Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  04/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On March 29, 2024, we discovered a leak in the master bathroom downstairs when I took a bath in the upstairs bathroom. We notified Starter Homes of Texas home warranty (Alexys) immediately by calling and had to email at 3:00pm. On April 9, I notified Alexys that I was not available and requested that they give us more than an hour’s notice for the painter to come. My husband and I both work from home and if they notify us ahead of time, we can accommodate the schedule. We couldn’t accommodate the last-minute request last week because my husband was away on a business trip all week and I had a meeting I could not reschedule. I do not feel safe disclosing our situation to anyone affiliated with Starter Homes of Texas due to a previous safety concern. Alexys responded on Wednesday, April 10, that the painter will not be able to come out that day, told them my availability, and stated they will keep me posted. On Monday, April 15 at 7:17pm, I followed up if Alexys. Alexys responded that it is their warranty process that they need my availability to coordinate. At this point I am beyond upset, I told Alexys that I am tired of her excuses. They did not keep us posted when the painter could not come last week and waited for me to follow up before asking for my availability again. I reminded Alexys that we both work from home and the reason they had to accommodate my scheduled meetings last week was because my husband was unavailable. Alexys did not respond. It will be 3 weeks this Friday since the leak happened, and I do not believe we will have our bathrooms repaired. We have not been able have full use of our master bathroom and the upstairs bathroom for over 2 weeks now. The remedies we are seeking is the painting of the bathrooms, caulking around the bathtub and toilet, and replacement vent cover. This is not the first time they have dragged the repairs out. The kitchen faucet took over a month for them to come out and they only fixed it when they sent the plumber out.

  

  Business response

  04/30/2024

  On March 29, 2024 we received the warranty request for the leak in the main bathroom from Christopher **** with pictures of the vent in the ceiling and water droplets on the toilet (these photos attached), stating that our plumber needs to fix the major leak and water damage. Our warranty representative, Alexys, responded with questions to get clarification of what could have caused the issue and to make sure that we send out the appropriate vendor(s). This is part of the Starter Homes of Texas warranty process, which the homeowners were not happy about. Maggie **** responded at 7:15am on March 30th demanding that we send someone out immediately and threatened to report this claim to the BBB by end of business day, April 5th, if it was not taken care of. Starter Homes of Texas is at the mercy of the vendors availability and sometimes cannot get someone out to a property immediately, especially if the homeowner and the vendors availability does not line up. Like all warranty requests, sometimes 1 issue involves multiple vendors; like this one. We sent the plumber out to fix the leak, then sent out the drywall company to fix the drywall patch work due to where the plumbers cut into the wall to find the leak, then once it was patched we sent out the painters to finish and complete the job. As you can see, this was a multi-step warranty request, which involved needing their availability each time which resulted in frustration from the homeowners, but like stated before, this is part of the Starter Homes of Texas process. Starter Homes of Texas takes pride in taking care of our customers, however, we do have procedures in place and believe this was a miscommunication error on both parties. 

  Customer response

  05/02/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  
  
  Starter Homes have repeatedly delayed repairs. On 3/11, we requested the kitchen faucet to be repaired, Alexys asked for a video of it. 3/12 we sent a video of the faucet. 3/20 Alexys asked for availability and was given our availability. 3/27 after not hearing from anyone, we followed up. Was told by Alexys that it was already tighten previously. 3/27 responded that it had obviously came loose again and asked why we were asked for our availability if she was not going to schedule anything. We heard nothing from Alexys until we had to contact them for the leak on 3/29. It is not unreasonable to demand that all the repairs are done within a week, especially for a leak that involved two bathrooms. If you look closely at the pictures, there are water stains from the ceiling that is not from condensation as Starter Homes tried to say was the cause. Also, even with the towel there to absorb most of the leak, the toilet paper was soaked. Condensation would not do that to a roll of toilet paper. Also, the water on the ground was not clearly visible in the picture but there was a substantial amount of it. The faucet was not fixed until the plumber came out on April 3. Even though I stated that I would file a complaint on April 5, as long as there was active progress we were willing to wait. However, Alexys kept dragging it out and not follow up on her commitment. I gave her my availability for the week and she stated that she will keep me posted but nothing from her about an appointment or asking for my schedule for the following week. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of April 17th. On April 19, after receiving the complaint, Alexys stated that, "I am not scheduling anything until I receive all concerns/requests from the project manager." Instead of scheduling a painter to come out, she wanted to retaliate by unnecessarily delaying it even more. Why does she need to confirm it with the project manager when she already tried to send someone out the previous week? We have not been unreasonable as the attached emails will show. We have more emails of them delaying other requests. We have tried to work with them but the delays are unnecessary because of Starter Homes' lack of commitment to fulfill their duties. They have failed to follow what they say they will do. The painters finally came out on April 25. Faucet: March 11 - April 3, Leak: March 29 - April 25. It took Starter Homes 23 days to send someone out to fix the faucet. It took them 27 days to fix a leak. How is Starter Homes taking care of its customers when it took them over 3 weeks each time to fix something?

