ComplaintsforBlazek-Hutchinson Builders, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  06/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Paid Contract in full in anticipation of final work remaining to be completed at time of final payment of $1,250. Had to hire another contractor to finish work remaining on the contract. Discussed resolution with Contractor and confirmed he would send refund to me for the work completed by another contractor by May 15th. Have not received refund and Contractor is not responsive to phone, email and text messages for an updated on payment.

  

  Business response

  07/08/2024

  The All work was completed, except the $1,250 that the Customer wanted to have completed by Others.

  The payment to the Customer was sent but never received by the Customer. It was sent immediately after receiving this complaint by way of Venmo and received by the Customer.

  We are sorry that the amount we owed to the Customer didn't get received as intended.

  Customer response

  07/10/2024

  I accept the business's response to resolve this complaint.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** *******

• Initial Complaint

  10/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  10/23/22 - fire in our neighbors attached garage. Damage to our garage as well as damage to our property. Our neighbors choose Blazek to do their portion, so all other contractors who came out to check our portion said it would be easier to go with the same contractor since our garages were attached. So it took a while for our insurance company to issue the check. The contractor, Andrew D*****, constantly hounded us for the check to which we always replied, our insurance issued and we were waiting to receive it. We were then advised to pay 1/2 up front- before ANY work was done back in MARCH. once they knocked down our garage, they would not show for weeks at a time; making false promises and just continuing to give us the run around. When they did show up, they did horrible, raggedy work. They do very poor work and still to this day (10/25/23), our garage is still not finished, our windows are still cracked, our fence is still not complete and Andrew continues to lie and make promises and never show. I’ve reached out to the owner, Luke, to tell him what his contractor is doing; which he never responds. It has been exactly a year and we still are not complete and continued to be lied to. Not only that, I’ve reached out multiple times for receipts for all materials used for my project and I keep getting denied and ignored. When we were told to pay draw payments at certain times, we always did, and they would not show up for weeks. When they did, they did a teeny bit of work and then disappeared for weeks at a time again.

  

  Business response

  11/27/2023

  The Owners delayed the start of the work by not signing contract until end of March. The City of Columbus required additional work materials and labor that were not part of the original building specifications.  One of which was a double firewall between the two garages. The building department and insurance company took time between the additional requirements. We were NOT paid on time for progress draws which further delayed construction, at times. As far as work quality, Owners are absolutely dishonest in this regard. There was a supplier issue with the windows that were ordered to replace the cracked ones so they were reordered. The Owner says that I never called. Not true. Obviously the contract the Owners signed was on March 21 of this year. I have had discussions with the Owner and upon one occasion was to obtain late payment for work completed. I told the Owner that delay in payment could delay completion. As for the Owner's request for our receipts for all materials and labor, the Owner has been told that we do not provide that information to our customers. Our contract does not require us to do so. In addition, since this was/is an insurance claim, there are discussions with the insurance company concerning payments for certain things. The insurance company was paying on the neighbor's policy and not this Owner's policy. The insurance company made payment(s) directly to this Owner for which to pay us. The claims made by this Owner are false and will be challenged, legally, if necessary. There have been delays based upon the order of work, additional items and inspections that the City of Columbus required, and delays in receipt of supplier products. The project will be completed very soon with the delivery of the correct windows and the artificial grass that had to be ordered to replace the initial installed turf. This Owner has been the most difficult Owner to deal with that I have had to work with and has been demanding information that it has no right to.  

   

  Customer response

  12/03/2023

  This response is surprising as I have been trying to contact the owner for a year, and never received a response until I decided to file a complaint with the BBB. All of a sudden, the owner shows up in my inbox. I received an email from the owner upset about my BBB complaint the same day that he responded to the BBB complaint. I will admit, there was an issue in the very beginning where my insurance company sent payment, and it got lost in the mail. However, when I did receive the check, this company was paid more than half upfront BEFORE they did a single piece of work. After they received my check, they still did not show up to our home for almost 3-4 weeks after they received their payment. Mind you- the contractor hounded me every day begging for the check, all while telling me everything was already ordered and in-house. Also, the owner mentioned I received payment for the neighbors policy. Not that this is anyone’s business, but my neighbors policy couldn’t cover everything that needed to be done on both ends, so MY policy picked up the charges that their policy could not cover. We paid 3 draws according to contract- except for the last draw in which the contractor broke contract. Andrew (contractor) told me that we needed to pay a draw sooner than the contract stated because they do not have enough money to move on. I said this goes against the contract and he said well it’s the only way it’s going to get done (all in the provided screenshots in my initial complaint). We contacted our rep from the city multiple times after the contractor continued to say the city was the hold up. However, the city rep continued to tell us that they were not waiting on anything from the city but that the contractors were dragging their feet. It’s interesting that the owner states they were not paid on time when nothing was completed (or poorly completed) until AFTER they called themselves finishing something. I’ve attached numerous communications and photos of the poor work and their horrible customer service in this initial complaint. I’ve also attached numerous emails that I’ve sent to the owner, with no response. After numerous lies from the contractor, Andrew, I sent the owner an email stating I’d rather not speak with the contractor, the owner did not respond to me at all. Instead, the owner forwarded the email to the contractor who I specifically asked to no longer deal with. The contractor then reaches out to me and says “I saw your email where you said you didn’t want to talk to me”. The owner states he’s spoken with me about late payments (lies). I’ve given all payments prior to any work being done. I’ve made payments and the contractor would disappear for weeks without doing any work and without a word unless my husband or I reached out. His response was always “I was just getting ready to call/text you, but we have everything ready to go and will see you on “this” day. 8/10 times a lie. The owner also states I’m not entitled to receipts for which I AM PAYING FOR THEIR SERVICES? How can we purchase services and not be entitled to what was being purchased? Our insurance adjuster provided a breakdown that would be needed for this project. If the company does not want to provide receipts, then it can only be assumed that the funds are not being used properly. Also, I asked the contractor if more money was needed; and if so, I’d reach back out to our insurance company. The contractor specifically stated everything was taken care of and that the windows and the turf were ready to go. However, now the owner is stating they do not have enough money to purchase the turf and windows… another reason why I am asking for receipts. I am absolutely not satisfied with this service from this company and will never do business with this company EVER again. Also, the owner tried to threaten me and say if I write a public review regarding their work, he will sue ME for defamation…. Please see screen shots and photos of this company’s poor work in my initial filing. This company was only redoing a double garage. It’s been over a year. You’d think they were building a house from ground zero! 
  Regards,
  
