ComplaintsforDorsch Developments

• Initial Complaint

  11/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  A condition of the contract was that the job would be finished in September, as I had to move in on october 1. I provided a detailed spreadsheet with room-by-room plans, links to materials, specific instructions, etc. From the beginning, the contractor was uncommunicative, disorganized, and disrespectful; he almost never came to the job site to supervise his subcontractors, who repeatedly painted rooms the wrong color, installed the wrong materials, and in general had no idea what to do. There were periods of 3-5 business days in a row where nobody showed up to work on the site, He lied to me repeatedly about ordering materials that supposedly arrived damaged (I called the vendors, who told me that no orders had been placed), he refused to provide me with receipts for materials purchased, and he refused to give me estimates for other materials so that I could choose between different options, instead installing things without my approval. I had to be on-site every day because of his mismanagement, correcting mistakes that his subcontractors were making. He lied to me repeatedly about when work would be done, and even that subcontractors were on site when they weren't. I asked again and again for receipts, which he refused to provide. I fired him from the job a few weeks ago because it had run so far behind schedule and I had to stay in a hotel with my family because the house was so dirty and uncomfortable for a family with children. He then sent me a bill several thousand dollars over budget with no explanation, and when I complained, sent me another bill with a different amount, also several thousand dollars over budget. He has refused to justify expenses, providing a grand total of four receipts for materials recently purchased (not the ones that I suspect he has lied to me about). I have asked several times for a full accounting of expenses, to no avail. Today he sent his mother to demand a check and threaten me with a lien on my house.

  Business response

  11/12/2024

  Good afternoon:
  
  I met with Mr. ****** multiple times prior to beginning his projects.  We discussed the proposal/estimate and he was in full agreement with same.  I personally relayed to him that any additions and/or edits to the the proposal would be an additional cost.  He agreed and signed the proposal.  Under a separate cover, we will send the proposals.
  
  Regarding Mr. ******’s spreadsheets, our project manager lays out the work **an for our subcontractors, schedules them and he and I both follow up on their workmanship.   It’s our company policy.  
  
  This job never proceeded unattended at any time.  Our office manager, even met the foam contractors on several occasions to calculate measurements and remeasure the depth of the garage.  In addition, we met the garage door contractor on site to make sure the removal process proceeded smoothly. There are days where our subs weren’t able to  finish a previous job and were running behind but they always try their best to get back on track.  Our subs were delayed due to weather from the two hurricanes which caused a couple of delays.  Our office was closed for two days for each hurricane scare. 
  
  
  We have painted many homes while they’re occupied, remodeled bathrooms and kitchens while families are living in their homes and there as never been any problem of any kind.  We never asked Mr. ****** to vacate his home at any point in time.
  
  In addition to the work performed, Mr. ****** did ask for additional items be completed along the way which our employees and subcontractors completed.
  
  Regarding receipts, we have never refused any receipts to Mr. ******.  Our office mailed him a com**ete set as our scanner’s resolution was too too low and the receipts were extremely hard to read this is the reason they were mailed and not emailed.  
  
  We find it interesting that  Mr. ****** stated that he was on site every day which isn’t true.   Our office manager was on site on 4 different occasions and never saw Mr. ******.  ****** logged in that he was on the job site 11 trips and Matt was logged in on 6 trips and Nick logged in  on 5 trips. In addition to the numerous visits by all of our tile, paint, sheetrock, demo subcontractors.
  
  The amount owed by Mr. ****** is $14,090.00; however, we offered him $13,000.00  when he appeared upset.  We even sent a letter apologizing for the delay.  There are many times that delays such as these are out of our control.  
  
  He further stated that the HOA fined him for debris left.  We keep a dump trailer on each job to discard of it properly.  Our employees even go to every job site to make sure each job is kept tidy.  Since we’ve left the job there has been enormous piles of debris. Photos attached.
  
