Foley Builders, Inc.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Our original complaint remains intact. The complaint was simply a lack of communication. I guess I should have specifically said verbal communication. The fact remains that the information between the on-site manager and us, then the on-site manager to the main office was in question. Because of this, we requested face to face conversations with the on-site manager and [redacted]. The on-site manager told us that there was no reason this couldn't happen. As far as we are concerned, money isn't the issue. The reason for the Better Business complaint is simply so anyone else dealing with Foley Builders is aware they should specifically ask for face to face meetings upfront and not rely on e-mail communications. It is impossible to have acceptable communication when you can't have a discussion.
Regards,
[redacted]

The entire dispute started when upon installation of a contracted bay window, the client expressed some concerns that she didn't like the way it looked; so my project manager contacted me and I approved his request to return the bay window and order 3 separate windows that they were requesting. That...

evening my manager called to let me know that the customer decided to keep the bay window but wanted us to build shelving for books under the window instead of returning it. I approved his request to install the shelving. Upon completion of the remodel, the project manager did a final walk through with the customer. The customer signed off on the entire project but refused to pay for change orders that they asked for in writing to be completed by our crew, the plumbing sub-contractor and the electrical contractor. They discussed all of the changes with the project manager before the work was done and were aware and in agreement they would be charged time and materials for all the changes to the original contract. They also demanded that we pay $500.00 to have custom blinds installed on the bay window.
Our project manager was in touch with the [redacted] at all times throughout this dispute; however the client demanded the original salesman that sold the job come to pick up the check in person. We had explained several times that he no longer worked for Foley Builders and the project manager was the only one that would be meeting with them. They refused once again to pay the final invoice until the original salesman came out to meet with them. I remained in touch by email upon the advice from my attorneys to get a record of everything that was communicated. In order to resolve the dispute, I sent a letter dropping our invoice amount by approximately 2,000.00 and stated in the letter that upon full payment of the new invoice amount we would uphold our Limited Warranty on the project. We received a check for approximately $1,000.00 less than what the invoice was for stating that they didn't sign a change order so they didn't have to pay for any of the changes. We sent all the information on the project to our attorneys for review. We then received an email from the client stating that one of the fascia pieces was loose. The project manager immediately responded and fixed the fascia with 48 hours of the email. Our project manager has always responded to every request no matter how frivolous throughout this project and we have been in touch with this client every step of the way. At this time there should be no reason for the client to contact us since we accepted the partial final payment and closed the job out.
[redacted], President

In that initial complaint the [redacted] stated there was a dispute over the final invoice and that her complaint was I quote “Our complaint is that there is NO acceptable communication”.
I responded by email, stating our project manager was onsite throughout the entire project and had been in communication the entire time.  We have a years’ worth of emails and texts showing continued communication throughout the project. The [redacted] demanded that [redacted] the person that negotiated the contract meet with them; however, he had no longer worked at Foley Builders. [redacted] had explained several times that [redacted] no longer worked for the company and that he was the project manager not [redacted].  I also explained in the response that we completed the contract as it was written by conducting the final walk through with the customers and getting the final punch list signed off by the client. I explained that the only items that were in question at that time were a bay window that the clients claimed was not installed per the contract and that they refused to pay for the change orders they requested. The other complaint stated there was an issue with an aluminum fascia being loose.  I explained that [redacted] had gone out and repaired the fascia that was in question as well. Which he had done within 48 hours of the request. So, after receiving the check from the [redacted] on June 11, 2014 with what they felt was an acceptable payment in order to close out the contract, I reluctantly accepted the payment and closed the account. In the second complaint the [redacted] claimed an issue with the following:   1.  $2000 Design Fee    2.  Bay Window   3.  Change Orders
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First, the design fee. I have attached the Design Service Agreement (Attachment B) signed by the [redacted] on December 7th 2012 when we started the first design proposal. In the agreement it states that “Additional design revisions requested by the owner will be billed on an hourly basis). Attached is the email and copy of the check (Attachment C), which clearly states the $2000 was for the work on the designs and multiple proposals, which consisted of 6 proposals and over 50 hours of work. This should resolve the [redacted] position that it was to be used as down payment for the construction.

Second, the bay window. After doing revision #6 we received the attached email (Attachment D) stating they will be going with proposal number 5 which they attached to the email. I am also attaching the contract proposal #5 cover sheet (Attachment E), signed by the [redacted], where it states to install a vinyl double pane bay window, not three separate windows and a separate window seat.  It was to be a vinyl bay window capable of seating. Which it is and has wire reinforcing to handle such weight. Mrs. [redacted] is also incorrect when stating that our construction manager questioned why we installed the bay window and that we always put in three separate windows for a window seat. The construction manager installs what he sees on the contract proposal; this way there isn’t any reason for he said, she said. As stated in the last complaint Mrs. [redacted] says that she asked “what her alternatives were?” after the crew installed the bay window. Which prompted [redacted] to call me; and as I stated prior, I gave her the alternative to replace the bay window with three separate windows.  After giving Mrs. [redacted] her option which was, “we can remove it and install three separate windows.” She decided to accept it and sked that we customize it with a book shelf and fancier wood work. She also asked in her second complaint “why would she agree not to have it changed”. We have attached the email of a punch list that was sent December 2013 (Attachment F) which states why. In it she writes that she decided to live with the window because she felt we were too close to the holidays to get it changed in time. This shows he had offered to take it out and she declined. We also have a final punch list written by Mrs. [redacted] giving instruction to finish the trim on the bay window. This should be sufficient enough proof that we fulfilled our responsibilities within the contract and went over and above to please the client.

Third is the Change Orders. We have 16 pages of hand written to do lists by the [redacted], including their hand written and signed final punch list showing extras to be completed before final payment was to be issued. My attorney states these constitute a legal change order in which they are responsible for. However, in order to satisfy the [redacted], and in direct opposition of the evidence above I decided to take the loss and go ahead and reduce the invoice amount by approximately $2000 in order to put this behind us and prevent something like what we are going through now. We sent a letter showing the deducted amount on June 17 2014. (Attachment G) 
We are not looking for any more payments and have already accepted their final payment and closed this file. We have bent over backwards to make this client happy and we have written proof to back up all our statements. These attachments are only a small amount of emails and written statements we have to prove our case. Regards, [redacted], President