Business ProfileforThe Home Store

My husband and I sold our home and couldn't find another home to buy. We decided we would build and chose The Home Store in Whately, MA to build our modular home primarily because of a verbal assurance that our home would be delivered by Thanksgiving 2020. 11/2020 came and went and to make a long story shorter, the house arrived March 2021. We understand the pandemic caused lots of issues, but was just the beginning. The house had numerous issues that needed to be resolved. Here it is 05/2021, and we are still waiting. The Home Store claims to be at our beckoning call, but let the truth be known that correspondence with this company is poor. We wish we could turn back one year and make other choices.

We agree with Mr. and Mrs. W***** that The Home Store had promised to try to deliver their home by Thanksgiving 2020, since we knew they had already sold their home. We also acknowledge that the delays were NOT caused by the W******s. But neither were they caused by The Home Store.

Covid 19 caused most of the delays, either directly or indirectly. First, the factory had to close its operations for three weeks per order of the state of Pennsylvania. When they reopened, many workers decided not to return out of fear they would contract the virus. The manufacturers of the various products - from lumber to shingles to siding to faucets - etc. went through a similar transition of first closing their operations, and then returning at reduced capacity. This created a crippling shortage of materials that continues to this day.

The mandatory shut down of the factory, the shortage of factory employees, and the across-the-board shortages of materials created by our suppliers were the initial causes of the delays. We then were hit by delays with the delivery and set of W******s modules in spite of the fact that we pulled every lever we could to get the W******s an expedited delivery.

The next factor that caused an extensive delay was the actions taken by the state of ******, which prevented us from delivering the home for a few weeks. We had nothing to do with these actions. But we still pushed everyone we could to expedite the delivery.

When we finally got to set day, we were faced with a severe weather problem. The temperature at the W*****s site was MINUS 25 degrees. This prevented the crane company's computer from working. Nonetheless, we stayed at the site solving the crane problem, which included hiring another crane for the next day. We also begged the set crew to remain on site until we had a crane, which made them very unhappy, since they had other jobs scheduled. But we knew the W******s desperate need to get their home. To facilitate this effort, we paid for a much more expensive crane as well as the down time of our set crew and excavator. Normally, site and weather conditions are not our responsibility, but we wanted to do everything we could to avoid delaying the set even a single day.

After the set, we discovered some warranty issues with the house, which is normal. So, we quickly scheduled the factory's warranty crew to take care of as many problems as they could. Our Home Store set supervisor drove up to meet the factory service people and had them look at what needed to be done to help resolve the issues quickly. Our supervisor also put the factory's service crew in direct contact with the W*****s to get any work done without delay.

The W*****s and The Home Store had some disagreements about which items were our responsibility and which were the W*******s. To move things along we agreed to pay the W******s contractors directly to avoid further delays.

Everyone's work, including that of the W******s contractors and our warranty crew, was further delayed when the W******s site turned from frozen tundra to mud. This delayed the pickup and return of the now empty delivery carriers. We needed to correct this situation, since it was making it harder for the W******s to complete their sitework. When the delivery company failed to get the carriers in a timely fashion, The Home Store hired another company at a higher cost to avoid a further delay.

Every time the W******s requested something from the factory The Home Store made sure the factory was informed and gave us answers as to the status of their efforts. But the factory had great difficulty getting materials, since the problem that first arose building the W******s home had by now become a serious a national problem with virtually every supplier of every type of construction material experiencing delays.

There were many times that the W******s claimed The Home Store and factory had installed or delivered the wrong materials. However, after doing the proper research we found that almost all of these were exactly what the W******s signed for in their Modular Agreement.

Over the course of the many months since we delivered and set the W******s home, we have reached out to the W******s through email, phone, or visits to their home. This has included well over 100 communications with the W******s themselves, their contractors, the factory, our set crew, crane company, and delivery company. This does not include the scores of additional communications made to and from our employees. All of these were meant to help the W******s as best we could, given the challenges posed by Covid 19.

