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:06/29/2023

  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.

  Castle Group currently manages the *** in our community. To make a change to the outside of your home, they require a $50 review fee and a $350 deposit. They clearly state they will only hold the $350 deposit and destroy or return your check when the job is complete and it meets criteria as outlined in the ***. This was for a fence on my property. We followed the process and the job was finished in accordance with the polices outlined by the ***. However, Castle Group cashed the $350 check and has yet to refund the money. I have had numerous phone calls and emails go unreturned, and the emails that have been returned are vague, providing little to no updates. I am reaching out to the BBB as a means to hopefully assist before I reach out to civil court.Property Manager ********************************* refuses to return phone calls and emails. ********************* stated that a request has been entered, but no longer returns phone calls or email. I emailed *******************************, Regional Vice President, and have yet to receive a reply.This process started March 15th, 2023, and ********************************* and ********************* no longer return phone calls or email. Hoping to resolve this before moving to Civil Court. Thank you.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/11/2023

  I spoke with ******************** today and he had already received a check, but due to a post office delay, the check got there late and ******************** advised *************************** of this office.  **** canceled the check and had it reissued.  Today, I confirmed that ******************** should destroy the check since it was canceled.  We are overnighting the new check today.  All of this is documented in the attached email.

  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/18/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  I would like to thank *********************** and *************************** for their assistance and professionalism.  This entire situation could have been avoided if ********************************* had followed through with his responsibilities as Regional Property Manager.  

  Thank you Better Business Bureau for your assistance as well.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/21/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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 received a bill for special assessment fee for almost 8000$ for this year in June ( with late fees already). I was never informed about this special assessment fee prior. Board meeting was only done , as I was told, with Board of directors, no legal representation for home owners. Association fees was already increased monthly and special assessment fee of almost 3000$ was charged already. Explanation is roof repair, but budget is listing management office renovations and multiple other costs not related to roof repair needed for insurance. This 55 plus community with low income population, adding almost 11000$ for 'special assessment" fees is outrageous. Special assessment fee should only be charged for emergency repairs needed, also the amount has to be limited to only what is needed and reserves mismanaged has to be addressed. it is not legal to inform home owners with ************* only , former communication is necessary for special assessment demands. This is unacceptable.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/27/2023

  ****************** complaint states that she was not informed of the Special Assessment in the amount of $2,691,756.00 and that there was no legal representation for homeowners. She further states that the explanation is "roof repair but budget is listing management office renovations and other costs not related to roof repair needed for insurance."   Attached you will find the "*********************************, **** Notice of Workshop and A Special Meeting of ********* of ********* To Consider a Special Assessments" (the Notice) dated September 27, 2022.  In this Notice the Association is informing all unit owners of a special assessment to consider and ratify new roofs on all Villas in order to remain compliant with law.  The Notice further explains that the property is in danger of losing insurance coverage due to the age of the roofs and that the estimated cost of the re-roofing project is $2,550,000. Besides the roofs reserve funds must be collected as required by law as well as for past due maintenance to the property.  The Notice further explains that the ***** will be voting on this special assessment that will be due in June of 2023.  The Notice includes the date/time/location of this Special Assessment Meeting as well as a breakdown of what the funding will be used for along with the price for each project. It also includes an Agenda for the meeting that was to be hold on October 17, 2022.

  Attached you will find the Notice dated September 27, 2022; the Meeting Minutes dated October 19, 2022 and the Notice of Approved Special Assessment dated February 9, 2023 explaining that the ***** of ********* approved a Special Assessment on October 19, 2022.  It also explained that the Special Assessment consists of two payments due on June 1, 2023 and October 1, 2023.  ****************** lives out of state and these notices were mailed to her at the address she provided.

  Her claim that homeowners were notified of the special assessment only via a bill is incorrect, the Association did communicate to the unit owners of the need for the Special Assessment meeting and the reasons for the Special Assessments as noted in the attached documents.

   

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/28/2023

   
  Complaint: 20219050
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  the special assessment fee with last year payment is a total of around 11000$. The budget is including gym equipment, patio furniture , office renovation and other cost that are not related to roof repair , monthly fee was already increased. No hurricane damage or other emergency was reported to justify such a high special assessment fee. I was not informed of this high special assessment fee, I also was informed by castle group, that I am not the only resident claiming this. Castle Group replaced previous management and since then large amounts are suddenly due. This is a serious red flag . 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/01/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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.

