Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  12/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  Hired a contractor to build a screen porch. Paid the deposit and after 5 months find out that the builder is not licensed by the city of ******** to do the type of work need, He refuses to give a full refund, Stating that the contract say no refunds. Which would be fine if he could provide the work that was contracted for, but he cannot fulfill he obligation. He does offer a smaller refund and for me to keep the wood that was delivered. He also offered to build me a deck, which he is able to do. But since I removed my existing deck for this project, that is not an option. He blames the error on me, he asked if I was in ***************, I said yes. I am also in the city of ********, which of course is in ***************. Lots of other points I can make and I 100% documentation. If I have to proceed further i will be suing for loss of use of part of my property and attorney and court fees.

  Business response

  12/18/2024

  Please accept this as RS Custom Designss response to the Better Business Bureau complaint filed by Mr. ***** *** regarding a project he hired RS Custom Design to construct. 
  
  I met with Mr. *** in July 2024 at his property and discussed a project with him regarding building a new deck and installing a screened porch on top of the deck. During this meeting, we talked about project scope, time frame, payment and design. I told Mr. *** that we required a non-refundable deposit of $9500 to move forward. He agreed and I sent him a contract, a copy of which is attached, which also stated the deposit was non-refundable. Mr. *** told me during that initial meeting that his house was in *************** and that that was the permit location, implying that the property was not within ************* limits. In fact, he never so much mentioned to me that the property was in ********* Based on the information he gave me, I accepted the job and moved forward as RS Custom Design is approved to do this work in **************** When I went to submit the permit, it came back as an error stating I needed to move forward with the city of ********* I immediately informed Mr. *** of this, and he acknowledged that he told me in our initial meeting that the property was in *************** and that he was aware of the delays this would cause. He now claims that his property is in ***************, and that any misunderstanding about it being inside ************* limits is RS Custom Designs fault.
  
  While working with the city of ********, I was told to apply for a specific license to get started with the process, which was supposed to be addressed at a meeting in October, which was apparently canceled, and the approval was pushed to November. 
  
  In November I received an email from the city, stating that RS Custom Design was approved to perform this type of work in ******** and to move forward after I received papers in the mail. Once receiving the paperwork, I started that process, which included getting a bond, and that process is still ongoing. Currently, RS Custom Design is approved to build a deck, but it is not yet approved to build the screened porch portion, which I communicated to Mr. **** I have spent time and money on the designs for project, ordered all materials for the job, been onsite where we found structure issues requiring a change order of an additional $2,000 that Mr. *** approved, and helped Mr. *** move the product from his drive due to his HOA requirements. 
  
  Recently, Mr. *** demanded a refund of the entire deposit. I have explained each step of this through the project and have worked on what we could do without an official city permit. Due to this, I told him that I understand his frustration with the process and provided several options to resolve the situation, despite the fact that he knew or should have known since the date he received the contract that the deposit was non-refundable. Those options included: 1) a refund of a portion of the non-refundable deposit with him keeping the materials; 2) a refund of the non-refundable deposit with removal of the materials onsite, less a labor charge for the removal; or 3) moving forward and adjusting the invoice for the deck portion while we continue to work with the city on the screened porch issue. Mr. *** rejected all those options, demanded a full refund and threatened to file a complaint with BBB, which he did.
  
  I have been willing since the issues arose to work with Mr. *** in coming to a reasonable resolution, taking into account both the misunderstanding about the propertys location and the money spent by RS Custom Design so far, and I continue to be willing to do that, but so far, Mr. *** has refused to discuss anything other than a full refund and has  threatened litigation if RS Custom Design doesnt agree to that.
  
  I hope this assists BBB in addressing this matter. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss this further.

  Customer response

  12/26/2024

  [If you do not say why you are rejecting the company's response, BBB must close your complaint.] 
  
  Complaint: 22666974
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

  Please accept this reply as ***** ***** reply to RS Custom Design's comments on the failure to perform work complaint.
  
  
  ****** answer was well written and covers several of the point of contention between us. Although many of his facts are misstated and incorrect.
  
  
  Paragraph two reply.
  **** did ask me if the house was in ***************, and I did reply yes.I understood that question meaning was I in ********, Licking or ***************. He however did NOT ask me if it was in *************** for the matter of permits. The question may have been clear to him, but that's not the way I understood it. I am a homeowner not a contractor, I have no idea who issues the permits. All the work that required permits in the 32 years we have live here were taken care of by the contractor. I have never been ask were to apply. Any minor amount of due diligence by any contractor would have found out where to pull the permits from. ****** last line from the second paragraph,He now claims that his property is in ***************, and that any misunderstanding about it being inside ************* limits is RS Custom Design's fault., makes no sense. Yes, it is in ***************, no it is not in *************** or ***************
  
  
  Paragraph three reply.
  Probably all correct, I have no way or communication to argue.
  
  
  Paragraph four reply.
  **** states he was approved for a license in November. I think that may be true but it does not show up on the City database as approved. But most important, he applied for the wrong license type. The type he applied for would never allow him to complete the process. He is clearly, according to the City Of Columbus, NOT ALLOWED TO CONNECT THE ROOF INTO THE HOUSE. Clearly meaning when he applied for this license he was never going to be able to complete the contractually agreed work.
  His offer to build me a deck is ridiculous, since I removed the original deck to have the screen porch built. Also never knowing if he would at any point be approved to finish the original contract.
  Yes he may have spent time and money to this point, time and money for a job he was not legally licensed to do.
  Lastly the cost to redo some of the site work was quoted to me as $1500, not $2000.
  
  
  Paragraph five reply
  Yes,I want a full refund, plus attorney fees. You voided the contract when you could not perform the work.
  I told him I had to remove the building materials from the driveway. As he been sitting there for August, September and October, so at some point in November he had the concrete removed. And as agreed to I moved the wood to the rear of the house. He apparently had no problem with that at the time, as he does now. It has been covered with a tarp since. His offers of a partial refund and to keep the wood is not acceptable. I have no idea what if any of the wood will usable come spring, and I whoever I hire to build the screen porch now doubtfully will want to mess with it.
  He can come get the wood anytime after refund of $9,500 and attorney fees. $2000 at this point.
  
  
  **** should know that if he could have lived up to the contract, the non refundable clause would be enforceable. But since he can not produce any of services that he was contracted for the contract is voided. Also **** never communicated about the license not being approved for the correct type of license. I only found out after contacting the city about it. I texted **** at that point and asked for the refund of deposit. He didn't seem surprised, only maybe surprised that I knew. I have ALL our communication texts preserved for the legal proceeding coming.
  
  
  Lastly,and maybe the main point, had he done ANY due diligence at the very start and applied for the permit and license from the ****************, we would still be at this exact point. He cannot perform the work, can cannot get the correct license from the city to do the work. Everything else is just lots of words. This man **** ********* and his company RS Design and not able to fulfill the contract.
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ***

*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. ↩