WHERE HE AND A HELPER SPENT 2 HOURS RE-CONNECTING THE WATER HEATER, TURNING ON THE MAIN WATER VALVE AND PRESSURE CHECKED FOR LEAKS. AN AFTER HOURS SERVICE CALL OF THIS NATURE WOULD COST $***-$*** DOLLARS. THE CUSTOMER WAS NEVER CHARGED FOR THIS SERVICE.

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