Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/05/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We hired Valley Pacific at the beginning of December to renovate two bathrooms in our home. At that time, we told them that we had several renovations in our home and we would like an estimate for several projects. During the bathroom renovations, numerous mistakes were made and the project took over double to promised time. some of the mistakes were fixed, some couldn't be fixed and yet we still had to pay for them. When the first bathroom wasnt done on schedule, the owner promised ** to be more involved in the second bathroom. The second bathroom was supposed to take 2-3 weeks and it took another 3 months. During this time, our frustration was shared numerous times but it didnt improve. While we were awaiting completion of the bathrooms, we had asked them for quotes on an **** upgrade. As we continued to wait and wait, we also obtained quotes for the **** upgrade from 2 other companies. We told the owner of Valley Pacific that we had obtained those quotes once the bathrooms were done as we didnt want that to become a distraction from an already delayed project. His initial quotes were much more expensive as well as lower performing equipment, so told him i was learning towards another company and he tried to put together a better option. This time, the equipment was better than the first quote he provided. When comparing it to the other company, there were pros and cons of both pieces of equipment. We decided that based on location, we valued the lower noise that came with the equipment from another provider. When i told the owner of Valley Pacific that we were not using them, he told me he was invoicing me for his time to discuss equipment with his supplier costs totaling 1900$. At no point, were any of these costs disclosed or discussed. The owner is upset that we considered other companies and did not continue with them. He is now billing ** for undisclosed and unconsented costs. Poor quality work, timelines not met and billing for charges never discussed.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/06/2023

  We were referred ******* and ***************************** by friends of Valley Pacific Mechanical Ownership, and engaged with them on a 3-phase project scope.
  
  A budget was provided to the Schoebers, and after some back and forth changes to scopes of work, the budget was approved and we were provided with the authorization to proceed on phase 1: the two (2) bathroom renovations.
  
  The completion of phase one was over budget and took longer than originally discussed with both owners.  There was full transparency on the scheduling disruptions, including: 
  Christmas Holiday season- workers who had originally agreed to work later decided not to.
  Labour disruption- our lead hand got sick through the holiday season and was not able to work.  He then quit in the beginning of January, which posed a shortfall in our labour force and affected the project.  We also had to let go an installer, which resulted in further disruptions to scheduling across all of our projects and customers. This scheduling disruption was communicated to the Schoebers.
  Material and fixture delays- the Schoebers had decided to go with bathroom fixtures with longer than anticipated lead times.  The scheduling disruptions were communicated to them.
  Poorly performing sub trade- we were working with a hired tile setter who did not show up when they were supposed to, and took longer than anticipated to complete.  Although this was out of our control, we did accept responsibility for this scheduling overrun.  The tile setter was let go after the first part of phase 1 and another sub trade was hired to finish that scope of work to mitigate any further scheduling overruns.
   Bathroom interior design delays- although the Schoebers stayed on top of making decisions on time for the design, some of the choices were above the budgeted amount and had longer lead times than anticipated.  Tiles for the second bathroom are an example.  This was communicated to them.
  
  Through the course of the construction of the first phase of the project, ****** did mention that they were unhappy with how long the work was taking, but did not once indicate that they were not planning to continue using us on Phase 2 and 3.
  
  When we completed phase 1, we provided the Schoebers with a credit on their invoice, in the amount of $1,947.52 to mitigate the scheduling overruns. (this was the amount that we were over budget by) Furthermore, due to the unforeseen disruption to our labour force, ownership was not available to be on site as we needed to prioritize hiring and mitigating scheduling impacts across all projects.  
  This was accepted and received by the Schoebers.
  
  Prior to remobilizing for phase 2, ****** brought up some concerns with the equipment that we had originally selected and budgeted for phase 2.  We went back to our vendors and worked diligently with ****** to help ensure that he was provided with an equipment selection that was best suited for his family's needs.  We went back and forth on this before he decided to tell us that he was no longer going to use us for phase 2, but to not worry because we could still look at doing phase 3.  ****** did mention other quotes that he had, but we thought that they were quotes that were received before the project started, not half way through the first phase of it.
  
  Valley Pacific Mechanical was caught off guard on this, because we were previously provided approval to proceed on the approved budget for the multi-phase project.
  
  ****** exclaimed that he had a right to get multiple quotes on the project, and we agree! He, as well as any customer, should obtain at least 3 quotes on project work, however, this should be done prior to the project being approved and starting.  Unfortunately, because we were not provided with any notice of them not wanting to continue using us after a portion of the work was completed, we had expended time and resources working with sub trades and vendors in the design and procurement portions of phase 2.  Collectively, there was 9.5 hours of ****************** time ($200/hr rate) spent on the pre-planning of phase 2, under the pretense that the budget was approved and we were able to allocate resources to this project.  Pursuant to the original budget approval, we were not obligated to disclose or discuss these costs because they were aligned with the approved budget and part of the phase 2 work commencement.
  
  It is really unfortunate that things didn't go as planned, and that the Schoebers were left unimpressed with our work. We pride ourselves on our customer service and can agree that the way that this relationship ended was not an example of how we strive to leave our customers feeling.
  
  Since this event, we have had an internal review of the project to learn how to move forward in business in a more proactive and positive manner to ensure that this doesnt happen again.
  Here is a list of what we are implementing:
  All budgets must be formally sent through our estimating software and be signed by our customers.
  Scheduling impacts must be submitted to our customers in writing, with an extension of time approved in writing.
  Any cost overruns MUST be approved in writing and issued as a Change Order prior to proceeding with the work
  Regular updates are to be communicated with customers to ensure that they are not left feeling in the dark
  Valley Pacific Administration will follow up on every project with customers to make sure that our customer experience has a ****** rating.  If it wasnt, find out what we can do to make it a 5-star experience.
  Develop a purchase agreement that is to be signed by all customers.  This contract document will include, but not be limited to:
  Contract price
  Contract schedule
  Contract terms and documentation
  Scope of work
  Payment terms
  
  We are taking this event very seriously, and will use it as an opportunity to improve.  If there should be any further questions or information that you require please contact me directly.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Rich Cedars,
  Owner
  Valley Pacific Mechanical
  ****************************************************
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/06/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  

  Many interesting components in here. We were told everyone was sick, we weren't told about the two employees leaving causing staffing shortages. In terms of the tile being a delay for ** choosing, it only occurred because of poor planning. We made our choice a month in advance! If they had been sourced before the morning of install, we would have been able to come up with a plan B that wouldn't have caused delays. 

  Anyways, the scary part of this experience was the unagreed upon billing for quoting hvac units that weren't what we were looking for. Hopefully Valley Pacific can implement some of these proposed changes to improve disclosure for both a better experience for both the company and clients. 

  Best of luck to them in the future. 

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************