ComplaintsforMasters Services

• Initial Complaint

  11/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  The cleaned the chimney and put a cover on the top of the Chimmy less then a year ago. They checked the top and put a new Chimmy cap. I am almost 70 yrs old and didn’t get up on the rooftop to see the Chimmy. I took their professional opinion when they said everything was ok. They installed the Chimmy cap. A few months later we had a stormy day with some strong winds. I noticed the cap fell off so I called them and they came out and checked it and at I made the effort and got up there and took pictures. The mortar around the Chimmy cap was dry, cracked and falling apart. If they had seen it before and told me the mortar was dry, cracked or broken I would have had that fixed before they put the Chimmy cap on. They guarantee it and I called within the year and they made all these excuses and that had installed it correctly. To fix it now would be $ 1,000. 00 dollars. I would have had it fixed initially if these professional people would have told me.

• Initial Complaint

  09/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  To Whom It May Concern, I am asking Master Services to refund me $700 that was taken from me by Master Services' employee. I hired Master Services to rebuild my chimney. On 08/01/2022, the Master Services employee Mr. Carmen knocked on my door and convinced me to pay him an extra $700 to rebuild the sides of the chimney. I have this conversation on the recording by my front door camera and I can provide it. The employee went through my contract and he told me I would have to pay additional $700 for the sides. I was put in a situation by Master Services' employee where I could not think thoroughly. Besides the $700 that was taken by Carmen, here is a list of additional costs I incurred due to Master Services inferior quality of work and poor workmanship: 1. I had to purchase an additional tarp to cover the entire chimney $20 2. Estimated cost of $500 to fix the shingles that were damaged around the chimney 3. $300 for my existing Chimney Chase and Cap. My existing Chimney chase and cap became unusable due to your employee breaking them while taking them out. Prior to this work, I had an option to replace these, but now I have no choice but to buy new ones for a cost of around $1000. I hired this company to rebuild my chimney, but they cause me a lot of issues and also wasted my time. Please see the pictures what was done to my existing chimney and the shingles. When other companies came to give me an estimate they could not believe what was done by Master Services. I strongly believe that it is Master Services’ responsibility to give me a refund for $700 that was taken from me by Mr. Carmen who is your employee and this was part of the contract which he went through it, Thank you for your consideration.

  Business response

  10/17/2022

  This reply is in regards to complaint #********.  
  
  Mr. ***** had our company come out to give an estimate on needed chimney repairs. Our estimate included a complete chimney chase rebuild for $5,200. Mr. ***** chose not to do that. However he did approve for us to just replace the trim boards and put a new cap on for $3,200. 
  
  When our employee went to the job site to replace the trim boards, he and Mr. ***** made an agreement between the two of them that our employee would do the other $2,000 of work on the side for $700. Mr. ***** paid our employee $700. As soon as we found out that our employee was doing jobs on the side, we immediately terminated him. We also did not complete final stages of the job. Mr. ***** did not pay us anything. We did not want payment for the work done because we felt as though our ex-employee had probably done a poor job since he was working for himself and not us. So, we made the decision to end our relationship with Mr. ***** at that point. We had done approximately $2,650 of work. Mr. ***** had made an initial down payment of $800. So, we refunded the full amount to Mr. ***** in good faith. However, we did not ever receive any payment at all from our ex-employee. And, that was fine with us. We did not feel entitled to getting any further payment from Mr. ***** since our ex-employee was obviously no longer meeting the standards that Masters requires from its’ employees. As far as we were told by Mr. *****, he paid our ex-employee $700 to do the additional work. This was not approved by Master Services nor did we even have knowledge of it.
  Mr. ***** is now wanting Master Services to refund him the $700 that was paid on the side to our ex-employee.  We feel that this is not our business or responsibility. This was a business agreement between 2 individuals and had nothing to do with our company. We don’t doubt that Mr. ***** is not satisfied with the work that was done. We empathize with him in that regard. However, that is between him and the ex-employee. We had no dealings with that and it was not authorized by us in any way. 
  
  Mr. ***** emailed us and said that if we’d pay him the $700 that he paid our ex-employee, that he would rescind the BBB complaint. 
  
  That is where things are at this point. Please let me know if you have any questions at all. 
  
  Sincerely,
  Master Services, Inc.
  

