I have had nothing
but trouble with Angie'sList since day one. I gave up a previous account in
Kansas City due to their underhanded techniques and favorable treatment of the
contractors and service-providers they are supposed to provide "objective
and unbiased" reviews of.
I found that my negative Angie'sList reviews
were magically not appearing on the pages of companies with
"apparently" PERFECT RATINGS. I also filed a dispute with Angie's
List against Ryan lawn and Tree (Kansas City, MO) after my home was damaged to
the tune of nearly $1,000 by squirrels Ryan's inadequate tree-triming failed to
alleviate as promised. Ryan failed to trim trees and in one case trimmed a
healthy tree that was not part of the estimate, causing damage to the tree.
As is the case with all Angie'sList reviews,
IF A NEGATIVE REVIEW APPEARS AT ALL, the contractor/service-provider always has
the final say and, as was the case with both Ryan and Terravest, they lied
through their teeth, leaving readers with a false impression that the consumer,
me, was wrong.
The only reason I paid for an Angie'sList
subscription after moving to Lawrence, Kansas was because of the unethical
contractor, Terravest Custom Homes, and so I could submit an unbiased review to
help other consumers avoid wasting time and money as I had done. In the end,
the two times I logged-in and checked the review in question, it was not posted
and did not figure into the grade as was the case in the video recorded today
and presented here.
Here is the review in question:
ANGIE'S LIST REVIEW DATE: OCTOBER 20, 2013
Company Name: Terravest Custom Homes
Category: Remodeling - General
Services Performed: Yes
* More Weight is given to a review
where work has been completed.
Work Completed Date: October 18,
2013
Last Modified Date: December 09,
2013
Hire Again: No
Approximate Cost: $600.00
Description Of Work: We asked for
an estimate to build a double garage on our lot.
Angie'sList Member Comments:
"We contacted J.
Stewart, the owner of Terravest Custom Homes, LLC, about building a two car
garage BEFORE winter. We budgeted $20,000 plus or minus 10 percent for the
project, being prepared to pay $18,000 to $22,000 in cash. Mr. Stewart seemed
like a nice person when he came to do the estimate, seeming willing to work
with us. We told him what our budget was and what exactly we wanted, a simple
24 foot by 24 foot two car garage on a cement slab with a double door, one
window, one door, and electricity. We also wanted a quote to install a sidewalk
from the garage to the front door. Mr. Stewart told us that he would try to
keep costs down and estimated $30 to $40 a square foot for what we wanted,
bringing the total to between $17,250 and $23,000 and very close to our
budgeted amount. He told us that he could not provide a "final" quote
until we had plans drawn up, so he recommended an architect whom we met with
the following week.
When Mr. Stewart and the architect
came to the house, we went through the process again, spelling out exactly
where the garage would go, the size, and other details in order for the
architect to draw up the plans to submit to the city. He told me that it would
cost $600 to $1000 to complete the work and, trusting Mr. Stewart, we decided
to go ahead with the plans in order to finish the garage before winter. That
was on September 11th, 2013. The architect said that he should be able to
finish the plans in a week.
A month went by with no word from
either Stewart or the architect, so I contacted both and asked what the delay
was. The architect said that it was taking longer than expected and that he
would go to the city to see if there were any restrictions as well as come back
to the house to measure the house, lot, and other things necessary to finish
the plans. We finally received the plans on October 17th, 36 days after we were
promised they would be done in one week. Winter was quickly approaching and we
wanted to get the project going ASAP.
With plans in hand, Mr. Stewart
scheduled an appointment to come by with his quote on Friday, October 17th, he
was about 30 minutes late. As I looked over the quote, I was drawn to the total
which was well over $30,000, FAR ABOVE the $30 to $40 a square foot we were
quoted ($30,500 divided by 575 square feet comes to over $53 a square foot). I
told Mr. Stewart that we could not afford $30,000 and he said "I can
suggest some metal building companies", to which we replied "we
already have a quote and it is only $6,000 for a metal garage". He quickly
left without saying another word or offering to make things right.
I am disappointed by his behavior,
making us wait nearly six weeks then coming in $10,000 (a 50 percent increase
over his estimated price) over his original quote, but I am more upset with
myself for trusting the man. We now have no garage, winter weather will arrive
in a few weeks, and we spent $600 we could not afford to have plans drawn for a
garage that may never be built. I should have known better than to trust a
human being after what we have been through in the last 5 years, but J. Stewart
seemed like a nice man with integrity, so I thought he would do the right
thing. He did not, so DO NOT BE FOOLED by his friendly demeanor and empty promises.
We paid and are still paying for trusting J. Stewart and Terravest Custom
Homes, LLC, so we believe you should proceed very cautiously before hiring him
for any project, particularly one with tens of thousands of dollars on the
line."
