Ark Basement Services, Inc.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
*** I am agreeable to the proposed repair for July 17, If a date open before this time please call and I will free my time.*** *** ***

In we did a job for Mrs*** for 3900.00. Internal drainage on rear wall and side walls and a pump. We currently will be in litigation with her. We are in process we had to sue her for slander.
We went to every service call, never to find a problem. The only problem is she has a dirt driveway and it slopes to the house with water coming under garage door into her renters stuff. We told her numerous times that has nothing to do with the drainage system on the back wall. In she sold the house to a Mr*** he has since called us to review what the work done was. We went out and have a great relationship with him he said she is a *** *** and a *** *** When we went out to meet with him he needed a new pump. Which he has since replaced. Also since then months ago he claims everything is fine. The pipe she claims that was in dirt is the discharge pipe from the pump. We found the pipe and it was fine and by the way it is surfaced away from house like it should be. thank god she sold the property we now have a *** customer to deal with, however she has slandered since she sold the house that is why we are in litigation currently. thanks please call *** if needed ###-###-####

After speaking to Jim, his explanation was the following for why he sold the job the way he did; The basement lower blocks on the wall had discoloration which is an indication of water issues and the ***’s were getting water in the basement so his professional experience was to install an interior French drainage to stop the water. For the outside he said to seal the cracks and install the grate drain. As for the plumbers cost, to scope for a broken pipe, there was no broken pipe and typically Ark would not reimburse for something like this, however we are willing to split the cost for customer satisfactory. Our warranty clearly states that we will service the system if they are still getting water. We do not guarantee money back, but we will service our work if there is an issue in the area that we performed the work. If the ***’s are still getting water in the area that we did work, we will be happy to go out to their homeWe want a satisfied customerWe can get them on the service schedule as early as next week

Ark Basement Services sent Jim P*** out for the original consultation to Mr***’s home and assessed the situation. From what we witness, it was our professional opinion to install an internal French drainage system and a grate drain outside. Mr*** called when he had the first
rain after the installation and said his basement had water in it. We sent our service manager out to see what was causing the water in the basement. The service manager said that the water was coming from area where the ceiling meets the wall. The service manager explained that we do not warrant water that comes over the seal plate and it is stated on the contract that Mr*** signed. Mr*** was not happy about this and wanted it fixed. The Owner, Mike P***, went out to talk to Mr*** about the situation. Mike also explained that we do not warrant that but we want a happy customer so we would work with him. Mike offered to have membrane put on the walls to help with the moisture and water at no addition cost. Mr*** refused and said that there were problems with the pipes outside. The service manager came out once again and ran a hose down the grate drain to see if water would come flowing out the end. Part way through the pipe the hose got stuck. We informed Mr*** that we thought it might be a clogged pipe and he would have to call a different company since we do not offer those services. Mr*** called us again and said he got the pipe snaked and there was mud and stuff in it and he believed it was broken. We then sent out our service manager and one of the installers to dig up the “broken” pipe and fix it. Our team dug but did not find a pipe in the area that Mr*** was talking about. Mr*** called again saying he had water in his basement and that this needed fixed. We once again sent two installers out, at no charge, to dig in another area to find a broken pipe. There was no broken pipeMike told Mr*** that he would have to pay for a company to use a camera to scope the pipe and find the broken area. Mr*** called us after this company came out and said that he had to pay $just to have the company come out with the camera, but it would cost $1,for them to mark the broken pipe area. Mr*** and Ark did not want to pay that amount, however Mr*** informed us that the company gave him the area of the pipe that was the problem. We sent two installers and our service manager out again at no charge to dig up this area. There was no broken pipe. When they ran water through the pipes, the water slowly came out of the discharge. This is when it was discovered that there was no broken pipe. Mr***’s pipes have a large dip and they run up hill. There is nothing we could do to fix this because, Ark does not do that kind of work. Additionally, Mr***’s driveway would need removed to fix the problem and he did not want to do that. We explained everything to Mr***. Later that day, Mrs*** called yelling that our company did not do anything and that she was not happy and wants the problem fixed. We told her that Jim P*** would discuss this with Mike P*** over the weekend (she called afternoon on a Friday) and they would get back to her by Monday. At this point the ***’s wanted their money backJim P*** went into the hospital that weekend and was in there for three days. Him and Mike did not discuss the situation for that reason. When Jim was released he was on again off again working for two days trying to recover, per doctor’s orders. As soon as Jim was well enough to make it into the office, him and Mike discussed everything and informed the ***’s they would not be reimbursed their money. They gave the following reasons why: 1.) The ***’s internal system is currently working in proper order, so the work that they signed the contract was completed and completed correctly, 2.) We sent numerous installers on numerous occasions without charging the ***’s any labor fee and it turned out to be no fault of Ark’s, and 3.) The ***’s have more than one problem occurring. Even if the dipped piped did not exist, they would still need an internal drainage system. Throughout this entire situation, Mr*** kept insisting that there was a broken pipe and that was why he was getting water in his basement, however it was proven that there was no broken pipe, so regardless the internal drainage is necessary. Furthermore, Mr*** signed a contract stating we do not warrant water that comes in through the ceiling. The system we installed works as it is supposed to. Ark went above and beyond to make the ***’s happy, including never charging them for any of the labor fees. Our company’s reputation should not be tarnished because of an error done by another company. The ***’s need to contact the company that originally put the pipes in to rectify the situation. After that is fixed, the ***’s will be able to see the truth in Ark’s words that they did indeed need an internal drainage system and have a dry basement

