D.B. Reetz, Inc.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10132994, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]I am sending you a copy of the letter I am sending to D.B.Reetz, Inc.  It follows:   
[redacted]           [redacted]  [redacted]
October
24, 2014                                      ...⇄      
D. B.
Reetz, Inc.                                      ...⇄         [redacted]                                                  ...⇄              [redacted]  [redacted]
Dear [redacted]:
I am writing to
give you an opportunity to come and fix the problems with my deck.    I am not a satisfied customer and am
anticipating your standing behind your company and its name.  I have also been trying to work with you.  May I quote from  your website?  
 “D.B. Reetz is a full service
contractor dedicated to complete customer satisfaction.    We are your partners from the first contact
through the entire length of the project, making sure everything goes smoothly.
The needs of the homeowner are always in mind during the building process.”
 Your Mission
Statement  is as follows:
 “Earning the trust of our CLIENTS is
what we build on every day.  
  And finally, also
from your website:                                          ...⇄ /> Company Principles
To our CLIENTS we offer a full service
construction team, joining quality and craftsmanship with state of the art
construction products. We are committed to complete customer satisfaction in
everything we build.
 
What follows is a list, which may be incomplete, but I will
do my best to state as many of the problems as I can:
 
 All ring bases are hanging over the outside of
the deck.Some of the planks installed have
large gaps from end to end and can move back and forth as much as ¾".Esthetic appearance of all
cladding  is unprofessional, with screws drilled
in unevenly, some high and some low  plus
 the composite material all came out of
the hole drilled making it look “messy.” 
 Perhaps it was not pre-drilled as
the instruction guide states.9-step staircase:   was
begun but not completed, leaving me with a stairway that has a number of damaged
pieces now that have to be taken apart, supplies repurchased and the job done
correctly and completed.  Because the
9-step staircase has been left undone for over a year now, the supporting 4x4s
are warping.  Where you drilled holes in
the steps there are now cracks. The bottom riser of UltraDeck where your toe
would kick before stepping up onto the first step, was pieced together.  Poor workmanship.  Holes were drilled incorrectly in the post
sleeves and now do not line up for the railing to be installed correctly.  Cladding is unfinished by 9-step staircase
leaving the treated  lumber showing and
unprotected.  Because the 9-step
staircase has been left undone for over a year now, the supporting 4x4s are
warping.  The stairway is not secure to
the deck with only a couple of  short 2x4s
& a few screws(one of which is barely going into anything) holding the
whole thing. And the treads for the steps are to hang over the top of the
risers not the other way around, as the riser is now bowing out & will
continue to, because of  foot traffic
pushing against the top of the riser.The 4x4s in each corner of the deck have
been cut smaller where they are attached to the deck(on the underside), some
from a 4x4 down to a 2x2, providing much  less support. 
The 4x4s should go all the way down on the underside of the deck at the
corner of the rim joist & a joist member, with reinforcement blocking
holding it in place, as shown in the Installation Guide.The section of railing on the west
side of the deck is floppy,  not
supporting the weight requirement according to code plus the 4x4s again, are
cut down in size.The decking that is attached to the
side of the house is not even nailed properly to the house.  Nails are missing from the brackets attached
to the house.Due to your incorrect instructions
given to the blacksmith at [redacted] in [redacted], I now have custom gates
that do not  fit correctly in the
openings of my deck.  The one you did
install hangs down a whole inch when opened because of it being incorrectly
installed.  The other gate can’t even be
put up properly.  I paid for custom-made
gates and the blacksmith has already had to redo these gates, due to
misinformation..My siding was damaged & has not
been fixed.The
gravel was put down 3-4’ too far away from the house & needs to be moved
back.Under
the deck needs to be cleaned up so the under-deck area looks nice & finished.  Right now there is plastic blowing in the
wind & it looks extremely unprofessional.Between
all of the joists there should be some type of reinforcement blocking from one
side all the way to the other  to prevent
the bowing out of the joists.A
reinforcement block  under the deck has
caused warping because it was cut too large, which in turn has caused other,
more serious problems.   Some of the few other
blocks that were put in are not snugged up tight, which allows for warping,
also.There
are dips & rises over the surface of the deck.  Joists may not have been  leveled before planking was put on. I wish to respond to your message on
the Revdex.com site.  I would like to remind you
that when I hired you, the only thing you had to fix that was previously done,
was to dig out a couple of posts holes that were not in the correct
places.  No other work had been done at
that time.  You knew that the materials
were ordered from [redacted] as you saw all of my papers & the plan for the
deck.  You made adjustments on those
plans because the post hole placement was 
incorrect and the 9-step stairway was changed as far as direction goes.   Regarding the landscaper, the reason you could
not come was because you could not do your work on the stairs because he had to
lay the flagstone support for the bottom step first.  It was never an issue of the 2 of you working
at the same time, per se.  As regarding the gates & the
blacksmith, the message you  gave in
response to my Revdex.com complaint, is not entirely correct.  Roger Snyder, blacksmith at  the [redacted],  states that you were the one to come in the
first time with measurements & information on building the gates.  The only thing I did was supply the spindles
so the gate would match the spindles on the deck.  So you were involved in the design of the
gates in that you were the one who talked to the blacksmith the first time
& gave him the information.  Plus,
you talked with Mr. Snyder at least one other time about the gates, here at my
home.  You were to install the gates, for
I had grandchildren that I wanted protected. You were free to install the gates
at any time.  You certainly did not have
me “telling you when to install them” other than to get it done as soon as
possible.  You did not install even one
gate that year, 2013, but rather, I had to wait until spring/summer of this
year, 2014.  One gate got installed late
this year, incorrectly, I might add, and 
the second one is still not installed. Regarding this statement, “I was told by her and her son
that everything they built was perfect and they expect the same and any
mistakes I would make, I would have to take it all apart and supply materials
and labor to fix. I feel this was unreasonable because this could be made
to work.”
  Neither
my son nor myself ever said that everything we built was perfect.  That would have been a lie.  Rather we did emphasize that perfection was
our goal in what we did & we expected the same from the contractors we hire.  The
statement “any mistakes I would make, I would have to take it all apart and
supply materials and labor to fix,” is taken out of context & is
incorrectly portrayed.  This happened the
day you and another helper came to do the 9-step stairs.  There had already been trouble that day with
you trying to install the north gate in the south opening, which I came out
& was able to prevent from happening. 
Then I heard voices as if they were unsure of what to do, so I came out
again & that is when I found that you had drilled the holes for the 2nd
railing section in the wrong places. (This is the same problem that has
happened with the one gate that you did put up. 
When it is open, it now hangs down an inch, all because time & care
were not taken to drill the holes in the right places.) At that time, I
mentioned that the holes were not drilled in the correct places, to which you
replied that that was not a problem, you would just drill new holes right next
to the incorrect holes.  You again said
that it would not be a problem.  I did
not like that idea and then told you that I had paid money for new materials to
build my deck, not to have mistakes made on the new materials  & then fix up the mistakes.  You would have to purchase some new materials
because you ruined my brand new supplies. 
What you would have had to take apart to fix this problem is plain &
simply a part of the process of doing things right.  A quality workman does not just fill
in the wrong holes he made, to cover up his mistake, as you suggested to me
that you would do. 
           