Company (Terravest) Response:
"I am very sorry that the Angie's
List Customer was dissatisfied with my presentation. I had as well hoped the
project would have priced out at a lower price as we had hoped but the facts
are not stated correctly. Several costs were presented as allowances which the
client could opt not to spend. For example, we priced a $350 walk-in door with
two small windows in the upper portion of the door to allow light into the
garage while maintaining security and a window was added on the side of the
building which again we gave the client the ability to deduct theses additional
expenses. A standard 6 panel door could be selected for less expense and the
window could have been deleted. When it was evident that the price was just to
high for the clients we did discuss the metal building because I wanted to help
them get some structure that could be affordable for them, I was willing to
recommend a competitor just to still help them get a structure done before
winter hit. The price they are quoting they got from someone was the metal
building only with no foundation. We were asked to provide a concrete
foundation, a garage concrete approach to the garage and then we were called
back and asked to include 30 feet of sidewalk and an option to run more
concrete to the front of the house. The person who is writing the review I have
never been introduced to and dont know if I ever even met. There was a woman
who showed up at the same time I did to present my presentation that I was
thirty minutes late for but I had contacted the client in advance to let them
know I was running behind on my schedule. The garage was also bid with other
upgrades, a Heritage type 3-D roof versus a 3 tab, electrical wiring and a
lighting allowance was added and a insulated garage door with an opener all
which could be deducted or down graded. For example the garage door was an
insulated door being installed on an un-insulated garage but this was included
on the thought that the client would eventually insulate the garage. When we
notified the client that we had all the bids together and we were assembling
the bid we were also asked to include regrading the drainage on the lot which
was also included. The cost of the city building permits were also added to the
actual cost of the garage. The architectural drawings were suggested because
there was a historical concern mentioned and more importantly it was explained
to the client that the client would own the plans and they could therefore use
the plan to get alternative bids from other contractors if I was unable to meet
their budget expectations. Because the client worked directly with the
architect, I was unaware of the delay in getting the drawings and I should have
checked on this and did so the minute the client called me with concerns of
delays and I did get the proposal to the client within ten days of receiving
the blue prints as I had originally promised. When the client called and asked
for additional drainage work around the garage, it was also determined that the
sewer line for the house ran under the foundation for the garage and additional
steps to taken to remedy any this problem as well is the removal of the line of
trees along the alleyway and the pad that needed to be built up so that we
could correct the rest of the drainage issues for the client. We even included
an allowance of $250 for fine grading and seeding of the rear lot after the
work was completed. Leaving in the cost of regrading the lot and removal of the
trees but removing the additional upgrades the cost would have been at $48 per
foot which was still too high for the clients budget and we apologize that we
could not meet the expectations of the client but this is why we went through
the bidding process to insure the client of what we could do and if the client
feels that we have intentionally over priced the project, they own the plans
and are free to do the project with another contractor of their choosing and we
would be happy to provide any of our bids and estimates to the client or
another contractor. We informed the client (a gentleman with a different name
than the person submitting the review) before we started the process that it
would be extremely hard to meet their budget expectations but we were willing
to try if they wanted to have a third party draw the plans to insure that we
were bidding apples to apples with anyone else that they choose to have bid the
project. We again apologize for any misunderstanding and wish that we would
have had the opportunity to involve this person in our discussions about the
project and find it very disappointing to have these things written about our
company from a person whom we have never met and this is what often happens
with third party discussions and it is always good to take notes and ask the
contractor to clarify any expectations in writing prior to the start of any
project to make sure that everyone's expectations are equal. J. Stewart
Angie'sList Review Addendum (Dated 12/9/2013)
"Very odd, but when I searched Terravest Custom Homes
today, my review and grade were nowhere to be found with Terravest receiving an
"A" on recent reviews. I have
had this problem with Angie's List before.
Poor reviews are either missing or the service provider lies through
their teeth (as is the case again here) and I, the consumer, has little if any
recourse to tell the truth.
This account belongs to my wife,
Elisa F, "the woman" referred to in the 10/21/13 response, and Mr.
Stewart was introduced to her the first time he came to our home and again when
he dropped off his ridiculous bid. Let
me just clarify a couple points made by Mr. Stewart in his lengthy, confused,
and misleading response (there are so many inaccuracies that I will not attempt
to answer them all):
As far as the "grading"
and "upgrades" are concerned, Mr. Stewart is lying when he said that they
were "added on". We spoke
about the grading ($250), the roof, door, electrical, and roof the first time
we met and the second time when the architect came to plan his drawings, so Mr.
Stewart's account is intentionally misleading.
The architect can attest to this fact if asked. Even then, we are
talking about chump change compared to his overall bid of $30,000. I never
called and asked for "additional drainage work", so Mr. Stewart is
indeed a liar. Take that into
consideration when deciding whether or not to hire him for a job.
Winter is now here and my wife and
I are scraping snow off our cars and freezing our buns off because of Mr.
Stewart's incompetence. Hopefully,
Angie's List will DO THE RIGHT THING and
publish my review on Terravest's page so that other consumer's will not waste
their valuable time or money. I am
downgrading my review to an "F" because Mr. Stewart is a liar and as
a retired AIr Force lieutenant colonel and disabled Veteran, I have ZERO
TOLERANCE FOR PEOPLE WITHOUT HONOR AND INTEGRITY ... ZERO!
C.T. SORRENTINO, LTCOL, USAF (RET)
HUSBAND OF ELISA F.
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