In August 2013, ARK Basement Services installed French drains on three walls in Ms***’s home. During installation the foreman realized that a sized crock would not fit because of the water line coming into the basement. The foreman decided to install a smaller size crock
This is not uncommon to make changes once the foreman see what they are dealing with for the dig area About a year later Ms*** called and told ARK that the fourth wall in the basement was now leaking and needed to be waterproofed as well. ARK Basement waterproofed the fourth wall for only $400, when it should have been a $1,job. During the installation of the fourth wall, Ms*** talked about the crock being smaller and supposable a seasonal sub-contractor told her he might be able to put a size crock in, however he did not inform ARK of this. Ms.*** called to schedule the job to change her crock size, which is when theseasonal sub-contractor informed ARK that he thought he may be able to do it. Due to scheduling issues, ARK called several month later to set the appointment up to change the crock, however Ms.*** was out of town. When she finally got back to us, the seasonal sub-contractor no longer worked for ARK. None of the employees at ARK were comfortable putting the larger crock in with the waterline. We informed Ms*** that if she got someone in there to move the waterline then ARK would come in and install the larger crock. Since the system was installed in 2013, Ms*** has never called for any type of service call and her basement has been dry. After meeting with the company engineer and seeing that Ms*** has had a dry basement, ARK does not want to mess with a properly working system, especially with the water line so close

Ark Basement Services strives for 100% customer satisfactory. Since we have completed over jobs per year. This was a very unique situation for the this job. On May Ms*** *** called regarding water leaking thru the ceiling into the garage and basement.
She already had an insurance claim. I, Mike Perry, President of ARK Basement Services, went out to Ms. ***s house and said for a grate drain in front of garage, new gutter, seal the ceiling in basement, seal garage floor, and put one inch thick cement coating on the back porch. When doing job we discovered this was a plumbing job for the floor drain and we are not plumbers. We had mutual agreement between Ms*** and myself to cap the floor drain and eliminate the grate drain for the same price. Once job was completed we received payment in form of a check, however Ms*** stopped payment on the check. The next day we went back to fix the ceiling to her satisfaction and we were issued another check. In January 2015, eight years later, Ms*** contacted our office for service, which Mike and the service manager responded to within hours. Upon arrival Ms***, had her son-in-law, who owns a concrete company, who questioned us on why we capped the floor drain. Then we proceeded by uncapping the drain and agreed to put in a grate drain, all free of cost, on April 11, 2015. In the beginning of April we called to confirm our scheduled installation date with Ms*** in which she informed us that she is exploring her other options and we should not come out. Ms*** wanted us to replace concrete on the back porch, saying that it should be under warranty. Our contracts state that we do not warrant the concrete. To verify that my business is being practical I check around to three different cement companies, which all confirmed that they do not warrant concrete after one year. Under the terms and condition on our contract, we cover water where the floor and wall meetWe went above and beyond to satisfy MMs***

