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:10/18/2023

  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.

  On 4/22/23 I was given an emailed quote to build an interior door. The builder asked for 50% deposit. not wanting to transmit my cc info electronically I called him with the number. I told him I was concerned about such a high deposit since I had never seen or spoken to him before this call. He assured me that it was neccesary to hold my place in the queue and he would be out within 2 weeks to measure. We had a verbal agreement at that time that he would do nothing on the job until he came and measured. On 5/4/23 when i hadn't heard from him, I sent a text asking when to expect him. He ignored that text until 5/12/23 when I reached out to him again and he told me his family had had a stomach bug and therefore he could not answer my text. HIs lack of communication from the start, and that I had given him $1,420 made me very uneasy. Since we had an agreement that he wouldn't do any work until he measured, I felt comfortable cancelling. I told him I had filed a claim with my cc company and that I would cancel it if he refunded my deposit. Eventually he gave me $710 of the $1420. After several texts trying to resolve the issue of the remaining $710, we made an agreement that he would refund me another $450 and that I would let him keep $260 for the work he had done. (writing the quote). he claimed the deposit was non-refundable and that he was being fair in returning $710. on the quote he circled/highlighted the amounts of $ that he wanted from me. He didn't circle or highlight or mention in our conversation that the deposit was non-refundable. I also never signed any documents. My argument was that he shouldn't be paid $710 for simply writing a quote since it was how he procured business. He picked up materials, which we agreed he wouldn't do, and he wanted pay for that. It's been almost 6 months that I have been trying to be reimbursed. He has stopped communicating with me.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/19/2023

  **************** reached out to me on 3-4-23 to provide her with a quote for ****** doors for an area that was still under construction.  At that time,she provided me with rough measurements of the wall opening.   3-8-23 I provided **************** a quote for the work with the plan for me measure the final opening prior to fabrication.   **************** responded and asked for a revision to the quote (make the shelves deeper but was unsure of the desired depth at that time).  On 4-22-23 *************** reached out saying she would like to proceed and provided the desired depth.   This increased the size of material, so a revised quote was provided to her.  Prior to sending the quote I explained the updates to it and told her the changes on the quote were clouded so they would be easy to find.  *************** then asked me to contact her so she could give me her credit card information for the deposit.   The quotes clearly state the terms of payment is an easy-to-understand bullet point format.  The first stating MINIMUM NON-RREFUNDABLE DEPOSIT IS THE GREATER OF 50% OR $300. ****************  made the deposit for $1420 over the phone with her credit card. During the phone call it was discussed that I would not proceed with fabrication until I had taken final measurements of the wall opening.  Which is typical practice for this type of door.
  **************** reached out to me on 5-4-23 asking when I would be able to come by and measure.
  I responded to **************** on 5-12-23 apologizing for my late response, explaining a bug had been going through my house and was not sure when I could have scheduled to come.  I also told her I could measure the following day (5-13-23)   she then informed me that she had changed her mind and wanted me to reverse the charges.  I told her I could not at that time because I had already used the deposit for purchasing materials.
  6-5-23 I issued a partial refund of her deposit in the amount of $710 (50% of her deposit).  I sent her a copy of her quote and reminded her of the terms of payment.   I also explained that I had already invested time and money draw up her doors and create rough fabrication details and purchase material.   I further explained that drawings are useful when measuring because they assist in identifying potential issues that I may want to get additional measurements on when at a customers home.   Additionally, her deeper shelves require wider boards.  It is harder to find wider boards that are not bowed or warped.  I need to sift through available materials at multiple locations to find enough usable pieces.   I also informed her that I was still able to begin fabrication of her doors the following week as originally planned.
  **************** requested to know what materials had been purchased and proof of payment. **************** offered to purchase the materials from me if she could use them.   I responded with the sizes and types of materials purchased but told her I needed more time to look through my receipts.
  6-22-23 I emailed copies of the receipts to Ms ****************** **************** responded instructing me to return the materials to refund her.    I informed her it would take additional time on my part that I had already invested much time to her project I reminded her that the quote says Non-refundable deposit and I had already returned her 50% of it.  I had already done more than I needed to and would not be investing any additional time.   **************** responded, stating that she had not signed the quote.   I informed her that sending me the deposit that was stated on the quote is implied consent.    After more back and forth I thought *************** and I had reached an agreement that I would refund her an additional $450 to be done with this issue. I informed her I needed a bit of to get her funding together and additional time is typical for her bank to process refunds.
  6-29-23  ***************** Bank challenged the charges and the full $710 was removed from my account. I reached out to **************** and informed her of this and that because of this I would no longer be sending her the $450 that we previously agreed upon.   I also told her that I submitted our communications and the provided quote to be reviewed as evidence in the review and said it may take up to 90 days to be resolved. 
  9-12-23  *************** reached out asking if I was ready to square up with her.   I reminded her that the full $710 was already removed from my account because of the dispute she filed.
  9-14-23  I received an email from my credit card processor that ****************** bank had resolved the dispute in my favor.
  I have stopped my communication with *****************
  Hossfield Custom Wood and Steel is a second job that, at the time of this event I did on my own.   I do my best to be fair and professional with everyone.  I take pride in my work and my relationship with my customers.  ********************** I am not able to respond immediately but I did respond to ****************.  I followed all of the steps **************** and her Bank asked of me to show her what I had already invested in her job.   This one customer does not represent the vast number of satisfied and sometimes repeat customers I have.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/21/2023

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  As per the attached text message in my original complaint, Mr. ******************** agreed to return
  an additional $450 to me, acknowledging that he would be paid $260 for his efforts.Like he had done from the moment he charged my credit card, he failed to follow through on his timeline and commitment and provided only stalling tactics and excuses.  ***** to receiving the money from my credit card company he had been communicating reliably.  This became further proof to me that this is how he operates his business.  Having taken $1420 from me and then not showing up as promised, not answering text messages and failing to communicate in any way gave me a very sick feeling that I had been victimized in a ******** scam.  I took immediate measures to mitigate the situation.
  As stated in my original complaint, Mr. ******************** and I had an agreement that NO WORK
  would commence until he came out to my home to measure.  Anything he did beyond that point was for his own benefit.  Ultimately, he agreed to return $450 to me.  If he refuses to do that, he may call himself a businessman, but one that lacks integrity.  He wants to make his case on his non-refundable language in the unsigned quote.  That appears to be
  the only part of our so-called contract that he wishes to abide by 

  Business Response

  Date: 11/02/2023

  **************** states she was uneasy and concerned that she was the victim of a ******** scam because I did not show up as promised, not answering text messages and failing to communicate in any way when in fact after making the deposit **************** sent only 1 text message (5-4-23) asking when I would be able to come by to measure. I responded on 5-12-23, apologizing for not responding sooner and asking if I could come the following day to measure. Please see uploaded screen shot of the correspondence. **************** thanked me for getting back to her and said she had decided to hold off on the doors. There was a 6 day delay in response. **************** is trying to paint me as a scammer when that is not at all the case. She is simply someone who had not reviewed the clearly written quote, changed her mind, and does not want to accept that time and money was spent on her project. It was agreed that I would not build anything until I had taken measurements. Nothing was built.
  **************** is correct; we had come to an agreement that I would refund her an additional $450. This was before her bank removed the remaining $710 from my account because of her credit card dispute. (June 29, 2023) The day the money was removed I messaged **************** to inform her of what had happened and that I would no longer be sending her the $450. I also told her that I had gone through and uploaded all of communications and a copy of the quote for review. I also told her the company that handles my credit card purchases informed me that her Bank would have 90 days to review the documentation before they make a decision. **************** did not respond until Sept 12th stating the 90-day period was almost complete and requesting her $450. I reminded **************** that I no longer had any portion of the deposit, and the 90 days was based upon her banks review.
  I only agreed to the $450 because I wanted to be done with the back and forth regarding this matter. I did not believe this was fair to me and I did not adequately cover the time I had already put into her project along with the costs of material I had already purchased. What **************** doesnt seem to understand is that preparation for work takes time (drawings, creating a material list, and picking up material. This is all things that can be done prior to starting fabrication and can be done with just rough measurements. Additional time was then needed to review, screenshot and upload our correspondence. This took additional time.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/02/2023

  *33373536353435313639*:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.  If you do not enter a reason for your rejection, your complaint will be closed as Answered.]
  
  Businesses and *31373332393437333135*ers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the *363137393238313831* complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  Our original discussion regarding payment was on 4/22/23 through the messenger app.   On that day I requested that Mr. * call me for my cc number which he did immediately.  *e told me he would be out within 2 weeks to measure, at which point we agreed that "no work" would commence on the job until he measured.  We never agreed that "nothing would be built" until he measured.  When I didn't hear from him in 12 days, I texted him on 5/4/23 to find out when he was coming.   Mr. * states that there are 6 days between 5/4 and 5/12.  There are actually 8 days   I know he works weekends because he called me on Saturday, 4/22/23 to collect his deposit .  I called him on 5/12 in the morning and left a message which is why he responded to me on that day. Prior to that, there had been no communication initiated by him.  *e had $1,420 of mine and was failing to communicate.  I was very uneasy.  The reason I "changed my mind" is because at that point I felt he was unreliable and didn't want to work with him.  When I said I "changed my mind", I was trying to avoid insulting him and getting into an argument with him.   Since we had agreed that "no work" would be done, he shouldn't have been out any additional time or labor beyond the quotes.   

  I do not know anything about the $710 that he claims my cc company took from his account.  They haven't given it to me.  They haven't spoken to me about it.  I really didn't understand what he was talking about, but I figured since his mode of operation is stalling and making excuses, I'd give him the 90 days to get the money to me.   We agreed he would be paid $260 for writing up his quotes, which is generous considering that's part of how a contractor would procure business.   If he believes he should be paid for his time uploading screen shots and correspondence, I should also be paid for my time uploading screen shots and correspondence.  I have spent many months trying to get Mr. * to live up to his commitment to pay me the $450 that he agreed to.  *e says he only agreed to return the $450 because he wanted to be done with this back and forth.  If he reimburses me the money he owes me he will be done with this back and forth.  What Mr. * doesn't seem to understand is that "no work" on the job means no work.   *e also doesn't seem to understand that you cannot take and spend money that doesn't belong to you with nothing in return.