  Regarding Mr. ******’s comment that *****, our office manager, threatened him with a lien is not accurate.  When a job is com**eted or in this case our work is stopped, we bill what we’ve com**eted and collect the amount owed.  ***** knocked on the Mr. ******’s door and in a professional manner asked for the final payment.  Mr. ****** insisted he would be paying and that the workmanship was great.   ***** did mention that we needed to be paid and if we didn’t receive payment a Notice of Intent to File Lien would be sent per the company guidelines.
  
  I will attach the letter sent to Mr. ******.  **ease let me know if you need anything further.  You may reach me at ************ or ***** at ************.
  
  Thank you for your assistance.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Customer response

  11/13/2024

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

  Complaint: ********

  Firstly, I appreciate Mr. ****** taking the time to respond. 

  However, I am rejecting this response because:
  

  I was indeed on-site every single day during the period of work (not for the entire day, as I have a job, but I came every day in the morning and then in the afternoon). It is indeed true that I am quite happy with the quality of workmanship. Mr. ****** is clearly skilled at identifying top-notch subcontractors.
  

  As stated on numerous occasions, my complaint is not at all about the quality of the work performed. And at this point, my complaint is no longer about the excessive delays, or personal interactions. They are in the past, and we won't come to a resolution about those things, because it's my word against his, and as we all know, people can have radically different interpretations of what happened. This business clearly doesn't prioritize communication or honesty with clients, but that's not something that the BBB can help resolve. I've asked on multi**e occasions to see records of work logs and site visits by Mr. ****** and his project managers so that I can understand why the job took so long and why so many days went by without any work being done, but have not been provided with any.
  

  My complaint is about dishonesty and lack of transparency. With the exception of a few photos of receipts for tile and plumbing work, and a bill from Allweather Insulation, I never received any substantial receipts from Mr. ******. If he did mail them to me, they never arrived. I assume that he has copies of them, and I kindly request him to send them digitally. If and when he does, I will happily forward them to both the BBB and the state licensing board.
  

  The entire reason I've taken the significant amount of time and energy to register this com**aint is that I have asked on numerous occasions for proof of extra charges, and have never been given any. As stated previously, and as you can clearly see from the documentation that I have provided, after firing Mr. ****** for not com**eting the job in a timely manner, I received various bills with three different amounts. It certainly seems like this is the result of either gross mismanagement or intentional price gouging. The reason I don't trust his word is that he has lied to me several times at various stages of the project, most egregiously about ordering materials that arrived damaged several times in a row (as stated before, I called the vendor, who said that this never happened, and that the last order Mr. ****** placed with them was in 2023). And I'm sure that he did discuss things like the choice of insulation with the vendor and subcontractor, but at no point did he ever clear those choices with me or give me dollar amounts before proceeding with installation, despite promising to do so several times and me constantly reminding him. And this doesn't even address the days or labor and material lost because his subcontractors were not properly briefed on my very clear and detailed instructions for paint colors and schemes.
  

  As stated before, I have records of all of these conversations, as they were over text message. I'm happy to download the entire history of our correspondence and provide it.
  

  Again, I am not trying to avoid paying for services rendered, or trying to bargain in order to pay less. Quite the contrary: no-one wants this fairly resolved more than I do. I'm just trying to avoid being defrauded. I want to pay what I actually owe, but I cannot trust someone who has been disorganized, dishonest, and opaque with me for the entirety of the project. The bargaining is coming from Mr. ******, who keeps changing the amount I supposedly owe when I refuse to pay so high above the estimate without receipts, which he doesn't provide.
  

  On 10/18, I received a bill (attached) for $15,303.08. On 11/1, Ms. ***** sent me an email (attached) and said that I owe $13,800, not the $13,000 claimed by Mr. ****** in his letter below. In a registered letter dated 11/4 (attached), I was notified that I owe $14,090, and that a lien would be put on my house if I didn't pay it. Three different amounts, with no paper trail.

  No rational person on a tight budget would blithely ignore the obvious: something is amiss here, and it certainly seems that it is either sloppy accounting or willful price-gouging (if not both).
  

