Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired ************************* March 2023. He started the project and billed me every two weeks. I have paid him over $49,500 but he stopped working on the project end of June. I made two payments in July. He has approximately $25,000 of work still to do. I call him and he tells me he is going to get back on the project but will not commit to a date. It has been 11 weeks that he has not come to work on my project beside a few hours on about 5 days during this time period. I have less than 10% of the overall project left to pay him. He said he needs another payment before he will come back. I let him know that I will not pay him anymore since I have paid him for more than what he has left to complete.

  Business response

  11/08/2024

  Mrs. ******* has two (2) brothers who live in different states and who are licensed in ** are general contractors. One or both of them participated in adding a sunroom to her house but would not take on the project I took on of converting her "crawl space" to an ADU/Apartment. My original quote to Ms. ******* was $64K +. She confessed that her budget was $50K and if I would give her a quote that includes what I would for that amount so I did. The quote included the bare basics, i.e., concrete slab with no finished flooring, no paint, no local HVAC units, bare minimum lighting, basic modular bathroom, and, initially, no additional windows.

  After I dug out 27 tons of GA Red ***** poured the concrete foundation, and finished the initial framing, her brothers came to visit and were exuberant with the incredible transformation of the space - to the extend they started giving her all kinds of ideas, including making slight modifications to the floor plan, e.g., moving a wall over six inches and adjusting the size of a closet to accommodate one of their ideas. NOTE: The wall framing was 100% complete so this would be a major change - which would incur additional costs. Mr. ******* agreed to the additional costs so I made the framing changes. That just opened up the flood gates. She then wanted "dual-zone mini-split HVAC units, to add multiple additional windows, and, also, an extravagant bathroom with 5ft floor tiles, fancy bath wall tiles with accent pieces, etc. I went to her again, and told her that 'this stuff is very expensive and is going to shatter you $50K budget'. She agreed to pay for it anyway, so I updated the bill, sent it to her with the next scheduled payment and the new payment amount.

  When the payment date came, Ms. ******* did not make the payment - but I kept working with my crew. Then two more weeks passed and still no payment, and by now I have completed several of the additional work items she requested. After three (3) weeks of past due payment, I asked her why she hasn't made the scheduled payment and reminded her that OUR AGREEMENT FOR ME TO TAKE ON THE PROJECT was that she would have to make sure to make payment on time because I had to "crash" the project to make the initial $50 work which had then increased by about another $10K. She responded that her sister (an attorney) told her that she could withhold 10% of the payment until I finish the work. I then responded to her that we did not agree on that and the contract was not written that way - besides, her bill was more than the 10% she was referring to.

  I sent her an email with the invoice included and she responded by txt that she was not going to pay any more AT ALL! 

  Therefore, me and my crew packed up the tools and departed the premises. I stayed in touch with her for several weeks after that asking her for the payment to resume. She would never agree to pay me so I have not been back.

  One other factor is that the price further increased because she introduced mold into the space with some mold-infested blankets that took over the entire space and became a health hazard that needed to be cleaned up before work could resume. She would not agree to pay for that either.

• Initial Complaint

  08/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I entered into a contract on behalf of our church, ****************** of *********************** Apostolic, with Mr. ************************* on 8/20/2023 to add an addition to our church sanctuary. A deposit $6,190.00 check was given to him to begin the work. He was not performing the work according to the architectural plans and when approached by my husband, project manager, he got into a heated discussion to which my husband asked hom to leave the property until they could meet with the architect. Attempts were made to meet, but ************** made excuses not to meet. Attempts were made to resolve the issue but again ************** did not respond to voice mails, certified mail or emails. I asked for receipts for what he had purchased, but again no response. The Dekalb County ********** tried to serve him notice but was unsuccessful. I want people to know about ****************** dishonesty as a Minister in the church and I want the money he stole from the church. He is in hiding since certified mail is returned the post office box while regular mail to him has not be returned. I have a text trail to show and prove that he has received all of my communications with him. ************** is not fit to be in business nor to be called a Minister.

  Customer response

  08/23/2023

  I tried to submit the trail of text messages but the system did not allow them to go through. Both letters were sent regular and certified mail as well as email sent text. The regular mail was not returned, but both certified mail was returned and not picked up by **************

  Business response

  11/08/2024

  Mrs. ******** complaint is that I would not return to work on her project after her husband, who she appointed as the project manager, kicked me off the project because he did not know how to read and interpret the building plans. Mr. ****** and I were reviewing the trench work, rebar work, form work , and demo work I had already completed and asked if I was going to expand the existing slab/platform. I answered 'no, why do you ask'? He responded, "because that's what's on the plans". I then responded 'the plans don't call for the slab to be expanded beyond where I currently have it dug out'. He then went to get his set of plans so we could review then to conclude the slab expansion matter. NOTE: There were several other people in the general area that were a part of his organization. One of the gentlemen walked up as Mr. ****** and I were reviewing the plans - just as Mr. ****** was pointing to a certain section of the one of the pages of the plan as what he thought was evidence that the plans called for slab expansion.

