Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/05/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 1/6/23 we purchased a newly built home from Ironwood Homes in **************, **. While the home was lovely and all maintenance/warranty work was handled well. We had a problem with the quality of the land clearing that was done on the property. We brought this issue up to Ironwoods realtor but he told us that we could discuss it with the builder during warranty work. So we brought it up to the builder during warranty work but they refused to acknowledge the issue and kept saying the root ***** and cut trees were outside of the land clearing area but in fact the root *****, cut trees, branches, etc., where from the clearing of the land. They just pushed everything they cleared to the back of the property and left it. Our point is that the cost of the home included the clearing of the land. We paid full asking price in cash. Now, if we want to use the back half of our property, we either have to pay someone to clear it at over $1,000+ or we have to clean it up ourselves and as senior citizens, that not always possible. We want Ironwood to bring back their land clearing contractor, **************** at their cost and remove the root ***** and cut trees that they left from the land clearing that was poorly done.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/01/2024

  Good morning! It has been an honor and pleasure to serve the Routzohn family. We built a beautiful new Boxwood home in *************************************************** November of that year. We received passes on all inspections from the county approving of our build in accordance with their strictures and guidelines, including the clearing of the lot. The Routzohn's offer was accepted just a few days later. Nowhere on the contract was there a request for further clearing. They also conducted a home walkthrough in December prior to closing and a subsequent walkthrough repair addendum was drafted, reviewed by both parties, and ratified. Nowhere on the addendum was a request made for tree, *****, or debris clearing. We provide an industry-leading new home warranty through 2-10 Home Warranty to all our buyers. At the year-end ***** the ********** submitted several claims-- included in the list was a request to remove debris, trees, and stumps from their property. 2-10 Home Warranty declined the claim since it exceeds the coverages. *************************** then reached out to me via our communication platform at the time (CoConstruct) to appeal her request. She and I had a cordial conversation where she made her request known, and I courteously informed her that the request could not be honored as it was beyond the bounds of what was contractually agreed or covered by the home warranty. Please see the attached home conversations from CoConstruct for receipt. 

  It is an honor to serve our community by providing beautiful homes. We are thankful for the opportunity we had to do so for the Routzohn and wish them all the best!

  Sincerely,

  *********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/01/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed 

  Mr. Preuts response is the same response he gave us the last time he communicated with us and doesnt resolve the issue.  1) ************** was not involved in the purchase of our home so he has no idea what was said to us.  2) I have a copy of the check list presented to our realtor and in turn sent to ***********************, Ironwoods Realtor.  The root ***** in question were on this list and deleted by ****************, who advised our realtor that this was something to bring up during the walkthrough.  3) We brought it up to **** during our walkthrough and while it was dark outside he wrote it down on his hand as he didnt have any paper with him.  4) We were advised to hold all our non-emergency requests until the final warranty work to be done at year end, which we did and then we brought up the root ball issue again.  5) We have cleaned up the concrete, wood, straw ***** and trees ourselves as evidenced by the 12 trips to the local landfill with over 600lbs of debris in each trip.  We couldnt move the root ***** as they were too big.  6) We expected Ironwood to be a rebuttable builder, it appears that we were wrong in thinking that they would honor their word and work.  7) We wanted the use of our back yard back and hired someone to remove the root ***** for $650, we would like to be reimbursed as we already paid once for the land to be cleared in the purchase price of the house.  8) We looked at five other Ironwood Homes before offering on this home and none of them, including *************************************, located behind us have had root ***** left behind so why this house?  9) If Ironwood wants to be considered a top quality home builder then they need to act like one and take responsibility for the issue instead of hoping we will go away.  10) If Ironwood continues to ignore our request to handle this issue responsibly then our next options could include legal action and public knowledge of the kind of product and service Ironwood provides, which having a BBB presence will do along with social media posts and pictures 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** And *******************************
  
  
  
