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:05/30/2024

  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.

  April 2023 I hired Josh D******* the owner of Flipped out Investments, LLC, to build a Tiny House with garage. After seven month and numerous inspection fails I canceled the contract due to unsatisfactory performance. The footings were the only thing completed by Dec 2023.
  Josh agreed with me and my attorney on the phone that his sub-contractor did a dismal job. I reconciled my account after year-end and found that I had overpaid by $10,337.25. I notified Josh and asked for the overpayment to be refunded. I was told that the money was spent on overhead costs etc. which of course has nothing to do with our contract. He finally agreed to give me half of what he owed in the future, I countered with wanting the half in cash he had offered plus a promissory note for the rest with payments for a year. After two weeks Josh responded by offering me 75% of what he owed because he claimed he really did not owe me anything anyway.
  I know of two other investors (both in their fifties) that had trouble getting their money back (loan) but eventually succeeded; I am 82 years old, that may play a role in this situation.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/30/2024

  As you can see in all the corresponding emails that ***** has attached, we have tried reaching a resolution with ***** on 2 different occasions. I feel like this debt is unjustified and will explain in full several reasons for this. To begin my response I would like to address 2 items in ******* complaint, the fact that she is 82 has absolutely nothing to do with this matter and I feel like bringing up the fact that she is 82 is only trying to get sympathy and favor to her complaint. ***** is sharp as a tack and smarter than most people I've met. We wouldn't ever try to get over on anyone regardless if they are 82 or 28, we believe in integrity and morals. I also want to bring a rebuttal to her statement that knows 2 other investors that had trouble "getting their money back". We have borrowed over $4 million dollars in the last 4 years to operate our business and purchase real estate. Never once has someone had trouble getting their money back. The couple she is speaking of decided to exit a deal we had going and they received every penny of over $150,000 back within 30 days of requesting. If ***** continues to spread rumors and false statements with members of the investment community and cost us potential business, we'll have no choice but to take legal action for liable and slander. 

  As far as this complaint, there were several items not charged for during the course of construction because we were terminated before the phase 2 or any change order costs were invoiced. We not only completed phase 1 of the scope of work, we also completed the main drain rough in plumbing and breather. This is not listed in phase 1 but a line item completed and not charged for yet. During the course of construction, we had unexpected trouble in digging the footers for her root cellar. These rock formations in her lot costs us weeks of time and extra time, labor, and supplies, this was no fault of our own. I had at least 2 conversations on the phone with ***** letting her know the hold up and extra trouble we faced. You will find my response to all the inspection results in the emails that ***** attached. 

  During our final phone call once phase 1 was complete. ***** included her attorney on the phone call. She stated at that time, she was unhappy with the progress. She told me that the money she had paid in would be considered paid in full for the work completed, and that we were having a "clean split" as of that day. I had no idea that after 8 months into this project that she had done no book keeping and therefore would not be sticking to what she said on the phone. You can see by our P&L Statement that there was not a large profit at all on this job. This profit does not include the hours and hours I personally put into this project. I have spent numerous hours on the phone with *****, building inspectors, sub contractors, and spending time traveling to the job site. If I knew there was going to be future discussion on the financial side of this project, I would've submitted change orders and a plumbing invoice. This both would exceed the $10,337 she is requesting. 

  I feel that both of our offers to ***** have been more that fair in a situation that no one is happy with. At this point with no negotiating in sight from *****, and now this BBB complaint, I'm not sure if our last offer of settlement should still stand. Thank you for your time. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/03/2024

  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. 
  
  
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, Please let us know below why you are rejecting the offer made by the business.]
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ***** *****

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/03/2024

  Well as usually Josh talks about everything but what is
  relevant, namely the contract we signed, the first draw paid and the
  contractual work performed. Josh claims he has done all this work for me for
  which he did not charge me in fact he says the “free” work he did for me
  amounts to more than what he owes. Since I did not know Josh prior to this
  project why would he give me 10K worth of free work, there was no reason to do
  me a favor especially one that expensive. His assertion stretches credulity.

  
  He accuses me of looking for sympathy yet he is the one
  crying hardship and how badly he is being treated. What I said before and will gladly
  repeat again is: at this stage of my life, I am 82 years old; I cannot afford
  to give away 10K or any portion of it to Josh or anyone else. Josh is
  threatening me with legal action for liable and slander. Should he be foolish
  enough to sue me I can then ask for punitive damages due to elder abuse. Josh
  believes he knows who the people are I spoke of, I do not know who he is
  talking about, looks like there are more unhappy people than I knew about. As I
  said in my statement the people I am talking about did eventually get their
  money back so what is his complaint? What is the false statement I supposedly
  made? If he loses business he has no one to blame but himself he does a good
  job all by himself he needs no help from me.

  
  Reading the response he wrote I would almost to feel sorry
  for him if I did not know better (he makes   such a good case of muddying the waters). Josh
  says he has tried to find a resolution with me, there is no resolution to make,
  according to the contract he owes me 10,337.25 there is no question about it. An
  honest business man would simply pay the obligation and move on rather than try
  to weasel out of it with one excuse after another. He would have me believe
  that he can modify the contract we signed without my consent or knowledge. That
  is absurd.

  
  “Due to unsatisfactory performance” was the reason I gave
  when I cancelled the contract. During the final phone call there was no
  discussion about money; Josh even agreed that his sub-contractor did a dismal
  job. He no longer wishes to admit this. Josh wanted to know what needed to be
  done in order for us to move on and I told him the mess his people left on the job
  site needed to be cleaned up and the holes  they made needed to be filled back in. He
  agreed it would be done. However after a month nothing had been done, I then informed
  him either my property was cleaned up within 10 days or I was going to hire a
  crew to clean up/repair the jobsite and send him the bill. It was then done.

  
  Josh would like me to believe he spend all this time with me
  and the inspectors. At the beginning of the project I gave him the scope of the
  project in writing, no modifications were made to it. I spoke to him regarding
  the failed inspections and misinformation his sub-contractor told me. Out of
  five inspections while making the footers four failed and that was prior to me
  hiring an engineer. I met with the inspectors after having spoken with the Code
  Department in late Sept 23 because Josh was too busy on other jobsites. He did
  speak to them on the phone. I did not mind meeting the inspectors or the
  engineer because I needed to find out what the problem was with all these
  inspection fails and the length of the project which showed so little progress
  after seven month. Well the problem I found out was not all the hard rocks on
  my land or the inspectors delaying Josh’s people needlessly as Josh claims, but
  the fact that his sub-contractor did not know the codes well enough to pass
  inspection and Josh did not have time to supervise him.