HD Foundations

As a company that has completed more than 1,foundation repair projects, I can state that without exception, this woman’s complaint is the biggest fabrication of the t [redacted] our company has ever seenBecause this customer has omitted important facts, I am attaching her contract and a number of emails we exchanged that contradict her version of eventsTo be This woman is complaining about not receiving a service that (1) per the contract, our company said we would perform “if possible” and (2) we were not charging her for because it may not be possible to doIn addressing all of this, let me first say this: [redacted] , the owner of our company, is well known for being an extremely friendly, non-confrontational individual At no time did he raise his voice, speak harshly to her or become irateIn fact, she should be ashamed herself for making such false, unkind comments(And, to be After repairing her home, he never even saw her again.) If she cried weeks after we repaired her foundation, all because it was physically impossible for us to roll one joist under her kitchen floor (and resolve a cosmetic issue we weren’t even charging her to fix to begin with), we’re sorry it has caused her such distressHowever, being frustrated is no excuse for manufacturing a storyWhat’s more, we find it most peculiar that an individual who claims to be personally offended by our company owner would state in her own complaint that she doesn’t want her money back, and that she wishes to continue to dealing with our companyIn addition, I would like to point out that she has falsely attributed other remarks to [redacted] that are untrue, including statements relating to the physical size of his crew membersWhile it is true that he that he told the customer that he has workers who are smaller than he is, (and who would be able to access the 17”-18” wide crawlspace entrance), that is all he had to say on the matterWITH REGARD TO WHY [redacted] DIDN’T ACCESS HER ‘VERY NARROW CRAWLSPACE” WHEN HE FIRST MET HER: (1) Like the vast majority of men, the owner of our company cannot fit within a crawlspace that is approx18” wide(2) This customer had recently purchased the houseShe told our company owner that she had it professionally inspected before purchasing it, and that the inspector told her that while her house appeared uneven, the crawlspace itself was in good conditionShe said he detected no problems with the crawlspace other than that the shims under her home were made of wood, not metalBased on the fact she stated that her crawlspace was in good condition (a statement our crew later found to be correct), [redacted] simply shot the elevations of her house and gave her a proposal outlining the specific repairs our company proposed to makeShe enlisted to do the job, and the foundation repairs were made on 2/11/WITH REGARD TO THE SERVICES WE AGREED TO PERFORM (SEE THE ATTACHED SIGNED CONTRACT): The contract our client signed CLEARLY states what services HD was to performThe list includes installing piers in the left corner, re-shimming the girder beams with metal shims, and installing shim piers at the front doorOther than that, there was only one other thing on the list and it is the only thing relating to her kitchenThe contract states: “If possible, roll the joist under the kitchen floor.” As outlined in the attached emails, we told her we found it was impossible to roll the one joist and we told her whyAbout the joist: It appears that one slightly elevated joist has resulted in a cosmetic issue (specifically, a dark line in her old vinyl kitchen floor that is approx1-1/2” wide X 5’ long and twice the thickness of a nickel.) This slightly elevated, narrow strip of flooring bothered the customer and she wanted it evened outIn the end, our crew found it impossible to get under her kitchen and roll the joist because her kitchen is blocked off by a structural concrete beam on all four sidesBecause we went into this job NOT KNOWING IF IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE to roll the joist, this task was not a factor when pricing her project, and we were doing it at absolutely no cost to herAs stated earlier, this customer is complaining about not receiving a service that she was never guaranteed we could perform, and that she wasn’t even paying forWhat’s more, as I personally told her after talking with the owner, it is entirely possible that the slightly elevated strip is simply due to a bad seam in the subfloor (where the two pieces of wood do not meet correctly.) How could our company know for sure if our crew can’t access the space or examine the seams on the subfloor? At any rate, it is a COSMETIC ISSUE, not a structural issueIt was being done at no cost assuming it could be done while out crew was at her jobsite performing the significant repairs that we WERE charging her forShe was made aware of concrete beam issue while our crew was on siteShe promptly paid by check and, as evidenced by her emails, she expressed no discontent about our service until weeks after her foundation was repairedEven now, her complaint only centers on the one joist in her kitchen, and she has expressed that she “does not want her money back – she wants it checked/completed.” ABOUT THE SOLUTION: In the attached email that was sent to the customer on 2/13/(days after making the initial repairs), [redacted] explained that in order to access to the crawlspace beneath her kitchen and roll the joist, his crew must go through the top side of her kitchen floorSolving her issue would entail removing/replacing the very old vinyl floor in her kitchenHe further stated in the attached email that if she did replace her floor, HD “could come over and adjust the one joist at our minimum charge”It was not until later that he quoted her a price at allIn the attached email she sent us on 2/24/17, she indicates she would be replacing her floors and stated “Lucky for me the floors are hideous so needed replaced!!!” Based on that information alone, we don’t understand why she hasn’t simply replaced the “hideous” kitchen floor and asked us to roll the joistWith regard to her having a hole cut in the floor beneath her refrigerator: In an effort to find a “quick fix” solution that would please her, our company owner also proposed a possible alternate means of eliminating her cosmetic issueThis entailed cutting a hole in the subfloor beneath her refrigerator or dishwasher (so no one could see where the