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:09/11/2023

  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.

  My mother paid for drawings to have an addition added on to my home for her to live in and for my son and wife. We shared our design and were told by *** it would be more cost effective his way. So when they hired the engineer they did not give him the correct budget of 200k. Their vision came 150k over budget. My husband and I were told by *** and ****** they would design within our budget. My mother is recently widowed and we feel taken advantage of. They said we asked for premium design services, we did not. They blame us for supposedly picking all these wants when we thought they were designing in our budget. Then they want to redo drawings to get closer to our budget. I sent them a drawing of what we wanted done and they still wanted 67k more than we could afford. He was honest about the fact he couldn't meet our needs AFTER taking our money. I never get any communication. They kept putting us off and putting us off only to crush us with their cost. ****** emailed me asking that I inform him he is fired to return any money back, I reluctantly did so and never heard back. So I text and ask and no answer until I offended his business practices. I mentioned court because I get nowhere with him and he says I will hear from his lawyer. I reached out last Wed Sep. 6th apologized for offending him. I told him he is a businessman and I am sure expects timely answers and communication. I have yet to hear back from him. We never received 100% from him at all. He may not run his business the way we see it or feel, but he screwed us over and I would like my money back. He did not pay the whole check to the engineer/architect and they did nothing for us to be keeping our money.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/31/2023

  RECEIVED VIA EMAIL BY BBB STAFF MEMBER:

  Thank you reaching out to me pertaining the complaint by ******* ******* As mentioned to you on the phone. ******* ************ was not hired to do any work for **** ******. I have a partner in a company called *** ********* Mrs. ****** hired *** for a project design in conjunction with ******* ******. The way we work our design proposal are as follows. Set cost for design (******* ******) and $500.00 additional fees for *** ********* The set fee is determined on a job-to-job basis and the *** Fee is always the same. The $500.00 fee is waivered if client moves forward with the build with *** upon final design. If the client goes with a different builder or cancels the project at all. *** is then paid the $500.00 fee for their time involved.
  
   
  
  *** and I had an initial meeting with the ******** and discussed their project needs in general. During our meeting we discussed price per foot cost ($250.00) and a basic design including a rough budget cost of 275 to 300k.  We then send our designer to consult on the build in more detail. At this stage, the client discusses all their design needs and looks. Typically, at this point the client provides all their needs and wants which the design budgeted cost typically exceeds the client’s construction budget. This is typical for a design build project. This allows the client and contractor to engage in a all-in cost figure. Meaning all the bells and whistles.
  
   
  
  This is when ******* went south. *** Builders provider her with a rough estimated cost of 350k for almost 1900 square feet two story addition. *** and I explained on several occasion that the cost could be reduced by revising material selections and design alterations. During the initial design,  many revisions to the design and budget typically occurs prior to the final agreement. This was not good enough for **** ******. She continued to send multiple nasty text accuses us as taken advantage of elders, lying and ect.  *** and I had even discussed giving money back to please Mrs. ****** still after all these texts. She then threatened with attorneys and at that time we stopped engaging with her. Our designer is still working with her and new contractor to finish our contractual obligations of design in which she hired us for. ******* ************ and *** Builders shall be held at no fault for this absurd complaint.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/31/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  ****** may be a partner in ***,but he I called Freedom and he came here with ***. They both were given a tight budget of 200k there was no 275 to 300 allowance. I did not threaten an attorney. I did say I guess I would have to go to court, because neither *** nor ****** would answer me about the $8,500 they received from my mother. I also said my mother feels taken advantage of so he is taking everything out of context and twisting words. I would say ****** is quite a shrewd businessman by only having one of his companies accredited. Very smart. However **** owns his own company and he is NOT fulfilling their agreement. I also know **** did NOT receive the entire 8500 only a portion of it. So where did the rest of our money go??? We were also leading to believe that the whole 8500 came off the cost of the build not just 500. I sent a rude text and suddenly ****** was available to respond, but would never reach out about the money being returned. One day it's *** and I will get together and decide how much you will get back to now email us and tell us we are fired. *** has not said one word to me through any of this. ****** did all the talking hence the reason I believe him to be at fault. Regardless I believe part of our money is owed to us because neither *** or Freedom did nothing to earn what they didn't pay Koludro.  **** reached out to me to finish his job it wasn't Freedom or *** job. He felt bad. I have communications with him he didn't know any of this was happening. *** nor ****** gave the budget to **** to design within. I also sent ****** a drawing of my own for what we are able to get within budget and her was still $67,000 over. He knew we were in a hurry and put us way behind. We didn't want to design and redesign over and over. We were presented a design thinking it was within budget we agreed to and then they kept us hanging a month before presenting the numbers, because they knew they were not even close to our budget. I do believe we were lied to. I do believe we were misled completely. He took forever to reply to the BBB which to me just shows disrespect toward all of this. And as I told him before these are feelings I have and things I personally experienced that does not mean I think he is like this in all business practices. We got short 15min meetings and didn't feel our time was respected or our situation. Thank you.
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ******* ******
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/28/2023

  Marqus,
  
  
  The provided response from **** Koludro should be included in our rebuttal. *** and I held all preliminary conversations. The $8,500.00 fee was for design and drawings. This service has been provided to 2D/3D renderings and architectural drawing by **** Koludro. At this point Mrs. ****** became upset over budgeted cost. During the design period as previously stated was to determine client’s needs, not *** Builders needs or wants. In response to Mrs. ****** statement “I would say ****** is quite shrewd businessman by only having one of his companies accredited . Is very smart”. *** is not hiding under the radar by not being a reputable company accredited by the BBB. *** Builders is a startup company less than a year old. Please ask Mrs. ****** has a contract with *** and she decided to move away from our services. *** Builders is not denying that we were paid $8,500.00 for design services. Which then we contracted ******* ****** to fulfill the client’s needs. As mentioned in the previous rebuttal. Design builds require multiple reviews and adjustments to achieve final design and cost. We made it through one round and Mrs. ****** decided to move another direction. We all made multiple attempts to rectify their concerns, and none were adequate for her. Even the statement that **** reached out to her because *** and I would not. That is a false statement. Attached is our contract and view log. I can be available to show all text and email transactions. Please let us know if anything else can be provided at this time.
  
   
  
  Thanks
  
  Jeremy

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/29/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  Good Afternoon,

  First of all I am in shock over this whole matter. **** reached out to me regarding helping me as shown in text attachment. I never reached out to him. There was a group text where ****** and *** and **** were all on regarding me getting money back and **** was the only one to answer. I am also including texts with ****** stating him saying he could NOT do what we asked for within budget, but I had found a contractor who could. Also the contract on docu sign was illegible to me as the word were scrambled and there was only 1 page. Now *** called me after I informed him I couldn't read it. This is the same phone call he and ****** assured me that they would DESIGN within my budget. There were no private conversations with my husband, Ken about being able to reach a 300k budget. I also have not heard from *** personally since he and ****** met with me and my mom for all of like 10 minutes. They had to hurry off to another meeting. I told them in the beginning 200k firm. If we went over that it would be out of pocket for fixtures that we chose over budget. There was NEVER a conversation with any one of them extending a 300k budget. I need to add more files but I am limited so above are inly the files with Mike. I have the drawing and breakdown from ****** as well. He was given the chance to meet our budget and he did not. I am not put for the entire amount. However the 8500 was for blueprints and overseeing project as shown on their docusign. There was no project or materials to oversee because they couldn't meet our budget. There was no agreed upon drawing for blueprints and no blueprints were done. We only have unusable drawings. I would also like to add that none of these 3 went to the township to get design approved. Once hiring a new contractor they could not build off to the side as these 3 suggested so they made up drawings that could never be built to begin with. I did not receive 8500 worth of drawings they were not even completed all the way through. **** reached out to offer design services yes. But I don't need 6k in services to help me pick out flooring and faucets etc. That's insane. I don't understand why they are being so difficult. **** is playing both sides by reaching out to me and then them. He has told me one thing and them another. Even though ****** found my messages insulting that is the impression he left on us. I did not go out and put his business on blast. These are our feelings and we are entitled to them. We feel taken advantage of and that is our take. I appreciate the BBB for helping handle this matter.
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ******* ******