  I received an *** email on April 26th notifying that I hadnt paid 2 months of ***, and that is not correct. I had given 2 checks on April 19th to the *** manager( picture included). The email left me very stressed that my check *** have gotten in the wrong hands. I personally handled the 2 checks to the *** manager, upon learning that they had not taken the funds through ***** had signed up for I have excellent credit and never once had a late payment, I want to make sure this company don't tarnish my credit as I have met my obligations. It worries me that one of their employees had hundreds of thousands of dollars missing while he was at the Head of the maintenance department (per Forensic Audit Report). In the past, this same employee had several ran in with the law for bad checks. The fact that this employee spends most of his time in the office where my checks were kept is alarming.Last December, this same employee used his key to get access to our mail room, located behind the concierge desk, to take owners mail, without their knowledge or consent. An owner (a woman) drove 14 hours to retrieve her mail from this employees office, for fear that a new credit card sent to her daughter, and as well several gifts might be taken by this employee. Another owner was not so luck, a valuable item disappeared while in this employees office. Theft of mail is a federal crime. Many stay silent as they fear this employee who has extreme mood swings-bad temper and talks about his guns collection. Unlike his predecessor, this employee has no electricians license or any kind of licenses. Numerous owners (women) have remained silent for fear of this individual, and unlike his predecessor, this employee has no electricians license or any kind of licenses. Is this the kind of employee Castle Group wants to represent its brand?Please, let me know what did happen to my checks

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/02/2023

  The Property Manager had the checks safely locked in his office until he was able to deposit said checks.  The checks were deposited on April 28, 2023.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/04/2023

   
  Complaint: 20001427
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 
  Complaint: 20001427
  
  I am rejecting this response because:This makes no sense, if my check was safely kept from April 19th to April 28th(11 days), knowing that the manager could scan the check anytime, why then I received an email directed to me(on April 26th) that I hadn't paid the *** since February 2022 and needed to make the payment as soon as possible?  It seems that the check was not found until I raised awareness about it.
  Additionally, my profile for Maintenance request has the "Submit Button" disabled since October 2022(see Picture), consequently I sent 5 emails for service request for water leak, and the Director of Maintenance ignored all them for over 13 days, causing me to wash the dishes in the bathroom and have to find someone outside the Blue Heron to come and repair the leak. I pay $767 for ***, an estimated $280 of that goes for their payroll, and I can't get service. Usually, the retaliations from the director are towards woman, especially since due to his bad temper and collect guns, that is a deadly combination. I still can't get maintenance since October 2017.
  You have an employee who gets mad and get even. Our parking lot was painted in May 2022(see email attached). Sometime in July, it seems that some board member may have said something to upset the Maintenance director, and allegedly, to get even he allegedly hired someone to vandalize the new parking lot paint. I was called, while on a walk at the Boardwalk, and asked to rush back to the Blue Heron (back in July 2022) to try to stop him from vandalizing everything. He did succeed to get a "penis" painted in our parking lot, which offended many of us and guests with small children as well. The entire P2 parking lot, white space lines repainted intentionally erratically in July 2022. The newly painted grey walls were splashed with white paint. The damage was so intentional and visible that made the then Board ********** ********************* to sell his condo for $100K less and leave within weeks as he was disgusted with the misappropriation of funds and constant retaliations
  Please, let me know when I will be unblocked from getting maintenance. I understand that this employee can legally carry guns, I have seen it 2 in his office at one time, my main worry is that as he loses his temper, his method of retaliations will get worse. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/26/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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.

  Castle Group sends emails with the *** rules saying we cannot leave our trash bins out and must be hidden away from view. My neighbor leaves his trash cans out next to the house which is in front of my house on clear view. I have asked ********************************* and ********************* our contacts at Castle Group if this is allowed and they say it is ok to leave the trash bins outside, see the email, which contradicts the emails they send out . The builder, ******, has asked all the homeowners to keep trash inside and to follow the rules, which are very clear. Im asking for clarification from ******* and **** neither are responding to my emails anymore, see email thread. I want to know if the *** will enforce the rules, and if not can we get clear confirmation that all the homeowners can leave trash outside.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/05/2023

  Good morning.  The Regional Director for this property, *********************** called ************** twice on Thursday, May 4 and left him two voicemails.  She wanted to discuss Mr. ******* concerns and to update him that the neighbor has installed a hedge line to shield the trash bins from view.  I have attached the picture to this response. 