We genuinely appreciate that this has been very stressful for the W******s. And we are truly sorry the W******s do not feel The Home Store's efforts were enough.

Regardless, we will continue to honor our warranty obligations on their behalf.

Andy G*******
President
The Home Store

Where do I begin..... here are our responses to Mr G******. He is working on all hear say from James K****** at the Home Store in Whately. We have never talked or email with Mr. G******. All of his comments are word from word from James K******. I will address each statement with comments and documentation.
1. We were never told of the delays with the construction. Nov 20, 2020 came and went and we still waited for word on our house delivery.
2. The temperature was 20 degrees with 25 degree wind chill. get the facts straight.
3. The computer wasn't affected by the cold. The crane was up and running then the computer just died. This is what the crane operator told us.
4. We paid the excavator, not the home store. We paid $1250.00 to the excavator that James K****** had our General Contractor call.
5. The removal of the empty trailers took weeks. It wasn't because of mud. March X XXXX our state of Vermont posts the dirt roads against travel by heavy equipment.
6. The house plans show the gable ends with the Shake cedar siding. The price of the siding on our contract wasn't reduced by the SF of the special siding like other items were. We didn't realize this was something we were responsible for. So why did we paid for the siding on the gable ends? Let the Home Store answer that.
7. House was framed for a 3'0" garage pedestrian door. They sent a 2'8" door and told us that is what we ordered. our contract shows a 3'0" door.
8. pocket doors were requested by email to Jim Coyer and if you would like to see the email, I will send it.
9. House was framed for an attic window as the plans show. We were left with a large opening in the side of the building.
10. Set crew never finished their work. They left the house a mess with trash everywhere. cigarette butts, food wrappers and dozens of *** **** cans thrown everywhere. inside and out. The General contractor had to complete their work before he could start his own work that we had hired him to do. see attached notes. The General Contractor described the house as a remodel rather than a new house because of all the work he had to do that the Set Crew didn't do.
11. The house doesn't sit on the foundation squarely. It is off by 2". That doesn't sound like much, but when walls and floors don't line up it causes delays and headaches. There is a list of the work the Set crew didn't complete.

I am unable to attach the documents I have for documentation. If you need them, I will email them to you.

* ****** ******* <***************@*********>

None of the following has anything to do with the garage wall being out of position, That portion of the A/B box connection is being supported on temporary supports until footers are poured and lolly columns are installed and secured to the structure- This is a separate issue and is being handled by the Concrete contractor and the General Contractor here, locally.

We just received the email from James K****** last week with James's version of your comments with the explanations of why the lolly columns were not set or plumbed. Our generaj contractor states this is the first he's heard of these reasons and does not believe these explanations as viable reasons for not completing the setup and installation of lolly columns and bolting of the modules the week of March Yd.

The week of March 1 st was the beginning of the set of the modules for this project at XXX

******* ****, ********** **,; several things were not completed

Today is April 22nd and the following are the issue that require resolution from ****** ******* and the set crew:

3 lolly columns were not installed.

Lolly columns were not secured to the structure.

Base and top plates are not in place, or not in the correct place (top vs bottom plates) Lolly columns are not plumbed too vertical.

Bolting of the individual boxes was not completed in the basement area where the boxes come together.

Bolting of the individuat boxes was not completed in the attic area where the boxes come together.

Knee walls in the attic area were tacked in place but never nailed off.

All of these items have to be completed before the town will issue a certificate of occupancy.

The general contractor on site is able to complete each of these items for time and materials at your expense or if you will have your crew complete each of the items.