  The stress that this has put on me and my family has been immense, and quite frankly, traumatic. Stress and trauma are not things that we can measure, of course, or put a dollar amount on. And it is true that at no point did Mr. ****** ask me not to move in, or to vacate once I did. But he did promise me about half a dozen times that the job would be completed by certain dates, and failed to do so, which cost me a huge amount of time and money. I would certainly like to be reimbursed for the money I spent on lodging because I had planned to move my small children into this home by mid-September as agreed, or at the very latest by October 1, the date my previous lease expired. And I would certainly like to be reimbursed for the HOA fine of $1000 regarding Mr. ******'s failure to get a permit for the exterior construction (garage door) as per Section 109 of the Florida Building ****************** ******* ******** 553.80. (Had Mr. ***** done so before removing the door, I would have been able to clear it with the HOA and this fine would have been avoided.) Mr. ****** did say in writing that he would pay this fine. I'm not going to worry about the trash left in my yard; Mr. ****** apologized for this, which I appreciate, and I accepted his apology.
  

  Since we are at the stage of mediated negotiation, my proposal is for Mr. ****** to provide me with copies of all receipts (for materials and labor) that justify whichever of the three totals mentioned above is actually true and accurate. I will then deduct the $1000 HOA fee. I would also like to deduct the $1,144 that I spent to stay at an *** *** owned by my realtor Mrs. ****** **** (who is willing to sign an affidavit regarding both the necessity to stay there and many other aspects of this process) and the $1o93.65 that I spent to stay at **** by ******* because I had to vacate my apartment and the job on the house wasn't done. (In the spirit of transparency, I'm attaching the receipts for these stays.) I do recognize that this is not standard practice and was not stipulated in a contract; but I do think that it would be fair, and would signal goodwill, common decency, and an earnest desire to make amends.
  

  Once this math is completed, I will happily write ****** Developments a check for the amount so that we can all move on.
  

  I reiterate, once again, that I simply want a fair accounting. 
  

  Thank you for your kind attention and your help keeping businesses honest.
  

  Warm regards to all at the BBB and ****** Developments,
  

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

  Business response

  11/14/2024

  In short, whether Mr. ******* was there not, our employees didn't lay eyes on him and these guys are honest and hardworking. Our subs relayed there wasn't even a vehicle at the residence while several subs were present. Per our project manager, ***** he logged 6 visits but only saw the homeowner once.  ****** is present maybe not at the time the homeowner was home but he logged in many trips to this residence as well.   This is neither here nor there.  It is impossible to have all subcontractors lined up on a day to day basis.  We employee subcontracts who specialize in drywall, paint, flooring, tile/grout, trim installers and etc.  These subcontracts cannot work on the same days as their workmanship has to go through a drying phase before the next step can be performed.  Mr. ******* clearly didn't understand as a contractor, we're at the mercy of subcontractor's schedules and jobs.  At times, their previous jobs run past their deadline which puts us behind, but we always understand because the quality of workmanship is amazing..  As the homeowner stated the workmanship was great but we were late in finishing the job.  Attached you'll see the proposals signed by Mr. *******, the Invoice which shows the total amount due of $15,303.08.  Once we realized Mr. ******* had com**ained we apologized via letter and offered him a lesser amount of $13,800.00.  The $13,000.00 was a typo.  We have attached the invoices for Mr. *******.  However, we do not feel we should pay for Mr. *******'s hotel fees.  He can certainly pay the lesser amount which will give him $1,500.00 to put towards he's hotel stay.  In addition, we spoke to the HOA yesterday afternoon and there was never a fine **aced on **** ******** due to debris being left.  The gentleman stated they.re more upset about the shed on the property than anything else.  

  Customer response

  11/15/2024

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your com**aint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   Complaint: ********

  I am rejecting this response because:

  1. My name is *** ******, not Mr. *******. I am offended at the lack of consideration, respect, and basic attention to detail involved in addressing me by my name, rather than confusing me with another client or whatever is going on here.