  Business response

  11/07/2022

  As a small business, we understand that we cannot please 100% of customers and bad reviews are unfortunately a downside to running a business. Although the review Mr. ***** left does not reflect the situation that occurred, we understand that he is frustrated with the decisions. For transparency, we will explain the timeline and details of the professional work relationship we had with our team and  *****. 
  
  On  July 21st, 2022 we came out to *****s home to give a free estimate on a water leak he was having around his chimney. 
  
  On July 26th, 2022 **** approved the estimate for the work to be completed. 
  
  On August 1st, 2022, we scheduled a Crew to go to *****s home to complete the repairs he approved. This Crew was led by a Crew Leader that had been employed by our company, Masters’s Services for about 2 years. When he arrived to *****s home, that individual went against his good moral judgment, our company policies, and standard procedures. Please read the emailed statements written by **** to understand his side to the story.
  On August 15th, 2022, we received an email and his story goes as followed:
  
  “On 08/01/2022, the Master Services employee Mr. (Erased FOR PRIVACY REASONS) knocked on my door and convinced me to pay him an extra $700 to rebuild the sides of the chimney which was not in the contract I signed with Master Services. He showed me the initial estimate that was written by
  Master Services for the side of the chimney and emphasized he could do it a lot cheaper and I
  was put in a situation where I could not think thoroughly and do the right thing (Written by **** ***** via Email). “
  
  Refund Issued: After our Management Team got all the needed details to understand the individual circumstance, we decided to refund **** for the full amount that was paid to our company Masters Services. A full refund was completed on August 15th, 2022. To be transparent, Masters Services did not profit or collect a single cent from **** that was not paid back entirely to him. We felt that our past employee compromised the principles that our company was built on and we did not feel comfortable charging a client for an ex-employee's indiscretions.
  
  After being refunded the entire amount that was paid to Masters Services. **** requested that Masters Services pay for his losses. **** paid that individual directly, acting as an individual contractor for an under-the-table, side job that was approved to be completed by ****. The amount told was cheaper than quoted by our company and was not repaired with the same quality materials, workmanship, or standards that our company holds to.
  
  We politely denied his request for paying for his losses after talking with our management team and seeking counsel from a large-scale organization that allows customers to rate and review businesses to help both consumers and businesses. 
  
  If the work was completed under the supervision of our management team and **** had paid our business entity directly, our decision would have been more than likely different, but that is unfortunately not the case. 
  
  We recommend always using licensed, insured, and legitimate established business entities to complete any work on your home. As side work often leaves less-than-fortunate situations and often leads to bad workmanship and less-than-standard practices like what happened in this situation. 
  
  
  As a small business, we strive to make all of our customers satisfied with the services we offer and we understand that like all businesses, it is not a perfect world. We hope all that read this reply, understand that we will always try to do the right thing and will continue to serve our homeowners to the best of our ability as we have for the past 25 years. We take these situations very seriously and always try to turn these situations into learning experiences. 
  

  Customer response

  11/08/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  
  

  I am asking for my loss because Master Services is the one who send me incompetent employees to do the job and caused all the damages to my shingles and roof and also $700 that was taken by their employee. I was put in the situation where I did not what to do on the spot as I indicated in the email I sent them.  I would not be in this messy situation if Master Services took the ownership of the work they provided.
  
  In their response, where they indicated they politely denied my request for losses is a false statement. Master Services sent an email to me on 09/14 and asked me to delete my BBB complaint and sign a NON DISPARAGEMENT Agreement to not post any reviews or post on social media in return they would give me a good faith check of $700. They did a lot more damages then $700. I was only asking what was taken by their employees and give them a chance to the right thing.
  

  This company does not take ownership of their mistakes and make false statements. I cannot imagine how many old people they take advantage of because they cannot go up to roof to inspect their work.

  Besides the $700 that was taken by their employee, here is a list of additional costs I incurred due to Master Services inferior quality of work and poor workmanship:
  1. I had to purchase an additional tarp to cover the entire chimney $20
  2. Estimated cost of $500 to fix the shingles that were damaged around the chimney 
  3. $300 for my existing Chimney Chase and Cap. My existing Chimney chase and cap became unusable due to your employee breaking them. Prior to this work, I had an option to replace these, but now I have no choice but to
  buy new ones for a cost of around  $1000. 
  
  

  Since Master Services sent the employee, I strongly believe it is Master Services responsibility to pay my losses. 

  
  
  Regards,

   

  
  
   

  
  

*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. ↩