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/15/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Let me just start by sayingthis was the worst decision Ive Ever made! (buying a Ironwood home) I put 6figures down on my home, Ive only been in my house 6 months (brought it 7 months ago) and its LITERALLY FALLING APART!!!! My basement ceiling collapsed yesterday!! Ive had water issues for weeks now!!! Woke up 2 weeks ago with no water.. my uncle whos a ******* had to come in and somewhat fix the problem. We have 3 showers in our home but only one can be used at a time STILL! Ive also had electrical issues since my very first day of living here! At least four of the outlets picks and chooses when they want to work. My washing machine literally blew up when I plugged it into the laundry outlet! && my microwave JUST became usable last Friday. Ohlet me not forget to mention our land has been failing inspection since I regrettably signed my name on the dotted line! I honestly feel like I made a deal with the devil! I thought I was doing a great thing giving my four children a home to always call theirs. Especially, given my mother busted her **** providing for myself and my four siblings but was never able to give us such a gift! (Hardest working woman I know still!!) THESE PEOPLE CUT EVERY CORNER THEY COULD WITH THESE Ironwood homes humph..more like plastic homes! The company owners should be ashamed of themselves! ***** MOSTLY..based off of his own employees, he could honestly careless what shape these houses are REALLY in. As long as its sold! Pathetic!

  Business Response

  Date: 06/21/2023

  Good morning. I apologize for the slow response. The notice of this claim was received in our SPAM email box and not noticed until late yesterday. In any case, we certainly regret to find ourselves in this situation with a homeowner as it is an honor for us at Ironwood to edify our community and provide beautiful homes that people will love. We do however appreciate the opportunity to clarify and provide our perspective in this apparent dispute. This claim is challenging because we have repeatedly informed the customer, for her sake and ours, to utilize our communication platform, ***********, in order to have a record of all communications. The homeowner has repeatedly refused, citing her network to be too slow. Therefore, unfortunately in this case, all communications with the homeowner have been via phone call or in person. I will respond systematically to the homeowner's claims:

  - "My basement ceiling collapsed yesterday!!": The basement ceiling did not, and has not collapsed. The homeowner called and complained that her ceiling was falling and that cracks and nail pops had appeared in her ceiling. Within two days we dispatched a third-party contractor to investigate. His findings showed that the issue was simply drywall cracks forming due to the house shifting some-- a normal occurrence as houses settle dependent on the soils of a given site. Drywall repairs due to settling is in fact covered by the homeowner's **** Home Warranty-- which we provide-- and we have informed the homeowner as much. 

  - "Ive had water issues for weeks now!!! Woke up 2 weeks ago with no water": The homeowner's issues with water have almost exclusively stemmed from the fact that she has a new well and never had replaced her house's water filter. When the plumber went out to investigate, he found there was 3 inches of sediment accumulated in her water filter. This falls under homeowner responsibility, yet Ironwood replaced the filter for her free of charge and covered the fee to have the plumber investigate. 

  -"Ive also had electrical issues since my very first day of living here! At least four of the outlets picks and chooses when they want to work.": In the homeowner's defense on this issue, the licensed electrician who wired the house did make a couple mistakes that were missed by all the county's inspectors. When we heard from the homeowner, we dispatched the electrician within a day, and he quickly identified the issue and repaired. Since then no further issues have been reported to us. However if there are others, the homeowner has been repeatedly informed that the proper steps are to report any troubles to her **** Home Warranty, and it will be adjudicated.

  - "My washing machine literally blew up when I plugged it into the laundry outlet! && my microwave JUST became usable last Friday.": The homeowner's washing machine was replaced by Ironwood. The homeowner purchased a new machine at over $1,000 and Ironwood sent her a check to compensate. This goes well beyond the builder's responsibility, however, we wanted to go above and beyond in a frustrating situation for the homeowner, believing that our goodwill would be understood and well-received. Regarding her microwave, all kitchen appliances are covered by the manufacturer's warranty and should be pursued accordingly if there are issues.

  - "Ohlet me not forget to mention our land has been failing inspection since I regrettably signed my name on the dotted line!": This is in reference to a normal process by which the county randomly inspects lots for erosion control measures. This basically comes down to whether or not there is sufficient ground coverage (aka grass). The homeowner has a dog kept outside that continues to erode the soils and lead to bad grass coverage. We have attempted to communicate the need to correct the issue otherwise grass will never grow on her lot, but this has not been heeded. 

  - ************ owners should be ashamed of themselves! ***** MOSTLY..based off of his own employees, he could honestly care less what shape these houses are REALLY in.": I am sorry to hear this. I (*****) just spoke with the homeowner on the phone about a week ago and had a great conversation. The homeowner was polite and cordial and said several kind things about our team. She was very appreciative of my call and our working with her to resolve the electrical and water issues she had (see above). She was very appreciative of our paying for her washing machine. I must confess, I am not completely certain how the conversation went from that to her statement above, but I will let the facts speak for themselves as to whether or not Ironwood cares about their product or their customers. 