  Thank you,

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/27/2023

  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.

  Castle is the new management company for the *** for a rental house we own in **. I just received an email from Castle that we have a balance due and will be sent to collections if we don't pay. Upon further inspection, it appears they raised our *** fees a year ago. We did not receive a single notification - no mail, no email, nothing. We have been paying the dues on time monthly, never knowing it increased. Clearly they have our email address on file, because the threat to send us to collections was sent via email. Our dues went up $10/month, so we do owe them $120. However, over the course of a year, they have tacked on late fees, interest, and some sort of administrative fee for a total due of $542.61, all with zero notification to us. We have not been contacted at all, ever, until Wednesday night at 1am ******* time with the collections threat. We understand we are responsible for the additional $10 a month we owe, but given Castle never informed us there was a balance due, we expect these ridiculous fees to be removed. After much digging on our part, it appears Castle took over for our old *** management company, PSMI. PSMI knew that this property was a rental; at our request they sent all correspondence to our mailing address (in CA) in addition to our property management company in **. When Castle took over, without our permission or even notification, they stopped mailing bills and information to either contact provided and rather sent all correspondence to the property address, where we do not live. Hence, we have not received a single correspondence from them.We have been communicating with a woman named *********************. She refuses to talk to us on the phone to try to resolve these issues, and instead told us via email to show up at a board meeting **** miles away. Everyone else we've spoken with at the company claims they cannot help, and that we need to talk with *****. We have attached the ledger emailed to us by *****.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/02/2023

  This matter was discussed at the Board Meeting on Monday,February 27.  ********* voted unanimously that no fees would be waived.  When Castle Group took over the account, the address on record with PSMI was the address used for communications.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/02/2023

   
  Complaint: 19453360
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  This reply is disappointing, because I actually thought that this issue was resolved as of this morning.
  

  Castle's reply is incorrect. *********** notified us this morning that they voted to remove the excess fees, and we would be responsible only for the $10 a month increase (I sent payment for that this morning, 3/2/23, for the amount of $150) and March's *************** (payment for that was sent 2/22/23 and has already been deducted from our bank account). Both of these payments have been sent by bill pay. I have attached the email from *********** notifying us of this decision, and also of our response (there are 2 Castle employees on the email chain, ********************* and ***********************, so I'm not sure where Castle is getting their incorrect information).

  In addition, the statement that Castle used the address on file with PSMI is inherently false. I have also attached pay stubs from PSMI, sent to our correct address in CA. This address was used by PSMI for 15 years. Castle ceased mailing to this address, and only mailed correspondence to the actual property address in *******, which is how this whole situation came to be.
  

  In the email thread, you will see I have asked for written confirmation that Castle has removed the fees and that, once the $290 is received by them, our account will show no balance. I have also asked for written confirmation that they have updated our contact information (provided in the email). I have not received a response from *********************. It has only been a day, so I wasn't too worried about it until now, given that I'm now learning Castle is supplying false information to the BBB.
  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/06/2023

  The only attachment I see is a Resident Transaction Report  dated 2/23/2023.  Please attach additional attachments per your reply so that I can properly address.  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/06/2023

   
  Complaint: 19453360
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Thank you very much.

  I am still, however, awaiting a response from someone at Castle (the two employees on the email thread are ********************* and ***********************) to give us written proof that we have no balance due (or a $150 balance due, if the payment I sent on 3/3 has not yet arrived) and that all other fees have been removed from the account and our March payment (sent 2/21/23) has been applied. No one from Castle has responded to the request in the email thread sent Thursday morning, 3/2/23, and I am concerned Castle will continue to apply fees while this is getting sorted out.
  

  I would also like written confirmation that our contact information has been updated in Castle's system as requested in the same email thread, so that we know this will not happen again. We've updated it twice on the phone, but have no proof that we did that, and are very leery moving forward.

  Once these two issues are resolved we are looking forward to closing this matter and moving forward.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/08/2023

  I have spoken with the Regional Director and she confirmed that payment has been received and that ************ was notified.  As such, this complaint should be closed as it has been resolved.

  Thank you,

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/09/2023

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

  Thank you to *********************** for stepping in and removing the additional late fees that were in fact levied on our account after the board's decision, and for providing us a written ledger showing a zero balance due.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/22/2023

  Type:Billing 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.

