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:12/05/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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 contracted Sure Can Home Improvements to paint the interior of my garage. I was seeking someone to paint my walls and ceiling and while chatting with the owner, we also discussed painting the floor. The owner mentioned an epoxy product that he could use and he prepared a price for me.In June, Sure Can painted the walls and ceiling and finally on June 29, they applied an epoxy product to the floor. I had swept the floor in preparation for their work. They purchased the products and went to work on the floor.When they had left, I noticed 2 unused bags of white material that looked like salt. It was labeled "concrete etch" and I later learned it was meant to be used to prepare the floor prior to applying the epoxy product.Our family went away for the Independence Day holiday. No one walked on the floor for more than 24 hours. No one drove on the floor for more than 2 week. But as soon as we returned and began to walk and drive on the garage floor, the product began to separate and flake off of the floor. I went to the store and identified the product that was used. I looked at the directions which clearly stated that the floor must be cleaned and degreased, the concrete etch used, then completely dry before application of the epoxy product. It was very clear that no preparation of the floor had been done. The contractor had been negligent in their work, completely failing to prepare the floor so that the epoxy would stick.I contacted the owner and asked him to come back and redo the work. He initially said that they would come back and that they stand by their work. But then July and August passed, with no one coming to fix it. The first product needed to be removed, the floor prepped, and new product applied. But no one ever came. The owner began leaving angry messages whenever I would text asking when they would come. Eventually, in mid-September 2023, I asked him not to come back and to issue a refund. But he never has. The owner leaves *********** messages.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/20/2024

  I will cut straight to the chase. We tried to go above and beyond for this customer. We did some great things for her in particular and have text messages to show her satisfaction with our services and witnesses to state the same. It wasnt until we got to the garage floor which was in horrible condition. Divets and holes everywhere and just everything not level that required patching up and we handled the self leveling. And she wanted extreme discounts for everything which is no problem we love helping the community. We took care of her deck, handled some electrical issues in her home and painted her garage. She can say it was so easy a cave man can do it, so why wasnt it done by her herself? No we just make it look simple because of training and experience. Perfecting our craft. She didnt even know what her electrical problem was so if it was so easy why couldnt she troubleshoot it herself? Moving on to the issue in question, the garage floor. Originally we were supposed to just patch it level it (in which we did successfully) and then just paint the floor with some traction solution. The total cost for doing everything in the garage painting walls and ceilings was $1,500, the floor we were only charging her about $250-300. The audacity of this lady to ask for $1,500 like that is what she was charged for the floor, just goes to show the mindset and her ulterior motives. I even talked with some of her neighbors who just so happen to be outside a couple days and they said she is a uptight person. I wish I had known this before because I do not like dealing with impossible people, it just make life harder and Im a positive person. I have everything on text. We decided to try to make her floor pretty for a graduation party so we decided to epoxy the floor. The kit alone cost $275. So we came out of pocket to really try to help. We told her specifically to stay off of it for a week and to keep vehicle traffic off it for two weeks. She contacted me a week after stating it had flaked off. We were in the heart of the summer. And we were busy. I expressed to her, we were too busy at the time but we would gladly come back to remove things and then just paint it like we had originally. I kept her informed every time and was super professional. I let her know we wouldnt be able to come right back because of how many projects we had and we were understaffed. She instantly started making demands and deadlines that I told her I wouldnt commit to. She worked herself up. And started to get nasty and condescending in which I simply dont tolerate. Once that happened, I told her we would issue a refund for some of the cost of the floor, keeping in mind we already overspend on the kit. So we decided around ******* dollars (all this is on text) but then I saw that she left a very nasty and invalid review on my site. Before I could even issue a refund. Like why would you want to try to ruin a small  business? And with lies? She took no ownership if her own doings and understand I told her we would come and handle it but it wasnt going to be in the time frame she saw fit.  so after seeing all that and taking more c*** and insults from her, thats when I told her no we would not be issuing a refund at this time and I knew shes not the type to just let bygones be bygones. Shes the type to push the envelope. She loves for her two cents to be heard. Which is fine but you have to have some validity when you are spewing all this hatred and lies just because you didnt get your way. I wont even discuss what one of her kids friends or her son had said because Im not like that. I dont believe in a eye for an eye, just know that I am a peoples person. I get along with any and everyone and people love to open up to me. Just know this isnt her first time just being a impossible person to work with and treating everyone in her life like a second fiddle. She is not a nice lady at all from what I gathered and she loves making people lives a living h*** if she can. She cant make my life a living h*** because when I make connections with people they know my heart and Ive been in business for 5 years now. I have enough clientele to which people already know me and what I stand for. And it bothers her that she cant get to me or effect me like the people closest to her. We did an exceptional job. She didnt follow the correct after care, she wants to talk about concrete etch. She doesnt even know what that is? She read a box for half a hour. This is something that we have done for years. And when she was typing and submitting she is acting like i painted her garage myself. No my staff did. But when you talk c*** about my staff I am going to defend my staff, she was very happy until she couldnt get her way. Its that simple. Then she started harassing my phone and everything she could get her hands on. I will not work with someone so impossible and with evil intentions. Had she just practiced some patience, we would have been glad to assist further and right whatever wrong she felt. And just so she know, this statement is protected by law. Powered by my attorney so please let her know any of these statements used or posted anywhere without my consent for public comsumption in which I do not give her my consent.  I will take legal action. I am saying these things in confidentiality through bbb. Thank you. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/22/2024