  Then I took a second page, that had the expanded detail, and laid it beside the page he was referring to - to show him that he needed to refer to the detail for the clear explanation. As I pointed the detail out to him I asked him several questions to ensure that he was understanding what I was telling him and also to confirm that he agreed with what I was saying about the plans. He agreed to everything I was pointing out on plans which then caused a default agreement that I was doing the work "EXACTLY" according to the plans and that he was simply mistaken - no harm no foul. When I asked him did he agree that the work was being done correctly, the gentleman that walked up as we were reviewing the plans responded "um" and walked away. IMMEDIATELY following, Mr. ****** shouted, "well we need to talk with the architect and I WANT YOU OFF THE PROPERTY!!! PACK YOU STUFF AND """GIT"""!!!

  I responded with a very shocked look and asked, 'hey, what was that for'? Then he repeated, "GIT AND DON'T COME BACK ON THIS PROPERTY UNTIL WE TELL YOU TO". Therefore I took good pics of all the work I had done, packed up my tools, equipment, and machinery, and departed.

  Ms. ****** later asked me to come back to resume the job and I told her I would come back only under one of two circumstances: (1) That she replace Mr. ****** as the project manager, or (2) Mr. ****** issue me a written apology with an acknowledgement that I was reading the plans correctly. Neither action was taken, so I did not return. I performed significant work and let the down payment be sufficient to part ways.

  Customer response

  11/14/2024

   
  Complaint: 20501786
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   After reviewing the comments made by Mr. ****** I would like to know why he is now responding after this claim was submitted in August 2023.

  The attempts made by me, on behalf of our church, ****************** of ***** ******* were ignored by Mr. ****** I tried to get Mr. ***** on several occasions to meet, or speak with the architect by zoom, but he refused to do so. This resulted in our actions.  It took another company to come in to correct the footing, which was later approved by the county, because it was done according to the approved plans. We had to pay extra monies for that part of the work to be done.

  In all of this I refuse to accept anything Mr. ***** has to say regarding this case. He ignored the certified mails, the summons from the County, but none of the regular mails were ever returned to us. This shows that he was aware of everything and chose not to respond at that time. Unfortunately, the church is still in need of the monies Mr. ***** took.

  I ask again, why did it take over a year for Mr. ***** to respond to this claim.

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

  Business response

  11/15/2024

  To the consumer and the BBB.

  Everything I said in my response was 100% accurate and true and correct! Rejecting the response is not refuting the response and the complete factual nature of the response! Here a note: I was referred to them by someone that they were good friends with that I had done several large projects for and the work was outstanding.

  The reason I responded so late, is because  I was NOT aware that a complaint had been filed - even though the BBB eventually sent out letters - I did not open them because I only glanced at them and put them aside because I thought they were advertisements. After long hard days of work and the need to get out of filthy clothes, I only paid attention to bills and other mail I was expecting. I have changed that approach in light of this incident.

  Again, the consumer refused to change project managers or issue a written apology for the UNGODLY way I was treated!!! Reminder: I was told to "GIT and don't come back on the property until we tell you to". Therefore, I was not interested in anything else they had to say, I was extremely busy with other projects, and they forfeited their place on my schedule indefinitely.

  The work that I did do merited the amount of the deposit: (1) I used motorized machinery to trench around and 12 inches underneath the entire perimeter of the existing slab, (2) I used motorized machinery to cut out a section of concrete to form a continuous footer, (3) I used heavy electrical machinery to jack-hammer the solid concrete steps away from the slab for a continuous footer, (4) I used a gas powered generator to power several pieces of heavy electrical equipment, (5) I cut away sections of metal/steel railing to prep for the concrete pour, (6) I drilled several dozen holes into the existing slab to install rebar to join the existing slab with the new concrete pour, (7) I bent and installed the 1st section of rebar around the entire slab, and (8) I built the concrete forms around the entire perimeter of the slab. The lumber, the rebar, and all of the equipment - the generator, the trencher, the concrete saw, the **** ******, the steel cutting tool, and the several hand tools - all had to be paid for as well.

  Only recently, about six (6) weeks ago, did I find out about the complaint while working on an "insurance claim" project.

  Lastly, and again I repeat, ALL of my statements are 100% accurate and true and correct! I would like to just move on from this unfortunate incident that was no fault of my own. I reported to work, worked diligently on the project, and performed the tasks I mentioned above until I was very rudely kicked off the project because of a misunderstanding about the architectural plans. The reaction by the consumer to the misunderstanding of the plans was unmerited and shocking. Again, lets just move on. 

  Sincerely,

  mc

*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. ↩