  Castle Group took over management of our condo association December 29, 2022. I began trying to get my account ledger to make sure it was correct. I paid over $50,000 for 3 special assessments and my monthly maintenance is over $1K which I paid for *** ****** The amounts on line were not correct and I've sent dozens of emails, called, and gone in person to rectify it. Castle refuses to fix it or to respond with any explanation. Yesterday, I saw that my online account is "locked" so I called the number provided and was told that I was turned over to collections. This is in spite of the fact that I have a $52K+ credit to my ledger which they apparently can't find. Called the manager, *********************, and he laughed. Apparently funny to him. Said he'd look into it. And, here it is a full 24 hours later and I'm still locked out and still in collections, presumably heading to foreclosure proceedings, and a negative credit reporting.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/27/2023

  Our Vice President for ******************** region has reached out to **************** via email and has confirmed that ******************** account is in good standing.  Our VP has instructed the accounting department to place a note in ******************** file explaining the error.  She also confirmed to **************** that her account was not sent to collections.  Attached is ******************** ledger showing her account is current and not in any negative standing.  This ledger was also provided to **************** by our VP.

  Thank you,

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/27/2023

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/10/2023

  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.

  Over one dozen attempts to reach someone at Castle Group have gone unanswered. ***********************, the Director of Customer Experience will not respond to emails nor will anyone from ******** Services respond to calls or emails. FL Statutes dictate the estoppel fees that a condo association can charge. Castle Group, as a reputable management company should be well aware of this. They have charged $3,289 for the estoppel fees for the 11 properties being sold. 1 property is owned by ************************************** ($299), 2 properties owned by ****** ******************* ($598), 3 properties owned by the ***************************** Trust ($896 capped), and 5 properties owned by Happy 3 LLC ($896 capped). The maximum we should have been charged in estoppel fees is $2689. We are due a refund of $600 or Castle Group is choosing to violate FL Statutes.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/20/2023

  Hello.  We have investigated ******************** complaint.  Because there were different entity names on the estoppels, our team did not realize that it was the same seller.  **************** is due a refund and we have approved said refund today.  We noticed that the credit card used for these purchases belong to **************************  We need confirmation from **************** that it is ok to refund ******************** credit card.  The refund amount is $600.  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/22/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  The credit card mentioned by Castle Group is the correct credit card to refund. I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me contingent upon the refunds going back to mentioned credit card. Thank you.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/01/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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.

  I sold my condominium ***********************************************************************, the month of November 2022. I paid a special assessment prior to selling the condo when it was due. The title company had also paid the special assessment at the closing of the sell. Castle Group agreed to refund my special assessment once the ************* paid the assessment. I have submitted HUD-1 twice to show the special assessment was paid. I have been patently waiting for the refund, to no avail. The special assessment that needs to be refunded to me is approximately $2,700.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/10/2023

  Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We had to wait for board approval to cut the check.  I am happy to say that we have cut the check in the amount of $2,787.54 and it is being overnighted to ****************** at the ******* address provided on the original complaint. I have attached a copy of the *** label that includes the tracking number. Thank you and we apologize for the delay.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/14/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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.

  I have had some mixups with my monthly *** payments. The bank accounts have changed several times recently and my funds were going to the wrong account. I was not notified of this, and I paid the late fees and charges related. It went several months until Castle Group told me they were not receiving the payments.After that was resolved I set up my bill pay account and I thought the matter was resolved. In late Dec. I received a notice that my December payment was not paid. I had so many days to pay the amount and the *** business office was closed and not available to accept the payment. They would not be returning until after the due date of my charge. I went to my bill pay and entered the payment to be sent immediately. I immediately called the business office and left a message with the *** staff that the payment was made but it would be sent on the 9th of Jan. I asked them to notify me if that was a problem. I didn't receive a notification. I also put an envelope with the Jan payment at the front desk, with my monthly coupon and a check for the current month payment. Last week I got a letter telling me my payment was late and there was another late charge. I went into my bill pay and saw that Castle Group or the *** cancelled the payments. I was not notified of this and have no idea why. The payments were made the same as they have always been through bill pay. On Friday Jan 12 I tried 5 times to call the Castle group office each time I waited several minutes and then was asked to leave a call back number. No one called and they did not answer subsequent phone calls.I have made the due payments and communicated about the dates of the payments and they cancelled the checks without valid reason and then proceeded to charge me additional late fees. I am disgusted and disappointed that this organization is managing our community. This is the third management company in the last 3 years and it seems like they get worse each time.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/27/2023

  ****************** states in her complaint that she was not notified of the change in management companies, however, our records indicate that the attached welcome letter was sent to all residents of Stonecrest including *******************  This welcome letter advised the Stonecrest residents of the new bank and included detailed instructions on how to pay.  This was sent on January 5, 2022 (both of which are attached).
  
