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:10/06/2024

  Type:Order 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.

  I recently entered into an agreement with a contractor to replace rotten exterior wood trims on my front porch. We had a verbal agreement to complete the work for $999, and I subsequently signed an electronic agreement he provided. After the work was finished, I was shocked to receive an invoice that was over eight times the amount we agreed upon.Upon reviewing the agreement, I realized the contractor had intentionally crafted the agreement to allow him to demand any amount he wanted, and I had unknowingly signed it. The document stated that the $999.99 was solely for the paint job, while the cost of the wood trim work was left open-ended as to be determined... the charges for this work will be according to contract labor plus material.The contractor sent two employees to do the work while I was often away from home, and at no point was I was shown what they were replacing. I was never informed about how long the job would take, nor did I agree to any labor or material costs beyond the initial signed amount. All the trim work was visible from the start, and I had shown the contractor what must be replaced. The contractor should have provided a quote for the entire scope of work. If any additional issues arose outside the original scope, I should have been consulted and agreed to any extra costs before they proceeded.When I received the invoice, I was taken aback by what felt like a fraudulent practice. I expressed my concerns to the contractor, stating that I could not and would not pay the amount he demanded. In response, he threatened that if I didnt pay, I would face costs ranging from $15,000 to $20,000 in attorney and court fees, claiming it would be easier and cheaper for me to comply with his demand to save time and a lot more money.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/20/2024

  To the good people at the BBB,

  
  This is a response to the claims of fraudulent work and the contract issues with ****** ***********. As you will be able to see in Exhibit 1 (Contract), the terms of our agreement clearly state that the $999 was only for the material option of A-100 ******* ******** paint for the exterior paint. In the row below, Pre-Prime wood for the repairs, is where the great majority of the actual work was done. Weldeslasie states nor did I agree to any labor or material costs beyond the initial signed amount, but the contract which he signed in Exhibit 1B clearly states that he will be responsible for paying the wood, material, and labor costs. Our contracts are simple and easy to interpret; clearly this statement is untrue. 
  
  Twice, ****** *********** verbally agreed that the price for labor and materials would be paid in full after the completion of the project. Because of the nature of the job, where coming in we did not know exactly how much extra replacement wood (seal porch wall, seal plate on both sides, structural work (Studs) on the interior, new CDX plywood in ALL locations of the porch, replaced whole gazebo in front of garage door, (All shown in Exhibit 3)) was going to be necessary, we did not give an estimate beforehand. Still, he agreed to the terms of our agreement for this mid-size project. We are a good-faith company that relies on honest work and doing our customers right. No clients have had issues with our contracts before now.

  
  The threat mentioned by Wesdeslasie was merely a statement that if this issue goes to court, he would most likely end up paying far more than the price Rivera Roofing and Remodeling is charged him for the work we completed. We do not want this issue to be pressed further than it has to and we believe it would be far easier for us to reach an agreement.

  
  After reviewing our logbook and speaking with our workers, we found a billing mistake; we are willing to revise our total from 58 hours to 56 and offer to settle at a price of $5,441.52 ($4645.20 for labor including tax and $796.32 for the materials including tax) from the past $6,000 (The $7,000 figure included the $999.99 for the paint) total we requested from Wesdeslasie.

  
  We would like to sincerely apologize for the miscommunication and billing mistake that was made on our end, we pride ourselves in being an honest company and being able to admit our mistakes. The billing mistake was not a purposeful one. We would like to apologize to Wesdeslasie for this error and thank him for bringing this matter to our attention so it does not happen again in the future.

  
  In the attached ****** doc, we provide the following information:
  -The contract Weldeslasie Signed
  -The text messages between the client and ******* Rivera.
  -Evidence of rotten wood that needed to be replaced and then the replaced wood that Rivera Roofing and Remodeling installed

  -Receipts for the wood materials
  -Evidence from Rivera Roofing and Remodelings Logbook outlining all the hours spent at Wesdeslasies house

  
  *****************************************************************************************************;

  
  Sincerely,
  Rivera Roofing and Remodeling
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/26/2024

   
  Complaint: 22388409
  
  I am rejecting this response for the following reasons:

  I may have unintentionally signed a contract or agreement without thoroughly reviewing it, assuming it reflected our verbal agreement.However, this does not give the contractor the right to mislead me into signing a contract and then demand any amount of money he chooses. Just because the contractor claims his workers spent hundreds of labor hours does not mean I am obligated to pay, especially if the terms were not clearly communicated. This argument would likely not hold up in court.

  A reputable contractor provides clear, upfront estimates for services, including an itemized list of material and labor costs. There should be no surprises upon completion of the job. If unexpected work arises, the contractor should communicate the issue and negotiate any additional costs with the client, obtaining agreement before proceeding with the work.

  The contractor stated in his response that "the $999 was only for the material option of A-100 ******* ******** paint for the exterior." However, the contract clearly describes the work as "painting the new wood garage plate and garage door, as well as all new wood structures replaced above the right side garage door, and the new wood wall cap that was removed and replaced on the porch." This implies that he is charging me for over 15 gallons of paint at a retail price of $65.49 each from ******* ********, despite the fact that the total area to be painted is approximately 200 square feet. In reality, this job would require less than two gallons of paint to apply two coats.

  The contractor stated in his response, "We did not know exactly how much extra replacement wood (seal porch wall, seal plate on both sides, structural work (studs) on the interior, new CDX plywood in ALL locations of the porch..." However, there were no structural elements replaced on all sides of the porch. The only replacement he made was the plywood shown in the picture, which I did not authorize. He only completed the work we had verbally agreed upon. This can be verified at any time, including through the pictures he took himself.

  The contractor also provided a "logbook" detailing the number of workers and hours spent on the job. However, I believe these hours have been fraudulently recorded to justify the amount of money he is demanding. For instance, I returned home around 3:30 PM on Friday, September 20th, and found two workers on my property, who left around 5 PM. My kids said they didn't see any workers until about 10 AM that day. However, the ******* claims that three employees worked for 12 hours each from 8 AM to 8 PM. Furthermore,no work was performed on my premises on Saturday, September 21st. On Sunday,September 22nd, two workers were present to paint the 2x4s on top of the porch for less than two hours in the morning. At no point did I or my family see more than two workers on-site performing any work.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ***********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/21/2024

  Good morning The Complain has been resolved Thank you

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/28/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  We have reached an agreement regarding our dispute. Thank you for your assistance and efforts in resolving the dispute with the contractor. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ***********