Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2024

  Type:Order 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.

  Contracted Jones Design Group (JDG) for property design and renovation services in February. Work was to start 2/26/24 with a completion date of 4/19/2024. Project did not start until mid March with no notice of change. To date they have not secured a permit, completed work not requiring a permit, provided architectural drawing required to secure the permit or sufficient project management to ensure progress on the project. The company has not provided a revised completion date and fails to provide consistent updates on the project. For weeks at a time no work is done at the property. Project managers are often unavailable and/or are no-shows at meetings. Request for copies of documentation go unanswered. The City of Indianapolis, Bureau of Neighborhood Services reports that they have yet to receive the requested information required to secure a permit. JDG then requested that I falsify information by and request the permit as a homeowner so that the unlicensed contractor could do the work. JDG refuses to provide requested documentation of expenses for materials and labor and claim that all materials except cabinets are located at the property, which is not true. I have given ample opportunity for the company to resolve the myriad of issues and complete the project; yet they have failed to address issues regarding the work done as well and to secure the necessary permits. Given they have failed to secure a permit and cannot give a timeline for the submission of the required documentation to secure the permit and complete the project; I am looking for a refund of the project management fees, refund of all funds paid for materials that have not yet been used in the project and or supported by valid receipts or paid invoices, as well as labor costs paid that are not supported by documented payments to the subcontracted and documented completed work on the project.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/24/2024

  Hello, we received the complaint made by ******************* regarding her remodel project at ************** and would like to dispute some of the allegations made against us. ******************* states in her complaint that no documentation had been submitted to the State of ********************* to obtain a permit for her residence. I have attached documentation that proves that documentation has been submitted on more than one occasion and that I have been working with someone by the name of ********* on all paperwork and revisions that have been requested from them. My last correspondence with ********* was on July 17th prior to me leaving on vacation in which I inform her that I have been on leave to make her aware that we were still trying to gather the information that was requested pertaining to the last revision to my original plans that were requested. The other complaint that ******************* made in her complaint was the allegation that she was asked to falsify documents - this is not true. My company utilizes the services of a third party contractor to handle all of the construction based needs on our projects. The client insisted at the beginning of the project that a licensed contractor be used for the work. I was told by the third party contractor that there was someone on their team who was licensed and could obtain the permit. During the permit process, I was informed that this persons license had expired and that they were in the process of reinstating it through the city. Once this process started to linger on, I reached out to ********* at the permit to inform her that we have to go another route and hire someone else to complete the work - I asked ********* if they had to be licensed and she told me. She informed me that there was a Statement of Intent form that ******************* could sign that would allow us to continue moving forward with the permit without needing the information for a licensed contractor. I sent this form to ******************* and explained what the form was and how it could help us. ******************* stated that she was not comfortable signing the form yet because she was not satisified with amount of work that had been done to the property. I responded to ******************* letting her know that I understood her concerns and would proceed accodingly. ******************* was never coerced into signing or falsifying any sort of documentation. As the owner of the company, I simply was taking proactive measures to ensure that we could resolve the lingering issues associated with the hold up of the permit. ******************* has been aware of the circumstances surrounding the issue with the contractor for over 2 months now. I have even sent her updates letting her know that myself along with my Project Manager, have been meeting with other people who are licensed and could do the work.

  The other complaint that ******************* made was regarding requesting documentation and financial records pertaining to her project and what had been paid out. I let ******************* know on July 17th that I did not have the capacity due to my schedule to provide this information to her. As a company, we have never sat down and given a client detailed receipts or information of that nature. ******************* also requested to see bank statements of the company's records to which I declined. By law I am not obligated to show a client and personal information such as bank statements. The third party contractor that I utilize works with a Project Manager that handles the payouts for the weekly draw payments that are paid out to the crew for labor. ******************* has been aware of this since the beginning of this project and I reiterrated this in my email on July 17 that he would have that bookkeeping information. Both myself and the Project Manager have had conversations with ******************* on a number of occasions where we have withheld or agreed to not collecting payment for labor due to the progress that has or has not been made on her property. She also made allegations that materials have not been ordered. There have been a number of materials ordered and has been physically present and still boxed at the jobsite for months because we have not been able to install them yet due to the hold up with the permit. I made her aware in my email on July 17 that there are some materials that have not yet been purchased because we are not ready for them and/or we don't have the room at the jobsite to store them.