This house was installed on March 3rd , it is now April 22nd It has been 50 days; we need to know if you are sending your crew to complete this work or if you are paying our general contractor to complete each of these items. we need an answer to these questions by Monday April 26th by 5pm please.

cc

James K******

Jim C****

Dan N*******

B.The mating joints of the dining room and "C" box are also off. The front being (approx.) 6/8ths inch where the right or east side appears to be 2 % inch gap.
The statement that the foundation was off is an extremely broad brush to explain this whole issue. Yes, there is one wall at the rear of the garage that appears to have been set and poured on the wrong side of the pin. That foundation wall was designed to carry the rear wall of the garage wall (the edge of the "A" module).
That error is being used as the reason the whole house does not fit square on the foundation as the foundation itself is the issue. The whole foundation is not off, just the one wall. At that, it is an intersecting wall that does not impact the alignment of the front and rear walls. The front and rear foundation walls are parallel to each other as evidenced by the over/under on the left and right wall being off by the same 2.5 inches.
The fact that this one wall being off was not caught until the time of marking the module placements (landing marks) is disconcerting. Statements that the sill plates were installed in the same wrong location. 1Men the sill plates were installed, I feel that it would be safe to assume that measurements were not pulled as everything (assuming the foundation was correct) would be installed on the foundation's alignment on the outside edge. Those are all excuses.
When the problem was discovered, everyone did the right thing; engineers were contacted, and a resolution agreed upon and put in place. The proper steps have been discussed, agreed to, and steps taken by all patties to correct the basement or foundation wall to the garage being in the wrong position by pouring additional footers and adding lolly columns to carry that 20-foot stretch of the garage wall.
The issue is not a finger pointing game. Errors were made, there is no denying that. Men something wrong is discovered, you determine what the problem is; what the resolution is; then you implement the resolution.
The cost of implementing the 20-foot concrete wall correction is being born locally. It is not a home store issue. The corrective action is being implemented as noted earlier based on the information provided by your engineers
The cost and long-term effect of the modules not sitting squarely on the foundation is the concern. We are now having to carry the costs of having walls reduced in size to align with the module and somehow pad out the opposing corner to make it less obvious. These are the costs that are up for discussion.
The continued lack of response is extremely disappointing.
A window in the attic space that was not on the plans but framed out; statement from Jim K******, that The Home Store will make it right. Statement from Donna F**** "WE will

Patrice has given her opinion in her two posts. I have responded once. I will not respond again because we are unlikely to agree on what happened, and I have no wish to do anything other than to continue to provide service to Patrice. We will do so regardless of any further comments from her.

Andy G******
President
The Home Store

Business Response I
My name is James K******.
I have been delivering and setting houses for the Home Store for the last twenty years and take great pride in the work I do. It genuinely saddens me that a customer of The Home Store is so unhappy, not just with the Home Store, but with the set crew, the crane, the delivery company, and the factory. Sadly, **** and ****** ****** started out justifiably frustrated from living in a very small camper while waiting for their new home to be built. I empathized with them and pushed to get the very first day possible for a delivery date from the factory. As ******* indicated, their house was infuriatingly delayed.

Factory Delay
Covid-19 created havoc in central PA where the work force building the ****** house had a covid outbreak creating delays and it peaked in December and January. Suppliers in other states also were also hit hard by the pandemic causing further delays in getting materials and exacerbating the problem.

Delivery delay
*** *****, at *** *********, has delivered homes for us for the last decade and, as their dispatcher, does his best to deliver homes on time. Mr. ***** applied for permits to deliver the ****** house the first day possible, but the State of Vermont insisted that a survey be done first because the ****** modules were 16-wide. *** ***** did everything he could to get the survey done quickly by the state of Vermont police, but covid once again was used by the Vermont police to explain why their work force was behind. When the survey was completed and the permit issued, the house was delivered on the first day possible.

Weather
******* has equivocated about the exact temperature the first day of the set and whether the wind chill or the actual temperature was as stated. I have an e-mail from ******* stating that the temperature was frigid. We can both agree to that. I am originally from Wisconsin and agree with her that with 40 MPH wind gusts it was quite frigid.