  2. I do indeed know how contractors and subs work; I paid my way through college by working on a painting crew, and have hired multiple contractors over my adult life (including one who finished what Mr. ****** didn't), none of whom have presented these issues. As stated previously, I am not complaining about delays at this point. Delays happen. However, considerate professionals communicate with their clients immediately and explain reasons for delays in real time, not months after the fact, and are honest about when work will be done.

  3. Regardless, that is NOT my complaint at this point, as previously stated. My complaint is lack of transparency about thousands of dollars worth of charges over budget without receipts, which I have asked for at least a dozen times thus far.

  4. Mr. ****** has not addressed the central issue of dishonesty and opacity regarding finances, nor the reason why he sent me three different balance amounts, all after the fact, with no receipts, and all significantly greater than the original estimated balance of $11,520.

  5. The attachments Mr. ****** provided are the same as attachments I provided when filing this complaint. They add nothing new, and do not support his argument.

  6.The HOA com**aint and fine are about the garage door and wall that Mr. ****** did not get a permit for. I'm attaching the stop work notice that was delivered yesterday. I just spoke with Mr. ****, who confirmed this. We already cleared up the situation with debris, and the shed has nothing to do with this case.

  7. Finally, I will remind Mr. ****** that mail and wire fraud are ******* offenses.

  Regards,

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

  Business response

  11/15/2024

  Apologies for referring to homeowner as Mr. ******* and not Mr. ******.  No confusion on customers, an honest mistake. 

  (1) Mr. ****** initially complained that we were late, now he seems to understand delays. (2)  He stated previously that he doesn't have a problem paying ****** Developments as he is happy with the work  (3) He initially complained about the debris but when we sent guys over to pick up the small amounts left, he seemed happy again. (4) He stated previously our office manager showed up and threatened him with a lien.  No threat was ever made.  She went to pick up the final payment as she always does.  At that point in time, Mr. ****** stated he had an agreement with Andrew, which in fact, he never returned Andrew's phone calls or text messages and blocked Andrew's number. So how could there be an agreement without communication on Mr. ******'s part.  ****** Developments tried to communicate with Mr. ****** in a professional manner but Mr. ****** decided no communication with ****** Developments was best.  

  Mr. ****** is well aware of the proposals he signed which outlined the estimates of the job, as the total amount of the estimates were $23,040.00. He is aware of the invoice total is $26,863.00 and the remaining amount due is $15,520.00.  As a good faith attempt to resolve this matter ****** Developments reduced the amount due to $13,800.00 to no avail.  This offer remains for 24 hours in addition to getting the garage inspected.  

  Customer response

  11/16/2024

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your com**aint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   ********** ********

  Clearly, this method of mediation isn't working, so I'm moving on. I have reported ****** Developments to ******* authorities for **** *** **** *****.

  Just as clearly, whoever is writing the re**ies isn't reading or engaging with the content of my messages. I have been very clear that while I am extremely upset at the delays, I can't fix that. What I can try to fix is the attempt to extort money without justification. I have asked for receipts more times than I can count, and have been ignored. At no time has there been an earnest effort made to show me a paper trail, and given the litany of lies and obfuscations from Mr. ****** and his associates, there is obviously no good faith from their end.

  ***** ******/***** did indeed threaten me on October 31. I had a houseful of people who overheard the conversation on my porch and are willing to sign affidavits to that effect. I also have a contractor who stepped in to finish the job that ****** Developments didn't, and who is willing to provide an affidavit that I have paid him promptly for work completed in a timely manner.

  Lastly, it is not lost on me, as a queer person who has endured verbal abuse my entire life, that "Mr. *******", a moniker that was repeated multi**e times in Mr. ******'s penultimate message, was not a mistake. It's clearly a portmanteau of my nickname ***** and a **** ********** **** that I won't write here. Mr. ****** clearly stated in his previous message that he was not confusing me with another client. So what gives? I don't see how that could be an honest mistake. It's more of an honest tell. I blocked his number because I wanted all communication to be over easily traceable Internet media, and it is all now a matter of public record. 

  Mr. ******: don't bother responding to this message, as I won't read anything else you write. The ***** and other ******* authorities will be in touch. I am providing them with all relevant documentation.

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

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