Pierce & Assoc Builders

Review: This builder was hired to complete a remodel job at my home. The project manager left the company in the middle of the job, and it was not done to the specifications agreed upon initially. Never was I informed the project manager left, and there was never a replacement manager appointed. The drawing provided by the project manager was not followed, and the instructions given to the project manager and crew were ignored, because the manager was no longer there, we found out later. Instead, we are left with an unfinished project, which will cost us more than we've already paid to rectify. Mr. [redacted] has not been willing to work with us to find a solution. Instead, he has abandoned the job and left our home exposed to the elements, causing further erosion. On January 7, 2013, Mr. [redacted] informed me he was not going to finish the work and simply wanted to be paid. When I refused, he put a lien on the property, which forced me to pay the balance, even though the work done was not what was agreed upon and of poor quality. We are now faced with having to file a lawsuit -- meaning a lot of money out of our pockets AGAIN -- in order for him to take responsibility. He is the most unprofessional person I've encountered in a very long time. Litigation is not our choice, but he is clearly forcing that. My guess is so his insurance company (if he's insured) can handle it and just buy us off to keep me quiet. Mr. [redacted] has come to our home, demolished it, and now left it unfinished and exposed to the elements. We are hard-working people who simply wanted our home improved. The lack of respect shown by Mr. [redacted] and his crew is more than disturbing. The state of Montana is very pro-builder in their laws, so we feel utterly helpless and are trying any avenue possible to avoid involving lawyers. It appears, however, Mr. [redacted] prefers this, as we understand he's been in litigation with customers before, more than once.Desired Settlement: We paid $30,079.19 for work done to our home that will cost twice that amount to fix. Mr. [redacted] put a lien on the property, forcing me to pay the bill (which was $11,300 over what his bid was initially). He has charged me for things I never wanted, and he has not delivered on items that were agreed to with the project manager (who left the company abruptly). Never was I informed we had no project manager any longer, and on several occasions I called to speak with Mr. [redacted], but he refused.

Business

Response:

I have received a copy of your letter regarding the complaint filed by [redacted] (her husband is Dr. [redacted], a psychiatrist in the area) regarding work we performed for them on their house located at [redacted]. I am glad to know that your organization allows for responses by a business to provide another perspective of a situation. The complaint filed with your organization fails to mention some very key factors, nor represents what was at the center of Ms. [redacted]’s complaint (her resulting view of the valley). I am providing a timeline for your review and understanding. It should be noted that our clients were living in the residence being remodeled during the time we were working there, and had a clear view of all the work as it progressed on a daily basis, as it was directly visible below their living room window. 1 am submitting this information in order that you may reach an objective decision regarding this complaint and thus inform others as you may determine prudent.

I know that your readers rely on an objective report by your organization. I would be willing to submit documentation of the events listed below if it assists in your analysis.

Pierce and Associates -Builders, LLC is in their 39th year of business in Helena, MT and is a custom design/ build firm. We have received various recognition and awards for building excellence and quality construction not only at the local level but at the state and national levels as well. Some of our employees have been with the firm for over 20 years. And we self- perform a good deal of the work that we contract to do for a client. Please review the following timeline to help understand the situation better.

a) 10-8-12 Contract was signed to provide new window and patio door into basement concrete wall by excavating dirt, cutting and removing concrete foundation wall, pouring two new reinforced concrete retaining walls, approx. 8' high x 40' long/ea.

b) 10-23-12 Excavation began for concrete retaining walls as per original drawing provided

c) 10-24-12 Ms. [redacted] and Dr. [redacted] requested changes on site to enlarge the excavation and change the original wall locations to afford them a better view. Paint lines were established in their presence.

d) 10-30-12 Trench excavations were started for the concrete footings, Dr. [redacted] further directed changes to the shape of the concrete walls that day on site and reviewed a drawing we had prepared based on the last directive

e) 11-5-12 Concrete footing and wall pours were started

f) 11-21-12 Backfilling of retaining walls was substantially complete by this date

g) 11-21-12 Our clients gave our foreman ( of 23 years with P&A) a 'Thumbs Up', for the work being performed. There had been no indication of any dissatisfaction whatsoever to that date, and actually quite the opposite.

