Outback Builders, Inc.

Well, I guess after 19 years in the business we were bound to get a customer like this that would never be satisfied. I met with these people three times to go over the deck design and the contract, explaining exactly what we were going to do for them and what they needed to do. Each detail of the design (including the stair size and location) was clearly stated on the drawing and on the contract. On top of that, per their request, I personally met at their home five times (on my own time) to explain to their chosen landscaper what needed to be done to the grade to make room for this deck. This was not my responsibility. To save money they took on having their old patio removed upon themselves. Otherwise, I would have added it to the contract and I would have charged them for my services. It ended up taking 5 visits because they apparently did not understand what "level grade" meant either . They kept blaming the landscaper for each of their misunderstandings as well . They continually tried to get the landscaper to fix their own mistakes for free. As far as the deck project was concerned everything was fine with the customer until it was done and time to make the final payment. They claimed that the one stair from the deck down to the ground was too small and that they and their friends would fall off of it, and that they thought there was going to be two stairs from the house door down to the deck. I told them that I don't know why they thought two steps since the drawing and the contract clearly indicated 1 stair (and the size of the stair). As for the one step to the ground, it was an eleven inch tread as per spec for almost every set of stairs made indoors or outdoors. They thought I should tear the stairs out and make custom stairs at my expense. That is why we give customers written contracts and very detailed drawings to sign before we start a project. As far as me saying that "the inspector was a buddy of mine". That is simply a lie and never happened. The inspector is not a personal friend of mine. Anyone in the trades would know that even if you do have a friend in the Building Department, they would not risk their jobs and just give a final approval on something without knowing exactly what they were approving. And the railing did not have to be redone due to poor quality, we just added an extra 4x4 post between a seven foot railing span because the owner wanted it. The bottom line is, they are mad that they didn't get something for free (other than the extra bags of concrete they chose to give to their neighbors before my guys could pick them up and return them for credit). Again, clearly spelled out on the contract that left over material is not the property of the customer and will be picked up by the contractor upon completion of the project. See before and after photos.