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:06/28/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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.

  Jay F******** originally asked us for $6,000 DOWN to even start the repair of our sidewalks so that he could buy the materials. He was given the $6,000 to start May 20, 2024. By June 1, 2024 he asked for $3,000 MORE because he stated that he did not have any money to buy cinder block for the front walkway (my daughter confronted him June 5 asking what the extra $3,000 was used for and he told her it wasn’t for cinder block as first asked for to me). He specifically told us that we would not have to/need to give him another dollar, after the first $6,000, UNTIL the project was COMPLETE. We did not want the cinder block to begin with and voiced our concern numerous times and his response was always “it has to be this way, you have to do it this way, there’s no other way to do it”. He never would let you speak or let you tell him that you did not agree with something - it always resulted in the response of the said “it has to be this way, you have to do it this way, there’s no other way to do it”. He gave one alternative to the cinder blocks and said the cement would cost us $6,000 MORE on top of what he already asked us for. The cinder block wall that he started to build was not even the same measurements on both sides to be equal heights, as he stated that they were to be. The entire sidewalks in front/side/back of the house were to all be 3 feet width walkways - they did NOT measure the 3 feet when checked and he had to be addressed about that which he caused a fuss over to change as well - and, they STILL don’t measure the 3 feet width of what he poorly claimed was already completed. The retaining wall was not in the original bid he priced us, but DEFINITELY was NOT $3,000 extra to complete. This cinder block wall, that we did NOT even want/ask for, that he started to build is not even straight with the foundation of the house - it is all on an angle. All of his cement work is very uneven/sloppy, to say the least. The back sidewalk is uneven and slopes/dips all through it now resulting in water just lying in puddles now when it rains (we didn’t even have this problem prior with our old sidewalks). We have a cement slab/step, around the back of the house where he did the rear sidewalk, that we had asked him to tear out/re-do when he did the new cement work and he said that it couldn’t be torn out because of a drain underneath of the slab/step (he said that we needed to keep the drain open there for drainage and that it would mess the drain up itself if he re-did that cement slab/step - so instead, he did sloppy/unfinished cement work up against/next to the old original slab/step and COMPLETELY covered that drain up with cement now - which we were told we NEEDED by him - so now, NOTHING can drain). He drilled rebar in to the side of our house’s foundation on the back portion of our sidewalk. We were then told by a cement mason afterwards how that is not good to do because concrete expands with temperature change/winter and can cause the house foundation to shift/crack with time. Jay was asked nicely to NOT even come June 5 because I needed to talk to him before he continued to do anymore work because I did not see how he went through $9,000 and still wanted, as he stated, “$6,600 more” to even finish the front. So I had asked him NOT to come because I had questions about the cinder block wall he was building, I was not happy with it because I never asked for a cinder block wall, and I did not have time to talk to him that day about it because I had some very important doctor appts going on that day. He still showed up, even when asked to hold off just 1 day until we talked next. He would make remarks how this job of our’s was holding him up from his next job. The “spacers” that he put in the sidewalks aren’t even a straight line or the entire way across - they are jagged and crooked and only go roughly 3/4 across the entire sidewalk - they also aren’t even the standard protocol spacers that are required in sidewalks to prevent cracking. There are chunks/holes of cement already missing/chipped out of the sidewalk - which shouldn’t be whatsoever. The width of the sidewalks are not even the standard required/promised width that they were promised to be or the depth that is considered for standard sidewalks with cracking/freeze lines. When they laid the cement, there are markings/lines/straw pieces in both the back and side sidewalks when the cement was wet/poured that won’t come out now and are just in the cement permanently. Our upper driveway that he was not even re-doing is now marked with huge cement markings all over

  Business Response

  Date: 07/27/2024

  ** **** accepted my offer of $11,300 for labor and materials together. In the middle of the job, ** **** added on 3 additional jobs to the project, which brought the sum to $14,100. Which was $2800 additional cost for the 3 new jobs SHE wanted added on. She gave me $6000 down at the beginning of job. Then when she added the 3 additional jobs, so I asked for $3000 more for those 3 new jobs. Then after 3/4 of job was finished, *** ******  daughter texted me at 10pm and said to come get my equipment. She didn’t have the rest of the money to complete the job. They would deal with what is not done and what is next there. I have all text messages as proof of all this. There’s also proof in the text messages from *** **** stating how nice the job was done so far. I have all receipts that they would have gotten at the completion of the job. *** **** also asked me to make sidewalks with a smooth finish, but I told her no. It has to have a brush finish because it would be very slick as soon as it gets wet and someone could fall and get hurt. She was upset about that, but that’s safety first. I have pictures before and after of the job of the J channel on her house that was already damaged before I started the job. Now she’s blaming me for the damage. Also her daughter told me her mother has an unfinished upstairs closet, because she’s too picky and asked another contractor to leave before the job was finished. This is a common thing for her. Not my company. Her neighbor referred me to her, that’s only reason I didn’t make her sign a contract. The only mistake I made was not having her sign a contract because we had a verbal agreement and handshake in her yard for $11,300 and the additional $3000 afterwards. It’s not my fault she decided one day randomly she didn’t have the money to finish the job.  I’ve never had ANY problems or complaints from ANY customers.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/13/2024

  
  
  
  I am writing to touch base about case ID ********
  
  I never received the BBB response from the filed complaint on Jay Firestone because it was under junk mail. It reads how it had a 5 day window and now is closed? He did NOT have a resolution for us and this case is far from closed. I wondered why I had not heard back on this matter. The “job” he did was worse than what he tore out of our old sidewalks. Jay was given $9,000 and only started on half of the project and there are big cement holes from rain???? there are also dips in the sidewalks that just lay in water when it even slightly rains. There has to be something more done and some money able to be reimbursed to us for all of this mess. The contractor who has fixed and finished the other half of the job/sidewalk, he said the entire project should have never costed more than $7,000 TOTAL. There has to be some kind of compensation back to us from Jay Firestone. He has lied even in his response on this complaint. He accused and threatened that we breached contract and now suddenly he agrees there never was was signed. He was NOT referred to us by anyone - he was asked by us to come look at our old sidewalk to give a price while he was working across the road at a neighbor’s house. We stopped his job/work with us because he was doing work that we NEVER asked him to do and what we asked of him he refused to do and said it couldn’t be done and then continuously asked for more money for garbage work. The work he did looks absolutely awful. He has ruined our driveway with cement markings when he poured that won’t come out as well as the sidewalk being covered in markings and divits. $9,000 for what?? How do we get some sort of compensation?
  
  
  Beth Burd
  724-812-2063