KBR Kitchen And Bath

From: KBR Kitchen & Bath < [redacted] > Date: Tue, Nov 4, at 11:AM Subject: Re: [redacted] Complaint ( [redacted] To: [redacted] < [redacted] >> Hello, KBR is in the process of trying resolving the issues with the customer hopefully to their satisfaction Their complete satisfaction is our #goal and priority and we truly apologize for any misunderstanding, miscommunication, or grief we have caused them We are of the understanding that the project work itself is not in dispute and they are happy with the work KBR will do our best to better follow company established procedures so that we do not have this happen again and better communicate with the customer Best Regards, KBR Management

From: KBR Kitchen & Bath <[redacted]>
Date: Tue, Nov 4, 2014 at 11:42 AM
Subject: Re: [redacted] Complaint ([redacted]
To: [redacted] <[redacted]>
dir="ltr">
Hello,
KBR is in the process of trying resolving the issues with the customer hopefully to their satisfaction.  Their complete satisfaction is our #1 goal and priority and we truly apologize for any misunderstanding, miscommunication, or grief we have caused them.  We are of the understanding that the project work itself is not in dispute and they are happy with the work.  KBR will do our best to better follow company established procedures so that we do not have this happen again and better communicate with the customer.
Best Regards,
KBR Management

Review: Major Problem One: So-called "One Stop Shop" All Inclusive Agreement. When the contract was signed, there was a design for bathroom and kitchen remodel and a description by the project manager of an "all-inclusive type" arrangement whereby "all labor, materials, equipment and services" were included. When we asked if there was a limit on the materials cost, we were told "it does not work like that." We insisted that surely there must be allowances like in the other bids from contractors that we had received (and we showed him one we had received from a competitor), but he explained that they have already factored in the costs of the highest end products and if our selections cost more than what they allotted, then they would eat the difference. I specifically gave the example of: what if we wanted a $1000 LED mirror, would that be included? We were told unequivocally, yes. He claimed that the addendum to the agreement would include this level of details once he made changes to the design which he unilaterally proposed without us asking for the change. With this understanding and an agreement which had no allowances and a statement that KBR was responsible for"all labor, materials, equipment and services", we signed. But in the end we never received an addendum, as described below. And throughout the process we were constantly harrassed for our material selections even though we repeatedly asked for guidance with regard to where to pick from and how much to spend. We were given no such guidance but only AFTER orders were placed, in several instances it was demanded that we should pay the difference in cost between what they had allotted and what was spent. This was NOT the agreement. This resulted in an extra $717.51 in the cost of the mirror (despite that this was the exact example that I had given from the start because we all knew that an LED mirror would be costly) and $290 in additional fixture costs. They tried to charge us thousands more but we were able to get the general manager involved and he reversed some of the additional charges. But despite admitting that their project manager was at fault in failing to structure the agreement and making empty promises, they still over-charged us in the end. We were told that the project manager was almost fired over this screw up, yet they continued to try to press us for more and more money. And the project manager would rudely tell us that if only we would be more reasonable, we would see that we have to pay more. When we would point out that we are merely asking for what is in the contract, that they should point us to where in the agreement it states that we should be responsible for these additional charges, our repeated requests for clarification and explanation were often ignored. When we did receive responses, we were told we "made changes" to the design when we never did. The only changes were initiated by the project manager and by the on-site manager. Never us. And they were not able to point to a single change we made in the design. We made the selections when prompted to do so and only after ordering would we be alerted that there was an issue. When we would point out that our selections were locked in well in advance and point to an email string, we would get no response. This business practice appeared to be purposefully misleading with the hope that most customers will just pay what they asked. This is a completely unfair business practice and consumers deserve to know that this is how they do business.

Major Problem Two. As mentioned above, KBR was supposed to confirm and provide an addendum to the agreement on the first day of the project, per the requirement of the contract. The project manager claimed that he could improve on the design we had commissioned from an architect but his own on-site manager rejected his proposed changes because it was not appropriately spaced. I along with the on-site manager spent hours coming up with the revised design that solved the spacing issues that the prior design had. The project manager never came to the meeting where we did this even though he was called. He never even called back. And we never received an addendum laying out the specifics on the first day or any time thereafter even though we repeatedly asked for the addendum. Despite that the project manager did not honor this requirement of the agreement, workers began demolition prior to the project manager even arriving on site to confirm what work/design was to be done. Then the project manager demanded the next installment of payment. When I told him via text that I did not feel comfortable making the next installment because we still had not confirmed a design as required by the agreement, he responded that then the work would stop if I did not pay because they needed the money to pay their workers. With half of our basement demolished, I felt there was no choice but to pay and I never got the addendum that we were owed. The failure to nail down specifics about what materials were selected in an addendum as promised led to much grief and delay in the ordering process as described above. Again, this was entirely unfair for him to have done. When the General Manager of KBR was informed of this, he admitted that this was improper and waived some but not ALL of the additional charges that we ended up paying amounting to- $1007.51.

Other Problems. The major problems above led to a 30+ day delay in project completion. We were again told that this was due to us "changing the design." Again this never happened. Also, the project manager was very rude towards us and basically stopped all management of the project after he was reprimanded by his boss in front of us and he told us that his commission was being taken away because he admittedly screwed up. We basically managed the project ourselves with the on-site manager from thereon out. The project manager was involved only to add delay in the materials orders (and misorders), much to our dissapointment. All of the work was done by a subcontractor with his own business name on his truck (even though the project manager claimed that the on-site manager was not an independent subcontractor but rather KBR's salaried employee). So in our opinion, KBR added absolutely nothing to the value of the project. Laziness and incompetence on the part of the project manager led to some of the work not even being completed: installation of a sliding door. We were told he "could not find" a sliding door anywhere in the market that would fit. But the on-site manager told us that the door was at [redacted] but that it is costly because it comes as a package deal so it seems that KBR simply chose not to do the work due to the additional materials cost. We were refunded $750 for this but because we were never given the value of each service under the contract, it is not clear how much should have been refunded for this.Desired Settlement: We deserve at the very least an apology for the grief of the past several months and a refund of the extra materials charges of $1007.51.

Business

Response:

From: KBR Kitchen & Bath <[redacted]>

Date: Tue, Nov 4, 2014 at 11:42 AM

Subject: Re: [redacted] Complaint ([redacted]

To: [redacted] <[redacted]>

Hello,