ComplaintsforConstruction Claims Experts
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Complaint Details
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Initial Complaint
01/10/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Answered
Sara ****** signed a Retainer Agreement on 10/5/22 with Construction Claims Experts. Sara received a Retainer Invoice for $2,000 and paid on 10/7/22. She then received an additional invoice for $8,635 on 10/20/22 for the deconstruction and inspection of the property which was much greater than the $2,500 originally anticipated. Since she was never given any indication that this amount would be so high, the onsite deconstruction and inspection appointment was canceled. At no time did the client, Sara, receive any service outside of the 30-minute call between herself, her attorney, and Allen ******* of Construction Claims Experts yet Allen deducted $900 from her retainer. When she contacted him questioning the dispute he refused to refund her any additional money outside of the $1,100 sent in the mail. I am reaching out to the BBB because I find it unethical that someone can misrepresent their fee structure and then only after their client is under contract and has paid a retainer, change it and inflate their hours so they can still keep some of the retainer funds. I am seeking a refund of $900.Business response
01/17/2023
Ms. ****** was given clear guidance of our fee structure from our very first email on 9/26/22 “Attached is my CV with our rate sheet for your review. Every case and home are different so, there is not a set fee.
We bill by the hour for the work involved in each case. I do offer a 1 hour consultation to review your case and can give you a little guidance of the process.”
After a free consultation on 9/30/22, Ms. ****** retained our services on 10/5/22 for her Construction Defect Case by signing our retainer agreement that required a $2,000.00 deposit.
We spent at least four hours reviewing the client’s pictures, researching the product used, and the construction of their home in preparation before our video meeting with Ms. ****** and her attorney, which were not billed for.During our video meeting, I laid out my assumptions and the most likely cause of the construction defects. But, we needed to prove out my assumptions with deconstruction and documentation of the construction defects. We were asked to provide an estimate for the deconstruction and repairs. We then outlined a scope of work for your Dallas expert to coordinate labor, materials and supplies. An estimate was provided to Ms. ****** and she ultimately decided not to move forward with our services and requested a refund.
Our Retainer agreement states “Upon termination of this agreement, payments under this section shall cease; provided, however, that the Expert shall be entitled to payments for periods that occurred before the date of termination and for which the Expert has not been paid. Any unused overages shall be reimbursed to the Client in US Dollars excluding the Retainer.”
Our invoice reflects the hours worked on behalf of the client per our retainer agreement. The client was refunded the unused portion of their retainer after the termination of services.Customer response
01/23/2023
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.
Robert claims to have spent at least four hours reviewing the pictures I provided him in preparation for a call with my attorney. I find this time frame to be exaggerated and untrue because it took me less time to put the chronologically documented photos and explanations together for him to review which accounted for over 6 months of photos. Not to mention, half of these photos were of a shower leak in which he said he could not address and therefore did not review. He claims he shared with me valuable information on the call with my attorney. The call lasted less than 30 minutes in which he stated that my roof was not water proofed correctly. I do not have a construction background like Allen does, and without said background I could have come to this conclusion. The reason I hired him was to investigate a leak, and for him to state that he spent at least four hours reviewing my photos and preparing for the call with my attorney to simply tell me my roof was not waterproofed correctly is a disturbing abuse of incurring billable hours. Had Allen provided me with any documentation supporting his claims of such research I could at least use this information for the lawsuit I am currently in and hired him to help me investigate the workmanship of my home. Now I have nothing to show for his alleged research but have incurred a $900 bill. Instead, all he provided me with were two invoices for the work that was not completed and is surprised that I terminated our contract when he told me that he would not be able to determine the cause of the leak at the original anticipated cost of $2,500.He has failed to address my concern that I was over charged for the call with my attorney. His invoice charged me for 1 hour when it was only a 30 minute call.
I also find it difficult to believe he spent 4 hours researching the materials of my home when he was planning to come onsite to do deconstruction. At this point in the process there was no need to spend time investigating the materials. His job was to come to my home, complete deconstruction and assess what was causing the leak.
The mechanism for which he required payment via ACH only gives me more reason to believe that he is skilled at knowing how to keep more of his customer's funds than they are lead to believe. While working with Allen it was also difficult to get a hold of him. His secretary told me he was out sick. When Allen spoke to me last, he shared he was actually out sailing. He spent December abroad which also made him unavailable to make contact with my attorney. I will do whatever I can to make sure other consumers are not taken advantage of the way I was. I hired Allen during a time of need to support my claims in my lawsuit and he took advantage of me being in a vulnerable position when needing help from someone with his background.
Regards,
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Customer Complaints Summary
1 total complaints in the last 3 years.
0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.