D & B Concrete Construction LLC

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2015/11/18) */
First and foremost, we apologize for not responding to this complaint sooner, however, we never received your initial emailWe have even scoured through our spam and trash folders, but did not find you first notificationThank you, Ms
***, for following up with a second email as this gives us the opportunity to set the record straight and dispel Ms***'s unfounded complaintHer allegations are fabricated and without merit as you will see from our interactions and correspondence with this customer throughout this period of time
Secondly, Ms*** did not have a legal, binding contract with us since she failed to meet the contractual stipulations regarding the payment terms clearly stated on our proposal of percent upon signing and the remaining upon completion of the projectAlthough she initially sent in a $check as a "good faith" partial deposit, she was reminded of these payment terms and instructed several times that this must be met before final arrangements could be made on our end to mobilize the equipment and crew onto her site and start the project, the last time in our email dated Sept1, She always stated that she would be transferring the money into her checking account, but failed to send us the deposit to finalize our agreementThis is our company policy, was always our company policy and will continue to be our company policy, which has worked well and benefited both our company and the prospective clients that we do business with
Third, if Ms*** would have communicated with us in a more transparent manner and been forthcoming with her entire situation from the beginning regarding masonry work, foundation problems and basement waterproofing, we would have politely explained to her that she needed to address these items first and then call us back to set up a bid appointment after these issues were completedNot being aware of this situation up front initially created considerable delays in our planning or beginning any concrete work on her siteWe cannot be held responsible for delays for unforeseen circumstances beyond our controlThis is also stated in our proposal underneath the signature line
D&B Concrete has earned a solid reputation as being StLouis' premiere concrete company, receiving numerous testimonials and word-of-mouth referrals from our customers in addition to many repeat customers who patiently waited six months or longer for our availability to do addition concrete work (please see email dated 7/01/15)Being a small, family-owned company affords us the ability to work closely with prospective clients regarding their particular needs and financial situation
We tried to do the same with Ms***; however, no matter how understanding, courteous and professional we were to receiving new information she surprised us with along the way or how often we updated her on weather conditions, she became increasing impatient and demanding and progressively difficult to work with when situations beyond our control aroseMany of these delays were the consequence arising from her own situation that she did not convey to us when she sent in her signed proposal, such as a drain installation matter and tuck pointing work that she already had planned (please see attached email threads dated May 4, and 19, 2015; )When we were alerted to this new information, we responded promptly and accurately regarding what work she needed to have completed before our crew could be on siteThis simply was not a delay on our part; conversely, she created this delay by having additional work that needed to be completed before new concrete could be poured
On May 28, Ms*** emailed us that the tuck point contractors would be out the 2nd week in June to do the work (please see attached email dated 5/29/15)This again delayed her project, and again, was simply not a delay on our part as we acted in accordance with the information that she provided to usShe also brought up another new situation at this time concerning water problems in her basement and wanting something done with her cinder block foundation (also noted in email threads dated 5/& 29/15)We acted quickly and responded promptly, as we always do to Ms***'s questions and concerns, and instructed her to have her structural situation checked out by a bona fide foundation expert as we do not do that type of work and that it needed to be done before the deck could be done (also emails 5/& 29/15)
We tried every possible way to answer all of her concerns and deal with her in a positive, constructive manner when situations arose, and even enlighten Ms*** that although her 13-year-old grandson is artistic and she thought he do the drawings, these drawing needed to be to scale, be actual plans for constructing the deck and stairs and needed to be up to code (please see email dated 6/02/15)Any builder will create a set of plans for the project he will be doing, resulting in a cost for these plansWe even told her that if she just wanted us to remove the steps, she could get another contractor of her choice to do this work instead of *** ***She later decided to continue with Mr*** ***
After the tuck pointing work was completed, we unfortunately were well into the wettest June on record and promptly notified Mr*** of the weather delaysConcrete contractors are at the mercy of the weather, and we could not pour concrete with all the rain and mud at that timeIt was explained to Ms*** that until the rain stops and ground dries out, we were unable to proceed with our schedule of projects that were previously booked ahead of her project, and would contact her when we were able to finalize these jobsWe experienced more rain delays in July and informed Ms*** that even though we were virtually a standstill in June, we were able to progress a little further and that *** *** was working as fast as humanly possible before more rain moved inRain continued to present road blocks to our completing jobs ahead of Ms***'s project (see email 7/22/& 8/20/15)We even stopped going out for bids during this time as we did not want to contract with new business until the projects already on our books were finalizedWe simply don't want to keep any of our customers waiting any longer than necessaryThis was also communicated to Ms***