            “You owe me nothing for work
completed or product supplied that you have not paid      for.”  This statement is misleading,
causing others to think that you have supplied product that I have not paid
for.  To my knowledge, I paid for every
product piece that was used, unless of course you didn’t  let me know of something, which I do not
think happened.  When you purchased
supplies, I always paid you.
 
Again, I wish to give you an opportunity to come and fix the
problems with the deck you built and I end with the “Principles” quote from
your website:   “We are committed to
complete customer satisfaction in everything we build.”  I look forward to you honoring this commitment.
 
Sincerely,                                   ...⇄
  
[redacted]I apologize for how this site copied my letter.  It is written as a business letter.

I was hired to supply labor to finish a deck that was started by someone else. I was told that the lumber was ordered from [redacted].  I was given a plan for post holes and an outline of a deck.  This had to be redone.  There were scheduling issues when I could come in the fall I...

was told the landscaper was there and I could not be there.  I talked to the landscaper and said there was no reason I couldn't work there when he was there I would not be in his way.  When I was told I could come and work I was overbooked and would come in spring.  As far as the gates go, I told her about the blacksmith nearby,  I had never used him for any work.  I was not involved in the design of the gates only was told when to install them.  I came to install them and they were wrong.  She had him redo them and they were still wrong.  I was there the last time he came and we redesigned them to work. I was told by her and her son that everything they built was perfect and they expect the same and any mistakes I would make, I would have to take it all apart and supply materials and labor to fix. I feel this was unreasonable because this could be made to work.  I returned some pieces that I found in my shop with a note that stated, I am unable to complete your project because I can't achieve the perfection you desire with the product you have supplied me to work with.  You owe me nothing for work completed or product supplied that you have not paid for.  I felt that if I could not achieve the level of quality desired with the product I was given, so why  should I return and build something she would not be happy with and I would have to replace.

Please forward me all plans and specifications that would have been given to me that would show the detailed installation you describe. I only have a floor joist layout, that you gave me, which was provided by a company that you did not buy materials from.  I have nothing that shows the exact installation guidelines.  The 4x4's you supplied were already pre-notched half way through the 4x4.  I only cut one side at the corners.  If this is wrong, then they supplied you with the wrong material.

Review: Way back in spring of 2013 I hired Mr. [redacted] to build a deck for me & also to fix the mess the first guy I hired did. (I fired him.)