   
  Complaint: 20959370
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The work performed on the garage floor by Sure Can was done very poorly. That is my complaint. All other work performed prior to the floor is irrelevant to this complaint. All comments about my knowledge of electrical wiring are irrelevant. I hired Sure Can to paint/epoxy my garage floor. Sure Can chose and purchased the product. The garage floor was not in horrible condition prior to their work, and it if was, and if Sure Can are the experts they claim to be, they should have discussed this with me and I would have made a plan to scrub and degrease the floor. Nothing was communicated to me about the package directions or the necessary preparation of the floor.

  Sure Can did a poor job patching a number of small divots on one area of the floor. The patches are rough and raised above other areas, rather than smooth. They also missed one 3 inch divot. The floor has no issues with leveling. Given that Sure Can did not prepare the floor, or notify me that the product they chose required preparation, and only they had access to the concrete etch and instructions that came with the kit, it is not feasible that I was in any way responsible for this lack of preparation. The work was rushed and poorly done. The product was not mixed well and thick globs of the epoxy were tacky even months later.

  I was not given any instructions to stay off of the floor for the amount of time stated in Sure Can's response. A screenshot is attached with the only communication regarding time to let the floor set. As you can see, the text message reads, "...Yeah, I'd give the floor at least until tn before moving stuff onto or walking on." We waited for a significant amount of time, we went out of town for a week after the application of the epoxy. This shows Sure Can's claim is nonsense and the package directions also indicate that no such length of time is required. The product had plenty of time to set. The problem is that Sure Can was negligent in their preparation and application of the product.

  In an audio message, the owner of Sure Can acknowledges that he planned to issue a refund, adding "...home improvement stuff happens. I told you I'd take full responsibility." But he is unhappy about the honest review I left on ******* The review was not to "tear somebody down" but to protect others from a situation like this one, where a contractor promises something they are not capable of delivering on, and leaving consumers with a mess. I listed the projects that went well, but I was honest about the mess made of the garage floor project.

  Comments provided in the Sure Can response regarding my neighbors are also irrelevant. I own the home but it is a rental and we live there only a small part of the year. My neighbors would not be able to give any accurate description of my personality, not that it matters. I have no idea what "one of her kids friends or her son had said" could possibly mean, but it's also irrelevant to this complaint. 

