ComplaintsforPenguin Basements Ltd

• Initial Complaint

  23/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We had been working with Penguin Basements to have or new home’s basement finished once we moved in. We signed a estimate in Jan 2023 to say we would go forward with Penguin once we moved. Unfortunately, the builder kept delaying and we didn’t move in until April. Our finances then changed for the worse as the real estate market had crashed and our money we thought we would have was gone! I tried to cancel in May after talking with my bank and The owner eventually called me to try and talk us into financing with no payments for 9 mo’s and insinuated that our deposit was being held, we agreed that maybe this could work. We were declined on the loan initially, however, they eventually reached back out to us to reapply again. We were somehow approved, so we looked at the basement plans and asked for another estimate. The quote had more than doubled than what we had discussed prior and we were being pressured to sign back the estimate right away. We certainly didn’t appreciate these tactics and knew this was far more than we can afford. I have reached out to Guy to get our deposit back, less $250 which it states on the back of the estimate. This would give us a refund of $2,250. Guy is now implying that due to phone calls and some drawings(which we initiated ourselves by sending them our drawing), that we’re out all of our money??? How is this possible? I have had another contractor go on a **** call with us, send us some sketches and never got charged a dime? I feel like they have our money ******* and will not terminate the file.

  Customer response

  24/08/2023

  Good afternoon,
  
  I had filed a complaint to get my deposit back from Penguin Basements earlier today. Ironically I was able to resolve the situation with the owner just now. I will no longer need your assistance in this matter. 
  
  Thank you
  
  ***** *******

• Initial Complaint

  13/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Penguin basement was contracted on July 28n 2022 to complete my basement with a walkout . They were given money to obtained the various permits. Penguin basement told me that they had the permit when in fact there was no permit . They started the the basement and there was no permit and they **** while i was away on vacation that they had it. i came back from vacation to find out that they started without any permit . i immediately stopped them and reported them to the city ** *******. The inspector from the city came and issued the order for them to remedy the situation within 14 days . **** ******* *** * ********* ** ******* **** *** ***** **** ********* . A hole was dug in my backyard , my basement wall cut and left exposed to the elements .Several phone calls and text messages went unanswered . There charged me$244,000k to complete my basement. I had called for an engineer inspection and their own Engineer concluded that the structure of my house was compromised. Penguin Basement took no responsibility for what they did . My backyard was left looking like a tornado had swept thru . This company is a disaster and homeowners need to be aware of their ******** behavior.

  Customer response

  15/12/2022

  NO PAYMENT HAS NOT BEEN MADE , ALL THE WORK THTA WAS DONE , HAS NOT PASSED INSPECTION 

  Business response

  27/02/2023

  ******* **** is now a legal file where we have a lean on the property. We have perfected the lean.

• Initial Complaint

  30/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Overview: Penguin Basements was hired to finish my home's basement. After beginning the job (basement framed - no drywall, electrical roughed in, plumbing moved but no concrete re-poured), five weeks have elapsed with less than 3 hours work completed by Penguin or any subcontractors. We have not been provided with updates to explain the delays, or provide a new projected timeline, despite multiple attempts to contact the company. With the project ~33% finished, the contractor cashed remaining post-dated checks including one reserved for the date of substantial completion. As they've now taken all our money ($56K) for the project, we have no collateral to ensure they finish the job to an acceptable standard or finish it within a reasonable timeframe. Summary of events: 31 Mar 22 - Initial chalk lines laid and materials delivered. Contractor wanted to begin framing, however we (customer) insisted on waiting until permits were received 11 Apr 22 - Scheduled Start 12 Apr 22 - First day of construction (framing). Washer/Dryer disconnected. 16 Apr 22 - Electrical work commences 22 Apr 22 - Plumbing commences 27 Apr 22 - LAST DAY ANY SIGNIFICANT WORK DONE 13 May 22 - Drywall subcontractor arrives. He was unwilling to use drywall Penguin provided as it was cut into very small pieces and damaged due to being in the basement during early stages of construction. 16 May 22 - Penguin Framing team completed ~1hr final framing of area around window being upgraded to egress window, despite new window not yet having been installed. 24 May 22 - Plumbing inspector arrives. He stated Penguin called him a week earlier but this was his first available time. Note plumbing had been completed 3 weeks before Penguin called. Inspector called Penguin site supervisor on phone in customer's presence, supervisor stated concrete would be repoured "this week". It was not. 27 May 22 - Final cheques cashed (including one reserved for substantial completion) despite project only being 33% done.

  Business response

  07/07/2022

  Consumer Response /* (2000, 9, 2022/07/01) */ Good Afternoon, I'm updating my file at the request of the BBB. Our project manager from penguin basements showed up in person on 30 May; the first business day following our complaint to the BBB. Whether or not this was a result of our BBB complaint, or our attempts to contact more senior individuals I cannot say. The project manager was able to address most of our concerns at the time, and did follow up on the questions that he could not answer on the spot. Most importantly, the contractor refunded our final cheque until such a time as our basement achieves "substantial completion" (though this took multiple follow ups. Work has resumed and is nearly complete on our basement, and all delays since our complaint to the BBB have been reasonable (less than 1 week). While we aren't thrilled with either their communication or quality of the work, I believe we are happy enough to close this complaint at this time. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  26/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We hired Penguin Basements to renovate our unfinished basement after we were sold the design and plans by Guy S., the owner of Penguin. We discussed our needs, including adding a bedroom for our daughter and office to the space, and were given a quote of approximately $50,702.75. This was satisfactory as we had other quotes by two other businesses and Penguin's was in line. We selected Penguin based on their supposed history and we liked the design presented to us. We agreed to make post dated cheques for the project, and delivered and fully paid for the work over about 5 weeks. The payments were designed to come out at specific milestones of the project. Penguin has been paid in full. The issues we are facing is due to our home not passing inspection by the City of Oshawa building inspector. This was because Penguin proceeded to build out our basement without having the proper inspection completed by the city. It was scheduled, but the building inspector didn't show up to complete the inspection. Penguin decided to proceed with completing the build without the inspection. When the inspector finally came to complete the inspection, the basement was virtually finished being built, and the inspector would not pass the build due to the basement windows not being able to be opened (drywall didn't provide clearance), as well as there was no smoke/gas detector installed in the bedroom for my daughter. There's also a section of the ceiling that wasn't supported prior to the drywall being installed. The inspector demands that this is completed prior to passing the inspection. Penguin was contacted by my wife and I dozens of times to find out when the work would be completed. Both the PM (Rodrigo) and the Owner (Guy S.) have refused to fix these issues. We have signed documents from Penguin stating their responsibility, but they are not honoring it. This project should've been completed on July 30, 2021. It's now nearly February 2022 and they are not helping us.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