June 1, 2013 Proposal for deck signed. He worked in between other jobs. So I had to wait around for him to “be ready.”

July 1, 2013 Paid progress bill. #8358 Had done about half.

July 25, 2013 Paid for remainder of deck. #[redacted]

Agreement was that when landscaping/patio work was done, he would come back & finish the 2nd set of stairs to the back. He had not installed either of the gates at this time.

End of July & August 2013: deck looked fine, but around the end of Aug/Sept, the deck boards began moving & slipping off the clips. Dangerous situation for anyone walking on the deck, as their leg could fall through if they would stand on the plank near the cut edge. There were ~15 boards then that were not fitted correctly. ( Later, upon inspection in summer of 2014, I found out that the deck had not been supported correctly, thereby allowing the underboards to warp outward.)

I made many calls to Mr. Reetz over the fall with rarely any response except for one in which he said that he couldn’t come because he had a really big job that was a lot of money & he needed to finish that up. My response was that this job was not done correctly even posing a potentially dangerous situation & I had already paid for the job!

Contact was made via phone messages & texting, even throughout the winter to get things set up for the spring, but with no response, either by phone or texting.

Mid to end of May 2014 [redacted] called to say he would be coming to do the deck, with a specific date( I don’t remember what day it was) & he didn’t show up. Then he didn’t answer my calls, either. He finally comes on Friday, May 23, 2014 with another guy, to finish up the deck job. With the windows open I was able to overhear bits & pieces of conversation & it appeared that [redacted] seemed unsure of how to do some things, because of the discussion between him & his helper. Whenever I would talk with him, if he had problems, he would always blame it on the lumber or supplies I purchased. "If it would have been good lumber, this would not have happened," he said at least once. I actually walked out to see what was happening as he was attempting to put one of the gates on & he seemed to be questioning himself, so I went out there to see what the problem was. He was trying to put the north gate on the south opening!! I caught that before he drilled the wrong holes! At one point I go out there & watch closely (not the first time I did) & they were putting on the second half of the railing & couldn’t fit it in & were pushing & pulling to try to get it in, which was loosening the post. Plus, they had already drilled holes in the posts that were very off-center & were going to use them. When I brought that to his attention & said they couldn’t use those holes, [redacted] answered that that was not a problem, he’d just drill another hole right next to it & make the screw go in at an angle. My response was basically, No. You’ve already made a mistake by your drilling in the wrong place. You are not going to make it worse & then cover it up. The post & the covering "sleeve" need to be replaced. By about 3pm, there was very little they had gotten done & now they needed new supplies to finish the job of the stairs. I suggested that they get to the gates & get them up, as I had said when they came, that they needed to be done today without fail. Result: he now figured out that the south gate was made wrong, again. This would be the third time of making & remaking my "new" gates. (He had been the one who recommended the blacksmith to me & had told the blacksmith how to make the gates, with me asking the smith to come over & measure, etc.) So, for the 3rd time my supposed-to-be brand new gate had to be redone, again! So my request to have the gates definitely up that day did not happen. And the blacksmith did a wonderful job on the gates the first time they were done, but by this time, I had “used” gates because [redacted] gave him wrong information via his own communication & via the information he gave me. The gates were both done originally in summer of 2013 & were never put up even though I repeatedly asked [redacted] to put them up, for safety sake. There are other problems with the stairs part that he did try to do, like mis-cut pieces that don't fit together...unprofessional work; the whole set of 9 steps is only attached to my deck with 4 screws, making it very unstable; & no real support for the steps or underneath the whole span of the deck.

While working on the deck, [redacted] damaged some of my siding & that has not been fixed yet. At the bottom of each railing post there is a decorative square piece to finish off the look & every one of these hang off the edge of the deck. He also spread out the gravel/rock under my deck 4’ too far & I am unable, physically, to fix that, nor should I have to. He also has a box of the supplies to put the rest of the deck together & has put that in his trailer, so I no longer have that.

I made numerous phone calls to [redacted] at all times of the day & evening, sometimes leaving messages & sometimes not. But here is a verbatim record of the texting only, still on my Iphone:

July 8, 2013 [redacted]: Landscaping people are coming in 10 mins. I’ll talk & relay the info to you, as it is short notice. I thought you’d be here today.

Oct 8, 2013 [redacted]: If you get this message, the gates are ready to be put up. He came on Monday. [redacted]: I will be on vacation until the 17th. Will I be able to do the steps then? [redacted]: Oh yes! They’ll be finished before the 17th. See you then & enjoy your vacation.

Oct 16, 2013 [redacted]: Please come as soon as you can to do the gates & the stairs. They will be finishing the patio by Friday with the cement stuff drying. So maybe next week? Hope you had or are still having a great vacation! [redacted]: Thanks

April 4, 2014 Just a reminder that there are some deck boards that you need to replace because they got cut too short. I don’t know if you remembered about that.

