Advice needed: Unresponsive Builder

Okay I'm asking for some advice from people who have dealt with pool builders who are very slow and never return phone calls. Here is what I'm dealing with, we started construction on 3/21, permits already had been obtained. They marked and escavated the pool in a few days. They then had a crew to dig some trenches the week after. It was then 7, yes 7 weeks before they had scheduled a plumbing crew. They took a whole day and a half to plumb the pool. It's now been almost 4 weeks since that happened and we are still waiting on the steel contractor to show up.

My wife and I must call their office every day to try to get status on the build. We were told 8 - 12 weeks worst case senario when we started, well it's been 12 weeks and they have JUST STARTED! It's amazing how the person responsible for scheduling is never in the office, must be nice to be on vacation every day.

Unfortuantely we never got a writen schedule before we started construction. I'd like any advice people could give. Oh yes we are located in Tucson, AZ. I'd be more than happy to flame this company publicly as their customer service has been poor to none. I even sent a written complaint letter to the owner with no response.

Signed,
Fustrated in AZ

Physically go down to their office and refuse to leave until you speak to someone in authority.

Hate to say it, but it's time for a lawyer. Also, go to BBB, and the town's building dept. They may not be able to help, but they may help put the guy out of biz.

He's working on other projects. I surely hope you have a schedule of payments and didn't pay him it all up front. If you did, he will NEVER finish it without a legal threat over his head. Besides, at this point, if it were me, I'd want to be rid of him and get another contractor. Have your lawyer go over the contract. I doubt it's iron-clad and the law frequently allows for unwritten definitions of reasonableness--like a reasonable time to completion or requirement to explain why. This guy has your money and won't talk to you because he wants to keep it and not actually have to do work for it.

It is a problem in ALL the trades. Our kitchen was supposed to take 6 weeks from demolition to completion but took 6 MONTHS and I ended firing them and completing it myself.

I will NEVER have a project done without a SUBSTANTIAL final payment--1/4 to 1/3 of the total will not be paid before completion. I learned my lesson!

You may also contact your local news station to see if they would be interested in doing an investigative story on this business. They do this frequently in the Atlanta area. The "free advertisement" might get their attention.

First, buy a clean notebook and start logging every communication with the builder in the notebook. Every call you make. Every message you leave. Every, although few, reply you receive. Take a few minutes and send the builder a certified letter indicating that they are not demonstrating a reasonable effort to complete the pool and requesting a detailed schedule of work to which they will perform. Request this in writing. Give them a reasonable amount of time to reply to you, like five days after receipt of the letter. Again, send this letter by certified mail. If they don't reply you need should seek advise from the BBB and probably an attorney.

Thanks for all the advice so far. The good news is that we are on a payment schedule which is recommended by the State of Arizona for the contracting board for pool builders. This is 30% after being excavated, 30% after plumbing, steel and concrete has been done, 30 % after the finish, and the remainder when work is complete.

I'll probably call them and threaten to get a new builder and send them a certified letter and go from there. I'll let you all know how it goes.

I would also try the local news as well. I just saw a story here in Orlando about a local pool builder. It definitely got things moving for these particular people.

Be sure the pool company provides lien releases from each sub contractor along the way. I would not pay them any more until they can prove to you they paid their subs.

Good luck and keep good notes.