ComplaintsforThe Carpenters Hand

• Initial Complaint

  08/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  We hired the Carpenters Hand to remodel the master bathroom in our house. They started the job on 05/24/2022 and told us it would finished within 3 weeks. We were out of town for 3 weeks, when we returned the bathroom was unfinished and is still unfinished. The work that had been done was subpar. We raised the issue of poor workmanship several times and were assured several times that the work would be corrected. We gave them a deadline of August 5th, they left the bathroom unfinished and in terrible shape. We have now hired a new contractor to fix the issues at a cost of $6000.00. We have requested a refund from the Carpenters Hand in the amount of $3592.08, which is half of what we have paid them. They have refused this request. I have uploaded picture to show the state the bathroom was left in. Also there was water running inside the walls of the shower they installed.

  Business response

  08/17/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/08/12) */ We were indeed hired by Mr. ******* to renovate his master bathroom shower and relocate his toilet. We gave him a verbal time frame of 3 weeks based off of the Initial workload. He added a few things to our addenda Which created a larger timeframe. In the process we ran into a couple of issues but constantly keep communication. One of our employees Representative us horribly in the finish of his shower. So we offered to remove the tile and redo it he was on board with that. We spent two weeks on removing tile and replacing it also water ceiling the membrane of the shower he Midway decided to give us a deadline that was unreachable. We proceeded to reach the deadline but were unable to complete the project. However we were able to complete the other items at task which include new granite countertops painting the entire bathroom installing cabinet above toilet repainting master closet laying carpet inside his master bedroom and master closet new fixtures sinks and adjustments to Doors and re glazing tub. We have received his amount desired but unfortunately he still owes us a remaining amount of $3,105.09 for work completed. We removed the total amount for master shower and have added an additional $800 for demolition of shower and inspection of water plus tax rate. This is a total refund of 4,464.63 after deducting the 3,105.09 for work completed giving him a refund of 1,359.54. We have since mailed out his check to Mr. *******. We are not satisfied or pleased with the way things turned out so we feel Like a refund for the shower would suffice. Not mention we spent over 2,300.00 on doing the shower over the second time. The Carpenters Hand has been in business for 12 years now and has not had one complaint like this. We pride ourselves on customer satisfaction even if it means taking a loss the circumstance didn't allow us to do what was right by completing the shower Mr. ******* was very stern and dismissive to our efforts. He would repeatedly message me late hours of the evening with reminders and threats of suing me and locking his doors during the last two weeks of this project. Due to the pressure out Tile Guy developed anxiety issues during this hardship causing in him to fall out on the last day from the over bearing weight of completion which attracted EMS to our job site at Mr. *******'s home. I to have photos of this job at its last end with a fully complete bathroom in an unfinished shower which by the way only needed to be grouted. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/08/16) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The experience we have had with The Carpenters Hand is nothing short of a nightmare. We were given a 3-week time frame, a few things were added to the job, and we expected a longer time frame, but not 3 months. We were in Maryland on vacation during the three weeks the bathroom was to be remodeled. Even with the add-ons we were assured that it would be done or almost done when we got back. To our surprise when we returned, and the bathroom was nowhere near done. We did not expect that our house would be upside down for 3 months, which is unreasonable, therefore a deadline was given. We feel that we were more than patient with the company and the poor workmanship that was displayed throughout the entire job. We would tell them about things that looked bad and were done incorrectly and they would assure us that these things would get fixed, but the fixing of their own mistakes keep dragging on and on and nothing ever got fixed correctly. Communication was anything but constant, there would be several days in a row with no work being done and no communication. This is another reason a deadline was given. The deadline was more than reasonable considering that a 3-to-5-week job was now in month number 3. The first time the shower was complete the tile work was so bad that even the owner of the Carpenters Hand said it was terrible, this goes for the painting as well. The owner of the Carpenters Hand said the shower work was unacceptable. Reglazing the tub was done because they broke some tile around the tub (that was not part of the remodel), tile that is no longer available. They used a tile with a different texture to fix the area that they broke and then reglazed the tile so it would all match. The tile work done here to fix what they broke was worse than the shower, the tile is uneven and looks terrible. We have hired a new contactor to remove the shower and redo it as well as redoing the tile work around the tub that was left in an awful