Brookstone Homes at Berkshire, Inc.

Response to Revdex.com pertaining to *** *** *** *** ** *** *** *** ** ***
To Complaints Response from Hour Homes
Hour Homes and its subcontractors vigorously denies the statements made by this homeowner are true.
Hour Homes and its subcontractors
has in fact responded to every one of the complaints received from this homeowner. The homeowner has in fact never been satisfied with one aspect of any work done by Hour Homes and its subcontractors to construct, and our responses and repairs that were done when they were warranted.
It seems that the more we do to appease him the more he complaintsHour Homes has constructed in the area of homes in Stafford County and has always adhered to its responsibility's to the homeowners it has servedAnd this is the first Revdex.com complaint we have had to addressUnfortunately there are some customers in this business that cannot be appeased and as far as Hour Homes is concerned this is one of them.
Hour Homes

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear belowI am not satisfied with Hour Homes response as it is just
words on paper. As I write this,
months after closing, some of the very first warranty items (some county code violations)
are still waiting to be repaired. You
need not read any additional sentence in this response, this says it all and
until the repairs are made I will not be satisfied.
They write in their response that they have “responded to
all complaints”, but I have lodged very few complaints with Hour Homes. I believe they were actually referring to my warranty
repair requests, which they have responded to, albeit infrequently. By “responding to”, they have sent an email
or two. They said in their letter that
they have responded to all warranty repairs “complaints” implying that they are
all complete or closed. That is blatantly
FALSE. There are still multiple outstanding
warranty items that are waiting on Hour Homes to repair and again, some being
county code violations. The fact they know
they are code violations and they have not allocated enough resources to fix them
speaks volumes to their statement “… and has always adhered to it’s
responsibility’s [sic] to the homeowners it has served.” This is a clear demonstration of the
integrity of this company
As to the Integrity of the company, in this letter they
clearly, and boldly lie to the Revdex.com. They state “And[sic] this is the first Revdex.com
complaint we have had to address”. On
the Revdex.com’s website you will clearly see that on 12/5/a complaint was filed
against Hour Homes for similar reasons as I have submitted mine. That complaint was closed because Hour Homes
failed to respond to the complaint. Hour
homes also made a statement when they said “This homeowner has in fact
never been satisfied with one aspect of any work done by Hour Homes and its[sic]
subcontractors to construct, and our[sic] responses and repairs that were done
when they were warranted.” This is
because I have been satisfied with Mark *** (of Hour Homes), *** ***, *** ***, ** *** and *** and *** from *** *** as they have done a good job when they came out to complete
warranty work. I have emails to Hour
Homes to prove this. These instances makes
at least the 8th time that I have experienced Hour Homes lie (or at
least make statements) which is also another representation of the
company. I can provide emails and drawings
of each time this has occurred if any party wishes to see proof
I would like to address two comments that really get to the
heart of this complaint. In two separate
sentences they used the word appease.
They claimed the more they did to appease me, the more I complained, and
that in this business (home building) there are some customers that cannot be
appeased, and to Hour Homes, I was one of them.
Merriam Webster defines Appease as: “to make (someone)
pleased or less angry by giving or saying something desired”. Here is the problem plain and simple: I CLEARLY, and REGULARLY communicated my
desires to Hour Homes; to receive the home that I paid for, and to have the
warranty repair items fixed in a timely manner.
I have over one hundred emails to Hour Homes that proves this. Is it any wonder why I am not happy when I
still have outstanding warranty items after months of repeatedly asking Hour
Homes to repair the warranty items that were identified at the closing
walk-through…? They WERE NOT appeasing
me, that is why I am more frustrated now than months ago.
If I ever got a response from Hour Homes it was because I
had to email ten times and make a few phone calls to get a response, again I
have emails to prove this. Whenever I
did get a response it was usually the construction foreman attempting to make a
joke out of my request… Yes, I have
emails of this also. Usually the Foreman
was emailing me to tell me no, and at times I had to go to the county, who gave
me the appropriate codes and diagrams so that I could go back and tell the
builder’s foreman that he was wrong, and that the repair would need to be made,
and yes I have email proof of this also.
When subcontractors came out, they might have fixed the problem, but
ALMOST EVERY TIME, they damaged something else and caused us to have to submit
another warranty item. Most of the
Subcontractors had to come to our home 3,4,or more times to fix the problem they
were assigned because they didn’t bring the right material or tools, or they
damaged something when the made the repair, or they simply forgot to come back
and complete the job, here are only a few examples:
-
We had a driveway advertised to us (it actually
sold us on the house) that was falsely represented. A few weeks before closing, Hour Homes said they could not deliver that driveway After much discussion, my wife and I developed a very specific driveway compromise and
agreed to still purchase the house if it was paved to those specifications. It was not paved per the specifications that we agreed to, and after numerous emails to Hour Homes clearly outlining how they
failed to deliver the driveway that I agreed to, they simply said no, they we
not going to do anything about the driveway being paved per their own design. This is a problem that I deal with every day and will have to deal
with however long I live in this house-
We had huge patches all over my house for about
months after I moved in waiting for the drywall company to finish their repairs-
The low voltage subcontractor had to come out at least times over a months period to correct the theater wiring location in the basement, despite having a detailed plan that I drafted for them... The whole time there were holes in my
basement walls and ceiling. We ended up having to finish it all ourselves because they simply could not get it right-
We still have missing insulation in the wall of
our basement and that is a code violation-
We had a large hole in my ceiling from a repair
for a broken floor joist for over two months-
We had a basically inoperable window for about
months and it still barely operates, another code violation-
WE had a porch that was improperly graded and
all of the water ran back towards the house causing a safety hazard all last
winter, and every time it rained. It was
not repaired for over months even though that was also a code violationI have included a few pictures for reference but keep in mind that these are ONLY A
FEW, I also have email proof of these.
Hour Homes stated that it was trying to appease us… How can they say the treatment we received was
appeasement? What makes this so
frustrating is that at EVERY opportunity I gave explicit details to Hour Homes
about my desires and expectations. They
could have easily managed those expectations by reciprocating with communication,
or they could have carried out my desires as I described them. In most cases, Hour Homes chose to do
neither. All I have ever asked for is to
receive the house that I paid for, and for the warranty items to be fixed in a
timely manner. I am still waiting for
that simple request to be fulfilled
Regards,
*** *** *** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
Regards,
[redacted]
March 13, 2016
 
