Yankee Construction

This statement is in response to the Customer’s complaint of alleged problems with work performed by Yankee Construction. We built and wired a garage. When we finished there were no problems. The facts set forth by the customer are not disputed; however, he fails to mention
that EVERYTHING was working properly until the customer had a fence company, dig for the fence and while digging, tore the electrical line. The fence line was dug directly on top of the wiring and cut the line. Yankee Construction stands behind its work product. We have thousands of satisfied customers. Consumer did confirm business provided refund in full

Review: • Per contract’s language (“Note: this proposal may be withdrawn in (sp.) not accepted within 14 days”), agreement was never binding due to Yankee Construction’s refusal to sign after repeated attempts. Signature was made 17 days after my acceptance.

• I agreed to contractor’s construction services of pool deck and home deck at cost of $4,395. Total job was approved for VISA payment - however, pre-payment terms were never required nor stipulated within terms of contract. I allowed a “good faith” deposit at the time of home deck’s work commencing.

• Although, $2,200 was withdrawn from my VISA account, my home deck was left incomplete and unsafe according to the code inspector (e.g. unstable center stair and referred to by contractor as “temporary”)…there are two stair sets not completed, two sets of railings not completed and five, 13” to 30” deep post holes left uncovered in front of my children’s pool.

• $2,200 was withdrawn from my VISA account and the home deck at a cost of $1,975 is incomplete. Contractor stated he planned to send me a bill for incremental monies owed to him rather than respond to my request for a refund for the added funds he has withdrawn. I believe the amount of services completed is far less than the $2,200 deducted from my VISA account…and specifically, far less than the $1,975 contract price.

• * (my pool contractor) referred Yankee Construction to me as their preferred deck builder and upon several attempts to reach Yankee’s owner, he has not responded. The pool contractor plans to file a Revdex.com complaint against contractor, as they feel this issue reflects poorly upon them.

• My wife made an email and phone call attempt to reconcile dispute and has not received any response back from Yankee Construction.

• I am in need of hiring another contractor whereby my project will be delayed 4 to 8 weeks.

Timeline of issue (does not include numerous late arrivals and or "no show" incidents):

5/22/14 – contractor makes appointment to meet me at my house to review plans on 5/23/14 @ 5pm

5/23/14 – contractor does not show up for agreed upon appointment – contractor states “he forgot”

5/24/14 – contractor meeting occurs at my home to approve drawings / copy of land’s survey provided

5/27/14 – commitment of contractor to apply for permit – not completed

5/30/14 – contractor states permit will be in hand on 6/2/14 – not completed

6/3/14 – contractor calls me to ask for another copy of survey (claims he lost it); faxed and received within an hour of request; contractor applies for permit

6/3-6/10/14 – contractor claims he can’t complete work until permit is approved…although, contractor applied for permit 7 days after committed date; contractor will not return to complete home deck because it is “not cost effective” for him

6/9/14 – contractor agrees to arrive at job site – contractor calls at day’s end to state inability to arrive as promised; contractor agrees to leave current job to attend to my job as soon as inspection is approved; contractor agrees to send “an army” of workers to complete my job in one day

6/11/14 – homeowner visits town offices and requests status of permit; town provides permit; homeowner secures appointment to inspect job site for 6/12/14; contractor agrees to complete work on 6/13/14 and 6/14/14 (if necessary) if successful inspection is made on 6/12/14

6/12/14- Inspection successful; approval made to complete work; contractor attempted to be called with inspector on site and three calls were not accepted (this was request made to me by contractor); contractor instructed to call inspector inside town offices; contractor speaks to inspector and contractor commits to completed all work on 6/13/14

6/12/14 – contractor agrees to arrive on 6/13/14 to complete home and pool’s deck

6/13/14 – contractor sends homeowner email stating he will not arrive to complete work on 6/13/14 as promised and will not return on 6/14/14 as promised; homeowner sends contractor email regarding ongoing breach of services promised and need to return to job site 6/13/14 and/or 6/14/14 or otherwise, void agreement and refund monies owed to homeowner; contractor calls homeowner and agrees to pulling off job and voiding permit…contractor returns to job site and takes back all remaining materials earmarked for job…contracotr states he will be sending me a bill for monies owed to his company…contractor also states to homeowner, “he has more important things to do” – this speaks to contractor’s current “large scale” job with $105,000 cost he’s previously shared with owner.

6/13/14 – Pool contractor contacted by homeowner and pool contractor agrees to send email and calls cellular phone of Yankee Construction (attempting to convince deck contractor to honor commitment – no response made as of 6/16/14; homeowner's spouse makes email and cellular call to Yankee Construction (attempting to solve issue and encourage job’s completion) – no response made as of 6/16/14

? Contract, code enforcer's inspection report and pictures of incomplete work available upon requestDesired Settlement: Return to complete services promised today or refund unauthorized $2,200 VISA account deduction. VISA security is presently investigating homeowner's claim for contractor's unauthorized deduction and as such, timing in contractor's response is vital for all parties involved.

Business

Response:

· This letter is in response to your correspondence dated June 18, 2014 in reference to complaint ID *, which was filed with the Revdex.com by one of my recent customers. I have reviewed the information present in the complaint and my response follows below.

It was, and remains, my understanding that my services were terminated as of receiving my customer’s email dated June 13, 2014 at 7:51 AM. I apologize for any difficulties my customer experienced or believed he experienced leading up to or after this date of termination.

