ComplaintsforAll Star Repairs

• Initial Complaint

  08/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My complaint involves ALL STAR REPAIRS (Joseph *******) who is doing construction and remodel work in our community (City of El Lago, Tx). I hired him because he was doing a job at a neighbor home and supposedly vetted by ******** Construction (who always does great work). We agreed on price with two-year labor and materials (he supplied) warranty to reseal a solarium glass sunroom. While stripping the old caulk, his employee (son - Chris) broke an expensive curved glass window on the sunroom and lied about it. Mr. ******* promised to replace it and I took his word. The next day Mr. ******* arrived and said he couldn’t continue without half the money up front. Sunroom caulk was already stripped and I needed it finished. I told him I would not give him half, but agreed to a partial payment to help pay for materials. It took another week, but he finally came back and finished caulking. Sadly, I now have more leaks than prior to his doing the job. I called him to come back and over a week later he returned and put some more caulk on the window edges. The next rain – it still leaked. I’ve called several times about the leaks and broken window, and continually get promises that they are going to reseal it and have ordered the replacement glass. Several times when they were supposed to be here, but were “no show”. Finally (after a month), I got them to return this week. He said he was going to reseal it with a different material and would be back the next day. Also said the replacement glass was on order. After two more days of “no-shows”. Mr. ******* and his son finally show up and he said he won’t do anymore work unless I pay him additional money. He said he was losing money having to pay for the broken window, and wanted more money than what we agreed because he was having to redo the sealant. We discussed our written agreement and the warranty, and that he gave is word to correct the job and replace the broken glass. They just walked off.

  Business response

  09/28/2022

  All Star Repairs
  
  This customer complaint comes with a few mistakes, firstly we highly recommended the customer use silicone sealant as we have used 100% of past jobs and had no issues as well as his blueprints of original construction stating silicone is used originally, however the customer refused even after us showing up the first time with silicone he insisted we use a Polyurethane based sealant by the name of Tremco Vulkem 116 because "that is what the last contractor used". We agreed upon his wishes because he was very persistent but were very clear we had no experience using said sealant and would warranty the work but not the product as it is not ours. The cover was completely stripped and resealed however the product being polyurethane based over the next few days with temperatures over 90 degrees the sealant began to shrink where it was getting direct sunlight throughout the day and even after more sealant was applied the issue was consistent. The broken glass incident was immediately brought to the customers attention the day it occurred and was not lied about, the over 30 year old curved glass had obvious distortion and when old sealant was removed a crack formed from movement. The customer noted the damage and we immediately got to work searching for a replacement and offered to pay for it directly or have our insurance handle the process. Curved solar glass is not a get it the next day type of product and did require out of state manufacturing from a large company who deals with the product. Upon return to reseal the cover for the final time the customer agreed that silicone would be worth using but refused to pay for at least the new product even though the product he required All Star Repairs to use failed, at this point the customer began to raise his voice and get hostile using derogatory terms even stating we don't have the ( inappropriate slur) to go against him. Using our best judgement we decided to leave the premises. We have many customers in the neighborhood or El Lago who are extremely happy with our work on very large remodels and small projects in their homes, unfortunately this customer never seemed happy from the start of the project and insisted he could do a better job, we offered resolutions however the were denied, there is no refund to provide because our company gained no profit or compensation from this job besides one initial payment to cover the cost of the Tremco Vulkem 116 initially used.
  

  
  

  Customer response

  10/05/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  
  
  [Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]

  It is a shame that Mr. *******' memory is failing - although it has been severl months since he entered into a contract to do a job.   When first bidding on the sealing job on the sunroom - I questioned him on the sealant he would use. In discussions - he asked what the previous contractor used that had lasted "six years".  I showed him a tube of Tremco Vulkem 116 (which he kept) and he said that was quality sealant that he would use that.  I told him it was expensive and he chose to use that product.  We entered into a contract which provided for the use of the Tremco Vulkem 116 and he provided a two year materials and labor warranty.  Is is reasonable or prudent that a contractor would sign a contract for that type of warranty if they had been "forced" to use a product by the consumer. I don't think so!

  Mr. ******* is making excuses for his poor quality workmantship.  He chosed to  use the product and even ordered it on his own.  Additionally, he does not address his liability for the damage/breakage of glass on the sunroom which will cost about $2500 to replace.  A legal action is forthcoming for damages on this issue.  Also, he was given $200 upfront for which he owes a refund for failing to uphold his written warranty of "two years labor and materials."  I had about three-four leaks in sunroom prior to his "efforts" and afterwards had about eight leaks.   A new contractor was brought in who found that there were several areas where insufficient caulk was used to seal the window frames.  Note; previous contractor used 15 tubes of caulk - whereas Mr. ******* only used about nine tubes of caulk for entire structure.  His skimping on the caulk did not cover and seal the the framed unit.  I have spoken with two other members of the community that have refused to consider his work for their home due to his reputation of poor workmanship and overcharging.

  
  
  Regards,
  
  
   

  
  

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