h) 11-26-12 Dr. [redacted] and our foreman spoke about placing excess dirt in a nearby gully

i) 11-28-12 Patio slab was poured, our project manager contacted Ms. [redacted] after, and she said it looked good

j) 12-28-12 Work was substantially completed other than a backordered lockset for patio door, billing statement was issued by our project manager k) 1-3-13 Received a call from Ms. [redacted] that they wanted to meet and that she didn't understand any extra charges and had other concerns I) 1-7-13 Clients cancelled trim work on basement patio door to allow for future basement remodel work, and subsequently received credit for $ 622.72 m) 1-7-13 I met with clients at their house to discuss the extra charges for the additional work they had requested. ( additional door, additional concrete walls, additional dirtwork, pump septic tank, etc.) Ms. [redacted] was surprised to learn in the meeting that her husband had approved drawings of the retaining walls showing the changes discussed previously. This was the first time ever that Ms. [redacted] mentioned she did not like the view from her basement. No one at Pierce had any indication of any dissatisfaction prior to this date with any of the work, (as a matter of fact they had even invited our foreman, project manager and others to their New Year's Eve party as they had all gotten along so well during construction ) n) 1-7-13 I offered to discount their bill by $ 6,055.00 for the extra dirtwork and extra length of concrete walls as they didn't think that should be an extra charge. They also received a refund of their deposit of $ 1,500 since work was to be cancelled on the future bathroom remodel. They accepted and volunteered to issue me a check for $ 25,079.19 before I left. They even signed the statement showing the discounted amount that was agreed to. o) 1-7-13 Upon returning to my office there was a voice mail from Ms. [redacted] stating that she wanted us to move one of the concrete retaining walls as she would have a better view, but that she didn't want to pay for this ! p) 1-8-13 I called Ms. [redacted] and talked to her, and she said once she really looked at her view of the valley, she didn't like it! Wanted us to move the wall at no charge to them.

I said we could move it but, that they would have to pay for the work as they had approved the current location and watched the work being performed for 4 weeks and in it's completed form for over a month after that, and never said a thing to anyone that they didn't like it.

q) 1-11-13 Ms. [redacted] called and said if we would build her a glass sunroom free of charge she would be satisfied and wouldn't make us move the concrete wall to improve her view. I told her we couldn't do that at our expense, r) 1-15-13 Received notice from our bank that our client had stopped payment on the check that Ms. [redacted] had issued on 1-7-13. s) 1-17-13 Ms. [redacted] called and said she was going to hire an attorney and would like us all to meet and discuss the matter. I told her I would be glad to meet and discuss further. She never did set up a meeting, t) 3-17-13 I sent a letter to Ms. [redacted] and Dr. [redacted] informing them that they need to pay their statement to avoid further action by us. No response from them, u) 3-26-13 Pierce and Associates filed a construction lien on their property for lack of payment (it is worth noting, this is only the 2nd construction lien my firm has ever filed in a 39 year history)

v) 3-29-13 Received a letter from their attorney informing us of their intent to file a construction defect lawsuit case against us for a shrinkage crack in the concrete retaining wall, and other issues, w) 5-6-13 Our attorney hired a structural engineer, and we visited the site, and met with Dr. [redacted], their attorney, and our attorney that day, Ms. [redacted] chose not to attend the meeting

x) 5-8-13 The structural engineer issued a report to all parties certifying that there were no structural issues with the concrete wall and that the design was proper for all the loads, and the minor crack was a shrinkage/temperature crack only and was not abnormal

y) 6-17-13 Our client's attorney informed us they are going to pay the amount owed. We agreed to release the lien upon payment z) As of 7-15-13 they still have not issued payment

In summary, the overriding issue was Ms. [redacted] s ‘view of the valley’ weeks after the work was completed and her insistence that we move the wall at our expense. When we would not do that, she engaged in numerous inexplicable methods to discredit us.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9611211, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

First of all, Mr. [redacted] is not being truthful when he says he was not paid by July 15, 2013. Attached is a copy of the check and the proof it cleared our account on June 20, 2013. This is a blatant misrepresentation of what has happened, and he has illustrated he has no problem being deceitful. He has had the funds since June 20; however, the lien on our property is still intact and has not been removed as of today, July 29, 2013.

