Backyard Living

"We at Backyard Living strive to give our customers the best quality and value possible, and to treat each one fairly. Our procedure has been the same for 22 years, once a signed contract and deposit check is received, that reserves the next spot on our construction schedule for that customer. The facts are that [Member Information Removed]. [Member Name Removed] was responsible for stretching out the process between our initial design proposal and quote on April 12th, and when we finally received his contract and deposit on June 16th. During this period of more than two months, [Member Information Removed]. [Member Name Removed] requested and promptly received a total of 8 design changes. Documented dates and content of every email is kept for business purposes. After one such revision in the middle of this process, one month passed before he responded to several inquiries about his status. Spring (2nd Qtr) is by far the busiest time of year in our business, and the backlog of projects to be built expands rapidly. In fact, we sold 14 projects between the time [Member Information Removed]. [Member Name Removed] got the initial design, and when we received his signed contract, accompanied with a check that actually "bounced". In good faith, we still reserved his spot on the schedule for September, even though we didn't get a check that cleared for another 12 days. BYL explained to [Member Information Removed]. [Member Name Removed] the factors that affect construction schedule. He informed BYL that September was "unacceptable" and requested his deposit returned. Deposit was returned the next day. On July 17th [Member Information Removed]. [Member Name Removed] sends an evening email asking to have a September start day if replacement check is sent out tomorrow. July 19th [Member Information Removed]. [Member Name Removed] posts his review."

"Glad to hear you like your deck."

"I enjoyed working with you on this porch project."

"We regret that this member was not completely satisfied with the project. As she stated, numerous attempts were made to come to a resolution, but ultimately the customer rejected the explaination of the root cause of the gutter overflow, and our remedy to alleviate it at no added cost. The screen porch roof which we installed, are pre-fabricated panels from Mason Corp. They have 4 inch thick foam cores with aluminum face skins. The gutters are also pre-fab, and have flanges that fit over the roof panels. They were installed as designed and recommended by the manufacturer, which is level. Any perceived frustration by the customer was likely due to their rejection of my explaination of the cause of the gutter overflow during heavy rains. Simply stated, the 16 foot long gutter on the porch roof was not just collecting water from the 10'x16' porch shed roof, but also 60% of the water from the rear of the house and garage roofs, which emptied onto the porch roof. The single outlet and downspout from the Mason Corp gutter can not discharge such a high volume of water at a fast enough rate to prevent overflow during such conditions. We offered to install, free of charge, a second downspout to either the other end of the Mason gutter or to the rear garage gutter, which would have effectively doubled the discharge rate. The member refused."

"I'm sorry that there was a problem. The fit and finish of the stair rail cap was not installed to our standards, so I had no problem personally replacing it."

"I very much enjoyed our experience working with you."

"It was a pleasure working with you."

"As with all of our customers, we project an expected start date when the contract is signed. We started this member's project 3 weeks later than what was intially expected. The delay was a result of the loss of one of our three production crews and unusually rainy weather during the iterim period. This information was communicated to the member, but he choose not to believe it. It is, and always has been our policy to build projects in the order in which the contracts were signed. Further, once we commence work, we do not leave and go to other jobs, until that project has been completed, unless requested by the customer for some reason. Tragically, this member's wife was killed in an auto accident shortly after we began work and we left the job for over a week, per his request. We returned promptly to resume, when he was ready, and finished both the sunroom and deck without any complaints at all. In fact, about a year later, I returned to perform some minor warranty work, and was complimented on the whole project, and how much it was being enjoyed."