Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/21/2023

  Type:Product 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.

  On June 5th, 2022 I signed an agreement (attached) with Fred S****** of Stewart Customer Concrete in order to have our sidewalk replaced. The agreement was that the Project Start Date would be sometime in August 2022, weather permitting. Total cost: $3,900 with $1,287 of that required as a retainer. A check was written for that amount. August came and went, and on Sept 6 I emailed Fred to get a new work date and Sept 9th he responded he was waiting to hear from us to start work due to the vacation we mentioned for August. I replied apologizing for the confusion and stated that we were available and to let me know what dates worked for him. Having not heard back, on October 3rd, 2022 my husband **** ****** reached out to Fred via email to ask if he knew when he would be able to do the work. Fred responded that same day that there had been some confusion between myself and Fred regarding our vacation time in August. He said he would be able to do the work in December, but that if that was unacceptable to us, he apologized and said he'd be willing to issue a refund on the retainer. **** said that December would work and Fred confirmed. December having come and gone with no communication from Fred, on Jan. 26th, 2023 **** reached out again and Fred said that the free dump site he was planning to use closed up in November and that it would be an additional $500 cost added to the $3900 total. No new date was given. **** replied same day that we would take Fred up on the offer from Oct. 3 for a refund and stated that he would like the refund sent via certified mail to our PO Box by Feb 10th. Feb. 14th **** reached out again to Fred as there had been no response or check sent. Fred has not responded as of Feb. 21st. We would simply like a refund of the $1287 retainer.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/10/2023

  In reference to customer's complaint about not receiving a refund of deposit/retainer after not wishing to pay the cost of additional dump fees, the signed contract by the customer clearly states that there may be additional fees from said quote/estimate to complete the job. It also states that these expenses do not need pre-approval by the customer (Reimbursement of Expenses, sections I and J). The contractor chose to be considerate and inform them of the possible additional fees in advance at which point they decided to terminate the contract. The project was already quoted/estimated at a below average and more then fair cost. Contractor was doing this project for near no profit, and the additional fees for dumping the debris, if coming out of the contractor's pockets, would have essentially left them with no profit. 

  Secondly, the contract signed by this customer also states that "there will be no refund of deposit/retainer if termination (of said contract) is at the client's request." By choosing to terminate the signed contractor about a possible $500 in additional fees, they legally rescinded any right to a refund of the deposit/retainer. 
  

  Thirdly, I was awaiting to hear from client upon returning from their vacation in August of 2022. I did not hear from them until September of 2022 at which point the contractor had other signed contracts with start dates, pushing this client back. Outside contracting is weather dependent, with inclimate weather constantly pushing projects back and causing a constant changing schedule As all client's are made aware of at time of quote/estimate. This job in question was not neglected, but rather pushed back due to miscommunication and inclement weather. 
  

  Contractor is not outright denying the return of deposit/retainer in question, although there may be a deduction in fees for time spent on preparing for job. The decision to make itemized deductions is yet undetermined. 
  

  Fred S****** 
  Stewart Custom Concrete