Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/14/2024

  Type:Order 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.

  The contract was signed on 11/29/2023 to remove and replace a subfloor and to remove any resulting debris in a small 8x8-foot room. I had removed the carpeting and luan panels prior to contracting for this work. Before work began, I paid $200 for materials to be used in this project. I had to argue with ******************************* when they attempted to substitute inferior floor panels for those specified in the contract. I specified Advantec because the crawlspace underneath needed moisture-proof materials. When KCL acquired the correct materials, work began to remove the existing floor. I had asked in the contract that all debris be removed because any debris in the crawlspace would attract insects or rodents. In the end, when I had to remove the floor that they had constructed, I cleaned up 13 gallons of debris myself which I was not happy about as I am nearly seventy. What I am most concerned about is the couple attempted to hide the defects under stapled black plastic and since I did not see the structural defects right away, I paid the remaining $800.00 when they had completed the job. I trusted ****************** when I asked if the floor was ready to receive vinyl floorboards. He had replied that yes, it was. This was far from true. I did not realize the full extent of the botched flooring until I took up the black plastic and saw that the floor panels were uneven in spots and lacked framing support in many places which required that the floor be removed. I was appalled at the low quality of the work and now must pay another company to rectify the problems. When I attempted to contact the Lawhornes about the issues with the floor that they installed, ******************************* was very rude and abrasive and demeaned me and my home then said in the message that she considered my one contact with her harassment. At that point, I did not want to deal with this company to remediate the problems and I am seeking reimbursement. I do not think this company had the correct tools or knowledge to complete this job according to any industry standards. I am providing a write-up from a construction company that details the problems with the floor.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/26/2024

  *********************** requested that we remove and replace her subfloor. So that is exactly what we did. Any damages that occured after that were due to her own negligence as she waited until two weeks after the work was done to tear up the flooring herself because she is a self-proclaimed handywoman from watching ******* videos on how to do it. ****** did not once ask us if that room was ready for vinyl flooring as she was having an addition put on and a wall to that room needed to be knocked out, therefore joists would have to be put in and new flooring down after. She was made fully aware that the subflooring would not be squared with the wall against the window due to the bent framing of her home that she failed to mention to us until after her previous floor was up. Had she mentioned that her framing was off and the axle had been busted we would have never accepted the job. ******* home was also covered in black mold, the previous subflooring was so rotted out that we fell through it the moment we stepped into the room. She also has an active leak on her window from a rotted window frame that will lead to further floor damage as we warned her about, but she just got offended and refused to acknowledge the problem at hand. We have video proof of ****** walking on the finished floor, bouncing on it, saying it was perfect, and then submitting payment to us It was not until a few weeks later that she reached out to us claiming that the floor wasn't good enough, after she ripped it up herself. The plastic sheeting that we put down was to protect the new wood from the window leak that she refused to have fixed. ****** has a history of taking contractors to court after the work is completed. She also disputed her $800 payment with the bank, so at this point she leaves us out of two weeks of pay, gas money, and materials that we never charged her for. As for the original wood we brought in that she is claiming was not the wood she asked for in the contract, it was, and in fact it was moisture resistant, but because the word 'Advantech' was not stamped on every single board she asked us to return and buy all new wood, which we did. As far as wall damage goes, there was none, i have photo proof of what the room looked like before we left as well as ****** in the room thanking us for doing such a great job. It is clear that she is now seeking her original $800 and an additional $1,000 for a floor that is now costing us money. As for the 13 gallons of debris she claims to have removed, this is also inaccurate, her home is already infested with critters as there was droppings everywhere when we removed the original subfloor. Not only did we remove the debris that we caused, but we also hauled away and disposed of stuff she wanted to get rid of from other rooms of her home at no charge to her. So basically, we did exactly as she asked us to do and more, but since we would not refund her the $800 after she ruined our work by playing the role of handyman weeks after the job was finished, she is now trying to fight it. The reasoning behind me telling her that she was harassing us is because I told her we were unwilling to come to do more work for free as she word for word requested us to do and she then started emailing us nonstop back-to-back. As for framing support many of ******* joists were rotted and covered in black mold, which we did take photo proof of. She expects cheap Band-Aids over a problem in which is going to make her house collapse under her feet one day if she does not have it corrected. The 'company' that she had to do the free write up is one of her relatives and therefore of course that was easy for her to provide, but she fails to mention how she went in and ripped up our work and then claimed it was us. I'm not sure how she expects that to work out for her as again we have the video of her walking on, bouncing on, and accepting the work. The bank is currently investigating the dispute in question, she will not be receiving any compensation for this job and we will never consider working for her again. None of our other customers have ever had a complaint about our work, and our portfolio of work speaks volumes as to what we are capable of. This complaint shall not be used to throw dirt on our company name as it was simply made by a woman who messed up her own home thinking she could do something herself and then tried to blame it on the company. I would also like to add that ****** raised some red flags for us from the beginning as she kept walking around herhome showing us work that at least five other companies did and kept asking us if we agreed with her that they messed her home up as well, so it truly does seem like she just wants a pay day out of this and it will not be happening on our watch. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/04/2024

