Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/10/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The following is in answer to the letter from Felix and Leticia regarding the work they were to do for me.

  1.  I signed a contract with them on 3/30/24 in which work was to start on 3/29 or 4/1 and was to take approx. 4 to 6 weeks.  They came and took up the pavers that were down but only came now and then - not every day.  They did remove a load or 2 of dirt but just on the upper part of the area.  There was still a lot more dirt that needed to be removed.  The middle of May (6 weeks after signing the contract) they had not started preparing the ground so I called Felix and told him he had 10 days to get the patio in or I wanted my money back.  He came and started to get the ground on the upper end ready to pour.  When he was ready to pour, he mixed up the concrete and made 2 pours that day.  I went out to dinner with my brothers that evening and it was dark when I got home so I couldn't see the result until the next morning.  I called my brothers and said it didn't look right so 2 of my brothers came to look at it.  The concrete was not smoothed out and the edges were not finished.  There were uneven lines in the cement and one place looked like it had blistered and was coming up.  (I have pictures)  I told Felix I was not going to accept this and I didn't want him to pour anymore.  He told me that his dad was a cement finisher but that he couldn't come and work on my job.  I had to go out and when I got back Felix had come and taken all of his equipment.

  2.  As far as a no refund policy - that was never mentioned when we were talking about the contract.  Why would we have talked about a refund when I expected the work to be done correctly when hiring them.

  3.  After they had taken all the pavers, my brother said that if they didn't need all of them that he could use about 50 of them so I asked Felix about it.  Felix told me that he had already used about half of them on another job of his and that he needed the rest for his driveway.  I told him that was fine so didn't even ask him how much he would have sold them to us for.

  4.  Yes, there was a small tree stump there that he took to the dump but he had told me that he was going to take it and not to worry about it because he would just put it with his other stuff he was going to take to the dump.  

  5.  He cut some of my irrigation pipe and when I asked him why he did that he said he was going to put new pipe in.  I had had trouble with the system but one of my brothers had fixed it and it was all working properly.

  6.  I, not my brother, had wanted to make the cement slabs to be wider and longer but Felix pointed out that if they were longer and wider that they were more likely to crack so I told him to do the smaller ones as he thought it would be better.

  7.  After he poured the 2 slabs, I do not remember saying anything about a difference in colors but I do remember saying that it seemed awfully wet.  It was like there was water sitting on top of the concrete.  Like I said, I went to dinner with my brothers that evening so didn't get a look at the 'finished' cement until the next day.  I could tell it had just been kind of smoothed out but not worked to finish the concrete.  That is when I called my brothers.

  8.  I tried to call Felix 2 or 3 times to see if we could work this out but he would not answer my calls or call me back so I felt I had to choice but to contact the BBB to try to recover my loss.

  took.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/21/2024

  07.21.2024
  To whom it may concern: Between the dates of March 20, 2024 and April 1,2024 we were set to begin work at Sharen Barbers house. We received a deposit of 6950.00 and her original bid was for 14,900 .00 with us discounting $1000 dollars for the pavers that are in the pictures. Bringing  the estimate to a total of 13,900.00 . We kept communication from the start and told her the start date was depending on another job that we were set to start and she indicated that it was okay. We also mentioned to her that at times we get emergency calls and if that occurred we would let her know since we would have to pull off the job site to attend the call. We also indicated that if there was anything personal that came up in regards to doctors appts we would let her know as well. The invoice indicates the agreement and we also told her that there would be no refunds if the job was terminated at any point. One of the first things from the job was to remove 1550 square feet of the existing’s pavers, meaning that we would have to break up any existing cement that was used for the board and also break up any raised concreate and overlaid pavers like you can see by the pictures . The broken cement had to be taken to the landfill which we did approximately 2 trips. We also had to remove a large heavy tree stump as well that was not included in the bid and was not known about at the time that the estimate was written and when we had begun the job. We did not charge her at the time because we where not finished with the job. After we removed all the pavers that took various of trips and gasoline the equipment used as well to lift the pavers, brake cement haul it off we then had to take the dirt level 6 inches down by 75 feet long by 25 feet wide. Which where about 9 trips of dirt being hauled away and also the gasoline and equipment used, landfill fees to get it to the proper grade in order to bring the crushed granite which is laid before pouring cement and being the dirt is compacted. We brought in 5 ½ yards of crushed granite, we had to evenly spread it out and then compact it in preparation for the cement pouring. When we started removing the pavers Sharon Barber asked us several of times if her brother would be able to get any pavers that we discounted the price on to her from original bid. We indicated to her that we did not know if that would be possible yet we don’t know if the brother took any of them when we were not on the job site. We also removed some water lines that where in not a working status per indication from Sharon Barber. The previous irrigation tech had cut the lines before we got started . She had asked me to take care of irrigation but per the pictures provided she said that someone else would take care of it because the price we had given her was too expensive. The price that was given separate from the original start bid was of 700-900 dollars . When we started forming and everything was set to start she called or told us in person that her brother had suggested the squares be longer and wider so that the division lines for the cement squares would not affect her from falling or tripping. He was not present when the estimate was signed or anything in regards to the starting conversation at all. We had suggested to her that she do smaller squares that would also include the mesh wire for strength and concreate glue as well. Smaller squares are suggested to avoid any cracks of the surface of the cement. When I poured the first part of the square it was not fully dry and the other part was dryer because it was poured in the morning. And that is when she made a complaint about the difference in the color of the concreate and that is when her brother got  involved and said “it looked like crap” pardon my words. And that if it was him he would not allow us on the job site another day. Sharon Barber took his advice and was wanting to stop us from the work. That she did not want us to continue when the contract was already signed . She gave us 10 days to finish and stopped us and did not want us to continue because her brother who had not signed on contract became involved. By this point there had been a discussion with her in regards to the 10 days time frame, and we still need to make a living work was done everything was prepped, time wasted and so forth and I do not believe I owe her anything being that I stated to her that there will be no refunds and also besides that the work that was done in preparation, time lost and my time and material. I do not need any compensation from her,  I would like for her to stop harassing me and for her to not defame us in any way nor her family member and this includes social media or by any other means when we didn’t do anything wrong. I had offered her the chance of breaking the concreate and re-pouring it and she said no. She is the one to have broken the contract. I also don’t feel that I should be responsible for what the irrigation tech wants to charge her and also the tech that wants to break any existing cement for the value of 1900.00 if I understood correctly. If the irrigation is not working properly, that was damage done by the previous irrigation tech. I did not touch her irrigation at all. 
  
  Thanks,
  Felix Cisneros and Leticia Ortiz de Cisneros 
  Apenitas Handyman & Landscaping Services