Revdex.com:
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. We don’t understand why Jim continues to explain why he sold the job the way he did. We told him that an interior French drain would not take care of the water issue because the water was not ground water. He insisted that it would take care of the problem so we trusted what we thought was a professional. After they completed the work and we continued to get water in the area in which they did the work we spoke to Mike. Mike came to our home and he told us that his brother Jim, sold us the wrong job. Therefore, I don’t understand why they are still trying to explain the reason they sold us the job when Mike blatantly admitted his brother Jim, sold us the wrong job. That is why Mike told us to call the plumber and said they would reimburse in the first place. As for the plumbers cost we were told from Mike and Jim on several occasions that they had an $199.00 check for us and would give it to us when they came back out to attempt to fix the continuing water problem. I met with Jim personally before he came for the final visit on September 7th, and he told me that he was going to come out to our house personally with his crew and that he would have the check that day to give to us. I don’t understand why they are now going back on their word and saying that they do not reimburse for something like that. They are the ones that told us to call the plumber in the first place. Furthermore, we saved them money because [redacted] told us that the initial scope is $199.00, but to mark for a broken pipe would be $1200. We declined because we thought it would be unfair for Arc to have to pay back $1200. We spoke with both Mike and Jim about this and they thanked us. We also spoke with their office manager Shana, several times about the check and she said they would have it for us. Yes, we are continuing to get water coming in where they worked. However, we are not willing to give them yet another chance to try and fix the problem. They have been to our house on several occasions and the last time Jim came out we had a conversation in my driveway and he told us there was nothing more he can do. That was on Thursday, September 7th, and that is when we told him that we wished to have our money back since they sold us the wrong job and failed to fix the problem. That is when Jim said he would have a conversation with his brother Mike and would call me the next day by noon to let me know of a solution. Then we got the run around for a few days and were told Jim was in the hospital and Mike was driving to Erie and that they were conveniently both unavailable to speak with. Finally I called on Monday to speak with Jim and he called back to tell us that there was nothing more that they could do and that what needed to happen was that our whole driveway would need jack hammered and our plumbing would need fixed. I don’t know how they came to that conclusion just by looking at our driveway. We were told by Mike, Jim, and several of their employees on their crews that there was nothing more they could do, so I am not sure what new solution they would be able to come up with. We are not attempting to get our money back for selfish reasons. We are trying to get our money back because we paid a company that guaranteed work, provided the wrong solution, and made false promises. We now have to pay another company to fix the damage they caused. We have been more than understanding given what they put us through. They guaranteed work in May and here it is November and we are still getting water in our basement when it rains. Given their history with us I do not think it wise for them to come back out and attempt something they already told us was not possible. We just want this problem to be solved appropriately. I think we did our part as customers. We allowed them to come out several times and throughout this whole journey we are the ones that have been truly inconvenienced. We have lost money, we have to replace flooring that they had to remove for the internal drainage system that was not necessary, we had to dig up and get rid of plants that have been in our yard for years, we were sweeping water out when we just brought out newborn home, and I have had to switch my work schedule several times to accommodate them. If they want to become a reputable company they need to accept that this journey has come to end and admit that the mistake falls on them and do what is right.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
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.
Mr. [redacted] called me today and I explained the situation for him. I am surprised that he still assumes that I lost the contract and the receipt. As I mentioned before, we NEVER got it. Reason? Mr [redacted] brother ([redacted]) who was the contact person, was supposed to stop by our property to inspect the job once it was completed. Guess what, he never showed up. We asked the foreman, and he said that we will receive the documents within two weeks. The reason I said I've talked to the owner was simply because Mr. [redacted] brother ([redacted]) gave us the impression that he and his brother running the company together. He said it is a family business that they both took over after their father. Thus, I thought that [redacted] is a co-owner of the company. Regardless of whether I talked to the owner or not, the fact remains that we did not receive the documents we were entitled to because Mr. [redacted] (not the owner apparently) did not come to inspect the job. So to us it is still an unfinished job, although we have fully paid for it.
Mr. [redacted] e-mailed us the receipt today. However, it does not explain what the warranty covers. Would it be so difficult to scan the back of a contract (where it explains in details the terms for the warranty) and send it to us? On that note, we never got the hard copy of a contract. Mr. [redacted] emailed us only the front page of a contract. This issue was also mentioned to Mr. [redacted] (the owner) today during our conversation, but somehow he still assumes that we lost the contract. 
Regards,
[redacted]

