ComplaintsforHoward Construction, LLC.

• Initial Complaint

  05/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I paid them over $4000.00 months ago. Mr. Howard’s employee ****, has been rude to me. He was in a big hurry to get the money. Now, he is slow to deliver. It’s a small job and should be expedited. I will have to search for the date and time I gave them the check.

  Business response

  05/02/2023

  In response to ******* ********* complaint to the BBB. The owner states she paid over $4,000 months ago to Howard construction. Howard construction collected the contracts and a start draw of $4,415.66 on February 28th 2023 only 33 days before she filed the complaint to the BBB on May 1st. The total amount of the contract is $9423.65 so less than 50% for a start draw on a small job is not unusual. As far as the accusation of being in a hurry to get the check, when the owner text **** the PM (project manager) on 4/20 that she could not get a cashiers check that day because it was Presidents’ Day and could we wait until Wednesday, the PMs response was yes. Owner responded with a text that her a/c went out and cost $800 and she had to take 2 days off of work with a tooth issue. The PM response was “don’t stress about it, just let me know when you are ready.”
  
  Her statement of this being a small job and should be expedited is also unfounded. The carport repair is not a dangerous situation and is still functional. Contrary to her perception we did expedite her job being that we picked up signed contracts on 2/28 and had a structural engineer out on 3/14, had the repair plans in hand by 4/3 which is 21 total days and only 14 working days. This is a very fast turn around time being that typical time line for small plans from an engineer can be 6-10 weeks or even longer. The plans were immediately turned into ***** county with the permit application. ***** county has been taking over 40 days before approvals have been sent out. On 4/24 the owner was sent a screen shot of the response Howard construction received when we were inquiring about the status of the owners permit, the response read “we are required to review permits in the order that they are submitted, there are approximately 17 business days remaining in the expected review time”.  If the county takes the 17 business days then by that standard they are not required to communicate with us until may17. The work that needs to be done for the owner is quick and simple but requires several inspections which clearly can not be scheduled until the permit has been approved. It is inappropriate for an owner to expect a contractor to risk their license and livelihood by performing unpermitted work because someone does not understand or agree with how long the proper steps take or the governmental red tape.
  
  The owner claims the loss took place in September but Howard construction was not contacted until January 1 2023 from the owner stating they would like for us to do the repairs. It is unrealistic to hold Howard construction liable for time lost before we were contacted by the owner to move forward.
  
  The owners claim that **** was rude to her is a miscommunication as detailed in the quotes from a text message between ******* and **** on Thursday 3/9 at 7:23pm-
  Owner- hi ****, do you have a sec? Please
  ****- for what?
  Owner- Does someone have to be here tomorrow when you come out here?
  ****- nobody is coming out tomorrow. I am meeting the engineer on Tuesday 10am per my previous text. And on our phone call I told you, you do not have to be there.
  Owner- oh I meant Tuesday
  Owner- I was busy at work when you sent that text did not read all of it. Sorry I bothered you.
  Owner- if I’ve done something to offend you than I am sorry.
  ****- no not at all. Sorry if I came off that way. I was just trying to type quickly cause I am at my sons practice.
  Owner oh.ok
  We at Howard construction fully understand that owners want their repairs done in a timely manner and with a courteous representative but through these exact examples of conversation and situations we have conducted ourselves in such a manner. Yes there was a miscommunication after business hours but it was dealt with an apology and acknowledgment that the intent was not to be rude or short with the owner. As far as the time lines of repairs we have done everything possible to speed things along however we do have to abide by the standards that are set forth by the governing body of the county’s building department.
  
  

  Business response

  05/03/2023

  In our response we found an error. 33 days needs to be 62 days.  Thank you for your help!
  
  In response to ******* ********* complaint to the BBB. The owner states she paid over $4,000 months ago to Howard construction. Howard construction collected the contracts and a start draw of $4,415.66 on February 28th 2023 only 33 days before she filed the complaint to the BBB on May 1st. The total amount of the contract is $9423.65 so less than 50% for a start draw on a small job is not unusual. As far as the accusation of being in a hurry to get the check, when the owner text **** the PM (project manager) on 4/20 that she could not get a cashiers check that day because it was Presidents’ Day and could we wait until Wednesday, the PMs response was yes. Owner responded with a text that her a/c went out and cost $800 and she had to take 2 days off of work with a tooth issue. The PM response was “don’t stress about it, just let me know when you are ready.”
  
  Thank you,
  ******** *****
  

  
  

  Customer response

  05/03/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. But, I am still not happy. I will try to be patient. 

  I have more work pending to done on my house(not Hurricane related-It's an upgrade) and I have already paid for a new project-not related. I hope my monies paid to another(***** ********)company does not forfeit my monies paid to the company.  

  Regards,

  ******* ********

   

*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. ↩