  While some of Mrs. ******** gripes are valid in regards to the timeline being extended, the crew not showing up to work at times, etc. - the allegations made against my company that we have been dishonest and immoral are damaging and untrue. As a small business, I do my best to adhere to the laws that the state of Indiana have set in place to protect the consumer and would never try to mislead any client into falsifying information. It is not even required in the state of ******* for a contractor to be licensed, so there would be no need for me to try and falsify anything. I even made ******************* aware in my email that I would be leaving for vacation and would touch base with her upon my arrival so that we can keep things moving on her project - only to my surprise to recieve a call from the BBB the next day that she filed a complaint. I am requesting for this complaint to be removed due to the false information provided by *******************.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/14/2024

  *******************,

  I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to address your concerns regarding the permit process for the remodel project.

  At Jones Design Group, we take pride in adhering to all legal and ethical standards, including ensuring that all permits and documentation are completed accurately and in full compliance with local regulations. I understand there may have been some confusion or miscommunication during our previous discussions, but at no point would I ever suggest or encourage falsifying any documentation or taking any action that would violate the law. During the duration of the project, the contractor made us aware that their current license had expired and needed to be renewed. The renewal process took longer than anticipated, so in order for us to keep the project on track, an attempt was made to reach out to permit office to gain information on other ways of moving forward with the approval of the permit. It was suggested to us that ******************* could sign a Statement of Intent Form stating that she was aware that the work could be done by an unlicensed contractor. ******************* was sent this information and was instructed to look it over and let us know if she was comfortable signing the form. ******************* replied that she would take a look and get back to us - to which we recieved a reply a few days later that she was not comfortable signing the form due to the lack of work that had been done on the jobsite. We acknowledged her concern and moved forward accordingly. There was never in cohersion to get ******************* to falsely sign any documentation. ******************* had received a copy of the form and informed us that she would do her own research before giving us an answer. May I add that a contractor is not legally required to hold a license in the state of *******; so there would be no reason for us to falsify anything. While ******************* has some valid points of concern with the duration of the project and lack of project management at times - Jones Design Group in any way persuaded ******************* to falsify documentation. All proper documentation on our end has been provided to combat these claims. 

  In regard to the allegations regarding the lack of information submitted to secure the permit - the permit office recevied everything required from us with the exception of a few revisions that were asked to be made on May 24th. These revisions needed to be outsourced and revised by a third party architect and took longer than expected. During that time, personal issues halted progress from a ****************** standpoint and the revisions were not uploaded once they had been received back to us. Since then, the revisions have been sent to the permit office and the only missing information left to secure the permit is the information needed by a licensed contractor - to which our team has been diligently working on for the past 3 months to secure one. 

  I value our relationship and want to ensure that everything is handled in the best and most transparent manner possible. If you have any further questions or need clarification about the permit process or the scope of the project in general, I would be more than happy to go over everything with you in detail.
  Please feel free to reach out if there's anything else you'd like to discuss.