Crane
The crane arrived before set day and set up so that we could get an early start the first day. When the crane did not start, mechanics were brought over and a fire was started below the fuel tank to fix what was believed to be a frozen fuel line. After hours of work and not starting the crane, the problem was decided to be a computer malfunction. A larger more expensive crane was hired to be at the site the very next day so that the set could still be accomplished. The extra cost was paid for by ***** ***** .

Excavator
The excavator waited an entire day for the crane and set to begin. The owner of the excavating company asked for payment for the time spent at the site that day and the bill was paid for by the crane company, not ***** or ****** ******. As per their contract, the ****** were supposed to have an excavator on site and they paid for that time as required.


Frame return
*** ***** was notified that the frames were able to be picked up right after the set, and frames are routinely returned a few weeks after a set when a driver is in the area; he or she then does not have to deadhead, that is, return without a load, back to Pennsylvania. The weather after the set was going to switch and warm up creating a muddy site, which was confirmed with many calls to the GC regarding the dirt road restrictions and the site. When the frames were finally able to be picked up, a driver from another company was hired to return the frames to mitigate the frustration of the customers and return the frames the quickest way possible.

Business Response II Set Crew and Foundation
For the record: ******* was rarely at the site and never part of discussions about the foundation or site challenges and her statements are not first hand.
The set crew is very professional and skilled with the owner *** ******* at the site supervising. *** has many long years building and stood with me at the site with my boss Dan N*******, also a man with fifty years of construction supervision, as the GC and **** ****** were shown why the house was put together as it was. *** ******* took photos and can better articulate what foundation challenges were involved. The foundation that was poured incorrectly and the base underneath the lally columns are the responsibility of the homeowner. I was standing next to the GC as *** wiggled the lally columns showing the GC that they needed to be strengthened underneath before the columns were permanently installed. The GC then nodded in agreement. Other lally columns were not bolted because a wall in the foundation was poured in the wrong place and temporary supports were put in until a solution was resolved. The crew did not hurry the set. In fact, they spent a lot of time trying to resolve the foundation issues they encountered after putting many stringlines across the foundation and measuring many times both the boxes and foundation.

Trash
There was no dumpster provided on set day with forty MPH wind gusts. The dumpster was the responsibility of the homeowner and not brought until later in the set resulting in some plastic and debris inevitably, but understandably, blowing around.

Many other happy customers during this time
As stated above, I take pride in helping our customers build a new home that they will live in and enjoy for years to come. The Home Store maintains a great reputation over many decades receiving many industry awards and for 32 years has been a member of the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating. This complaint is a notable exception to our record. In this same time period we delivered and set houses for many appreciative customers.

The house we set just before ***** was in Sheffield, MA. The customer still sings our praises and was happy with everyone she worked with at the Home Store. She can be contacted through the Home Store to verify that her experience with the Home Store was positive from beginning to end.

The home we built just after the ****** house was in Greene, RI. The GC has previously worked with the Home Store doing the button up on numerous Home Store houses and always thanks us for the help and attention we provide.
For verification of my statements or further information from this GC contact Donna F**** at the Home Store below

Warranty items
The factory believes they did everything as fast as they could to get service done as soon they received parts. I personally always followed up e-mails from the ******* to get them answers or push for something to be resolved. Some of the ******** issues were factory mistakes and the factory was made aware of her list and all items were followed up on. The service crew from the factory went up quickly to fix the loose kitchen cabinet, replace drawer fronts, and caulk a crack behind the sink. I drove up and met with them and the GC to have the factory quickly confirm some drywall damage repairs needed and had the factory deal directly with the GC to make the repairs go faster. Some of the issues *******had on her list, such as her claim the windows were not to code, were researched and shown to be actually to code. Some items she listed were not ordered on her signed contract and caused her confusion and stress. The Home Store reimbursed her for items not sent. All ******** warranty items have been addressed and any other missed or new items will be quickly responded to and professionally addressed.