In further looking at Mr. [redacted]'s first page of the response, he was wrong in that the work was open to our viewing at all times. We had a drawing of the wall going to the extreme west and not directly south, and we trusted these "professionals" would adhere to that drawing. Instead, they changed it without telling us. Upon returning from work each evening, it was pitch dark. The work was done in the winter, so tarps covered all of their work, as well. In December we attempted to reach the project manager, [redacted], several times, but he did not return our calls.

From the second paragraph, Mr. [redacted]'s employees are not as loyal as he projects. In fact, [redacted], the project manager for our job left [redacted]'s employ in December and accepted another position in Kalispell, Montana, which is roughly three hours away. Neither Mr. [redacted] nor Mr. [redacted] informed us he had abandoned our project. It wasn't until we received the final invoice for the job in the mail (even though the job was not yet complete, and the doors and window didn't even have the hardware or screens installed yet) that I contacted Mr. [redacted]'s office and was informed [redacted] had moved and no longer worked there by the bookkeeper. When we later asked Mr. [redacted] why he didn't inform us of [redacted]'s departure at

the time, he said [redacted] "had gotten a wonderful opportunity, and (he)

just couldn't deny [redacted] this new position in Kalispell." This

wonderful opportunity? It is working the night shift at Walmart. This "foreman" he talks about in his response was not the point of contact for us, and we do not even know his name or how to reach him. Mr. [redacted] is the one with whom initial discussions were had and for whom multiple messages were left in December that went unanswered because he was moving to another town.

As for the timeline, it has been retrofitted by Mr. [redacted] and contains several untruths. Mr. [redacted] called us on January 3, 2013, to get final payment. He didn't even know the screens and hardware for the doors and window were not here yet, let alone not installed. Then he came to our residence on January 7, 2013, for the first time in his life to collect funds from us, but found out about the remaining incorrect aspects of the job. He presented us with a drawing titled "as built", which was never presented to us before and which we never approved.

As provided in my initial complaint documentation, we now have to spend over twice what we have paid Mr. [redacted] (see attached check from June that was cashed and cleared from our account on June 20, 2013) to fix the problems -- roughly $60,000. The project was begun in September last year, and we were told by Mr. [redacted] it would be done by Thanksgiving 2012. It still has yet to be completed.

Moreover, the documentation being created by Mr. [redacted] includes items we allegedly requested that we most certainly did not want. He says he "discounted" our final bill when, in reality, he was simply taking out line items that were clearly non existent. He charged us and then discounted us for a butcher block (I neither asked for one nor have/want one), charged us and discounted us for an additional 875 sf of patio (the current patio is 670 sf), then he charged us for hanging an ornamental piece in our foyer which [redacted] had already said would be no additional cost. Hanging this item in the foyer, according to Mr. [redacted], took roughly an hour. I was literally standing in the dining room when his workman hung it, and it took, at most, 10 minutes. Since it was such a minor project, [redacted] told me in September he would "throw it in at no cost". Mr. [redacted] has absolutely no idea what was transpiring. Instead of being honest and ethical and admitting to the mistakes and finding a positive solution, he is continuing the deceit. We trusted [redacted] when he said he would do this project to the specifications initially agreed upon in September. After all, this is very personal -- it's our home. The fact Mr. [redacted] is so cold and dismissive of one's domicile is truly alarming. He professes to be an experienced builder, but he is acting like someone who is very guilty and simply does not want to own up to the mistakes made by his staff.

