Menu
Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Escalated Customer Complaint

Escalated Customer Complaint

Texas

We are a concrete company hired by a homeowner to demo and repour her driveway in April. We offered to demo and repour 4” thick concrete with an estimated 3000 psi to the property line in the quote. When the day came, she complained that the new driveway didn’t reach the street. We explained that was not in the original quote because we would need to obtain right-of-way permits with the city. She understood after we explained. Later she wanted dummy joints because she assumed we would install four sections instead of two and that we would install redwood joints. Not once before this moment did she says she wanted four sections or redwood joints. By the end of the project, we had issued her three separate price reductions to accommodate the “miscommunication.” At the beginning of June, she complained about hairline cracks showing up on her new driveway and believed we did not pour enough concrete to withstand large vehicles. She pointed out to one of our foremen the area on the edge that measured 2.5” and her neighbor’s driveway that a different company installed. Our foreman pointed out to her that her neighbor’s driveway had cracks and that if she looked beyond the edge, the concrete went lower than 2.5”. She immediately dismissed the foreman. We reached out to our concrete distributor, who offered to come and look at her driveway. He is familiar with the area her neighborhood was developed and has heard many people having issues with cracking because the ground is unstable. He tried to explain that to her over the phone and then in person. She had become angry and verbally abusive to our staff and the concrete distributor. After this, the concrete distributor reached out to the concrete company he bought the concrete from, who then referred him to a third-party company. This third-party company put her on their schedule for the next day so they could take a core sample of her driveway to get tested. At the same time, we were coordinating with these other companies. She wrote a complaint with the BBB stating we were fraudulent thieves who lied continuously. We responded to each point of her complaint and rejection complaint, saying we are still working on trying and finding a resolution for her concerns. The sample taken and tested showed that the concrete we poured was 4.75” thick with a 6770-psi strength. We wrote an explanation email for her to understand better because all verbal communication ends in her being verbally abusive and discriminatory towards our minority-owned business. After the report came in, she agreed to let us patch the hairline cracks and fill in the hole created by the core sample. Now she is complaining that there are still hairline cracks, and the driveway doesn’t look good. She wants a full refund for the driveway. We have already lost all profits and paid out of pocket to help her understand. I am unsure what to do next because she is threatening to continue to harass us and complain on any outlet about our company. Should we give her a refund? Are we covered after the concrete testing if she decides to seek legal action?

3 replies

Aug 2, 2022
I represent concrete companies in the Houston area and am happy to consult on this issue.
1 person found this helpful
Helpful
Aug 2, 2022
Based on what you write, the customer sounds unreasonable. You have acted in good faith and do not appear to be in violation of the Texas Deceptive TradePractices Act, any warranty obligation, nor any laws dealing with construction. A full refund expected on her part is simply not logical. I would wait to see if she retains a lawyer to determine what is the the claim.
1 person found this helpful
Helpful
Aug 2, 2022
Good evening! This is a very good, but difficult question. The long and the short is, it really doesn't matter what you do, this is a perpetual complainer. I think you have done a great job responding to her complaints and going above and beyond what is required. She will never be happy! As for the potential litigation, anyone with a filing fee can file a lawsuit against anyone. That does not however mean they will be successful. My legal opinion is that you should not refund any money nor spend any additional money on trying to make her happy. You have responded to here and to the BBB and I would not do anything else. Please feel free to contact me should you need anything else.
1 person found this helpful
Helpful