Once some drier weather moved in, *** ***, ***'s father, went to the City of Glendale to get a permit for the deck work that he was scheduled to do, but was told that an architectural field report was needed; and therefore, immediately proceeded to contact the architect for his availability to provide this requested reportWe immediately notified Ms*** of Glendale's request (see email 8/26, two emails)*** from the City of Glendale admitted to giving *** *** information that was not "definitive" in her words, and we immediately notified Ms*** to what transpired (see email dated 9/01/15)Again, this confusion and resulting delay was not a delay on our part, but a miscommunication on the part of the City of Glendale not giving Mr*** *** definitive instructionsAlso in that email, you will see our reminder and request to Ms*** for the percent proposal amount as per contractual agreement
On August 27, Ms*** sent us an email stating that she wanted the work to be done as soon as possible, and as you can see, we gave her a start date of Monday, August 31, with the stipulations and strong recommendations that nothing be done to the back area be done until the proper inspections, permits and reports be completedBecause she was so adamant and demanding for this work to be done, we advised her of the repercussions this might cause and told her that we would be sending her the necessary waivers for her signature (email dated 8/28/15)
On August 28, Ms*** sent an email stating that she was "caught off guard" and requested delaying the start date for the project until sometime after Labor Day (email 8/28/15)She again stated that she would be making arrangements to transfer funds, but that never happenedWe don't know how she can be caught off guard after demanding a start date as soon as possible, and not taking care of her responsibilities to fulfill her end of the contractMs***'s failure to take care of her contractual responsibilities caused further delays in our starting this project despite our efforts to get this project underway
On Sept3, we sent Ms*** an email explaining our company policy regarding taking phone calls when Mr*** *** was on site on another customer's project in response to Ms***'s repeated requests to speak directly and only to him (see email 9/3/15)
Later on Sept 3, Ms*** sent an email telling us of her new plans to take a few vacation days from 9/to 9/and instructed us not to start the project during those days, however, wanting the project done before her guests arrive at the end of SeptemberAs always, we immediately responded to this new development and notified Ms*** that her restrictions would be posted for ***'s attention and response on his iCloud message board (see other email 9/03/15)
After much thought and consideration, it was apparent that despite all of our efforts to work with Ms***, answer all of her questions and concerns, educate her on our company process and procedure for concrete construction, tolerate her repeated delays to proceed with the project, and especially in light of her new restrictions of not starting the project when she was on vacation, it became clearly evident to us that it was not humanly possible to complete this project with this small window of opportunityAlthough we do not like to turn down any jobs and we take great measures to try to make things work out; when customers make it impossible to do a project; we have no alternative but to not accept a contractTherefore, we promptly emailed Ms*** to let her know that because of these new developments, we were not able to accept her contract(see email dated 9/8/15)
We certainly do not object if a customer wants to be present when we start a project; however, a lot of our customers can't afford to take off work and don't come home until a project is well underway or almost completed, and we have never had any issues that our work was not done to their specifications
We appreciate and value our customers and want them to be as pleased as we are regarding the work that we do for them and email them a "customer care sheet for newly poured concrete" and "customer satisfaction survey" for their completion and review (please see attached documents)D&B Concrete strives to always give our customers the best customer service possible and continually seeks additional ways to improve our customer relationshipsWe proudly post our mission statement, vision statement, code of conduct, company credo and business philosophy on our website, www.dandbconcrete.com; and when sending out proposals, we welcome prospective customers to visit our site, as we did with Ms***
I have also attached a copy of our initial proposal and Ms***'s signed copy where she made changes in the proposal for your reviewWe never initialed the changes that she made nor did we formally accepted her contract since she had not as yet fulfilled her part of the contract by submitting the required amountWe officially accept contracts when all customer requirements are met, and this was explained to Ms*** during our phone conversation when we told her we would accept her good-faith check, provided she sends in her percent deposit before the final arrangements to mobilize equipment and crew to her site
We're sorry this response is so lengthy, Ms***; however we wanted to give conclusive evidence and undeniable proof that the allegations brought forth by Ms*** were fallacious, inaccurate, fraudulent and without meritThe fact that she wants some kind of compensation, but fails to reveal what she thinks she is entitled to is suspect and too vague to even respond toAlso, her baseless allegation that we somehow value commercial projects more than residential is and unfounded, as we value and respect all of our clients and customers, as well as vendors, material suppliers and employeesWe also hope that our many attachments do not present a problem for you to receive or open
Thank you again, Mrs***, for giving us the opportunity to respond to these allegations; and should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time at ***@dandbconcrete.com
Sincerely,
*** ***
Office Manager
D&B Concrete
www.dandbconcrete.com
XXX-XXX-XXXX