   

  The resolution we are seeking is a new process that will cut out most of the delays and the "integrity" of Starter Homes process remains intact. From our perspective, the delays have been due to Alexys' lack of commitment to coordinate an appointment. We would like the new process to be: Once Starter Homes have determined that the work is under warranty, Starter Homes will provide us with the contact to schedule the repair directly with the vendor to have it completed and provide the vendor our contact. All the delays have come from the third party (Alexys) coordinating the appointment when it can be done by the direct parties involved. This will cut out the frustration from both the vendors and the homeowners and as an added bonus frees up time for the warranty rep (Alexys). 
  

  Regards,
  
  Maggie ****
   

  
  

  

  Business response

  05/08/2024

  Starter Homes of Texas has resolved the warranty issues that Maggie and Christopher **** have requested. The resolution that the **** family is requesting, a direct contact to our vendors, we unfortunately cannot do. We have policies and procedures that need to be followed so that Starter Homes of Texas runs efficiently. We want to make sure that we are communicating with the vendor the exact work that needs to be resolved. We will make sure to have a timelier response to warranty requests and apologize for the frustration.

  Customer response

  05/24/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  
  
  Starter Homes In Texas may have resolved the "symptom" of the problem, but we would like to resolve the root of the problem. Unless Starter Homes would like us to submit another complaint to resolve the root of the problem, we would prefer to come to an agreement with this complaint. We don't think you understand our proposition. The resolution that we are proposing is beneficial for everyone involved. The current process that Starter Home is using is NOT efficient for anyone involved. The vendor is frustrated with the appointments that are made when owners are not available. The owners are frustrated by the extreme delays from Starter Homes to coordinate an appointment. Unless it is Starter Homes' purpose to delay the work getting done, it is a waste of time for Starter Homes to try to coordinate an appointment between two parties when the parties, themselves, can do it more efficiently. The proposed process still allows Starter Homes to communicate with the vendor exactly what work needs to be done. The direct contact by the vendors and the homeowners are to coordinate an appointment AFTER Starter Homes have already communicated with the vendors the work to be done. The email file enclosed in the last response shows how inefficient and ineffective the current process is which prompted this complaint. An example of how this proposed process already works is the repair for this complaint was resolved because of the proposed resolution. After we had direct contact with the vendor for the painting of the bathroom, it was only a matter of a couple of days for us to get the work done which in the past took weeks to just set an appointment. As Starter Homes stated in their previous response, Starter Homes is at the mercy of the vendors' availability, and when the homeowners and the vendors' availability do not line up, it causes delays. Starter Homes won't be at the mercy of the vendors' availability if this proposed resolution is in place. By having direct contact with the vendors, the homeowners can quickly coordinate the availability with the vendors.

  I can't think of any possible reason to reject the proposed resolution except to delay the process. This proposed resolution is within Starter Homes' ability to do as it has already been done. When Alexys was cut out of coordinating the appointment, it was timelier for us to set an appointment with the vendor to get the work done for the repair in this original complaint. The only reason for Starter Homes In Texas to reject this resolution is to purposely delay the work getting completed in a timely manner. If Starter Homes truly takes pride in taking care of their customers, they would accept this resolution.

   

  Regards,
  
  
   

  
  

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