Finally, I take great offense to the item in his timeline from May 6, 2013, where he states "Ms. [redacted] chose not to attend the meeting". My mother had literally just gotten out of the hospital from six-vessel open-heart surgery the evening before, and I was in the Midwest taking care of her at my parents' home. Making it sound as if I just didn't care and chose not to show up further illustrates the callous behavior exhibited by [redacted] and how he is attempting to skew anything possible to get away with this colossal mess, which now sits unfinished and a financial on-going burden to us.

Should there be additional details necessary you do not already have from my initial communication with your agency, please let me know at any time.

Business

Response:

I am providing some additional response to the complaints listed by Ms. [redacted].

A) Ms. [redacted] and her husband were able to watch the wall construction and position for several weeks as it was visible directly below their living room window. They owners even watched the wall being backfilled with dirt, never indicating to anyone at [redacted] that the location was not what they had directed or desired. It was not until Jan. 7, 2013, weeks after the concrete walls had been completed, that Ms. [redacted] first indicated that she didn’t like the resulting view from the basement. They subsequently hired an attorney and threatened a construction defect claim lawsuit, contending that there were structural issues with the wall. An engineer’s report was issued regarding the concrete wall and stated that any cracks were just temperature and shrinkage cracks and not structural, and normal for this length of wall. See attached engineer’s report.

B) [redacted] was employed by [redacted] and Assoc. for approx. 7 or 8 years, and had several years construction experience prior to working for us. During this time he worked for Wal-Mart part time in the evenings to help put his son through college. He was offered a management training position with Wal-Mart in another city in MT, at a significant wage increase. He did not leave [redacted] abruptly as Ms. [redacted] states, he was a valued employee and left on very good terms, he was still employed by [redacted] through the end of December 2012. He would be re-hired by us if he should ever desire. He still is available for special projects .

C) The dirt in the gully was discussed with Dr. [redacted] and our foreman.

D) It was mutually agreed on 1-7-13, to not proceed with a bathroom remodel that was described by a separate contract and that their deposit would be refunded. See attached copy of change order showing the $ 1,500 refund and also my letter of 3-13-13 to Ms. [redacted] and Dr. [redacted].

E) There was no mention of the small 2” diameter rocks being in the wrong place for more than a 5 weeks after the work had been completed

F) Our written contract did not including any siding work or similar, we were primarily doing the heavy work of concrete cutting, basement window install in concrete walls, and concrete retaining walls to daylight the basement. Ms. [redacted] refers to rodents and birds making nests- the original synthetic plaster insulating system( EFIS ) was installed by some original contractor in the dirt below grade, and insects are boring up behind the plaster in the foam sheathing. This was pointed out to the owner at a site visit and has nothing to do with the work we were performing. Dr. [redacted] was advised that he should have all of this looked at and repaired by a subcontractor that does that type of work.

G) [redacted] and Ms. [redacted] discussed the patio slab. Once again there was no mention of the slab not being what she wanted until 5 weeks after it was poured. And Ms. [redacted]’s letter to Revdex.com dated July 29, 2013 is the first that we had ever heard the slab was not to be a decorative stamped slab, but rather just plain concrete. The written contract states “ Installation of stamped concrete patio slab between retaining walls on south side of house”.

H) On Jan. 7, 2013 Dr. [redacted] spoke to [redacted] and [redacted] ( [redacted] employees) on the jobsite and it was agreed to not install the window trim on the doors at this time to facilitate electrical work when they did the future basement remodel, which we had given them a separate bid to do . See the credit for $ 622.72 as listed in the attached change order. Window screens were left onsite and are generally inserted by the owner come spring weather. They install from the inside and usually take very little time to install. In this case there would be no reason to install the screens prior to painting the windows first (of which the owner received a credit for on the final statement)

I) The contract did not include any electrical work for the basement future remodel or upstairs. Please enter this information in the record.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9611211, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

While Mr. [redacted] professes his recent statement to be fact, it is as fictitious as his claim the invoice was not paid when it had been paid in full for a month prior to his claim.