*** *** ***
Fenton, MO XXXXX

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2015/11/18) */
First and foremost, we apologize for not responding to this complaint sooner, however, we never received your initial emailWe have even scoured through our spam and trash folders, but did not find you first notificationThank you, Ms
***, for following up with a second email as this gives us the opportunity to set the record straight and dispel Ms***'s unfounded complaintHer allegations are fabricated and without merit as you will see from our interactions and correspondence with this customer throughout this period of time
Secondly, Ms*** did not have a legal, binding contract with us since she failed to meet the contractual stipulations regarding the payment terms clearly stated on our proposal of percent upon signing and the remaining upon completion of the projectAlthough she initially sent in a $check as a "good faith" partial deposit, she was reminded of these payment terms and instructed several times that this must be met before final arrangements could be made on our end to mobilize the equipment and crew onto her site and start the project, the last time in our email dated Sept1, She always stated that she would be transferring the money into her checking account, but failed to send us the deposit to finalize our agreementThis is our company policy, was always our company policy and will continue to be our company policy, which has worked well and benefited both our company and the prospective clients that we do business with
Third, if Ms*** would have communicated with us in a more transparent manner and been forthcoming with her entire situation from the beginning regarding masonry work, foundation problems and basement waterproofing, we would have politely explained to her that she needed to address these items first and then call us back to set up a bid appointment after these issues were completedNot being aware of this situation up front initially created considerable delays in our planning or beginning any concrete work on her siteWe cannot be held responsible for delays for unforeseen circumstances beyond our controlThis is also stated in our proposal underneath the signature line
D&B Concrete has earned a solid reputation as being StLouis' premiere concrete company, receiving numerous testimonials and word-of-mouth referrals from our customers in addition to many repeat customers who patiently waited six months or longer for our availability to do addition concrete work (please see email dated 7/01/15)Being a small, family-owned company affords us the ability to work closely with prospective clients regarding their particular needs and financial situation
We tried to do the same with Ms***; however, no matter how understanding, courteous and professional we were to receiving new information she surprised us with along the way or how often we updated her on weather conditions, she became increasing impatient and demanding and progressively difficult to work with when situations beyond our control aroseMany of these delays were the consequence arising from her own situation that she did not convey to us when she sent in her signed proposal, such as a drain installation matter and tuck pointing work that she already had planned (please see attached email threads dated May 4, and 19, 2015; )When we were alerted to this new information, we responded promptly and accurately regarding what work she needed to have completed before our crew could be on siteThis simply was not a delay on our part; conversely, she created this delay by having additional work that needed to be completed before new concrete could be poured
On May 28, Ms*** emailed us that the tuck point contractors would be out the 2nd week in June to do the work (please see attached email dated 5/29/15)This again delayed her project, and again, was simply not a delay on our part as we acted in accordance with the information that she provided to usShe also brought up another new situation at this time concerning water problems in her basement and wanting something done with her cinder block foundation (also noted in email threads dated 5/& 29/15)We acted quickly and responded promptly, as we always do to Ms***'s questions and concerns, and instructed her to have her structural situation checked out by a bona fide foundation expert as we do not do that type of work and that it needed to be done before the deck could be done (also emails 5/& 29/15)
We tried every possible way to answer all of her concerns and deal with her in a positive, constructive manner when situations arose, and even enlighten Ms*** that although her 13-year-old grandson is artistic and she thought he do the drawings, these drawing needed to be to scale, be actual plans for constructing the deck and stairs and needed to be up to code (please see email dated 6/02/15)Any builder will create a set of plans for the project he will be doing, resulting in a cost for these plansWe even told her that if she just wanted us to remove the steps, she could get another contractor of her choice to do this work instead of *** ***She later decided to continue with Mr*** ***
After the tuck pointing work was completed, we unfortunately were well into the wettest June on record and promptly notified Mr*** of the weather delaysConcrete contractors are at the mercy of the weather, and we could not pour concrete with all the rain and mud at that timeIt was explained to Ms*** that until the rain stops and ground dries out, we were unable to proceed with our schedule of projects that were previously booked ahead of her project, and would contact her when we were able to finalize these jobsWe experienced more rain delays in July and informed Ms*** that even though we were virtually a standstill in June, we were able to progress a little further and that *** *** was working as fast as humanly possible before more rain moved inRain continued to present road blocks to our completing jobs ahead of Ms***'s project (see email 7/22/& 8/20/15)We even stopped going out for bids during this time as we did not want to contract with new business until the projects already on our books were finalizedWe simply don't want to keep any of our customers waiting any longer than necessaryThis was also communicated to Ms***
