Love Your Stucco

Initial Business Response /(1000, 5, 2018/11/10) */
First, we are always willing to go out of our way to satisfy our customers. We probably have the highest customer satisfaction ratings of any stucco company in Colorado. We tried exhaustively to make this customer happy. But she created a circumstance that became simply unmanageable and left us in a no-win situation. Secondly, this complaint is factually incorrect and I will fill in the omitted or exaggerated parts. 1. It is incorrect that we never discussed adding the stucco bands on the termination edges of the stucco walls after the first phase of the job in 2017. We did the job and the customer told us the edges looked like (expletive) and did not want it that way until the next phase of the job the following year. We told her that we could install stucco bands as a finished look (and we did at our own expense). 2. She uses the word "unsightly" which is extremely subjective. A rendering or look is in the eye of the beholder. The work looks excellent. 3. Full payment was not made. The customer has kept back a portion of the amount owed to us. 4. We asked that our customer be involved in their remodeling process. And our contract specifically states that we are to be notified BEFORE a project is completed of anything that is unsatisfactory or a discrepancy. As it it extremely difficult to undo stucco or stone work once it is installed. At no time during the installation of the job, did this customer complain or tell us to change something. It was not until AFTER the work was put in that we were told that the corners and the stone work looked like (expletive). Her chief complaint being that the stone installation on the rear did not match exactly the stone on the front. So we ordered more stone (at no charge) and disassembled the stone and rebuilt it. Again only AFTER the work was done, she told us again that it was not acceptable. We came out four times to try to make it right. We tried to schedule with her to meet our Production Manager and our mason on site to ensure everything was done to her satisfaction. She could not make the appointment. She stated "You know what I want. I don't need to be here." NO WE DON'T. Rendering is in the eye of the beholder. We think it looks great. She doesn't it and we have gone out of our way to try to satisfy her. 5. We discussed with this customer the challenges and difficulties of changing the bands. Where I had left it was that we thought we might be able to do some matching on the back side of the bands. But they want us to install bands on ALL the corners of the house. (Our cost is over $6000). I explained this is a technical and expensive challenge. 6. On their window installation, some of the windows did not function properly. We sent out the installer who evaluated the situation and said it had a defect in the window from the manufacturer. We ordered two sashes to replace on one of the windows. We had scheduled twice to come out and install them. Both times, this customer was unavailable. We scheduled to have the Manufacturer Rep come out and discuss the warranty work. And she was not available. We finally gave up and I provided her with the Manufacturer's number and asked that she arrange time directly with them. 7. Much of this situation is a result of this customer not being involved in her remodeling process. We tried to meet with her on several occasions. Her limited schedule made it extremely difficult to arrange service work. Although we had tried several times. 8. I sent an email to the customer at the end of summer stating that we would be happy to come out an install the sashes and address the issues. I also explained that the way they want the decorative bands is a technical difficulty and may not be warranted. I sent the manufacturer specification sheet to explain the detail. And this complaint to the Revdex.com is the result. I had my lead technician look at how they want this added work and he also expressed the technical challenges. Here is what we propose: 1. We will come out and install the window sashes. 2. We will touch up mortar on the stone. But we will not rebuild the stone again. 3. We will explore either cutting off the bands and blending the wall finish together as closely as possible. Or how to install the back side of the bands installed already. Our concern at this point is that no matter what we do, it will not be satisfactory to this customer. Much of this could have been avoided it the customer had been available during the process of installation and not waited until after it was done. It is our desire to make happy customers.