  Brandi & Marshaun G******

  

  Business response

  01/05/2024

  
  January 2, 2024
  
  This project was a fire damage that destroyed two garages that were adjoined but detached from the housing units, siding on the rear of the living structure that melted from the heat of the garage fires, and two damaged windows.
  
  Homeowner says that he tried to contact us for a year. The contract was not signed by the  homeowner until 3/21/23 and the homeowner was told that no work would commence and no materials would be ordered until payment cleared and that a permit was granted by the City of Columbus for the work. As a licensed Home Improvement Contractor and General Contractor, we informed the homeowner that no work could start before the City approved such work. The City of Columbus further wanted both garages to be repaired under the same permit. Since the homeowner dragged the process from the initial date of proposal in January until the end of March, delaying application for permit and the work on the neighbor's garage and siding, as well. 
  
  Homeowner contends that we did not have conversation for a year when, in fact, I had conversations with the homeowner during the project on numerous occasions. There were also conversations when homeowner would not make timely payment when a progress draw was due and the field manager was unable to collect the draw payment and we would not proceed until payment was made.
  
  Since the City of Columbus decided to request additional documents for the project, such as drawings of a double firewall instead of a single one between the two garages and inspections on each side which could not be installed until after the drawings were completed, submitted and approved, delays in construction were experienced. 
   
  Because of the nature of this type of project, we cannot and did not agree to a specific deadline for the work to be completed. We proceeded as the City allowed and our schedule, based upon sub-contractors and products availabilities.   
  
  As for payment, the homeowner knew that we required one-half, for which we entered into written agreement with the homeowner. The statement by the homeowner that we said that "everything was already ordered and in-house" is in error, since we do not order or gather product before the deposit of funds to pay for such and the approval by the Building Department to proceed with construction, as required by the City. As the homeowner stated, we did not start for 3-4 weeks for this reason.
  
  The homeowner contends that he has paid draws as due. The down payment, which was half of the contract amount and three additional draws, including the final payment were to be made at progress points. There are a total of 5 payments in our contract, not 4. The homeowner has not paid the third draw of $3,500, which has been due for some time, and there would still be a final draw for the same amount in addition to that. The homeowner owes us for work that is completed and is withholding payment.
  
  Upon my site visit, I saw that this project was constructed excellently and not poorly, as the owner claims. I will gladly show any prospective customer the workmanship of this project and the owner of the other side of the garage is satisfied with the construction, as well.
  
  As the homeowner states, all that is to be completed is replacing a window and some artificial turf. As for this work, the progress draw that is due needs to be paid before we will finish. 
  
  As for receipts, the homeowner is entitled to receipts for the amounts paid to us. We do not owe them the receipts for every item we purchased and the subcontractor payments. This was not part of our agreement, since we did not sign an AIA contract with the customer which would involve this. I will provide the customer with receipts or information for warranted items and some other items after we receive payment for the draw due and timely payment upon completion.
  Since we would rather meet with the homeowner, get caught up on the outstanding payment due, finish the project and be paid for finalization and for all of us to move forward.
  
  I have spoken with the homeowners and they agreed to set a time and day to meet at the site to go over the work and payment, but they have not done so. When I call, the response is that I will get called back, but the homeowner doesn't call back so I continue to call and email and they have not responded.
  
  We are willing to  go to arbitration with the homeowner to show that we have performed to our contract and at a high level of quality. The homeowner needs to realize that we perform our work at a high level of quality and expect to be paid for such.
  
  I hope that we will not be forced to take further action to secure payment for the remainder of our contract. 
  
  
  Luke B*****, Blazek-Hutchinson Builders, Inc.

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