Once some drier weather moved in, *** ***, ***'s father, went to the City of Glendale to get a permit for the deck work that he was scheduled to do, but was told that an architectural field report was needed; and therefore, immediately proceeded to contact the architect for his availability to provide this requested reportWe immediately notified Ms*** of Glendale's request (see email 8/26, two emails)*** from the City of Glendale admitted to giving *** *** information that was not "definitive" in her words, and we immediately notified Ms*** to what transpired (see email dated 9/01/15)Again, this confusion and resulting delay was not a delay on our part, but a miscommunication on the part of the City of Glendale not giving Mr*** *** definitive instructionsAlso in that email, you will see our reminder and request to Ms*** for the percent proposal amount as per contractual agreement
On August 27, Ms*** sent us an email stating that she wanted the work to be done as soon as possible, and as you can see, we gave her a start date of Monday, August 31, with the stipulations and strong recommendations that nothing be done to the back area be done until the proper inspections, permits and reports be completedBecause she was so adamant and demanding for this work to be done, we advised her of the repercussions this might cause and told her that we would be sending her the necessary waivers for her signature (email dated 8/28/15)
On August 28, Ms*** sent an email stating that she was "caught off guard" and requested delaying the start date for the project until sometime after Labor Day (email 8/28/15)She again stated that she would be making arrangements to transfer funds, but that never happenedWe don't know how she can be caught off guard after demanding a start date as soon as possible, and not taking care of her responsibilities to fulfill her end of the contractMs***'s failure to take care of her contractual responsibilities caused further delays in our starting this project despite our efforts to get this project underway
On Sept3, we sent Ms*** an email explaining our company policy regarding taking phone calls when Mr*** *** was on site on another customer's project in response to Ms***'s repeated requests to speak directly and only to him (see email 9/3/15)
Later on Sept 3, Ms*** sent an email telling us of her new plans to take a few vacation days from 9/to 9/and instructed us not to start the project during those days, however, wanting the project done before her guests arrive at the end of SeptemberAs always, we immediately responded to this new development and notified Ms*** that her restrictions would be posted for ***'s attention and response on his iCloud message board (see other email 9/03/15)
After much thought and consideration, it was apparent that despite all of our efforts to work with Ms***, answer all of her questions and concerns, educate her on our company process and procedure for concrete construction, tolerate her repeated delays to proceed with the project, and especially in light of her new restrictions of not starting the project when she was on vacation, it became clearly evident to us that it was not humanly possible to complete this project with this small window of opportunityAlthough we do not like to turn down any jobs and we take great measures to try to make things work out; when customers make it impossible to do a project; we have no alternative but to not accept a contractTherefore, we promptly emailed Ms*** to let her know that because of these new developments, we were not able to accept her contract(see email dated 9/8/15)
We certainly do not object if a customer wants to be present when we start a project; however, a lot of our customers can't afford to take off work and don't come home until a project is well underway or almost completed, and we have never had any issues that our work was not done to their specifications
We appreciate and value our customers and want them to be as pleased as we are regarding the work that we do for them and email them a "customer care sheet for newly poured concrete" and "customer satisfaction survey" for their completion and review (please see attached documents)D&B Concrete strives to always give our customers the best customer service possible and continually seeks additional ways to improve our customer relationshipsWe proudly post our mission statement, vision statement, code of conduct, company credo and business philosophy on our website, www.dandbconcrete.com; and when sending out proposals, we welcome prospective customers to visit our site, as we did with Ms***
I have also attached a copy of our initial proposal and Ms***'s signed copy where she made changes in the proposal for your reviewWe never initialed the changes that she made nor did we formally accepted her contract since she had not as yet fulfilled her part of the contract by submitting the required amountWe officially accept contracts when all customer requirements are met, and this was explained to Ms*** during our phone conversation when we told her we would accept her good-faith check, provided she sends in her percent deposit before the final arrangements to mobilize equipment and crew to her site
We're sorry this response is so lengthy, Ms***; however we wanted to give conclusive evidence and undeniable proof that the allegations brought forth by Ms*** were fallacious, inaccurate, fraudulent and without meritThe fact that she wants some kind of compensation, but fails to reveal what she thinks she is entitled to is suspect and too vague to even respond toAlso, her baseless allegation that we somehow value commercial projects more than residential is and unfounded, as we value and respect all of our clients and customers, as well as vendors, material suppliers and employeesWe also hope that our many attachments do not present a problem for you to receive or open
Thank you again, Mrs***, for giving us the opportunity to respond to these allegations; and should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time at ***@dandbconcrete.com
Sincerely,
*** ***
Office Manager
D&B Concrete
www.dandbconcrete.com
XXX-XXX-XXXX
*** *** ***
Fenton, MO XXXXX