BBB Complaint: All Seasons Home Remodeling
As of a couple hours ago, this post was going to be very different. Now, it's a summary of my Better Business Bureau complaint, and public.
Primary Nature of your Complaint: Failure to honor a repair estimate or agreement
Tell Us About Your Problem:
When All Seasons Home Remodeling came to repair our closet, I outlined the repairs I wished to have made in clear, simple detail. The repairs were as follows: 1) reflooring the closet floor with new, finished/varnished/smooth floorboards, 2) removing the broken wood closet pole supports, 3) adding a sturdy metal pole with supporting metal flanges, and 4) sealing and covering the hole in the ceiling with something waterproofed and professional looking as it looked up into the house insulation. I reviewed these repairs with Gary Mercer, their lead contractor, at the time and had them confirmed.
When one of his supporting contractors, Barry, came to perform the repair, his impression of the work required was quite different. It was confirmed that he received this list of repairs directly from Gary. He believed the repairs were as follows: 1) covering or "patching" the loose and broken floorboards with half inch unfinished plywood, 2) adding a wooden dowel as a closet pole, supported by metal flanges and brackets, and 3) covering the hole in the ceiling with more plywood without any waterproofing. The removal of the broken wood closet pole supports was not addressed.
Over the course of approximately an hour, as each of these discrepancies were made clear, phone calls were made by Barry (the on-site contractor) to Gary (the lead contractor), and by myself to Joannie (the receptionist/admin/dispatcher -- unsure of her formal title) and my landlord. Before I continue, I would like to make it clear that Barry and Joannie themselves acted with the utmost professionalism; Barry started showing me the provided materials and waited to perform work until he would hear from his boss, and Joannie stayed in contact with me throughout and assisted with much of the communication to Gary, offering her profuse apologies. As of the last set of phone calls, Gary was on his way back with a metal closet pole and finished floorboards, and wanted to talk to me briefly before commencing work to make sure we were all on the same page. Barry left to perform work at another site nearby, indicating that he would likely be back once Gary and I had spoken, indicating that the floorboard and closet pole work was "an easy job" and would only take a few hours.
After waiting an hour for Gary to arrive, I called Joannie to find out his estimated time of arrival. She called him to find out and called me back, stating that Gary had declined the job without informing her or me, effectively stating that it was too much hassle and that he didn't think I would be satisfied with the work "with all the changes I wanted," placing the blame for the difference in work expectations solidly on my shoulders. He also added that he had to pay Barry for an hour of work despite him not doing anything, necessitated by him having to wait to receive clear orders from Gary. Joannie was incredibly apologetic and said that she thought Gary -- who she now confided was her brother -- was not behaving appropriately, stating, "Oh, there are things I want to tell him too, believe me." She offered to make one more phone call to persuade him, which I accepted, but called me back to inform me that his decision was, sadly, final.
Primary Nature of your Complaint: Failure to honor a repair estimate or agreement
Tell Us About Your Problem:
When All Seasons Home Remodeling came to repair our closet, I outlined the repairs I wished to have made in clear, simple detail. The repairs were as follows: 1) reflooring the closet floor with new, finished/varnished/smooth floorboards, 2) removing the broken wood closet pole supports, 3) adding a sturdy metal pole with supporting metal flanges, and 4) sealing and covering the hole in the ceiling with something waterproofed and professional looking as it looked up into the house insulation. I reviewed these repairs with Gary Mercer, their lead contractor, at the time and had them confirmed.
When one of his supporting contractors, Barry, came to perform the repair, his impression of the work required was quite different. It was confirmed that he received this list of repairs directly from Gary. He believed the repairs were as follows: 1) covering or "patching" the loose and broken floorboards with half inch unfinished plywood, 2) adding a wooden dowel as a closet pole, supported by metal flanges and brackets, and 3) covering the hole in the ceiling with more plywood without any waterproofing. The removal of the broken wood closet pole supports was not addressed.
Over the course of approximately an hour, as each of these discrepancies were made clear, phone calls were made by Barry (the on-site contractor) to Gary (the lead contractor), and by myself to Joannie (the receptionist/admin/dispatcher -- unsure of her formal title) and my landlord. Before I continue, I would like to make it clear that Barry and Joannie themselves acted with the utmost professionalism; Barry started showing me the provided materials and waited to perform work until he would hear from his boss, and Joannie stayed in contact with me throughout and assisted with much of the communication to Gary, offering her profuse apologies. As of the last set of phone calls, Gary was on his way back with a metal closet pole and finished floorboards, and wanted to talk to me briefly before commencing work to make sure we were all on the same page. Barry left to perform work at another site nearby, indicating that he would likely be back once Gary and I had spoken, indicating that the floorboard and closet pole work was "an easy job" and would only take a few hours.
After waiting an hour for Gary to arrive, I called Joannie to find out his estimated time of arrival. She called him to find out and called me back, stating that Gary had declined the job without informing her or me, effectively stating that it was too much hassle and that he didn't think I would be satisfied with the work "with all the changes I wanted," placing the blame for the difference in work expectations solidly on my shoulders. He also added that he had to pay Barry for an hour of work despite him not doing anything, necessitated by him having to wait to receive clear orders from Gary. Joannie was incredibly apologetic and said that she thought Gary -- who she now confided was her brother -- was not behaving appropriately, stating, "Oh, there are things I want to tell him too, believe me." She offered to make one more phone call to persuade him, which I accepted, but called me back to inform me that his decision was, sadly, final.