Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/15/2022

  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.

  March 2022 signed contract with Sam the Concrete Man to replace driveway, steps, landing and portion of garage floor for $9600. Provided down payment of $4800. Work began and crew stated that the concrete they had to remove was 6 in thick instead of 4 and would need to charge more for excavation. Project manager Todd was out of town so I took pictures of the concrete before they hauled it away. Since they were so adamant about the increase in cost I told them to not excavate garage floor. When they returned to pour the concrete they did not use a pump, instead carrying the concrete up the stair area in buckets by hand. Also did not clean up the work area leaving it for me to deal with. Todd returned and was paid the balance of $4800. A few days later I noticed pits and cracks on the steps. I called Todd with my concerns and he brought an individual to my home that I had dealt with several years before to “repair” the work. This person had been to my home to repair my driveway approx 7-8 years ago and the repairs did not last a year. Naturally I declined to have him on my property. Also when the sealant was applied to the driveway the color is uneven and does not present a good appearance at all. Steps were never sealed. Todd has not contacted me with any other resolution. He also stated that the repairs that he wanted to have done were not guaranteed. I paid $9600 for a new driveway and steps, not work that needs fixed already due to their negligence. It is already disintegrating.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/12/2022

  August 9, 2022 

  
  Better Business Bureau - To Whom It May Concern: 
  *** ** ******** 

  
  I am responding to a complaint submitted by a customer of mine. I have been working with the customer since the job was completed to resolve. The customer has some valid concerns and other aspects of their complaint are exaggerated or false. I don't consider this negligence as we have tried many times to provide a solution to the customer and the concrete is not disintegrating. 
  The following is a summary of my response to their complaint: 
  . We completed the job 03/16/2022 
  o Removed and replaced the driveway, removed and replaced the steps and walkway from 
  the driveway to front porch steps, removed and replaced a section of sidewalk o We provided fiber mesh in addition to rebar at no additional charge o We replaced the curb along the replaced sidewalk at no extra charge Driveway Sealing o As part of the contract, we were to seal the driveway and the walkway. Due to weather and 
  other schedule conflicts, it took us longer than we would have liked to complete. . The driveway and sidewalk were sealed 05/19/2022 
  • We did apply too much sealer to the upper portion of the driveway, which caused a 
  whitish coloration. I explained that it would not hurt the driveway, and would eventually fade away on its own, but we could remove it. I offered to return to clean this up and 
  the customer declined. o It took longer to seal the walkway as we did not want to seal until we had agreement with 
  the customer on the path to resolve the issue of pits. 

  
  - The steps/ walkway were sealed 07/30/2022 Steps/ Walkway Pits o The steps/ walkway developed pits in a few areas. The pits, while unfortunate, are cosmetic 
  - they are not structural. We attempted to grind out the pits to repair and could not grind much as the pad is very structurally sound. We patched all pits with a very strong material 
  that very closely matches the color of the concrete, which the customer said looked good. 0 It is irrelevant that we bucketed concrete from the driveway to the steps. This is a very 
  common practice for difficult to reach areas. As part of the contract, we were initially supposed to replace a small area of the garage floor. Once we started the job, the customer stated that he did not want this done. Driveway Thickness o While excavating the lower part of the driveway and steps, it was determined that the 
  concrete was significantly thicker than the standard 4" - as thick as 6"-8" in some places (we have pictures and receipts of what we hauled out). The customer has pictures of upper areas that were 4". 
  o 
  o personally called the customer to inform them that as per the contract, if there was 
  significant depth beyond 4" or additional reinforcement, there could be additional charges. 
  We told the customer that we would continue with the work without charging. o My crews do not, and did not, ask for additional payment - the customer is the only one that 
  continues to discuss the thickness issue. Steps Side-Wall Parging o There are areas of the side walls of the steps where the parging has failed. We have agreed 
  to repair this. This is cosmetic and was done to cover imperfections in the side walls when 
  the forms were removed. There are no structural issues with the steps. Resolution Attempts o While admittedly, it took us longer than I would like to address, we have made multiple 
  attempts to provide options to address. 

  
  I provided several options to the customer electronically multiple times without response. o I brought one of our experienced finishers to the site 05/23/2022 to discuss options with the 
  customer to come to agreement on how the issues would be resolved (primarily the pits and the parging as the sealing was being done and not in question). The customer simply yelled at the finisher, brought up the concrete thickness issues again and then simply said - just 
  "get it done". We left without agreement on the solution or making further progress. o I still moved to address the issues and hired a local concrete repair company, who has done 
  significant work for many happy customers, to repair the cosmetic issues. When we came on site 06/14/2022 to start the repairs, the customer recognized the gentleman from a 
  previous encounter and said that he did not want the gentleman on his property. o The customer then called me to state not to worry about addressing and that he would take 
  to court, so we stopped further attempts. o A couple weeks later, the customer called asking if we were planning to return to address 
  the issues. o Since then, we have repaired the pits and sealed the walkway. We still need to return to 
  repair the sidewall parging. o If there was a structural issue to resolve, we would be happy to do so. Other Remuneration o l offered $500 to the customer several months back due to delays in the sealing, etc., but they declined. o I again offer $500 to the customer to reimburse for the garage work that they asked not to 
  be done, even though our costs in other areas were higher. 

  
  I welcome any further discussion on this topic as it has always been our intent to make our customers happy. Unfortunately, we were not able to complete this job to our customer's expectations. 
  Sincerely, 
  
  Todd R***** - Sam the Concrete Man - Pittsburgh 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/15/2022

  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.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
  
  Regards,
  ****** *****

  I was never offered $500. The parging still needs to be addressed. None of this would even be an issue has the work been completed as promised and paid for. 

  Business Response

  Date: 08/21/2022

  The following are two pictures of the thick concrete (contrary to the one picture provided by the customer). We also replaced part of the curb near the sidewalk that we were replacing at no additional cost per customer request beyond the contract (unfortunately, someone ran over the curb with a car and damaged prior to the concrete curing - we also agreed to repair that at no cost). We do still plan to repair the parging as discussed with the customer. I am not sure why the customer does not recall the offer for reimbursement, but the customer had declined saying that it was not enough. I am still happy to provide the $500 refund to cover the portion of the job not done, even though our costs were higher due to the thick concrete (and that the contract also addresses that).

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/23/2022

  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.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** *****

  When the parging is repaired and I receive $500 I will accept the proposal. Since the garage floor wasn’t done as in the contract and if there were areas excavated at the bottom of the driveway more than 4 in-which I still did not witness-those things should cancel each other out. As I stated before, that is why I did not have the garage floor work done. As far as the curb goes, it was not a separate piece of concrete but a cut made a few inches from the edge of the concrete with a saw, which is not a true curb. I am very disappointed that paying this much for the work has resulted in it needing repaired but at this point will cut my losses and would like these repairs done ASAP before the weather turns. I resent being made out to be unreasonable and the bad guy when I paid almost $10000 only to have all this grief. How would the owner feel if he were in my position?