  ****************** has stated in her complaint that Castle Group accessed her bill pay account and cancelled her payments.  Bill pay is setup directly by residents through their bank directly.  No Castle Group employee would ever have access to the residents personal bank account to cancel payment on behalf of a resident.  Please see attached the cleared checks from *******************
  
  Regarding the five (5) calls ****************** made to resident services, our ******** Services manager has addressed the calls as follows:
  
  We have received five calls from her, on one of her calls, she was able to talk to one of our resident service teammates that explained the balance on the ledger and sent her the requested document for her viewing. 
  
  On her second call, we did call back, and we got a message that the voicemail was full and could not receive any more messages. 
  
  For two of her other call, we left a voice message. 
  
  Her fifth call went to our after-hours team and since it was not labeled an emergency, it was not immediately answered. 
  
  I can have our ******** Services Manager give ****************** a call to further discuss at a time that is convenient for *******************
  
  Thank you,

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/07/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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 pay $195.49 each month to Castle Group, which covers TV services. Although the service has never been great, after the upgrade in June 2022, it got progressively worse. They were supposed to deliver Firesticks, which they did not and then they screwed up the Firestick that worked before the upgrade. You cannot watch TV without it getting errors, sometimes up to 8 in an hour. I bought this to the attention of the manager who renegotiated a ************************************************ the country, when there were streaming options or satellite options they could have done with other companies. The excuse that Blue Stream laid the initial cable is ridiculous when the Anti-Trust lawsuit in the 70's against **** laid the groundwork, where blue Stream would have to lease their lines to someone else. My last communication to *************************** has gone unanswered for more than 2 weeks. To make matters worse, Blue Streams technicians are not very experienced nor their customer service so the inconsistency. I have had to correct them, troubleshoot the problem for them and in general, I am doing half of their jobs. There are upgrades every other week, so clearly Blue Stream as a company has no clue even as to how to fix their problem. Constant upgrades is the last thing to do. Castle owns this because they made the decision to continue with and not hold accountable an entity clearly not capable of the business they are in and instead of coming up with a different plan, they have become complicit. This needs to stop and I need a working system. This is a predatory practice, much like ***** Fargo, targeting communities not to offer certain loans. Castle is targeting communities not to offer working services, a problem.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/06/2023

  I have compiled all the information submitted by the team at Tradition Master and I have addressed the issues reported by ****************:
  
  It is important to note that protocol for Tradition Master residents related to technical issues with cable/internet services is to contact the Blue Stream account management team directly. However, should a resident contact the office with technical/service issues,the Association escalates their complaint via email to the Blue Stream Account Management team. 
  
  ***************************** the Property Manager at Tradition has recorded the escalation of Mrs. ******* complaints on 6/28/2022,7/14/2022, 8/19/2022, 10/27/2022, and 12/13/2022.
  
  Blue Stream has provided a summary of resolutions for issues over the past 7 months:
  
  Blue Stream stated that since July, 2022 the resident has had four calls in relation to TiVo issues/Internet that include:
  Channels lost
  Freezing
  Signal Issue
  Firesticks
  
  In July, 2022, Blue Stream Account Manager, ***************************** personally called Mr./***************** to get clarity on the issues they were having.  ****************** stated that the issues were rectified by Tech Support and the engineering team with regard to the buffering/freezing issues.

  
  Blue Stream had windows of maintenance put in for Tradition that seemed to improve the equipment.

  
  ****************** also noted that he personally reached out to his splicing team and the levels were good to the home, any issue the resident had was rectified and not showing any reoccurring instances.  

  
  The channel buffering was the standard (very short term) circle that shows when channels are changing, as this is internet based.

  
  With regard to the Firestick, ******************** said: On the mention of Firestick, this was never promised by or from Blue Stream to the community / resident. I believe this was a misinterpretation as it is not a device we have or sell. This was also specifically mentioned to them by me.