floor had been cut) and then having the crew access that space to get under house to roll the joistShe found out from one of the former owners of the house that he had once cut a hole under the refrigerator and then re-sealed itPer her attached email on 2/16/17, she said this about the area under the refrigerator: “May be easy to get intoI’m game on opening floor and getting the foundation right.” Then, as per her attached email on 2/24/17, she asked if it would be cheaper for her to hire a handyman to do this than to enlist us for this projectPer the attached email we sent her on 2/24/17, she was told that “due to our high labor costs, it would be less expensive for you to hire someone else.” As noted in the attached email, her reply to our email was “Okie, dokie.” At that point she appeared quite satisfied and we thought that was the end of our involvement in this projectABOUT OUR MINIMUM CHARGE TO GO BACK: Later, she contacted us telling us she would prefer that we handle the projectWhile we initially quoted her our company’s “minimum fee” of $to send an entire crew to her house to deal with this cosmetic issue, what she fails to mention in her complaint is this: Per the attached email we sent her on 3/13/17, we lowered our price to $in an effort to please herThe email informed her that if she would have her handyman cut the hole in the subfloor under her refrigerator, we would have our crew come back out and deal with the situation at a greatly reduced costAs indicated in the attached email, her response to our offer to do the job for $was “OK, thank you.” We find it very interesting that she failed to reveal this fact in her complaintABOUT WHY WE DIDN’T GO BACK AND ROLL THE JOIST AFTER THE HOLE WAS CUT: On March 22nd our customer enlisted someone to cut as large as hole beneath her refrigeratorAs discussed, HD planned to go to her house a few days later and roll the joistBut, as soon as the hole was cut, she sent us the attached email, along with a photo of what her handyman had uncoveredThe photo showed that there was a major structural joist (upon which her refrigerator rests) positioned directly beneath the center of the hole our crew would need to crawl intoAs indicated in the attached email, the photo was accompanied by the following message: “Attached is what you have to work with because of drain pipe and floor joistsThere’s about 12-1/2” between joists.” Well here’s the problem: While some members of our crew are thin, they can’t squeeze themselves through a 12-1’2” wide space, much less fit their equipment through thereAnd the customer is incorrect when stating (in her complaint) that our crew was able to access a space that size when they were there weeks earlier making repairsAfter all, how could possibly be? As our company owner has told this customer, the only way to get inside the hole would be to cut the joist that’s blocking access to the holeBecause that joist is a major structural support, cutting it would compromise the integrity of her kitchen floor and weaken it When the owner saw the photo and her message about what our company had to work with, he immediately knew that dealing with her cosmetic issue in this manner was not a viable optionHe determined then that only way to proceed would be for her to remove/replace her kitchen floor as originally suggested, and which she later said in her (attached) email that she planned to doHe called the customer and told her that because of what her handyman had discovered, he would not be sending our crew back to her house that week after all because it would be of no use The customer could not understand why HD wouldn’t come back out (and why the men and their equipment could not fit inside the 12-1/2” space)She did not want to accept “no” for an answerWhile he was not “harsh” with her, the owner was forced to be firm in stating that HD would not return because we our crew could not accomplish the impossibleAt no time was he irate as he had nothing to be angry aboutHer statement saying that she told [redacted] “not to talk so loud and angry, that I was a woman consumer and expected to be treated fairly” is not only untrue, it’s ridiculousShe said no such thing At any rate, it was when [redacted] told her our crew was not going to go to her house that she states “she become quite unhappy” that she had opened the hole and gained no benefit from doing it While we’re sorry that our inability to access the area under her refrigerator (without structurally damaging her house) has “made her feel beaten down and hopeless,” we cannot understand why she doesn’t solve this problem the easy way, which is to just replace her old vinyl kitchen floorAfter all, she indicated that she is going to do that anywayWITH REGARD TO PICTURES SHE SAID SHE ASKED FOR BUT DIDN’T SEE, BECAUSE SHE “DIDN’T WANT TO ASK AGAIN.” Both the owner and I were at her house the day the work was doneI was there for the sole purposes of photographing the exterior of the houseShe never mentioned to [redacted] or me that she wanted photos of her crawlspaceIf she did ask a member of our crew to take pictures of the metal shims they were installing, all she had to do was ask them to show her the pictures before they leftOr, she could have called our office later and asked us to provide them to herWe’re quite surprised to suddenly discover that she blames us for her failure to mention the photos to us or follow throughWhile we are sorry that this customer is not happy, the fact of the matter is this: We NEVER guaranteed that it would be possible for HD to roll the joist in her kitchen, nor were we charging her to do soNonetheless, in spite of the fact that she has concealed facts in an effort to discredit our company, we wish to amicably resolve this matterFor that reason we are prepared to roll the joist under her kitchen floor at no charge when and if she decides to remove/replace her old kitchen floorBeyond that, there is simply nothing more we can do given the physical constraints of trying to access a space below the kitchen that is only 12-1/2” wide We hope that our offer to perform this service free of charge satisfies the customerSincerely, [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: I don't trust them I don't trust them to pay another $(remember, yes I was willing and then they cancelled the night before) and then them come out and either not do it correct, not do anything, and/or not show up again Regards, [redacted] ***