[redacted]Ms. [redacted],Attached is the warranty and contract which states that for up to a year arc will return if you are still having an issue where they completed the work. I wanted to clarify that we are not asking them to fix where they did not complete work. We are asking for a refund because they breached the contract and we still have to pay to get it fixed. We are also asking that they reimburse us for the plumber. Also attached are pictures that show the water coming in where they completed work. I am also going to attach a video. If the attachments do not all send together I will split them in another email. Please let me know if you have any trouble viewing the attachments. Thank you so much.

Revdex.com:
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.
Regards,
[redacted]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted]. Yes there is another appointment scheduled for 9/16. This does not mean the issue is resolved as there have been several appointments in the past. The issue will be resolved when the french drain is completed according to the contract and when there is no longer water in my basement.  
Regards,
[redacted]

ARK strives for 100% satisfactory with all of our customers.  ARK and Ms. [redacted] entered an agreement to installed 27 linear feet of interior French drain and 1 submersible pump in 2011.  We received a phone call from Ms. [redacted] about water behind her furnace.  Ark sent the service...

manager, Fred out in July to observe the problem and figure out a solution.  Fred tried several different techniques to solve her issue.  We were in contact with Ms. [redacted] multiple times and also visited her home several times.  We have contacted Ms. [redacted] and schedule an appointment next week to work on resolving her water issue.