state. The new contractor said he had never seen tile work as bad as our bathroom was. He removed the shower and started fresh, while he was removing the terrible work done by the Carpenters hand, he discovered the shower was leaking into the wall and the bench that had been built in the shower by the Carpenters Hand was full of trash. The original light fixture in the shower was not removed and they just covered it up and left the light bulb and wires hanging down. We have pictures of these as well. We are asking for a refund of half of what we have paid because we feel that it is fair considering the shower was never finished to a usable state. To say that the shower only needed to be grouted to finish this job is laughable, nothing could be further from the truth. The tile was still uneven and there were pieces that protruded out further than the rest, there were missing tiles, the shower leaked, the shower didn't drain. The slope created by the shower pan was holding water in the corner causing rust. The tile work around the tub was still uneven and mismatched. The grout on the tile floor has gaps in it and was never fixed. The new granite countertop is the only work that looks good and was complete. Originally the countertop was not part of the remodel, they were only going to replace the sink, but they could not find sinks to fit the original countertop. They were the ones who said it would be easier to replace the countertop, which we agreed to the additional cost of. We were told that the granite countertop was an extra piece that was laying around their shop that just needed to be cut to fit our countertop. They broke our original back splash and had to replace it; this should not be an additional cost to us. The reglazing of the tile around the tub was necessary to fix tile that they broke and should not be an additional cost to us. Demolition of the first shower installed should not be an additional cost to us. Asking for a refund of half is more than reasonable considering the cost to repair what the Carpenters Hand left is more than $6000.00. Due to the stress this has put on us, I am having medical issue as well. If we can not resolve this we are prepared to file a lawsuit. Thanks ***** ******* Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/08/17) */ We pride ourselves in the long standing relationships with many people here in the Lubbock Community & surrounding towns so the last thing we wanted was to upset Mr ******* in this project. We wanted to make this right and understood the frustration with the set backs that's why we asked for more time but it was not granted. We did admit that our employee represented us very poorly in the shower job and this is why we let him go and hired someone new come in to start the repairs that we were unable to complete. Communication was given by text and phone calls by The Carpenters Hand so to say there was lack of communication that is not true. To say their house was upside down was not true, we were only in one room. Garage door lead us straight to the master into the bathroom and that is where they stayed. The times myself or staff walked the job with the customer to go over his project so we could come to a mutual agreement of what needed to be completed, we would do just that and then get started on what was agreed. Then in the evening hours we would get texts stating the things that were not an issue when we walked or him repeating what we already was discussed but in a more threatening tone. So once again on one of last messages I repeated everything already discussed previously to make sure we were clear on what all needed to be done so that we could try make this right. The things to complete were the tile in shower, paint touch ups, adjust a door, install backsplash (which we did not break the old one, we offered to match with new granite, which we did at no charge the customer for this), put up modify upper cabinet that we painted and wanted the partition wall where tile was broken redone. We advised him that we could get this all done but not in the hard deadline he was giving us. So we did not complete the shower tile or get to fix the partition wall. Regarding the tile that was broken on partition wall during demo unfortunately was an older tile and none of our tile vendors could find it for us. So we offered to replace it with another tile not the same tile and then come back and reglaze the tile to make match as best as possible. Customer agreed to this & we did not charge. Regarding the granite we do not have our granite just "laying around our shop", this is granite that our company buys extra for other jobs but do not the full slab so are able to resale the remaining at a cheaper rate for smaller areas such as vanity's. We did not add additional cost to their invoice for the following: Back splash, demolition for the first shower or reglazing of the tub tile. In the invoice description we only had "Paint bathroom walls" they later added the master closet at an additional cost but we painted the vanity cabinet & Upjohn at no additional cost. In fact as stated in the first response we did complete all other work (Tape, Bed & Texture, paint walls/millwork/added closet, tile on bathroom floor, shoe mold, granite, installation of new P-Traps, sinks, fixtures, replacing old water heater with new water heater, haul off, new exhaust, move lighting, move over toilet 5', installing new toilet, etc. We felt after all the work that was completed the refund that was given was correct. We understand this was not the outcome either parties wanted.

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