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: 21264483
  
     I am rejecting this response because: The response from KCL Repairs did not address the issue of the faulty subfloor repair job. The facts remain that the floor was not supported adequately with the required framing, the floor panels were cut unevenly leaving large gaps, and there were uneven spots in the flooring. The defects were covered with black plastic stapled to the floor. When I noticed the plastic before paying, I asked the ********** if the floor was ready to receive vinyl plank and unfortunately, I trusted the response when ************************* said it was absolutely ready when it definitely was not. However, I did not discover this until I took up the black plastic two weeks later. I had paid $1000 for a subfloor job that needed to be ripped up and redone.

    The response by KCL Repairs was full of many untruths and bears false witness in regards to my character and the condition of my home:

      The assessment of the floor was done by a licensed contractor who has been in business for 23 years and is in no way related to me. ******************************* stated in her reply that the assessment was done by my son.

      There are no rotted joists and there is no black mold. The leak that caused the problem was fixed long ago. There are no active leaks.

       I do not seek to litigate. I have a legitimate complaint as I must pay someone now to redo the floor that I already paid $1000 dollars for the project.

       KCL is claiming to have a video of me at time of payment being happy with the work. If that is so, then it would be recorded of my asking if the floor was ready for vinyl plank when I saw the black plastic stapled all        around which prevented me from seeing the actual work and its defects.

      My home is not in a state of disrepair. I hired the KCL Repairs to fix a subfloor and in the process showed them an two additional small spots soft subfloor that would have to be replaced in the future. The original flooring was particle board. There was also a piece of 4 x 4 wall panel under a window that needed to be replaced.

     There is no broken axle. I am not sure how this entered into the conversation. I had mentioned that when this home was moved that it had twisted slightly in order to explain why the room they were working on was a 1/2 inch out of square. I do not think it is unusual for any room in a house to be slightly out of square.

    ******************************* stated I was harassing her because of one email exchange that went back and forth for about fifteen minutes where I stated the facts and only received back from her rudeness and harsh language like she expected her verbal volatility to change the facts of the matter. There was no attempt on her part to remediate or come to an understanding of the problems.

    I am sorry if the workers encountered a piece of insulation under the flooring with mouse doodles. The home is surrounded by rodent -proofing material but we do live in the country on an acre with 20 acres of farm field and ***** behind us.

    I did ask the ********** if they would dispose of a piece of 1/4 inch luan since I had removed the carpet and **** from the floor prior to them arriving to do this subfloor project so that all that they would have to deal with was the actual particle wood subfloor.

    I think I was accused of being a ******* handyman. Actually, in my younger years, I had replaced sections of subfloor and know first hand the importance of framing support and proper fastening and cutting of replacement pieces.

    So I took the time to reply to most of the falsehoods. The falsehoods do not obscure the facts and I believe my case is in the professional assessment of the defects by the licensed contractor and the photos that I supplied.

       

  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/04/2024

  One issue that I neglected to address in my response to the KCL Repairs' response to my complaint. I initially sought remedy by contacting the credit card company that I used to pay the $800 final payment but was not successful as the credit card company was only interested in whether or not I received the materials for the job and not if the work was completed satisfactorily. Since a refund was denied I turned to Better Business to seek a remedy. I did not do this to create hardship for KCL Repairs but only to seek a refund so I could have the project re-done correctly and safely.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/23/2024

  I learned that this company, KCL Repairs, is actually using a picture of my floor on a ******** page as a 'success' project. This is annoying since I have had to put a lot of effort removing and cleaning up their shoddy work and installing support blocking and using the correct materials. I also discovered that they never supplied me with the flooring material I contracted for which was Advantech. They used a lower grade OSB which is not acceptable due to the fact that there is a crawl space with a dirt floor underneath. I waited a week for them to re-order the Avantech and trusted that is what they did but once again they substituted a different and inferior material. Unfortunately, KCL Repairs is not an outfit to trust or to expect a civilized response from for obviously defective work which they tried to hide.