  
  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/10/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  The response from Jones Design Group fails to address my core complaint or provide resolution to the problem.  I filed the complaint in July and gave the Jones Design Group an additional month to secure the permit, develop an agreed upon completion date and account for the funds that I have paid to them for the project.  Almost two months later none of my requests have been accomplished.  The required drawings and information requested in May were finally submitted at the end of July after the complaint was filed. Still, no permit was secured because the contractors license # was not provided to the city as required.  In addition, questions/conditions from the inspector on the framing plan remained.  In June, The Jones Design Group reported that contractors license expired, but has not provided the license number to me or the city and months later cannot explain why the license has not yet been renewed.  They report they have been trying to find a contractor for three months although I was told prior to executing a contract with them for the job that they worked with multiple contractors with several crews so completing my job would not be a problem.     
  The resolution requested in my complaint is not addressed in the response and has not been offered by the company.  No documentation in the form of receipts or purchase orders has been provided.  No information regarding labor costs has been provided.  The company has not offered any restitution for the mismanagement of the project or refunded any of the funds deposited for materials or labor.  My inquiries as to when I should expect a refund go unanswered. 
  Finally, while the state of Indiana does not require a contractors license to renovate; it is recommended that only licensed contractors be used and most cities/municipalities (including ************) do require a license to secure a permit.  The ********************** was responsible for securing the permit as part of their project management services.  For the company to fail to do this after six months and now stall and refuse to refund money paid to them for project management and materials demonstrates questionable ethics and business practices.

  The amount of work still needing to be done to complete the project is significant and the sizable refund due to me is required in order for me to finish the project.  I am a disabled veteran and this company's failure complete the job, dismissal of the significance of their failure to meet the terms of the contract and refusal to refund provide a refund has created a financial hardship, yet they continue to refer to personal issues as reasons that action has not been taken to make this right. 

   

   

  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/16/2024

  Mrs. ******** response to a resolution is inaccurate. We have been working diligently to try and resolve this. We have sent her spreadsheets documenting what was budgeted versus what has been paid out so that she can see what exactly is owed back to her. The claim made that a refund has not been provided has been simply been due to Mrs. ******* not agreeing on what she should be compensated for. Not only is Mrs. ******* is requesting that funds for the materials that have not yet been purchase be returned; but she is also requesting for funds for the work that has already been done be refunded back to her in a sizeable amount. Which we disagree on. It gives us no pleasure and furthermore prolongs this process and relationship to keep the funds that are properly due back to her. We are more than ready to resolve this matter with Mrs. ******* and move on. A claim has even been filed with our insurance carrier to try and get Mrs. ******* some sort of compensation - so how we are not working to help resolve this matter, is beyond my comprehension. 

  Addressing Mrs. ******** claims that as a business owner, I am using a family emergency to prolong or stall her receiving funds is an incorrect statement. On 9/8 I sent Mrs. ******* an email sending her the spreadsheet that I mentioned earlier and also letting her know as a courtesy that I would be leaving town to be with my family for a medical reason. This information was shared with Mrs. ******* so that she would not be anticipating a response from me for any future emails until I returned. In regard to her claims that my company had several crews, we are a small company who contracts the labor done on our projects out to third party vendors. Mrs. ******* was made aware that both the Project Manager and General Contractor were not direct employees of Jones Design Group. We were told by this particular third party contractor that they had several crews and had the capacity to handle the workload for Mrs. ********* home as well as other projects we had going on at the time; this turned out to be false. I offered a solution to Mrs. ******* to allow me to complete the project with another crew that I had recently brought on to complete any future projects of mine - to which Mrs. ******* rejected the offer and made the decision to end the client and designer relationship. Mrs. ******* has tried to make claims that I tried to get her to falsify documents, that the crew has damaged her home, that I am stalling with her refund, in one email she states that there is only $5k of materials at the jobsite but in a recent email she says that it is $10k; just to name a few. I have done nothing but do my best to try and work with her so that this does not have to continue going further and getting uglier. I am willing and ready to settle whatever needs to be settled within reason with Mrs. ******* so that I can move on to future endeavors.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/04/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  The response from the Jones Design Group is not an acceptable resolution as it fails to address the complaint or the requested resolution.   I asked for a refund of design/project management fees, labor costs paid that are not supported by documented payments to the subcontractor and completed work on the project, a refund for material costs that have not been used/installed/delivered and not supported by valid receipts or paid invoices, and compensation for loss of use and costs incurred for project delays.  Mr. ******************** response fails to address that request.  
  
