ComplaintsforTrek Construction, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  06/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This company's bid was too high, so I turned them down. They begged me for a chance to re-bid, and won my business. Then they blamed the low price for their inability to complete work in timely or quality manner. Ignored my calls always. Repeated excuses instead of solutions. ***** sq feet took six months to complete. In the end they charged me their original higher bid price, in spite of the shoddy work and extreme delays. Outlets done without s******* on the electrical cord. ***** built to wrong specs caused shelving to not fit. Cabinets built to wrong specs (12" off all across the room) and cobbled to make it work. Lack of communication with contractors led to countertop holes cut incorrectly and sneeze guard built to wrong specs. Floor plumbing left sticking out of concrete at odd angles and no finish work, with rough concrete in kitchen area hardened and impossible to clean. Kitchen sink fell off with tiny, inadequate screws. We paid their full price and quietly dealt with all the poor workmanship as each thing broke. But finally when the **** system came unattached from the ceiling and caused leakage through the roof into kitchen, damaging light fixtures and ceiling tiles, I had had enough and decided to contacted them for redress. No response. These people have no business claiming honest work nor good communication. Their workmanship is embarrassing and their communication unwilling and avoidant.

  Business response

  06/26/2024

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We sincerely apologize for the issues you experienced. While your feedback is deeply concerning, we would like to address several points to provide clarity on our side: 
  1. Initial Bid and Re-bid: We understand that our initial bid seemed high to the owner at $282,000.00, but it reflected the cost of high-quality materials and labor needed to ensure timely and proper completion. We were asked to lower the bid, it was an effort to meet your budget, but it constrained our ability to deliver the same timeline and standard of work.

  2. Pricing Concerns: The contract price signed by both parties was $192,930.44. The final price was $206,266.51. There were two change orders #1 for $10,000.00 and #2 for $3,336.07. They were documented, the work was completed and paid for by owner with the final payment. This contract is signed and dated by both parties on July 12, 2022. This seems to be a case of buyer's remorse, where the client regrets the decision spending money on our services.
  

  3. Communication Issues: The last time we had any communication from the client was 16 months ago. We completed the project. A thorough punch list was documented by the owner with pictures on December 26, 2023. The client withheld the final payment of $95,050.44 (*****% of original contract) until the entirety of the punch list was completed to their satisfaction. After which, the client released full payment.
  

  We heard from the client for the first time in 16 months. They forwarded an email from the landlord who had noticed a piece of duct work had disconnected on June 21, 2024 at 4:45Pm. We responded to the email within one business day on June 24, 2024 at 1:57PM.Followed up by a phone call to schedule the work to be done the following day within 2 business days. The clients claim of unwilling and avoidant communication is false. Regardless of the clients warranty expiring 4 months ago, we have willingly offered to fix the issue.
  

  4. Quality and Timeliness of Work: All work was completed per our contract in a *******-like manner and in compliance with all building codes, health codes and applicable laws. All work was inspected by the municipality building department, fire department, and health department. All work was performed by individuals duly licensed and authorized by law to perform said work. We provide and uphold a 1-year warranty on all of our work. However, it is impossible to remedy any of the issues mentioned in the complaint when we have not been notified. This makes this complaint unreasonable.
  

  5. Rectification and Resolution: It is troubling to hear that there were no attempts to communicate, seek resolution, express concern, remedy mentioned work and instead a complaint was filed with the BBB in an unprofessional, seemingly vindictive manner with emotion and false claims. This is not a customer complaint but more a customer review. We stand ready and willing to communicate and put our best foot forward in any documented truthful claim. We are also revising our policy to ensure that we check in with clients at the 6-month and 1-year milestones of their project completion to ensure this doesnt happen again.
  

  All of our claims are supported with contracts and written documentation. Please let me know if any of this needs to be provided.Regardless, we value your feedback and deeply regret the inconvenience and frustration caused. Please contact us at your earliest convenience so we can address these issues promptly.

  Customer response

  06/27/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this communication is par for my experience with this company. They want to be well thought of, and when theyre brought to account for their mistakes in front of an authority they try to act their best. They just didnt offer me their best during the buildout, and they are now anxious for me to step aside in spite of remaining issues (which are the inadequate water heater and uncleanable surfaces). I am confident that had I not contacted BBB with this issue, they would have refused their help since the warranty period has passed, in spite of the obvious and embarrassing workmanship flaws that caused the **** system to fall off the ceiling. 

  I am going to accept their response and close this issue because I want to not have to interact with them any more. I also have hope that my efforts to air this issue will be helpful to someone like myself.

  Their label of my position as buyers remorse is a wonderfully accurate description of how I feel. I resent having paid full price for (1) cabinetry built a full foot too shallow across the entire span, and cobbled together with backing to compensate which has now become impossible to clean, (2) electrical wiring not even screwed into at least one outlet, hopefully not more, (3) **** ducting attached with only tape and no screws which predictably fell down, (4) floor plumbing zip-tied together and sticking out of rough concrete in the kitchen which is now impossible to clean, and (5) a water heater that shuts itself off multiple times every evening. Some of these issues I knew about when we finished construction but most I did not. I definitely did not know how they would affect my store operations. I resent that all these things took double the contracted timeframe to complete, putting me in a desperate position of missed income and dead rent driving me to accept the work as is in order to open the store for business as soon as possible. I kick myself for not having the courage to fire this company the first time they told me they would not manage their sub-contractors because I wasnt paying them enough. For clarity, I did not ask them to cut down their original bid. I simply went in search of other, more reasonable bids. They are the ones who called me asking for the chance to revise their bid. It was their revised bid that I asked them to cut further down, and they could have refused me. But instead they held that lowered price over my head for the entirety of our construction. I was foolish to not realize that I was getting sub-quality management from them and sub-quality work from their contractors. They cite my full payment and signed punch list as evidence of my satisfaction, when it was only evidence of my desperation to be able to open my delayed, cobbled store and pay my bills.
  

  Everyone who works at my store refers to this company as the gift that keeps on giving, because of the regularity of their workmanship issues popping up. Yes, they have been prompt to come fix any issue that I was willing to risk another frustrating communication experience with them to have them come fix. And they are proud to cite that willingness. What they dont seem to see is that these repair issues are evidence of the low-quality workmanship that they produced for me, and my reticence to contact them a remnant of our frustrating experience working together. I believe a reputable company would have either built things to last, or discounted their services if they were unable to do so. A reputable company would also have not complained about our agreed-upon price nor used it as an excuse to fail to manage sub-contractors in timeliness and quality. 

  I wish I had come into this project with the wisdom I am now gaining in discerning quality companies.  I am hopeful that my expressions can save someone else this buyers remorse. These guys were difficult to contact, defensive and resentful of my requests, and openly unwilling to help with speed or with quality, as I am now discovering. 

  I expect more building issues to come up in the future simply because they have been consistently coming up since our beginning. I hope this BBB interaction helps some poor future buyer to choose more wisely than I did. I do not want to interact with TREK Construction any more, even though I still have issues that they created and I expect to have more. They dont seem to share my vision that a reputable company who was paid every ***** they requested ought to have built something that lasts, that used screws, that is maintainable and cleanable and operates sufficiently for our needs.
  
  This is not a company worth recommending. 
  
  Thank you to BBB for your help.

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

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