RE: response to Brookstone Homes response to Revdex.com [redacted]
 
1.     The Brookstone Homes response had no offer to resolve our complaint. We
understand the house is still within the warranty period. These were items were
identified during walk thru and should not take a whole year to be repaired.
2.     We
understand that these items may have been postponed depending on weather and
availability of materials, but after nine months all items on the walk-thru
list have not been completed as stated by Brookstone Homes:
a.     “backsplash
kitchen” – large gap between wall and granite backsplash – was repaired once,
but gap has reappeared.
b.     “stone
on front of house” – see below
c.     “repair
yard” – drainage in front yard by sidewalk not corrected; large puddle appears
after rain. – no repairs have ever been made. Mr. [redacted], himself, identified this
issue during a site visit and promised to have it repaired.
d.     “replace
dead shrubs” – none have been replaced as promised
e.     “fill
propane tank” – completed
3.     “stone
on front of house”
a.     We
had not asked for all stonework to be replaced. We simply want our drystack
stonework to match the manufacturer’s brochure used by Brookstone Homes during
selection of exterior materials/finishes used for our new home.
b.     As
shown in the original Revdex.com complaint:
                                        ...⇄ /> i.     “One of the major issues on
the list is the stonework on the exterior of our home. The installation of this
stonework is not satisfactory. Issues include stones installed backwards, large
gaps between drystack stone and areas where broken stones were used instead of
whole stones to complete the work. The job was not completed to advertised
standards. Some repair work was done, but total repairs have not been
completed.”
c.     The
statement that Brookstone Homes made about repairing or replacing all defective
stones is not true. We still have several stones installed backwards, large
gaps in drystack and broken stones used in place of whole stones. All of these
areas were documented with photographs in the Power Point sent to the office of
Brookstone Homes in December 2015.
 
Sincerely,
 
[redacted]

Review: We closed on our new home June 2015. The builder left many "walk-thru" issues unresolved. One of the major issues on the list is the stonework on the exterior of our home. The installation of this stonework is not satisfactory. Issues include stones installed backwards, large gaps between drystack stone and areas where broken stones were used instead of whole stones to complete the work. The job was not completed to advertised standards. Some repair work was done, but total repairs have not been completed. There are other issues on list to include scratched tubs, damaged hardwood flooring, sunken driveway, and more.Desired Settlement: We wish to have all repairs completed in a satisfactory manner. We were promised that our home would match the fit and finish of the model home.

Business

Response:

First of all let the Revdex.com be informed that this customer’s

home is still under the one year warranty period and therefore Brookstone Homes

vigorously disagrees with any complaints being filed until the period has

expired. There are certain items such as settling of driveways and year areas

that take this period to completely become obvious.In response to complaint.“The Builder left many “walk-thru” issues unresolved.#1. [redacted] is a copy of the walk-thru list and its items and

all have been addressed and all but 4 have been initialed off by homeowner.