  
  **************** states in her complaint that Castle own this, however, it is important to note that the contract service agreement is between ******************************* and Blue Stream Fiber.  Castle Group is not a party to this agreement and has no authority and/or obligation to modify terms or to seek out alternative providers.  This responsibility falls solely to the Founder of Tradition.

  
  Blue Stream confirmed that on December 23, 2022, they replaced the TiVo due to recording issues.

  
  The Manager did not renegotiate this contract, this was done by the Founder of Tradition, (Mattamy Homes)
  
   My findings show that Ms. ******* concerns were not ignored by Castle or by Blue Stream and that her complaints were received and resolved by Blue Stream. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/09/2023

   
  Complaint: 18367579
  
  I am rejecting this response because the issue is not resolved and has never been resolved and everyone at Castle and Bluestream knows it.  I attached the latest picture of the problem after 12/24/2022 and ****************** knows we followed the protocol and all that has been provided to her more than once. Insulting my intelligence really doesnt help the situation;it just confirms the lack of confidence and competence people feel Castle doesnt have for the residents.

  We have zero evidence that an ***************************** spoke to anyone at this residence; maybe he is confusing us with another customer. So unless his name is ********, he did not speak to us.
  
  Dating back to April 2020, we have contacted Bluestream for various issues.  We were given various reasons and rationale for the problems. At this point, we only had the service for 1 month, barely.  We were also paying for DVR services

  
  July 20, 2020 I called for technical issues and problems with my account being incorrect; someone was supposed to correct.   

  
  November 2020 I contact them again to address the issues. 

  
  On Jan 29, 2021 I finally get a response from ***********************,after months wanting to address my concerns; ok then you are not really concerned. 

  
  In 2021, we called multiple times about recordings or service in general; same story, either customer service reps really have no idea how to address and technical reps no help. 

  
  Finally, I called December 28, 2021 I contact them again because calling technical service with ******* was not helpful and we could not record shows.  While she set up another technician, I wanted refund because this was not the first time, we had the issue.

  
  ***** ***** emailed to see if the visit was successful; I emailed back 12/31/2021 because technician told us wait for the new box because they could not resolve the issue.

  
  We called in March and April got a visit by tech; he gave us a number so we could escalate our upgrade. We left town to attend my sisters-in-law funeral in GA so we schedule for May 10th, when we got the upgrade. A tech came back on May 11th to replace a box in bedroom because not only did the ** no longer work, he showed up with no Firestick and the one we had,he could not get to work.  OK, so now, my service is worse than before. 

  
  We left again to attend a memorial in PA and called when we returned because we had issued the new system did not fix.  On June 24th, another technician, equipment changes,which did not fix the problem.

  
  I received calls on 6/28/2022 from Blue stream to discuss the problem and I returned their call. Then on 7/13/2022 ********, the account manager called.  He was to get back to me after his meeting with Engineering.  He never did.

  
  Now, ever since May, there have been upgrades non-stop,almost every week for several months.  Most of the problems still exists and no one has any clue how to rectify.
  Here we go again, a technician shows up on December 23rd.  I received a call from someone later that day to ask if the problem is resolved.  I answer no.  She said she will call back;she never does.  On December 24th,two technicians show up to my door; no notice that they are coming and we are almost ready to leave the house for dinner. They replace the modem (thats the only thing that hasnt been replaced).  I text them later to tell them the problem isnt resolved. 

  
  ****** is incorrect; she received an email from me on June,27th & 29th.   Then again on July 12th, October and then December.  I wrote to tell her,her said escalation was ineffective and something else needed to be done.  Crickets; so, if she thinks she can wipe her hands of this, wrong.  Blue Stream has been contacted over the last 3 years for poor service, and this information was provided to her as well.   She rejected my request for a refund but this is fraud when a system you pay for doesnt work as intended and honest efforts to address the entire situation isnt addressed.  I doubt she would pay for a car that kept shutting off and stranded her in the middle of the highway.  She should respect that a customer that she is supposed to be serving is not getting what she paid for.   

  
  *************************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/11/2023

  Good morning,

  There is nothing else Castle Group can do regarding this matter.  We have responded multiple times to **************** and Castle cannot fix her problem,  only Bluestream can.  To be clear, Castle is not privy to the contract between Bluestream, the **** and *****************  We have done what we are supposed to do and that is to get the vendor to respond.  

  Thank you,