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:09/25/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 storm shelter was installed September 28, 2022. As work began, a truckload of topsoil from my back yard was hauled off against my wishes, and didn't return. When the workers dug the hole, there was a mistake made, and they dug the hole too deep. The hole had to be filled in multiple feet to correct the mistake. Additional backfill had to be hauled in to finish installation; this backfill was caliche. I was left without topsoil, and with only caliche. Caliche was used in the place where topsoil had been that morning, and should've been returned. We've been unable to grow grass in the caliche to make my yard comfortable, and to maintain property value. The area where the caliche was placed is large, approx. 20x40.
  
  When late-spring rain came, the area around the shelter drastically settled 2 feet. We called the owner in mid-July, he came to our site August 2, 2023. He brought an insufficient load of caliche with him to attempt to fill the hole; I told him that I need topsoil in which to grow grass, not caliche in which I can't grow grass. He promised he would return with dirt instead of caliche to fill in/repair the large sunken area.
  
  He called the next day asking if he could deliver the topsoil; I had an appointment I couldn't cancel, and told him any other day would work. The owner hasn't made any effort to come back with the promised topsoil since August 4, 2023. My wife and I have called/texted him multiple times, most of those go unanswered; I stopped into the EF-5 office to speak with him in person, but he was unavailable. I feel like I've been given poor excuses/an unnecessary run-around. Its so late in the season, I can't plant grass until spring, making this the second winter that I'll have a large, slick, mud-like pit in my yard due to the caliche, rather than the topsoil I had prior to shelter install. The 2' crater around the shelter is unsafe for my family and pets. The install wasn't done correctly initially and they didn't stand behind their work.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/26/2023

  In response to the complaint from ***** *****, the shelter was installed in his backyard on September 28, 2022.  The shelter was placed where the homeowner wished for it to be placed as close as possible to a cement drive in the backyard between a very large tree and the residence, the area where the shelter was placed had little to no grass growing in the area when installers arrived at his residence the soil as is common in the Texas Panhandle had caliche in it.  The very large tree had many exposed roots of varying sizes sticking out of the ground as well as intertwined throughout the soil as is common with a tree of this size.  The excavation of the site took much longer than usual due to the root system of the tree even requiring some of the roots to be cut with a battery powered saw to allow proper excavation of the site.  The “topsoil” referred to by Mr. ***** was in no way topsoil of garden quality and was topsoil only in the fact of the soil being on top.  The excavated soil from the hole was piled onto the driveway and removed by skid loader and disposed of, as it was full of roots from the tree which make packing the shelter difficult and inconducive to the installation of the shelter, at no point to my knowledge did Mr. ***** voice any concern with this as he states as it would have been explained to him that the soil could not be used for packing around the shelter, nor could the soil remain and allow for the installation of the shelter.  Mr. ***** states in his complaint that a mistake was made in the depth of the hole, the hole was dug a bit deeper than needed for this model of shelter, and this was caught and corrected prior to finalizing the installation of the shelter, which is the reason checks are made along the way to correct mistakes and address issues in the installation as they occur during the installation.  The depth of the hole has no bearing on the functionality or quality of the shelter in this case.  There was no additional soil hauled into Mr. *****’s residence, all the soil used in the filling and back filling of the hole was the soil excavated from his property on September 28, 2022.  Mr. *****   states that he is unable to grow grass in the excavated area of his yard, at no point and no where in our brochure, on our website, nor in person have we ever nor will we ever make implied nor written guarantees about the quality of soil used, as all soil is different and the soil at the install location is used in the completed installation.  Mr. ***** then speaks of the settling that occurred after the spring rains experienced, the rains he is referring to are the record-breaking rainfall amounts that the Texas Panhandle received, around the shelter there was substantial settling as can be expected less than a year after the excavation of a hole of this size.  The settling was of the soil around the shelter causing the soil on top to run along side the shelter and off the top of the shelter, this settling is not uncommon nor unexpected considering the amount of rainfall received in the Texas Panhandle during this time frame. 
  
  Mr. ***** did call our office around mid-July, and as explained to him I would look at his shelter as soon as I could get to it, which was a couple weeks, I brought soil similar in form as his native soil, from another job in the area to address the settling.  Mr. ***** refused the soil and told me he would only accept “topsoil” with no traces of caliche.  I explained to him that in the Texas Panhandle that is difficult to find, but I would work to locate soil acceptable to him in an attempt to address his issue and in an attempt to satisfy him.  I further explained to Mr. ***** that I did not have a timeframe I could provide for him, but as soon as I could get this fixed I would.  The following day I was able to locate soil I believed would be acceptable for Mr. ***** and was able to get his complaint addressed, I spoke with his wife who informed me that Mr. ***** had an appointment in Amarillo and that he wanted to be at the residence while the soil was delivered, I explained that I was unsure when I could get the soil delivered but it would happen as soon as possible and I would let Mr. ***** know.  I did received a couple other messages from him from time to time and all the messages were responded to within a couple of days.  
  
  As promised to Mr. *****, as soon as scheduling allowed, I had employees deliver soil acceptable to him to address the settling issue he experienced, the issue of the settling soil has been corrected. 
  
  Mr. ***** states that the installation was not done correctly to which I disagree, he is correct in the fact that the hole was initially dug a bit deeper than needed, that is the purpose of our multiple checks during the installation process and final checks prior to backfilling and pouring of the cement floor.  The design of the Petra shelter, Mr. ***** purchased If placed to low the door will not function nor will the occupants be able to get the required ventilation, neither of which Mr. ***** has experienced with his shelter and I looked at and checked when I met with him initially.  Mr. *****’s next accusation is that EF-5 does not stand behind our products, that again is a point of contention as the product is not his issue expressed in his complaint to the BBB we stand behind each of our products fully and honor our lifetime warranty on each of the shelters we sell and install.  Ef-5 strives to provide each of our customers with the best product at the best prices coupled with the best experience we can provide.  We are sorry Mr. ***** was not happy with our customer service and his experience with us.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/27/2023

  I have reviewed the business’ response and accept this
  resolution.