In regards to the relationship between my customer and I prior to June 13, 2014, I have sincere regrets about how communication between us unraveled and understand his resulting frustration. However, the decisions I made regarding the safety of my crew in light of the impending working conditions, I do not apologize for. In order for the work to be completed properly the working conditions need to be safe and workable.

It is clear that the decision to forego work on June 13, 2014 was a factor in my termination and the dissatisfaction of my customer. Safety is paramount and, as the owner, is my responsibility. It is my decision and mine alone, to determine whether we work or not. If I should feel that the weather or alternative conditions are unsafe on a certain day then the decision is not only for safety, but also to preserve the quality of my company’s work product.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused a customer of mine but these decisions are absolute. I always strive to provide quality craftsmanship to each of my customers but in doing so I will not sacrifice the health and safety of my employees. The weather called for thunderstorms, not just rain, on the days in questions. Working outside in those conditions would not only be dangerous but would be unproductive. Both the company and the customer would suffer as a result.

Review: My formal complaint rests with the breach of our contract that states the work would be completed in a substantial workman like manor and will stand behind work for the expected life of the project. We had many issues from the beginning and [redacted] refused to return calls. The safety of the stairs has come into question as the framework of the stairs was not attached to anything. They had begun to sink and the boards were splitting and twisting. Once we got under the stairs to look we could see they were only attached by a few smooth nails from the upper deck through to the top board of the top step. It has cost me $2350 to have these torn out and properly rebuilt.Desired Settlement: Refund of the cost to replace the stairs.

Business

Response:

The Revdex.com spoke with [redacted] today and he has stated the following:

I do stand behind my work 100% and if there is a problem, they can call me anytime.

Review: There are too many issues to address in 2030 characters so I will try to summarize as best as possible:1. Contract to build deck was signed on 5/1/12. I purchased materials direct from [redacted]. owner dale gillette indicated work would begin on 5/16/12.2. no contact from dale after contract was signed and he did not show up as indicated on 5/16/12.3. on 5/17/12 I contacted dale who indicated he was on his way. shortly thereafter he arrived and indicated he did not schedule delivery of materials until that day and, as a result, [redacted] could not deliver. he indicated [redacted] would deliver by Monday 5/21 and he would return if delivered sooner.4. on Saturday 5/19 [redacted] delivered the materials and indicated they had mistakenly delivered to dale's house the night before. there was no call from dale indicating materials would be delivered Saturday and he did not show up to begin work as he stated he would on Saturday.5. work began on monday 5/21 and was completed. dale indicated when quoting that he would enclose the bottom part of the deck with solid boards but when questioned when work began he advised that he forgot, did not specify he would do it in the quote, and therefore was not going to do it. he indicated that if I bought materials he would do it for free.6. for some unknown reason the deck was built off center from it's original location resulting in a gap between the deck stairs and the adjoining brick patios. dale indicated he would explained the brick patios on Saturday 5/26 for $350 additional.7. deck completed on wed. 5/23rd. within in a week boards started to squeak and warp. ralinings were not secured and there was daylight between railing boards and supports. some deck boards had no nails at all in some areas.8. dale did not show up on 5/26 or 5/27 to repair brick patio and did not return calls. I have made subsequent calls since 5/27 regarding the brick and enclosing the bottom part of the deck which have been ignored.Desired Settlement: There are other issues at hand but I have tried to capture the poor workmanship and lack of professionalism as best as possible. I am frustrated beyond belief and out over $8,000 already for a quote of $7,250. At this point I have to contract with another company to complete and repair the work originally contracted for and done by Yankee Construction. My goal at this point is only to make other consumers aware of this company in hopes they do not waste their money as I have.

Business

Response:

The materials

were to be delivered on Friday , [redacted] was running behind then in a rush they read the wrong address this matter was

out of my control. when we showed up

one day late due to the weather the customer was not bothered at all . me and

the homeowner spoke and he was fully aware that if we started the job on Friday

there would be a mess in the back yard for the weekend and it was in his best

interest if the job was started on Monday due to the fact there was no materials. when

we were there on Friday the home owner pointed out the fact the bricks were

sunk in the back yard by the stairs and both us and the homeowner were fully

aware the bricks were gonna have to be removed and replaced before we started

.. the stairs on the new deck were built per code and were not built out of the

same material , this is the reason why the bricks were a few inches front the

stairs.. we never took a dime above and beyond the contract the skirting was not

in the contract that was signed by the homeowner and was never ordered . the

reason why there was more money involved with the deck is because the job was

quoted for a reskin and the framing was to be reused , when the deck was torn apart

it was very rotted and we spoke at that time and he made the decision to

reconstruct the framing. I was willing to build either way. when I was

contracted to build the deck I was told to fasten the deck boards the same way

the pool deck was, witch I did with a finish nailer and galvanized finish nails.

this is why the boards squeek. we do not get paid until the customer is

completely satisfied .. we did not respond to the homeowners call due to the

fact he was very sarcastic and rude therefor I would rather not work for him.

if there was a problem with something I did I would have been glad to fix it.

Consumer

Response:

The business owner clearly has a distorted view of his workmanship and professionalism; not to mention a short memory. The bottom line is that the work done is not acceptable, the railings are not going to last the summer much less the weight of winter snow, and I'd be remiss if I did not do what I could to at least prevent other people from trusting this is a valid contractor.

Regards,