Mr. [redacted] states the work being done was within view at all time, which is untrue. First of all, it was the dead of winter, so the work was continually covered with tarps and blankets. During the day, we were at work and unable to view the scene. When we came home, the site was completely covered, and it was dark outside already, further preventing us from seeing what was done. Most importantly, neither [redacted] nor I are builders. If we had the expertise needed to do the construction ourselves, we would not have hired [redacted] & Assoc. We trusted they knew what they were doing and that they would follow the drawing initially provided. Instead, they changed the layout of the project substantially without presenting a change order to get our approval. The initial proposal Mr. [redacted] talks about was altered after the fact. At no time did we ever ask for a butcher block -- I don't have one, didn't ask for one, and don't even want one. He has proven being untruthful is not a problem for him in the earlier reply, and he continues with that behavior in the latest response.

At no time did we complain about the integrity of the retaining walls. Instead, we pointed out that since [redacted] left the job unfinished, severe erosion (i.e. cracks and pits) were developing. The placement of the wall is the issue, and Mr. [redacted] simply won't answer to that. The reason why is because he has no reasoning for why the change was made to the project without our approval.

As for allegedly not saying anything after the walls were poured (which happened over a month later than promised), messages were left for Mr. [redacted]. Since no one shared with us he had left the company and was no longer even living in the same town, we had no project manager. Unfortunately, we did not know that. The times I attempted to reach him and got Bill [redacted] on the phone, he curtly directed me to [redacted], as he did not know anything about the project details. So the project manager doesn't return calls, and the owner of the company won't talk to us. We were at a loss. On January 7, 2013, I asked Mr. [redacted] why no one told us we had no manager. He had no excuse and agreed we should have been told.

The dirt work done erroneously was done while we were not at home. In fact, we came home to find it there. However, when we attempted to reach [redacted], no answer came. While he "credited" us for said work, the dirt worker filled in the gully to the west of our home, covering the drain system for our house gutters. Now we have to pay for someone to delicately uncover the area and free the drain system before it backs up and possibly freezes with water in it and destroying the system altogether. A picture of the dirt field is attached.

Unfortunately, in the state of Montana it is not necessary to have a license to be a builder/contractor. Therefore, when we asked the consumer protection division for the state what to do, they told us our only recourse was to hire a lawyer. The Helena Building Industry Association also recommended we file a lawsuit, since they were not a governing entity. We have been relentless in attempting to get Mr. [redacted] to work with us to find a resolution. Unfortunately, he adamantly refuses. Instead, it was Mr. [redacted] who hired the lawyer first and placed a lien on our property. Until that time, we were attempting to get him to come to the table.

As for the unfinished work downstairs, [redacted] never asked the work not be done. We were so dumbfounded Mr. [redacted] sat in our home and announced he was abandoning the job and walking away, leaving everything exposed to the elements and unsightly. Mr. [redacted] cites EFIS as the problem for bugs and rodents gaining entry into the home. We have spoken to the gentleman who did the outside of this home with EFIS and has since been back to make spot repairs, and he says Mr. [redacted] is completely incorrect. As the picture depicts, the huge gap exposure from the unfinished job is the culprit.

The issues are very simple. We hired [redacted] & Assoc to do a job, which they failed to do correctly. We are now having the retaining wall cut and removed. The aspect that Mr. [redacted] could go back to his concrete worker and demand they correct the work but doesn't is puzzling. He can also utilize his insurance to make the project what it was presented it would be. Instead, he is completely unwilling to right his wrong.

Mr. [redacted]'s continued deceit about what transpired is very disheartening. In January of this year, we were willing to work out a resolution with him and even continue having him do work at our home -- i.e. building a pond, refurbishing an upstairs bathroom, and redesign basement interior. He refused immediately and clearly wanted to simply walk away. At no time did he try to "make the customer happy" but wanted to exit and wash his hands of the entire issue. I cannot believe he was ethically comfortable leaving our home in complete disrepair, knowing of the huge mistakes made. It is a shame he has no sense of duty, honor, or a conscience.