Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  08/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hired Big Sky Custom Builders (*******************) of ******** ******* approx 18 mos ago to construct a **** sq ft shop for personal use. A $30,000 deposit was paid initially to order the building kit. Approximately 6 mos later an additional $150,000 was paid for final payment of the building kit & to initiate site preparation as well as payment for necessary sub-contractors. The building was to be finished by early summer 2023. As of August 12, 2023 very little work has been done. After a call to the building manufacturer, I learned that the building was never paid for, so is not even available. Even though I've paid $180,000 in part for a building kit. The contractor has repeatedly lied to me for the past 3 mos, as to why construction is not happening. Obviously I've been being lied to for well over a year.

  Business response

  08/24/2023

  We contracted to complete a new construction building for this customer in March of 2022. The customer requested that construction not begin until he sold his home which eventually happened in September of 2022. We initially bid the contract in July of 2021, and he did not sign the contract until March of 2022. When we bid the contract in July of 2021, we were ready to begin construction immediately. When the contract was signed in March it was made clear to the customer that the situation had changed since July of 2021, and we were now working on other jobs and would complete his job as quickly as we could.
  
  We completed groundwork in the fall of 2022 and the winter precluded us from doing any further work. The customer agreed in the contract to the delays in the construction and caused at least 6 months of delays himself, not including the time from the initial bid to the signing of the contract. We have substantially completed work on the project and have sub-contractors and my own workers ready to proceed to the next phase of construction. The customer is now upset because he planned to sell another property in October of this year and since the building is not complete it has interfered with his plans. This was a fact that was unknown to us at the time of the contract. The customer is now threatening to move forward with a civil action, and it is my position that substantial performance has already begun and his withdrawal from the agreement is a material breach of our contract. He has paid a substantial amount of money, and we are ready to proceed with the next phase.

  Customer response

  08/28/2023

   
  Complaint: 20460626
  
  I am rejecting this response because: More fabrications from the business. The contract, emails and text messages all verify my statements. As stated *******************, Big Sky Custom Builders now has $180,000 of my money for more than a year. A year ago $100,000 was solicited from me to pay for a building kit from Titan Manufacturing. The kit was never paid for. That is fraud. Nothing can be resolved as long as the contractor refuses to admit his lies, and theft from a senior citizen. I just request that my comments remain in a file so that hopefully someone else can be spared what I am being forced to endure.
  ,
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************************

  Business response

  09/13/2023

  My response to the Fraud claim is that the down deposit for the building was paid for. The rest would be paid once the groundwork was completed. The groundwork has been started and we were ready to move to the next phase to get the building. ************ delayed the project until his home could be sold which caused a large amount of the delays (We quoted him In July of 21. We signed the contract in late March of 22. He sold his home in sept of *************************** October of 22).Once his home was sold there was substantial performance by **** under the contract. Weather delayed construction for several months. Work was ongoing in summer of 23. ************ then made other business arrangements which required an October 2023 deadline for the building to be completed. This was not contemplated or communicated at the date of signing. Because of Himmelburgers own arrangements he is now unhappy with the progress of the build. All delays in construction were either contemplated in the contract or caused by ************. This is a clear breach of contract by ************ and the contract has specific remedies for such breach.

  Customer response

  09/20/2023

  The business did not address my complaint, but continues to offer only fabrications and avoid the facts. He obviously has no intent to return the $180,000 he has stolen from me. I am forced to pursue through *************.

  Business response

  09/27/2023

  *************************** agreed to and signed a contract to have a building built. His money was not stolen. He paid a standard deposit to have construction begin. We have spent a considerable amount of money and time working on his project, (including a deposit to the metal building manufacturer) and **** is willing to fulfill the contract and construct the building. The terms of the contract lay out a payment plan and at what point those payments are due. *************************** has not followed the payment plan or made the payment due once the rough in plumbing was installed and *************************** himself has delayed the project for many months. The issue seems to be completion time and our contract makes provisions for delays and *************************** agreed to the terms in the contract. We were in regular communication with *************************** throughout the year. Should *************************** have an issue with the process the contract that we both signed and agreed to has specific terms for dispute resolution, and those terms have not been followed. It is the position of **** that *************************** was of sound mind when he signed the contract, and he is now in breach of the terms of the contract in multiple ways. **** has reached out to their attorneys and have asked them to send a cease and desist letter to *************************** and along with that letter they are advising what if any refund would be in order. It is the position of **** that we will need to file a lawsuit against *************************** for breach, and if it becomes necessary to do so, we will be asking for the full remedies allowed under the laws of *******. In addition our Attorney has reached out to *************************** and he has not responded or replied. 

   

  Business response

  09/27/2023

  The contract states :

   

  Page 1Section III

  Any time lost by reason of changes to the contract or changes in plans by the customer, other acts of the customer,
  weather conditions not reasonably anticipated, or any other condition not within the builders control, shall be added
  to the specified time for completion. Examples of such delays include but not limited to, shipping and supply issues,
  changes in subcontractors schedules, loss of equipment, accidents or illness, ect.
  Sub-contractors will be hired by the General Contractor and scheduling and changes will go through the General
  Contractor.
  

  Page 2 Section V

  If the customer fails to pay the builder within seven days of the date the payment is due, through no fault of the
  builder, the builder may stop work and may keep the job idle until such time as payments that are due to the builder
  are paid. If the builder chooses not to stop work after a payment delay, this is not to be construed as a waiver of his
  rights to stop work if future payments are delayed.
  All attorney fees incurred by the builder to collect sums owed by the buyer shall be paid by the buyer, together
  with interest at the rate of 9.9 %

  Page 3 

  XI. Disputes
  Should any dispute arise relative to the performance of this contract that the parties cannot resolve, the dispute
  shall be referred to a single arbitrator acceptable to the builder and the customer.
  All attorney fees that shall be incurred in the resolution of disputes shall be the responsibility of the party not
  prevailing in the dispute.
  XII. The Governing Law and Assignment
  This contract will be construed, interpreted, and applied according to the law of the ****************. This contract
  shall not be assigned without the written consent of all parties.

   

  These are all lines in the contract that *************************** signed. 

  Customer response

  10/04/2023

   
  Complaint: 20460626
  
  I am rejecting this response because: No progress has been made here and this appears to be a waste of time. When you're dealing with someone who lies with the ease and frequency that most of us take breath, it makes any kind of resolution impossible. Actually my primary intent with this complaint was to make others aware of how ******************* as Big Sky Custom Builders conducts business (if you can call it that). Hopefully someone else may be spared what I continue to endure for the foreseeable future.

  To summarize: ****** has had $180,000 of my money for over a year. The money was to go towards construction of a personal shop for myself, with a total cost of approximately $308,000. Construction was to begin over a year ago(Fall 2022) and be completed March 2023 (as stated in contract). To date, Fall 2023, almost no work has been completed & the BOMBSHELL came in mid August 2023, when I uncovered that my $180,000, was never put towards my project, but diverted for ******** use. In other words, FRAUD. The lies and intentional deceit I've encountered for over a year are too numerous to count. The financial loss I have so far realized due to ******** unethical & illegal is almost $600,000, & increases monthly, destroying my retirement savings. It has become necessary to sell the lot where the shop was to be constructed.

  This is the thanks you receive for placing your trust in someone and giving them your business. Impossible to comprehend. This individual respects no one, least of all those who provide him the ability to live his life while he deprives his customers the same. I guess that's what con artists do, anything to get theirs. Humanity is a complete stranger to them.

  Please save yourself a nightmare & DO NOT even consider hiring ******************* to do anything for you.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************************

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