None of these 4 are in his complaint. It clearly states a top of page in big

black bold letters that items such as scratched tubs, damaged floors etc. are

not covered if not noted.The 4 item’s not initialed off were done while the

homeowners wife was present and she refused to initial them off for fear her

husband would not agree.The one item marked as N/C (not covered) was noted because

the customer has insisted that the builder replaced all of his stone on front

of house. The customer does not agree with the method used by Brookstore Homes

to install this type of dry stack stone. Brookstone homes did go back and repair

and or replace any stone the customer felt was defective expect to not agree to

replace the whole stone front. Brookstone homes has installed this dry stack

stone in this method on all of its homes and will not agree with the homeowner

that it is installed incorrectly. Furthermore the builder believes the customer

is unhappy with the choice he made when selecting this tone and is trying to

force the builder to replace it at our cost. He has made statements that if it

were to be replaced he would like to pick a different stone to the

superintendent and the subcontractor who installed the stone and done his

repairs.Brookstone Homes will gladly revisit any item this customer

feels needs attention now and on his one year warranty list in June of 2016 but

we will not agree to replace his entire stone front on his home.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]

Regards,

Review: Our relationship with Hour Homes “Brookstone Homes” began in April of 2014 when we found a home they were building for sale. Problems began to develop at the closing walk-through my wife and I had been living out of a hotel for several weeks at this point and after several failed attempts at fixing the same basic problems, Kip and Justin assured us that we could move in and they would send someone out to correct all of the problems. Once we moved in, virtually all service stopped. On EVERY occasion that we were able to get anyone to come out and work on final walk-through/warranty items, it took multiple emails and calls. I sent over 90 emails outlining discrepancies and warranty items over the first year. Hour Homes responded to maybe 10% of these emails. For most of the warranty items, I had to do Hour Home’s job and contact the sub-contractors directly in order to correct the problems. On several occasions I had to contact the county to seek clarification and then had to show Hour Homes that they were wrong and that they would be required to take action to correct problems. They have caused an undue amount of stress on our family by leaving our house a construction zone for Months at a time, rarely responding to our requests, blatantly disregarding our concerns. They have failed to address VA, and Stafford County code violations in a prompt manner, they have lied to us, and made the warranty process feel like we were defending ourselves in court. Hour Homes has made us feel like they would tell us anything to get us into the home and then they washed their hands of us. Service after the sale is almost non-existent. At the time of this letter, it has been almost 14 and a half months since closing, and we still have outstanding warranty issues. We have patently waited and gently reminded Hour Homes for over 14 months about these discrepancies. We have upheld our end of the warranty process at every opportunity.Desired Settlement: We want our home fixed… That is all we have ever asked for from Hour Homes, to provide the home that we agreed to, and which we paid for. I cannot believe how we have been treated, despite our patience and consistent, clear communication with Hour homes. At a minimum, we would like all of our previously identified discrepancies fixed before December 2015.

I feel it would be appropriate, given the level of treatment we have received, to receive additional compensation. However, I do not know how to quantify living in a home with holes in the walls and ceiling for months at a time, for living in a home with unfinished drywall patches for months at a time, for being dis-respected by the builders foreman, and subcontractors, for being lied to, and for having to fight to have the builder uphold their end of the agreement. What I can quantify is my time, and I can easily state that I have spent over 100 hours trying to get the builder to fix their errors over the last 14 months.

Business

Response:

Response to Revdex.com pertaining to [redacted]To Complaints Response from Hour Homes Hour Homes and its subcontractors vigorously denies the statements made by this homeowner are true. Hour Homes and its subcontractors has in fact responded to every one of the complaints received from this homeowner. The homeowner has in fact never been satisfied with one aspect of any work done by Hour Homes and its subcontractors to construct, and our responses and repairs that were done when they were warranted. It seems that the more we do to appease him the more he complaints. Hour Homes has constructed in the area of 2000 homes in Stafford County and has always adhered to its responsibility's to the homeowners it has served. And this is the first Revdex.com complaint we have had to address. Unfortunately there are some customers in this business that cannot be appeased and as far as Hour Homes is concerned this is one of them. Hour Homes

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I am not satisfied with Hour Homes response as it is just

words on paper. As I write this, 15

months after closing, some of the very first warranty items (some county code violations)

are still waiting to be repaired. You

need not read any additional sentence in this response, this says it all and

until the repairs are made I will not be satisfied.

They write in their response that they have “responded to

all complaints”, but I have lodged very few complaints with Hour Homes. I believe they were actually referring to my warranty

repair requests, which they have responded to, albeit infrequently. By “responding to”, they have sent an email

or two. They said in their letter that

they have responded to all warranty repairs “complaints” implying that they are

all complete or closed. That is blatantly

FALSE. There are still multiple outstanding

warranty items that are waiting on Hour Homes to repair and again, some being

county code violations. The fact they know

they are code violations and they have not allocated enough resources to fix them

speaks volumes to their statement “… and has always adhered to it’s

responsibility’s [sic] to the homeowners it has served.” This is a clear demonstration of the

integrity of this company.