The small crock in my basement is just one of the manyproblems I had with the waterproofing work that was done at my home August 19 –21, 2013.  I agreed to pay $5,000 for the work, even though this wasnot the lowest quote I received, mainly because of the additional items Mikeagreed to take care of for me.  The twomost important items I wanted fixed, in addition to the basic waterproofing,were the leak from the hot water tank and the downspout that appeared to beclogged.  I had a pipe from the hot water tank to the floor drain tocontain the leak.  I hated this pipe andMike said he would be able to divert the leak directly into the Frenchdrain.  Then when the time came hisinstaller explained that this process would be dangerous and did not remove thepipe.  Another waterproofing company cameto my house and said there was no reason why this could not have been done aspromised.  My hot water tank is in a verytight space, but I was told they would tunnel underneath it.  I paid for a French drain along that entirewall, but they skipped several feet.Mike agreed to take care of the downspout problem.  I wasn’t sure how, then he told me to capit!  I finally got him to cap it onSeptember 4, 2013, but that wasn’t the solution I expected.In fact, the front corner of my home was included in theplan, but was not done until I called to complain about water coming in!  They are supposed to return service callswithin 24 hours, but I waited 3 days for a return call.  By then the water had dried up and theservice person acted as if I was imagining things.  The next time water came in I called againand again I waited more than 24 hours for a return call.  This time we had taken pictures and theservice person finally admitted there was a problem and fixed the front cornerof my home. After this corner was fixed, I continued to get water.  I called Ark again and Mike returned my call4 days later.  He said he would do the frontwall for $35 per foot.  I didn’t think Ishould have to pay anything to have this problem fixed, especially after all ofmy disappointments concerning this job. Ark waterproofed my front wall and tookcare of the drain from the hot water tank on March 14, 2014, 7 months after theinitial job. This was not a year later and this was not the first problem I hadwith water coming in my basement after the original install in August 2013. When I complained about the one pump being in a [redacted]bucket, the water proofer told me that he could fit a full size crock in thatspace.  I finally got Mike to agree toreplace that crock, but it had to wait until things were slow. So I waited andwaited and waited. Then when I was on vacation he called.  After I returned home, I waited for him tocontact me. But when he never called, I called him.  That employee didn’t work for himanymore!  Then he came up with the excuse about moving the water lineand telling me what his attorney said. That was never mentioned before. Thespace where the crock is currently located is the same size as the space wherethe water line is, so I don’t know why it will fit there and not where it iscurrently. The bottom line is I was promised a full size crock and ithas never been replaced.  I keep hearingthe same excuse that the basement is dry and I should be happy.  Yes it is dry, now.  But I had to have the water proofers backseveral times before it was completely dry. I had to fight every step of the way to get it dry and to get otherpromises fulfilled.If Ark refuses to honor the promise they made to me, then Iwant a $200 refund.    Regards,
[redacted]

This is in regards to the complaint I filed on 3/10/2016, the company has resolved the issue. I have decided to rehire them to do the job and the company is fully willing to work with me. I would definitely recommend this company to take care of waterproofing your basement.

co sent whole warranty

We went out to Ms. [redacted]s home and gave her a free estimate two week prior to her signing the contract.  Ms. [redacted] called Jim and said she wanted to go with Ark Basement Services.  The contract was signed on Thursday 2/11/2016.  Ms. [redacted] said she really wanted to get...

this done so we were able to get her on the schedule for the following Wednesday, 2/17/2016.  On Tuesday 2/16/2016 we received a call in the evening from Ms. [redacted] stating that she wanted to terminate the contract.  This was the evening before the job was supposed to start.  We told Ms. [redacted]s that she had to pay the 33% because the material was already purchased and it was past the 3 day grace period.  We consider Saturdays a business day since we work that day, making her last day to cancel the contract on Monday.  There seems to be miscommunication somewhere throughout this situation.  We always want our customers to be happy, even if they decide to not choose us.  We are willing to not charge her the 33% to ensure her satisfactory.

Revdex.com:
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.
[No where in the contract do it state that the company considers Saturday a business day. The definition of a business day is Monday thru Friday even if a business is open on the weekend. For example, some bank branches are open on Saturday and Sunday, however, the transactions do not get processed on Saturday and Sunday, they are only processed on business days Monday thru Friday. If this company want to recognize Saturday as a business day for their company, then it should be in the contract as such. And this was never communicated. Although I cancelled the day before the project, they already had the material for a job for someone else who had cancelled their work for 2/17/16 so the material was already ordered for them. The company knows that I cancelled timely and that's why they had not attempted to contact me regarding the 33% that is required to pay if the order is cancelled after the 3rd business day. I have attached the contract as evidence.]
Regards,
[redacted]

That works for us   July 17th     if something comes sooner we will .

On the contract it states the warranty and what the customer paid for the job     I am assuming he lost that??   I am the owner [redacted] and I just contacted Mr [redacted] and I am emailing contract to him.    Also I never spoke to him on this...

matter.  He stated he talked to me.   He just admitted that was a mistake on his part.  Either way it is handled.    [redacted] emailing him it by the end of business hours today

arrived on time. workers extremely polite and efficient. clean up -- better than mine --job done well and with clean up every day. Would use their services again