Business ProfileforRoeser Home Remodeling

PLEASE BEWARE OF ROESERS ESTIMATES!!! We met with three remodeling companies to bid a remodeling project and ultimately decided to partner with Roeser. After they completed our thorough walk-through estimate, which included taking multiple pictures and measurements, we received a wide range of expected costs for the project. At this time, we agreed to move forward with the project and paid a 4% upfront cash deposit based on the median expected project cost. After receiving our deposit, Roeser conducted additional construction planning work and identified a significant oversight which resulted in a revised estimate more than 20% higher than the top end of the initial range. As this increase in project scope blew out our budget, we ultimately made the difficult decision to not move forward with construction. Upon meeting with Roeser to better understand the cause of the cost overrun, we learned that our existing relatively new HVAC unit was too large for the project and would need to be replaced. This was quite a shock to us as the HVAC unit was inspected during the initial walkthrough and at that time it was communicated to us in the estimate that the unit WOULD NOT need to be replaced. Upon further questioning about how this wasnt initially caught, Roesers response was Im not an HVAC expert Although the upfront cash deposit was stated as non-refundable in the estimate agreement, we asked in good faith that a portion of the deposit be returned to us as we believed it was HIGHLY UNLIKELY that Roeser had incurred the full 4% deposit on pre-construction work. Unfortunately, Roeser indicated that this was the cost of doing business and they had no legal responsibility to return any portion of the funds. In our assessment this is a poor business practice and isnt what wed expect to see from a reputable local-run business. While we have no indication Roeser acted deliberately in bad faith, we want others to be cautious of estimates received from the company

One of the challenges of our industry is a scenario like this when all we want to do is give our clients what they want, while considering the means to do it. Sometimes that means doing a lot of work upfront, just to find the project is not feasible. We share your frustration that this process did not go the way we all wanted. Though, we are confident that we were gentle and honest in our approach and to say we indicated we had no legal responsibility to return the funds is simply untrue. Those were your words and that is not who we are. The point where we were in the Design Agreement phase is last step before construction. We have followed through and committed fully in the planning, organizing, and meetings had for the preconstruction portion and Design Agreement deposit is to cover exactly that. To assume we did not earn the 4% design fee is an example of being unaware of the work that goes into preparing for a project. This is why we set up a conference call immediately when you brought your concerns to us, so we could speak transparently. If you decided to move forward, that 4% deposit would have been applied to the construction contract. Even though you chose not to move forward, in good faith, we released the Engineers report and the drawings to you because the deposit covers those and were a large portion of the cost of the deposit.Upon our first meeting, we were informed that the system was not working properly. Many times, an HVAC unit can be re-directed with their loads, but there is no way we can know what the unit can handle until we have a trade-walk through (which we did) and run the load. We rely on our HVAC trade partner because he is an expert who has the resources to dive into the system deeper than the eye can see. This case was not an oversight, rather a mistake on the initial installation by your HVAC company. The system is too big for the house and it is the reason you are getting moisture on your second floor. We feel your frustration is better directed toward the actual root of the problem. The 20% increase to the proposal comes entirely from the change in the work scope after what we learned during the trade walkthrough. We know it is disappointing and know the cost of the proposal was the determining factor. Had we not found what we did during the walkthrough and include the price of the solution in the contract, this issue would have revealed itself inevitably. We feel we were proactive, diligent, and transparent in discussing this with you to save a financial surprise in the middle of a construction project.