As to the Integrity of the company, in this letter they

clearly, and boldly lie to the Revdex.com. They state “And[sic] this is the first Revdex.com

complaint we have had to address”. On

the Revdex.com’s website you will clearly see that on 12/5/2012 a complaint was filed

against Hour Homes for similar reasons as I have submitted mine. That complaint was closed because Hour Homes

failed to respond to the complaint. Hour

homes also made a false statement when they said “This homeowner has in fact

never been satisfied with one aspect of any work done by Hour Homes and its[sic]

subcontractors to construct, and our[sic] responses and repairs that were done

when they were warranted.” This is false

because I have been satisfied with Mark [redacted] (of Hour Homes), [redacted] and [redacted] and [redacted] from [redacted] as they have done a good job when they came out to complete

warranty work. I have emails to Hour

Homes to prove this. These instances makes

at least the 8th time that I have experienced Hour Homes lie (or at

least make false statements) which is also another representation of the

company. I can provide emails and drawings

of each time this has occurred if any party wishes to see proof.

I would like to address two comments that really get to the

heart of this complaint. In two separate

sentences they used the word appease.

They claimed the more they did to appease me, the more I complained, and

that in this business (home building) there are some customers that cannot be

appeased, and to Hour Homes, I was one of them.

Merriam Webster defines Appease as: “to make (someone)

pleased or less angry by giving or saying something desired”. Here is the problem plain and simple: I CLEARLY, and REGULARLY communicated my

desires to Hour Homes; to receive the home that I paid for, and to have the

warranty repair items fixed in a timely manner.

I have over one hundred emails to Hour Homes that proves this. Is it any wonder why I am not happy when I

still have outstanding warranty items after 15 months of repeatedly asking Hour

Homes to repair the warranty items that were identified at the closing

walk-through…? They WERE NOT appeasing

me, that is why I am more frustrated now than 15 months ago.

If I ever got a response from Hour Homes it was because I

had to email ten times and make a few phone calls to get a response, again I

have emails to prove this. Whenever I

did get a response it was usually the construction foreman attempting to make a

joke out of my request… Yes, I have

emails of this also. Usually the Foreman

was emailing me to tell me no, and at times I had to go to the county, who gave

me the appropriate codes and diagrams so that I could go back and tell the

builder’s foreman that he was wrong, and that the repair would need to be made,

and yes I have email proof of this also.

When subcontractors came out, they might have fixed the problem, but

ALMOST EVERY TIME, they damaged something else and caused us to have to submit

another warranty item. Most of the

Subcontractors had to come to our home 3,4,5 or more times to fix the problem they

were assigned because they didn’t bring the right material or tools, or they

damaged something when the made the repair, or they simply forgot to come back

and complete the job, here are only a few examples:

-

We had a driveway advertised to us (it actually

sold us on the house) that was falsely represented. A few weeks before closing, Hour Homes said they could not deliver that driveway. After much discussion, my wife and I developed a very specific driveway compromise and

agreed to still purchase the house if it was paved to those specifications. It was not paved per the specifications that we agreed to, and after numerous emails to Hour Homes clearly outlining how they

failed to deliver the driveway that I agreed to, they simply said no, they we

not going to do anything about the driveway being paved per their own design. This is a problem that I deal with every day and will have to deal

with however long I live in this house.-

We had huge patches all over my house for about

3 months after I moved in waiting for the drywall company to finish their repairs.-

The low voltage subcontractor had to come out at least 5 times over a 5 months period to correct the theater wiring location in the basement, despite having a detailed plan that I drafted for them... The whole time there were holes in my

basement walls and ceiling. We ended up having to finish it all ourselves because they simply could not get it right.-

We still have missing insulation in the wall of

our basement and that is a code violation.-

We had a large hole in my ceiling from a repair

for a broken floor joist for over two months.-

We had a basically inoperable window for about

10 months and it still barely operates, another code violation.-

WE had a porch that was improperly graded and

all of the water ran back towards the house causing a safety hazard all last

winter, and every time it rained. It was

not repaired for over 12 months even though that was also a code violation.I have included a few pictures for reference but keep in mind that these are ONLY A

FEW, I also have email proof of these.

Hour Homes stated that it was trying to appease us… How can they say the treatment we received was

appeasement? What makes this so

frustrating is that at EVERY opportunity I gave explicit details to Hour Homes

about my desires and expectations. They

could have easily managed those expectations by reciprocating with communication,

or they could have carried out my desires as I described them. In most cases, Hour Homes chose to do

neither. All I have ever asked for is to

receive the house that I paid for, and for the warranty items to be fixed in a

timely manner. I am still waiting for

that simple request to be fulfilled.

Regards,