Bastian Homes

We moved into our house built by Bastian homes in 12/2014. Shortly after that the cement in our garage began crumbling. We were told it was from the salt on our vehicles. We were also told somebody would come out and see if it could be fixed. We Have never heard back from anyone. Our AC freezes up every couple weeks all summer long. The people contracted from Bastian to install it don't like to return calls either. Somebody was supposed to come out one year after the house was built to repair cracks and screws in drywall from settling. That never happened either.

Review: I made settlement on new home 12/16/05. Since that time I have had 3 roof repairs with shingles flying off. The end of January, 2016, the winds caused about 40 shingles to come off. I will need a whole new roof according to a few roofers and insurance adjustor. There is whole section that was without roof felt paper and when that section blew off it exposed just wood andthat has since caused a leak in the living room. The first time I had problems the builder said he would fix the part and installed shingle. The second and third time I paid the repairs myself. This 4th time I will have to pay my deductible-not sure what else. I believe the roofers that Bastian Homes builder hired did not have the skills to install a roof properly. Some of the 3 tab shingles are not even nailed. A new roof is supposed to last over 10 years.Desired Settlement: Bastian Homes should be required to pay the deductible that I will be charged for a complete new rood with tear off. I am not asking for repair money for the other 2 times that I paid for.

Consumer

Response:

From: [redacted]Date: Thu, Mar 17, 2016 at 9:46 AMSubject: Complaint # ID[redacted]To: [redacted]To whom it concerns: This is in regards to the above complaint number regarding Bastian Homes, Dover, DE.

Review: Negligence during the installation of a HVAC system on a new home in 2004. In May 2015, it was determined that a packaging pad had never been removed from inside the coil on the air handler of the HVAC system. This packaging pad may have caused the units malfunction over the years which led to numerous repairs and expenses.Desired Settlement: I would like to be reimbursed for my repair costs over the years so I may apply it as a payment to a new HVAC system.

Business

Response:

July 27, 2015 RE: Letter regarding HVAC Dear Sir: Regarding your letter about problems you have had with your HVAC unit since installation in 2004. When you finalized your settlement on 08/17/2004 you signed/initialed your settlement sheet indicating that you did receive your Residential Warranty Corp. warranty booklet with your homes individual registration number so that at any time you could contact their offices regarding any claims for service etc that you felt were not responded to by Bastian Homes. RWC would have opened a claim in your behalf and investigated your claim. I cannot find any record of your calling about difficulties with this unit or any other problems in the past 11+ years. At this settlement in 2004 you were given a list of the mechanical contractors who did the installations in your home so that you could follow-up with them about covered warranty claims and repairs. These installers would have been the most knowledgeable about your equipment and system. You additionally indicated that you have repeatedly contacted [redacted] to make repairs many times in subsequent years, and he is not the original installer, who per your letter you know as [redacted]. Per your letter the particular contractor that you retained, [redacted], has made repeated equipment and service repairs and during these multiple visits did not find the alleged plastic bag/pad prior to your personal recent discovery in May 2015. While Bastian Homes appreciates the fact that you have been a satisfied customer since, 2004, we feel that we cannot assist you with your current difficulty due to the age of your equipment, the passage of time past the warranty coverage period and no prior history of warranty complaints. Thank you. Sincerely, Darlene [redacted] Senior Accountant Asst. Controller – Cash Mgmt. Accountant RWC Liaison – Safety Committee Advisor Notary Public Lion Ent. Inc. T/A Bastian Homes Bastian Homes Ltd. Phone # [redacted] Fax # [redacted] CC: [redacted] Revdex.com of Pittsburgh

Consumer

Response:

Review: My wife and I have been trying to get Bastian Custom Homes (Bastian) to address numerous, and I do mean numerous, repair items associated with the home that Bastian built for us in 2010.We occupied the home on November 22, 2010 and immediately numerous repair items began to appear (cracked drywall, lack of flooring shims/ support, major cracks over top of room doors, doors not shutting, etc). The project supervisor instructed us to prepare a list of all items that appeared after we moved into the house, and those that appeared within the next ten months, and submit it to Bastian within one year of occupancy (or November 22, 2011) so that Bastian could make all necessary "punch list" repairs at one time.My wife and I did submit the list. As a matter of fact, we submitted the list numerous times (2-18-11, 11-8-11, 6-20-12, 11-14-12, 1-15-13, 6-14-13, 7-3-13 and 10-24-13) and still have not had any repairs made. Our last letter from Mr. [redacted] (VP w/ Bastian) on 11-7-13 ensured us that someone from Bastian would contact us within the next 14 days (or just prior to Thanksgiving 2013) to review the documentation and schedule an appointment to visit the house and determine the type of warranty work to be completed.Well, it's not 1-3-14 (almost two months after Mr. [redacted] sent the letter) and my wife and I still have not had any contact (email, phone or letter) from Bastian regarding the scheduled repairs.As you can image, 28 months (38 months if you count when we occupied the home) and still nothing has been done by Bastian to make the necessary repairs.We would like for Bastian to make the necessary repairs to our home no later then August 2014 so that we can finally begin enjoying the house and not have to be reminded on a daily basis of the repairs that need to be completed by Bastian.Desired Settlement: We would like to have Bastian make the repairs by the end of August 2014.If Bastian is unwilling to send crews to make the necessary repairs, I would like for Bastian to sign an agreement where a reputable local home contractor, selected by my wife & I and paid for by Bastian, to make the necessary repairs. That way, we know the repairs our made to our satisfaction by a local contractor who will respond to our concerns.Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Business

Response:

In response to the claims by Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] regarding uncompleted service work at the custom built home located at [redacted]. Per input from Mr. [redacted] our firm would like to visually inspect the work that Mr. [redacted] has detailed in his two missives. One dated 11/7/2011 and another dated 10/25/2013. Bastian Homes representative Mr. [redacted] has attempted to call Mr. [redacted] to set up appointments to view the items on the complaint repair list. The phone number that Mr. [redacted] was given to respond to Mr. [redacted] is not the phone number in the complaint that I received from the Revdex.com. This would explain why Mr. [redacted] has not replied to the calls from messages left at an erroneous phone number.

Mr. [redacted] now has the correct phone number and will call Mr. [redacted], within 15 days (due to weather related conditions and scheduled vacations) of this message, to set up an appointment time to inspect the home for warranty covered repairs. After the inspection, Mr. [redacted] will schedule repairs to be made.

Mr. [redacted] desired settlement alternative of Bastian Homes to sign an agreement to have another contractor make repairs, and Bastian Homes to make payment to another vendor, is not an option. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution (in regards to inspecting the house for the repairs to be made only) is satisfactory to me. This review of Bastian's response doesn't relieve Bastian from making the necessary repairs in a timely manner (hopefully before the end of Summer 2014).

Review: We signed our contract with Bastian homes on May 10th, 2014 and when we signed the contract we were told that they would have the house built in 5 1/2 months. They were suppose to start on the house within 30 days of when we closed our construction loan and it wasn't until mid August when they finally started and by that time they were already in breach of contract with the bank. We were unaware of this at that time. When we would contact Bastian they would never answer the phone and when you left a message they wouldn't return your phone call. We went from the month of November through January with not having anyone working on the shell of a house. No one can ever give you a time frame of when the house will be completed and our construction loan will expire at the end of May. We have occurred thousands of dollars of extra costs because of the project not being completed like they said it would. We have been contacted by other customers that are having the same issues as us with Bastian homes.Desired Settlement: Finish the job and adjust the price accordingly.

Business

Response:

Since the original complaint we at Bastian Homes have worked with Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] on the completion of their home. There have been outside influences that have made this work very difficult but we have endeavored to maintain a professional attitude and responded to their concerns and questions.Our Vice President and General Manager [redacted] has spoken with Mr. & Mrs. Blake on numerous occasions and along with the branch Office Manager of Construction they continue to work with both of them to the successful resolution of their concerns.As of the writing of this message, the work continues on their home and most recently the kitchen cabinets and the vinyl was installed. As a General Contractor we subcontract work to local subcontractors and at times construction is delayed due to scheduling and at no time have we purposely halted work on this project and we will continue to the finish to the settlement of the home.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and they did not provide a resolution in their letter. . We just want it to be known that we have never once spoken with the Vice President and General Manager [redacted]. The only person that will communicate with us from Bastian Homes is [redacted]. We just want the house to be completed as soon as possible since it will not be completed by the date listed on the Construction Schedule that we were given on May 5, 2015. The week of June 15-19 was supposed to be the "Walk through/Closing" and they still have a lot of work that needs to be completed. We hope that since we have "accepted" this that they still continue to work on completing the house and that they can complete it by July 1, 2015. I don’t think that is too much to ask for, if they need to hire more people and work seven days a week to make this happen then that is what needs to be done. This has gone on long enough and we just want to be in our new home.

Regards,