  What is relevant is that the garage floor epoxy job was very poorly done and as it is a high traffic area of our home, it has caused lingering problems as flakes of epoxy are tracked into the home and the floor looks worse every day. Sure Can failed to take responsibility for the mistakes in a reasonable time frame and has failed to settle the matter with a refund. I live outside of the country for part of the year, and it was reasonably expected that the floor would be corrected before I left the country, and tenants moved in. That gave Sure Can nearly 2 1/2 months to correct the problem. I asked for a clear plan for how this would be corrected, because I left too much to chance in the original contracting of the work. It is fair that the owner would share with me what product he planned use so that I can be sure my garage floor would be well done and non-slip. I sent clear communications in hopes of getting clear answers. If the owner of Sure Can feels this was condescending, that *** be his sensitive nature. I wanted to be clearly informed of the plan to correct the mess on my garage floor. Written responses from Sure Can were evasive, vague, and dismissive of the huge inconvenience this caused to my family. Sure Can did nothing close to "an exceptional job" on our garage floor. The owner of Sure Can admitted in an audio message that "...it wasn't the best job. Ok. I told you the floor.. if it's not... if it's coming up and it's not, it's not good work, right? I never dismissed that. I owned... I apologized. I said I was sorry. I was almost kind enough to give you... somewhat of a refund, but then I saw that review."

  The attachment upload on this response does not allow for the audio file type, but I am happy to provide the audio files of the owner of Sure Can making the quoted statements above during recordings that he sent to me in late 2023.

  Negative review or not, Sure Can should act with integrity and issue a refund for the poor work done, and lasting problems with, my garage floor. 

  I asked the owner for a $500 refund. I am not seeking a $1500 refund. That $1500 number was given as a total for the whole garage project, as that's what it seemed the BBB form asked for. I would like Sure Can to refund $500 for the poor work done on the garage floor. If the refund is issued, I agree to edit my review to show that a refund was paid and the matter settled.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

  Business Response

  Date: 02/16/2024

  First and foremost allow me to apologize for the delay. So much has been going on I wouldnt even bother you with details but here I am. Now honestly maam I stopped reading the last response after the first paragraph. No disrespect but its just becoming repetitive at this point and I dont wish to consume anymore negative energy regrading this matter further. I can admit as a business we may have not fulfilled your desires or expectations. And Im sure we can both admit we could have handled this whole situation better. Its not even about the upper hand or anything, I hope it was never about that. Even still, here is what I am willing to do and I believe this is what I had said at some point once issuing some sort of refund was discussed on my end.  I just believe we both want to walk away from this situation with some kind of victory. So I am willing to do a $300 refund if the review is removed and we can be done with this situation. We dont have to go into business anymore but let bygones be bygones. I believe that is a fair resolution. I am done with the back and forth on my end. Again these statements are protected under the power of attorney and can not be used in any way without the consent of the issuer. 

  Business Response

  Date: 02/19/2024

  First and foremost allow me to apologize for the delay. So much has been going on I wouldnt even bother you with details but here I am. Now honestly maam I stopped reading the last response after the first paragraph. No disrespect but its just becoming repetitive at this point and I dont wish to consume anymore negative energy regrading this matter further. I can admit as a business we may have not fulfilled your desires or expectations. And Im sure we can both admit we could have handled this whole situation better. Its not even about the upper hand or anything, I hope it was never about that. Even still, here is what I am willing to do and I believe this is what I had said at some point once issuing some sort of refund was discussed on my end.  I just believe we both want to walk away from this situation with some kind of victory. So I am willing to do a $300 refund if the review is removed and we can be done with this situation. We dont have to go into business anymore but let bygones be bygones. I believe that is a fair resolution. I am done with the back and forth on my end. Again these statements are protected under the power of attorney and can not be used in any way without the consent of the issuer. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/19/2024

   
  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.

  Once I have received the $300 refund, I will take down my review.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************