Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/09/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  I hired JOMA to install 3 new windows. **** sent me an estimate of the project (the pre-proposal) by email, listing the initial cost range estimate for 3 generic windows and also included other miscellaneous items such as their special Preliminary Build Agreement (***) fee, permit, portable restroom, professional cleaning, etc. I agreed to move forward because I trusted **** to be transparent throughout the process. I signed the *** contract based on the understanding that the *** fee would be included in the quote, based on the pre-proposal, and that we were only refining the selection of windows. Nothing else in the final proposal apart from the windows selected should have changed. But when the final proposal came back JOMA replaced the generic windows with my selections, removed the bit under miscellaneous about including the *** fee and the professional cleaning was changed to cleaning. Removing the *** fee changes the clients out-of-pocket cost and the *** fee is no longer credited towards the quote as understood in the pre-proposal but becomes an additional out-of-pocket cost + final quote. Clients like myself with small projects would never agree to pay a window selection fee of ~$1000 to get to a quote. The *** fee is included at the beginning to make the pre-proposal more appealing but removed in the final proposal. **** can interpret discrepancies between pre- and final proposals how he sees fit when a client brings up the inconsistencies. Working off an ESTIMATE RANGE grants **** immense flexibility to add or remove the *** fee and other items from the pre- and final proposals as he sees fit. It is difficult to argue the interpretation of this *** fee in the proposals since the client never gets an itemized breakdown of cost for the entire project! I consider omission of information highly unethical and a breach of trust, and walked away from the project. I am seeking a full refund of the *** fee I paid in the amount of $871.88.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/13/2023

  We have two tracks for our process; 1. Repair and, 2. Preliminary Building Agreement (***).  The former requires minimal (if any) selections and confirmations, and the latter which often requires dozens of hours by multiple people to research and assemble a proposal and contract.  Understandably, this client is confusing the two tracks because we chose the former for her first project and it should have been the latter.  For the project in question, we provided the initial cost range which included the fees for the ***.  After we confirmed her selections (but before a proposal and contract was sent) we provided an updated project cost to make sure she was comfortable with the price change.  Since she had already paid for the *** we did not list that as a portion of the actual project.  In our email communications, during in-person meetings, and over the phone, I attempted to explain how the process works but we were not able to come to a resolution.  At our last meeting, prior to receiving notification that she had filed a complaint, I offered to refund the *** fee.  We have completed over 400 ***s in the last 7 years and while it is a very transparent process we are always looking for ways to improve it and we appreciate the feedback she provided.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/13/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  May *****