ComplaintsforCole Construction

• Initial Complaint

  06/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Pre-construction services contract signed end of August 2022 with a deposit made towards services that could pro-actively be done prior to full construction. To date septic permit was obtained, minor house footprint clearing performed, and lot lines were surveyed per our request. No other services were requested. Several requests dating back to November 2022 were made for them to quantify the monies spent on these services and nothing received. Between the end of March 2023 and early May 2023 numerous e-mails, texts and phone calls went unanswered and we decided to terminate the Pre-Construction Contract and request return of the balance of our deposit per the terms of the agreement. We estimated the value of the services provided at about 10% of the deposit in our termination letter and requested return of the balance of 90% of the deposit in a letter sent by e-mail on 5/4/23 and also by certified mail received and signed for by ** **** on 5/10/23 with a deadline of 5/31/23. ** **** sent an e-mail on 5/30 stating that he would send a check the next day. Nothing has been received and he has not communicated since. We have repeatedly stated in the letters we do not wish for this to go public and/or to involve lawyers, but we cannot wait any longer. Many other documents, e-mails and texts exist, but the pre-construction contract and the termination letter should be a good start and they are uploaded. Please note that the BBB address for Cole Construction is incorrect - it is **** **** ******* ************ **. The website link is correct in the BBB profile as it takes you to the correct company.

  Business response

  07/28/2023

  We had been talking with this client for over 3 years.  We made numerous concessions deviating from our normal preconstruction processes and construction methods in an effort to make this relationship work and this client happy.  We tried very hard to incorporate all of his demands for his build.  We also were willing to change our construction methods to be able to use a precast concrete foundation company that the client wanted instead of our normal sub contractors.  We provided him with multiple quotes, cost breakdowns, value engineering, and our vendor and subcontractor pricing. This still wasnt good enough and the client became increasingly hostile with our interior designer and selection vendors when they could not give him the breakdowns or specific information that he wanted.  His requests were far from typical and the additional breakdowns were not something that the vendors could actually give him, so he refused to sign or finalize anything for his selections until he got the information that he wanted.
  This client still demanded more concessions, and after receiving an 8 page list of demands it became clear that we would not be the right fit for his build.  He was sent an email stating that we thought it would be best if according to our preconstruction contract we invoiced him for the preconstruction work that was finished, returned his remaining deposit and canceled his preconstruction agreement so that he could find another builder who could meet his requirements for his home.  We even included the contact information for another builder who was approved to build in the sub division that we thought would be a good fit.
  We did receive his email and letter stating he also wanted to cancel the agreement with his proposed return amount.  We responded that we would need to review the costs of our preconstruction work to determine if the amount he proposed would cover those costs, and then we would return the remaining deposit.  At no time did we ever say we were holding his deposit or would not be sending it.  We simply needed to be sure that all of the costs we had incurred over the many months of work were deducted from that deposit amount before we sent it back. The due date that he set is was never discussed and was not a part of the preconstruction agreement, but we still made the effort to try and get all our numbers reviewed and the deposit sent back.
  After we reviewed our costs we agreed to send him the total that he requested.  The check was suppose to be sent before his due date, but that was not communicated to our bookkeeper.  Which was a failure on my part.  After discovering that the check was not sent, we notified the client and mailed the returned deposit back to him.  After he had still not received the check in a timely manner from when it was mailed we canceled that check and wired the money directly to him.  This deposit has been returned to the client by the wire on 6/30.
  As a small business his negative posts on social media and this complaint to the BBB are very damaging and we feel very unnecessary given the situation and that his complaint is that we did not meet the timeline he created for the returned deposit.
  
  
  

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