Lenhart Development Corp.

Review: I bought a town home 2013 from Berkshire Homes to have nothing but problems. I have had floors ripped up and redone, holes cut in walls to disconnect pipes that where connected wrong and a furnace along with associated duct work that is working improperly. I had pipes connected improperly in master bedroom where the cold water was hot and the hot water was cold. After the repair was done to the pipes it is now determined that they have to go back into the wall to determine what's making a knocking noise inside the wall. I have an uneven light fixture which requires cutting more holes in the wall and inserting a 2 by 4 to realign the fixture. I have had the Builder's contractor for the heating to my home have been out on 5 occasions with no rectification. I have restricted airflow from different registers throughout my home. Whenever the furnace comes on and goes off I get this dripping and knocking noise behind my bed inside the wall. The duct work makes a clunking noise on all three levels as if it is being strained by the force of air. I have buckled plywood seams that feel like branches under my carpet. My home is a little over 90 days old and it has been a nightmare to say the least. The workmanship has just been sorry on so many levels and all I would like to see happen is the repairs done to my home to make it somewhat like new. A new home one of the largest investments one will make and to get such compromised workmanship is so disappointed and frustrating.Desired Settlement: All my issues/problems with my home be corrected.

Business

Response:

January 21,2014Dear [redacted]:This is in response to Complaint ID [redacted]. We arc aware of the Homeowner’s concerns and have been communicating with her through emails, phone calls and meetings and attempted to address each concern as they have been directed to us. Below is our response to each item.1. As pointed out in the email from the Homeowner the issue with the hot and cold water pipes was addressed and resolved.2. An appointment has been scheduled to return and investigate the knocking noise from the water pipes in the bathroom. Once we discover the cause it will be repaired and the wall returned to its finished condition.3. Our workmen offered to repair the light fixture in the bathroom when they were in the home last month. When explained to the Homeowner of the process she stated that “she would rather not do that and would prefer to leave it alone.”Since then she has decided that she now wants to have the lights repaired so the work has been rescheduled during our investigation of the knocking water pipes.4. Our heating subcontractor has been out to her home to look into the heating issues. While at the home she also requested testing on different issues that she had noted.a) They have determined through taking air flow readings at the ducts she thought were restricted that they are operating properly and delivering the proper air flow with no restrictions.b) A copy of the design manual for sizing the ductwork and equipment was provided as she requested. The air flow readings that was taken in the home confirmed that the air is being delivered as designed.c) The technician has made a couple of recommendations to her to help maintain a more even distribution of heating between the levels of her home on extremely cold days but she has refused to implement them. The home is a three-story townhome with one zone of heating and the thermostat located on the middle level. The unit responds to the temperature at the middle level and by turning the fan to the ‘‘ON” position it will help mix the air on all three levels.d) We attempted to schedule a crew to investigate the source of the dripping noise that she hears behind the headboard at the same time as the other work noted above to minimize the inconvenience to her but she said she did want us to do the work at that time and indicated she is still thinking about how she wants to deal with the HVAC issue.e) The Homeowner indicated that she had a separate HVAC company look at the system in her home so see if they noted any obvious problems. We requested a meeting with her to go over their findings but she has not agreed to a meeting and has not passed the report along to us.5. We have offered to have our flooring subcontractor look at and take care of the “branches” she said she is feeling under the carpet but ultimately the Homeowner has indicated a desire to place hardwood throughout this room, I have offered to do hardwood at my cost which she has declined. We then discussed her obtaining a cost estimate for her to do the hardwood by a third party and comparing the two pricing to determine the direction she wants to proceed. I have not heard back from the Homeowner at this time and this conversation occurred on December 2, 2013.The Homeowner has also expressed concerns about the following related issues:1. Dust created when a repair is done to her home. After each repair we have offered to have her home fully cleaned. Each time she initially accepted and then subsequently declined. We then provided a $200 gift card to [redacted] for any inconvenience.2. Electricity used during repairs. Although this amount has to be minimal I had offered to pay her November bill on December 2, 2103. To date, I have not received the bill for reimbursement.Berkshire Homes is committed to taking care of any legitimate customer service issue in the homes we build. In order for us to provide this service, however, the Homeowner needs to be willing to work with us and allow access to the property for our service personnel.Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:I have numerous repairs that require immediate attention. The builders contractors are not trust worthy. My repairs need to be performed by an independent repairman/contractor. I trusted Berkshire Homes (i.e [redacted]) to build me a quality home. My home is by far NOT a "quality" product. [redacted] and associates lack integrity and doesn't know the meaning of quality if it smacked them in the face. I recently had a gas leak in my home after one of his sub-contractors was very negligent and this could have resulted in serious injuries even death. This is the 10th time this sub-contractor on behalf of the builder has been to my home to perform repairs. The workmanship is extremely shoddy and very poor to say the least. My NEW home (less than 6months) requires an extensive amount of repairs. Quality seems to be the last thing this builder cares about. Meeting minimum code is not a very ambitious target to aim for--you'd think the builder could have done at least that much.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Wednesday, February 5, 2014This letter is in response to your most recent letter regarding Complaint ID [redacted] and dated 2/3/14.I will address the issues in the same order that they were included in her letter.Items #1, #2 and #3 - We have tried several times to schedule an appointment to complete the work as outlined in our prior letter but as she noted she cancelled that appointment. We are just waiting for her to contact us with a couple of suggested dates and times during normal working days/times so we can schedule with our workers to complete the work.Item #4 - We have offered to finish looking into the issues she claims she is having with her HVAC system but so far we have not been given an opportunity to pursue it any further. The homeowner told us she had schedule a separate HVAC professional to look over her system and report his findings. We have requested a copy of that report and stand ready to review it along with our own findings to make a final recommendation of what, if anything needs to be changed, tn her last letter she refers to the [redacted] Energy Company which evidently did an energy audit of her electricity usage. While they can make recommendations for reducing the amount of electricity consumed during the month they are not qualified to evaluate the workings or efficiency of an HVAC system nor make recommendations on how to adjust the system as it relates to heating and cooling a home.Item #5 - As noted in our first letter we have made several offers to take care of any remaining flooring issues and are just waiting for her response either by scheduling an appointment for us to arrange for the appropriate subcontractors to do the work proposed or by presenting a proposal from a third party to have hardwood installed as discussed so we can meet with her to agree on a solution.The other items she outlined at the end of her last letter related to cleaning the house and electricity used were addressed in my prior letter.Berkshire Homes is committed to taking care of any legitimate customer service issues in the homes we build to the extent that the purchaser is willing to work with us and allow access to the property for our service personnelRegards,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: This builder's workmanship is poor and I wish to have a third party repair my items.

Regards,