April 16, 2014 7:21am I had been expecting you Monday & for sure this week before Friday. You must get the stairs finished! Since I will be gone today, that leaves only tomorrow for you to do it, because no one is allowed to come & work or be on my property while I am gone. Please call & confirm timing with me. [redacted]: (1:56pm) just saw your message had to go to the doctor and get some medication adjusted. Was really dizzy this morning [redacted]: (3:54 pm) I will be here most of day tomorrow, hope you are ok. Let me know if you will be able to come.

April 17, 2014 12:28pm [redacted]: You are going to have to pick up your trailer sometime today. Then you will need to plan to finish my deck within the first week of May. You cannot do anything without me being here or without my permission & that will bring us to May. Don’t forget about your trailer today! [redacted]: (5:45pm) just left doctor. Was in bed all day out from medication for bad ear infection. Can get trailer early in the morning. Am going back to bed now (He did come & get his trailer sometime early the next morning, I believe. He didn’t tell me he was even here.)

May 11, 2014 [redacted]: It has almost been a year now for the deck. I think you had better come over here & get the deck boards redone ASAP before someone gets hurt! The gates, also, although the stairs now can’t be done until they finish the patio area. Please call tomorrow & reschedule.

May 16, 2014 [redacted]: I am waiting to hear from you!! Call 386-5624

May 21, 2014 [redacted] (12:13am) have help and time Friday [redacted]: (6:21am) Great!! What time & I’ll be here.

May 29, 2014 [redacted] (7:01pm) had an unscheduled church budget meeting today for 3 hours, am on the way to another one now, and have one more tomorrow at 10:00 I will not get there tomorrow

June 7, 2014 [redacted] (12:04pm) Just for your information, although I have plenty of proof & wouldn’t have to warn you, but I will either see you in court or else watch this case unfold before everyone’s eyes on Fox6 News or another local station. They love stories like this!!

This is the end of my texting, as of July 14, 2014 at 10:40am.

Brand new gates made by blacksmith had to be remade 3 times & still are not what I wanted, plus they are not new items, like I originally bought. [redacted] told the blacksmith how to make them, I just supplied the metal spindles to match the deck & picked them up. The gates had been done wrong per [redacted]’s instructions & he did not answer calls from the blacksmith when he called to say the gates were ready the 2nd time. The 3rd time, [redacted] showed me what needed to be changed on one of the gates, so I took it in & got it fixed again (3rd time now in to the blacksmith to have my NEW gate fixed.) [redacted] did not answer calls from the blacksmith to pick up the gate & I finally went in to get them, while I could not get [redacted] to answer any of my phone calls or text messages.

Monday, July 14, 2014—Frustrated at no response to any of my calls or texts, I called the first “[redacted]” listed in the phone book, as there was no [redacted] or [redacted] listed. Happened to be his mother. Briefly told her my problem about him not getting my job done & never answering my phone calls . She gave me his number, which I already had, & said she’d get in touch with him. She called me back about 10 mins. later & said she spoke to him & he said he “ would take care of it.” It is obvious that [redacted] picks & chooses whose phone calls he will answer!

So there are “Delivery Issues:” Non-delivery of services, “Customer Service Issues:” Failure to respond to phone calls, etc., and “Service Issues:” Unreasonable or excessive delay in completion, an improper or inferior service, & the services provided resulted in additional damage. I have numerous pictures that show the state of things, plus the damage done.Desired Settlement: To have my deck finished...the way I want it finished & I should not have to pay for his mistakes.

Business

Response:

I was hired to supply labor to finish a deck that was started by someone else. I was told that the lumber was ordered from [redacted]. I was given a plan for post holes and an outline of a deck. This had to be redone. There were scheduling issues when I could come in the fall I was told the landscaper was there and I could not be there. I talked to the landscaper and said there was no reason I couldn't work there when he was there I would not be in his way. When I was told I could come and work I was overbooked and would come in spring. As far as the gates go, I told her about the blacksmith nearby, I had never used him for any work. I was not involved in the design of the gates only was told when to install them. I came to install them and they were wrong. She had him redo them and they were still wrong. I was there the last time he came and we redesigned them to work. I was told by her and her son that everything they built was perfect and they expect the same and any mistakes I would make, I would have to take it all apart and supply materials and labor to fix. I feel this was unreasonable because this could be made to work. I returned some pieces that I found in my shop with a note that stated, I am unable to complete your project because I can't achieve the perfection you desire with the product you have supplied me to work with. You owe me nothing for work completed or product supplied that you have not paid for. I felt that if I could not achieve the level of quality desired with the product I was given, so why should I return and build something she would not be happy with and I would have to replace.

Consumer

Response: