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:08/14/2023

  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.

  We hired Solid Rock Homes and Design to add an extension to an existing deck structure in our back yard. Agreed upon estimate was to add a 10'x10'x5' deck to the existing deck, dig the holes, cement posts, black metal railings and post caps to match the existing. Run conduit under ground and connect the hot tub.
  
  Upon completion, the contractor did not perform wiring per code, and we had to have electrician correct this, costing us more money. The railing did not match, he did not tell us prior to installation that he could not find as he stated when my wife questioned him, and then when I returned home, we investigated the work more closely to discover that the railing was vinyl and not metal. Post caps did not match. We have copper post caps. Contractor installed cheap black plastic. Lastly, when we measured the deck surface, the width was not 10' wide, but 9'4", making it nearly impossible to negotiate between the hot tub and the railing.
  
  We contacted the contractor after discovering the discrepancies in work compared to the agreed contract, to no avail. He would not answer his phone, return voicemail, and only response to text was that he was leaving on a mission trip and would look at our concerns that we listed in the text. We received no phone call, no text, or correspondence until we returned home 8/13 from taking our daughter to college to find a letter of collection and threat to place on lien on our property and that the job was completed as agreed to.
  
  We have stated to him that we want to pay him for his work, but we want the work done as agreed upon or have monies owed reduced due to smaller deck surface, materials that are not matching and inferior. We have received no comment other than the collection letter. I attempted to contact the contractor again today, 8/14 via email, phone voicemail, and text. His response was he wasnt available until Weds, 8/16.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/23/2023

  Railings are aluminum and the caps are bronze. Look at the picture attached and you decide if they “match” or not.  Right side is old and left side is new.  It’s always difficult to match exactly.  Good lesson learned here, I’m adding a statement to my contracts.  “Will try to match as best as possible, but with materials changing and evolving there is no guarantee that we will be able to match existing materials perfectly.”
  As far as the electrical, I actually saved them $1,500.  Their statement is false about costing them more money.  The code violations were a simple fix.  
  We quoted a 10x10 deck to extend onto their existing deck for $6,000. Where we attached the new deck, it was 9’4”.  We couldn’t make the deck 10x10 because the new railing would have ran into the middle of the existing railing and it would have not attached to anything. Plus, it would have looked stupid.  So, I made a decision and cut the 10’ deck boards to 9’4”.  I should have asked them before I cut them and I did apologize after.  Also, I removed their old boards and replaced them with new 16’ boards which made the other dimension bigger than 10’. 
  
  However, I was dealing with a customer that asked me to reduce my original quote, which I did.  They mentioned money and budget a lot.  Plus, they didn’t follow the payment schedule and made late payments. They even stopped one of my checks, so there was no way they would have paid more to make it 10x10.  
  I felt I was dealing with a frugal, unrealistic, dishonest customer that I could not trust nor please.  So, I did what I thought I had to by a collection letter and potential lien.   
  
  It worked and we resolved the issue.  I took a hit of $1,000 and they got a great, solid deck for $5,000.  Good lessons learned here.
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/23/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and would like to be done with the matter, and agree to disagree.
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  **** ******