Exposed concrete pool deck, patio, front walkway, porch
Having successfully used homestars.com for various house projects over the last few years, we once again used homestars.com reviews to narrow down our search for a concrete company last spring. We extensively researched and interviewed owners Hercules and Lucy, and even spoke in person with former clients to ensure Master Concrete was the best company to do the job.
Much to our dismay, our experience with Master Concrete went from concerning to disastrous when it came to installation. Not only did Hercules fail to execute our front walkway as we specified to him in person, his team’s power-washing and cleaning process left us with over $8,000 in damage to our property. When we had Hercules back to survey the incorrect installation of our walkway, he became very animated, blaming us for the faulty framing and pour. He also failed to acknowledge and take responsibility for the extensive damage his team caused to our property, and even suggested we fabricated the over $8,000 in repair quotes we provided Master Concrete shortly after the damage occurred.
Overall, our experience with this company was very disappointing; therefore, we cannot recommend Master Concrete.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $15,000.00
- Company Response
Let this post and response be a lesson for us all. This is what happens when home owners want to save money by forming the area themselves. They make the mistake and then the company pays for it in the end. There are always two sides to a story. We learned a lesson with this client (Elizabeth). From now on we form and install all are work and we guarantee it. We will not pour concrete for anyone unless we have formed it ourselves. When you want to install exposed aggregate you need to know that, when washing with the power washer things will spray and get dirty. We do our very best to cover everything up but debris can still get through with the wind. We suggest the client to also cover up things they don’t want to get sprayed. With this client we poured the concrete, we washed it, we cleaned up and everything was fine. Then, I asked for final payment. (All contractors will understand this.) So once payment was asked for the client first said it was on its way. A day or two go by and she decided to send an email to say we destroyed her new sunroom, door, deck and the list went on. The client knew we were coming to pour the concrete so why did she not wait a week until the concrete was all completed before having another company install the sunroom? Having multiple things being done in a back yard you need to know which one to do first. For example, if you’re installing a hot tub you need the concrete pad first then the hot tub placed. In this case the concrete should have been poured before she had the screens put up. We would have recommended that the concrete was done first to avoid any issues of overspray when washing the concrete. The client then went ahead to get some quotes for the repairs that I requested, since we were not allowed to go repair or power wash the areas she said were damaged. She had forbidden us to enter her property. She replied to me with one quote from each of her contractors to rip out and replace bran new NOT repair or clean but to replace everything. It was in no need of replacement but like they say “customers are always right” “No they are not”. I asked her for three quotes for repairs and she sends me one of each area she claims was destroyed, the sunroom, the screens, deck and the door. I told her that she could go ahead and replace everything and we would pay the contractors directly from our account. She could hire who she wanted to replace everything, but her bill would stay the same. She of course said “NO” she wanted everything discounted and she would pay the contractors herself. She wanted the discount because she had no intentions on replacing anything. Just a good wash and the areas would be clean. Something we would have done, but she would not have it. This client was hard to deal with right from the beginning and we did everything she asked from us. Once the payment was asked for, first she says it’s on the way and then we receive an email with all the problems she sees with it. She had every excuse to get the discount. She got her way and I gave her the discount so it’s still a surprise to see after a year she would post this. If we had not given her the discount I could understand this post, but for us to take the loss of over $ 8000.00 and then still receive this post like this, makes me regret not taking her to court. I should have taken this lady to court. I would have had a good laugh with the judge on the way she manipulates and cons people. It was the beginning of the season 2017 and I said to myself “never regret being a good person to the wrong people, your behavior says everything about you and their behavior says enough about them”. I could take her to court now to get this post removed but, we all have to take the good with the bad. We all know we are all different and some people are just here to hurt others and are hard to please. They usually live very negative lives. God Bless her and her family. I hope she sees the light one day. I believe Master Concrete and the crew did everything in their ability to please this client. Taking a loss like we did in this situation has helped us make the decision to ONLY take on jobs that we can start right from the beginning and complete it. Scammers like Elizabeth these should also be shown to the public. There should be a site for contractors to go to and comment on their experiences with the clients. Maybe I should invent the site. Thanks for reading.