ComplaintsforHabersham Pools, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  12/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  After hiring Habersham Pools, we paid him a deposit of $8,500. After 5 weeks of the permit package not being completed or filed (when he said it would take 1-2 weeks), I called him for another update (you have to actually call him because he rarely responds to texts or emails). I was starting to get worried about our deposit at this point. He was so flabbergasted that I would call him for an update that he proceeded to berate and demean me for 30 minutes, speaking to me in a way I have never been spoken to beforeresorting to bullying, gas-lighting and name callingfor example, calling me a princess who needed to talk to my therapist. All for calling him once per week for a quick update on a major, expensive project. Given there was absolutely no way any self-respecting person could work with him after that, we terminated the contract and asked for our deposit back less his fees and expenses. He refused and said our permit and his fees cost him our whole deposit, which is ridiculous. And having a mandatory arbitration provision leaves us with few viable options to get our money back through the legal process without losing any more money. We are seeking to get our deposit back less his actual, provable fees and expenses.

  

  Business response

  12/28/2023

  In the contract that you signed there is a breach of contract clause that states we are entitled to 20% of the contracted amount that we did not purse. After we obtained the permit on 11.14.23 our goal was to build you the swimming pool. Designing the pool (Designers fees), contractors fees, building the site plan and the *************** permit fees consumed the entirety of your deposit. We are happy to send you invoices proving this. 

  Customer response

  12/29/2023

   
  Complaint: 20950948
  
  I am rejecting this response because what Habersham is saying is simply not accurate.

  1. Habersham did not design our pool.  Our architect designed our pool, and we sent those completed drawings to Habersham.  Please see the attached proof of this.  He then simply transferred those drawings to a piece of graph paper and stuck it on the back of his contract, and then gave the drawings from our architect and the *** drawings from our survey company to his pool site plan company.  So, he should have incurred no fees for design.  Other pool companies gave us 3D renderings as part of their quote and did not charge us for those--even if we did not choose them.

  2. Other than perhaps some small administrative fees by Habersham, a pool site plan and pool permitting fees are the only other fees incurred.  Filing a pool permit costs $600.  We would like to be given the invoice for the pool site plan and permit.  There is absolutely no way that totals $8,500.

  3. Habersham is not pursuing an arbitration claim because they know they would not be successful.  He does not want an arbitrator to find out about his abusive, inappropriate and unethical behavior.  It should be very telling that we are willing to risk this much money just so we don't have to work with him.  He was really that inappropriate. It is also very telling that he is not paying us back our hard-earned money.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** & ***********************

  

  Business response

  12/29/2023

  Dear BBB

  The process of building a site plan and expediting a permit is contracted out by

  Habersham pools. I received 25 text messsages and a number of emails along 

  with phone calls and site visits. This permit was achieved in two months. Very satisfied with that timeline. I was getting phone calls every three days from the customer, as I kept explaining , I would contact them when I had an update, please be patient, when the permit comes through I will start immediately and move forward at a fast rate. The customer insulted me by saying , how do we know youve done anything and just running away with our money! At that point it was not submitted to the city . I kept the customer in the loop as I got updates. When the permit was oobtained I scheduled demolition and excavation for the following week. Not until that point when I gave them schedule dates was I notified that the agreement was breached. I continued to attempt to resolve the matter and proceed with the construction of there pool. After realizing they were going with another company, I forwarded them the site plan and permit and wished them good luck. It states clearly in the contract upon a breach , Habersham is entitled to 20% of the contract amount, which is much more than the deposit, which was absorbed by costs and fees. At this point I have chosen not to pursue. Again this was her choice. This is the first time in 22 years Ive dealt with anything in this nature. 

  Customer response

  12/29/2023

   
  Complaint: 20950948
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Again, he is not telling the truth nor providing any evidence of his statements.  First, I didn't call him every three days and can provide my phone records to prove it.  I called him once per week, which is completely reasonable for a $100k project.  It was all about expectations.  If he would have said it would *********** weeks to prepare the permit package, I wouldn't have called even that much.  He told me it would take about 1-2 weeks to prepare the permit package and so when it wasn't, I got scared as I've never paid that large of a deposit before for uncompleted work.  And, I only called b/c he does not respond to texts.  And regardless of what the contract states or how many times I called or texted, why would he not just give us our money back when he did not earn it?  He didn't incur or spend $8,500, which is likely why he's not attaching any receipts or invoices--he is just putting most of that right into his pocket.  It's just not right.  He had offered several times during the course of the phone call to give us our money back, and we could part ways.  Why won't he just do the right thing here?  If he says he has had a business of integrity for 20 years--why not act with integrity and fairness rather than standing behind some form contract? 

  Sincerely,
  
  ***** & ***********************

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