BURROWS BROTHERS INC

Not successful. The owner came out to my parents house THREE times to get an idea of the landscape and area. He also came out to the property for the previous owners. We were given that quote during the purchase process. He quoted $3800. My father asked at each meeting if the price quote was still valid. My parents are retired and on a fixed income. My father pointed out that some areas have rock. The owner gave my father assurance that was the price and they went ahead and scheduled. Work started promptly early in the morning and by mid-morning one of the crew members knocked on the door and told my parents they hit rock and they were going to have to "Pay a lot more" to get the water line drilled. My parents asked how much and the crew member did not know. This is very alarming for people on a fixed income. The delivery of a message that includes words "A lot more" creates panic for anyone on the receiving end. He called the owner and my parents called the owner as well. When neither could get in touch with the owner, the crew went back to my parents and told them if they would not agree to pay more(some unknown amount) they would remove all their equipment and leave the job unfinished. My parents did not feel comfortable agreeing to let them continue without knowing how much it will cost. My brother and I thought this seemed like a bait and switch routine so we advised them to let it go. The owner did not call my parents back. My parents had to call him again later that day to try to find out what the price would be. When they spoke with him, he did not apologize or offer any remediation for the mis-quoted work. He told my parents he would call back when he figures out how much it will end up costing. Two days later my parents get the call from the owner to tell them that he is no longer interested to work with them and they will need to find a different contractor. My parents asked if he would provide a recommendation and he refused. He also refused to give them any sort of price. My parents waited four months for this work to start and now they are back at square one. Other contractors they have met with since clearly state in their quotes that if they run into rock, additional charges would apply and they give them amount per foot. Now my parents have a better understanding after meeting with other contractors that the cost for the install will be around 14k. If they would have known this from the start, they would not have bought the house. I would suggest Burrows Brothers add this to their quotes/contracts going forward. I am surprised it was not spelled out. I was surprised that Burrows Brothers did not try to recoup part of their loss and figure out a way to make this work out. They had to pay the crew for that half day and use of the equipment. The owner did not deal with the situation correctly. He should have been available by phone when the chaos was going on with the crew and should have tried to make it work out in a more favorable way for both sides.