  In closing, I hope you can see how adequately we've addressed the homeowner's concerns. We have proactively worked with the homeowner, addressing her concerns in an efficient and timely manner. Our company's core values include excellence, integrity, and being solutions-oriented-- in all our engagements with this homeowner we have kept these values at the forefront. Please let us know if you have any questions so we can be of help. Thank you!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/07/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  They built our home as new construction and it was the only home on a private, gravel road with one lane. They are now building 3 more houses on our road. Their trucks are tearing the road up, there are large pot holes causing suspension and alignment issues on our cars and they refuse to fix the road their trucks have damaged. Also it has been over a year and no one will come out for the one year nail pop fixes, etc. We have asked multiple times, as well as our neighbors, for them to fix the road and they will not do anything. The county has come out and advised they have asked the builder to widen and fix the road which to date, nothing has been done and we have been in the house over a year (April 2022). The trucks are too large for the road so they will run over side ********** and leave large pot holes. Ironwood laid one small strip (about 3 feet) on one side of the road and left the potholes on the rest of the road. That gravel maybe lasted a month before it was eroded away and now with all of the construction and large trucks coming in and out, the road is getting undrivable. Please help ** and our neighbors. Thank you!

  Business Response

  Date: 06/14/2023

  Good morning. We regret to find ourselves in this situation with a homeowner as it is an honor for us at Ironwood to edify our community and provide beautiful homes that people will love. We do however appreciate the opportunity to clarify and provide our perspective in this apparent dispute. To be blunt, this complaint comes as a surprise to us. The homeowner's initial two sentences are true-- we have acquired several lots along Best Way (a non-state-maintained road) and have been building new homes in a phased approach. Hers was the first, and at this time we already have one more completed with a few more on the way. I will respond systematically to the rest of the homeowner's claims:

  - "They refuse to fix the road their trucks have damaged": This is simply untrue. We advised the homeowner since there is active construction, there will be ongoing crews accessing sites. As such it would be unwise and imprudent to fix every little pothole along the drive during the active construction of the homes. We had advised the homeowner therefore, that we would address the roadway in finality when construction had been completed, but we would monitor the condition of the road throughout the process. And in fact, as the homeowner does admit, at one point we did patch one severely rutted section. 

  - "Also it has been over a year and no one will come out for the one year nail pop fixes, etc.": This really has nothing to do with Ironwood; it is in reference to the **** Home Warranty that we purchase and provide for every new home buyer. It covers aesthetic defects (drywall, **********) within the first year, system defects (electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc) within the first two years, and structural defects within 10 years. This was clearly communicated to the homeowner. Unfortunately the homeowner in this case never submitted a claim with the warranty within the first year to have her one-time drywall touch-up scheduled and it sounds like **** has at this point declined any new request since that portion of her warranty is expired.

  - "We have asked multiple times, as well as our neighbors, for them to fix the road and they will not do anything": This is an exaggeration at best. The homeowner did reach out once on *********** (our primary communication tool) and complained about the road and we responded to her concerns at that time. To my knowledge, she has not reached out to ** since that one message, neither via phone, email, nor ***********. In addition, we have never received a single communique from any neighbor about this or any related complaint. As for the claim that "we won't do anything", please see my response to the first claim above where I demonstrated we were actively monitoring the site and had indeed done something. 

  - "The county has come out and advised they have asked the builder to widen and fix the road": If the county inspected the road and determined that some action was required by the homebuilder, they certainly never bothered to communicate this to us. We have never once received anything regarding the road from the county. We are proud of our reputable and good-standing relationship with Spotsylvania county officials and would never jeopardize our positive relationship with them.

  - "The road is getting undrivable": Our Project Managers, in-house construction crews, and trades have all been commuting to the active construction sites of the new homes being built further down Best Way, and have not advised ** of any concerns regarding the road being undriveable or even difficult to traverse. When we first heard the complaint from this homeowner, we immediately communicated the concern to the Project Managers and advised that they monitor the situation and inform us if and when there were ever sections of the road that needed to be addressed. In that time, we have not received any requests for patchwork to be done. 
  

  In short, I hope you can see how adequately we've addressed the homeowner's concerns. We proactively worked with the homeowner throughout the first year of her owning the new home, addressing many other unrelated concerns in an efficient and timely manner. Our company's core values include excellence, integrity, and being solutions-oriented-- in all our engagements with this homeowner we have kept these values at the forefront. We also believe in transparency, and as such I have attached the entire message thread from our communications via *********** so you can see the veracity of our response to this complaint. Please let us know if you have any questions so we can be of help. Thank you!