  Mr. ******************** provided a list of materials purchased and an accounting report for the project on August 11, 2024, almost a month after filing the initial BBB, but no receipts were provided at that time.  I shared my concern regarding the accuracy of the report given no receipts were provided and that some of the items listed were not delivered to me or the project site. In addition, the cost report included 60K in labor which is the full amount of the labor costs for the project although less than half of the work had been completed.  Mr. ******************** indicated he would need additional time to review receipts and project information to ensure I get all the money I am due to be refunded and to work with his insurance company on a claim for the project. He also stated that the crew did as much as they could without a permit, although in the past he blamed the lack of progress completing the project on the crew not showing up stating he had no control over that.  Regardless of what the excuse is, both securing the permit and managing the project install schedule were the responsibility of the Jones Design group.  Prior to contracting with them, Mr. ******************** assured me that his company had a strong relationship with this and other contractors and would have no issue completing my project in a timely manner.  It turns out he grossly misrepresented their capacity. 
  I continued to reach out to Mr. ******************** regularly to ask when I should expect a refund.  Nearly a month after sending the first inaccurate and accounting record; I received the very same inaccurate account of the project costs and a message indicating I am owed about 26K on September 8th.   He also informed me he would be out of town for the week due to a medical issue of a family member.  I again indicated the information was inaccurate and waiting a month to receive the same document was unacceptable.  A week later, Mr. ******************** emailed that he was still out of town.   The following week on September 17th, Mr. ******************** sent a link sharing copies of receipts for materials for the project. Later, on September 23rd, Mr. ******************** indicated that he was still out of town, but would send a check for 26K along with materials that still had not been delivered to the job site upon his return at the end of the week.  While Mr. ******************** commented that I changed my estimate of how much was spent in materials, It should be noted that none of the information that he sent on project costs correlates.  The amount for materials on the accounting report does not match the amount on the spreadsheet listing material purchased and the total of the receipts shared totals less than both.  Given his reluctance to share any information regarding what my money was spent on, my reference to 5-10K being spent was a generous guestimate by a customer that has purposely been kept in the dark.  Accurately accounting for the resources entrusted to them is their responsibility which they have failed to do. 
  Mr. ******************** efforts to stall are evident in his actions, or the lack thereof.  I initially made the complaint in July.  I gave an additional month for this company to secure the permit and provide the information requested to account for where my money had been spent.  They did not, so I officially cut ties in August.  Since then Mr. ******************** has stated that resolving the dispute is delayed because he was consulting a lawyer,filing an insurance claim, busy with other matters, reviewing receipts (twice),under the weather, out of town and the list goes on.  None of these excuses would suffice if the tables were turned and I owed them money. He has ignored the financial and emotional hardship that his company has caused due to the delays that seem to mainly be attributed to personal challenges that experienced during the timeframe.  Instead,he has chosen to compound the issue by taking months to provide and accurate account of where my funds were spent and refund money that was never earned.  It is now October, nearly eight months after signing the contract and depositing a sizeable amount for the work to be done; more than five months after the project was supposed to be completed, nearly three months after filing the BBB complaint and approximately six weeks from the date informed them in writing that I no longer wished to work with the company and requesting a refund. Although Mr. ******************** emailed me on September 23rd indicating that he would be back in town after (once again) being gone for almost a month due to a family medical emergency and would send a refund check of 26K along with materials that were never delivered or installed by the end of the week.  I have yet to receive an accurate and supported account for where my money was spent, a refund check or the materials he referred to.  
  
  
  ******** *******
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/11/2024

  This issue is being informally mediated by my attorneys at ****** & *****. They have been working with myself and Mrs. ******* to help resolve the matter so that both parties are in agreement to what is fair.
  
  
  Mrs. ******* has received a payment of $26k from Jones Design Group and we are in the process of submitting supporting documentation to show that the sum of $25k was paid to the subcontractors via the Project Manager hired by the subcontractor during the duration of the project.