I truly am sorry that your experience did not meet your expectations. Our goal is to simply give each customer the best possible product for the money and make the home building relationship between Customer and Builder a good one. It is this value and relationship that has kept Elizabeth Homes in business and in demand serving Central Alabama for almost 20 years now. Without these qualities, surely we would be just like the scores of builders who have recently gone out of business leaving customers and creditors in a lurch. Elizabeth Homes is currently quite busy, even in these trying times, because we perform our duties well and do this for a reasonable price. It's my belief that since you were not part of the contract, or the development process, you are simply misinformed on much of what you assert. It's further disconcerting to me to know what actually happened, and what extra lengths we went to on your behalf, for you to now attack us in this manner. I do note that you would not only wait until your builder's warranty has run out (just in case you needed us again ) to attack, but that you would further choose a forum that does not require credibility prior to making an assertion of alleged fact. Prior to addressing the individual issues in your post, I would ask, if we were as bad as you now assert, why didn't you and Ronnie file a complaint against us with the Home Builder's Licensure Board? I am sure they would want to know of any builder using bad wood or routinely “lying” to citizens. Of course, they would investigate your opinion based on the facts, so that may be a problem. You would also have to sign a sworn affidavit. If we in any way breached the contract, they would certainly want to know about that too. This would also give you grounds for a civil complaint against us, but as we did not breach our mutually entered into agreement in any manner, this too would be a problem, and now we know why you chose Angie's List. Per your post: We tell all cash paying customers that because there will not be a lender involved, you can avoid the delays associated with lending, and any builder can begin as soon as blueprints are generated and building permits obtained. This does not leap frog you over any current customer, but allows you to get on our schedule quicker. This was done in your case, and you were further told that because we use one framing crew exclusively there would be a lapse between the slab being poured and the beginning of framing due to our volume of customers already on the schedule at that time. The contract Ronnie entered into calls for him to do the compete clean up, and to “keep the job site free of debris that would hinder construction” but he was never told to clean out the house every day. The only time we require a good cleaning is before the flooring is installed. Without this, the flooring cannot be put down. Why your husband chose to be at the site almost every day for hours at the time and not go home is something you'll need to ask him about. Ronnie was there just about every day, for most of the day, doing all sorts of things, but it wasn't at our direction. In fact, much of what he was doing was to our detriment. It would have been much better for him not to have been under foot so much. Every subcontractor that worked on your house told me how they hated to see that Cummins of Alabama van coming across the pasture. From memory, here are a few Ronnie Rich highlights: 1. Ronnie and I laid out the front of the house at his direction. Our slab people spent several hours marking out the exact location of the house so footings could be dug. Prior to digging, Ronnie changed the location of the front causing the prior work to be in vain and new work necessary. Once the house was re-marked based on the new location, it was determined that the pad Ronnie had constructed would now not accommodate the house. You may not remember, but your dirt contractor had to come back out and add to the pad. This added to the delay you now blame on us. Readers, this is not a typical house pad in that it is a square plateau over twelve feet tall. I believe it was roughly 75' x 100' on the top. Once this work, that took several days and was not part of our contract, was done, we again began on the footings. Starting and stopping costs us, not the Riches. 2. The framers you accuse of stealing wood, as do I, find your assertions laughable. The two brothers that frame almost everything we build have the full authority to charge anything they want, at any building supply where we have an account, and have it delivered to their house. They directly order hundreds of thousands of dollars in material throughout the year, so it would not be a problem. If they were so bad, why would Ronnie want to hire them directly to come back and build the deck and stairs to your bonus room after our contract was completed? This house was inspected by the City of Millbrook. Why do they routinely compliment our houses, or not stop us, if “bad wood” was used? If it was bad then, it'll still be bad now. Should I ask them to reinspect? What a joke! What really makes it funny, is that your husband, Ronnie Rich, hauled off everything that wasn't nailed down to one of your barns. The word hoarder comes to mind. Look around, you live there. I have pictures. 3. When the electrician asked me if he could pick up some culled and leftover wood that could not be sent back for credit, to help in building a shed, I gladly said he could. Later that day, 10/22/10, when he came back to the job with his trailer to get it, Ronnie declared the wood “his,” cussed out the electrician, and further said he would go get his gun if the electrician didn't leave. 4. Leftover shingles that would have been sent back for our credit. Taken by Ronnie. 5. I have pictures of the materials Ronnie took and stored in the bonus room/attic. The items range from scraps of trim for the cabinets, corner bead from sheet rocking, scrap pieces of sheet rock, half a bag of grout, two and one half boxes of tile ( I took the two unopened boxes), a huge pile of bags containing the foam insulation scraps, etc. 6. When the carpenters came back to finish out the trim work, the trim left there to do so was gone. Obviously Ronnie was there, and when asked about it, was able to bring the material back to the house in a few minutes so the work could be competed. 7. In his obsession to turn off the power and close up the house on a daily basis, he broke the hardware on one window and bent the frame on another. I replaced these myself, and even though the contract says you are responsible for damages, you were not charged anything for this. 8. After the road to the site finally dried up enough for the brick truck to return and pick up the unused brick, I told Ronnie this would happen soon. Prior to the truck coming, the stacks were knocked over by him, making them unable to retrieve with a fork lift. Brick company expense and no credit for us. The plumbers did make the mistake of hooking up a hot water line to the cold side in a manifold where many pipes come together. These connections are made inside of walls. This condition was a mistake that was not caught by the plumber or building inspector. Ronnie hand delivered a call back report dated 7/7/11, on 7/8/11 and this issue was promptly handled by the plumber. Maybe that's why he was voted the number one plumber in Autauga and Elmore counties by the Montgomery Advertiser's readers this year. Nothing in construction is perfect, but as soon as we were made aware of the issue it was handled, and that's no “joke.” You have NEVER given any “list of things that were done wrong or needed fixing” that was not addressed. The page Ronnie left us at closing was a rehash of items that had more than been addressed weeks prior. You simply wanting something does not make it my obligation, and every item mentioned during the multiple “final” punch lists was addressed either in work, contract, or by the building inspector. My coming back out to continue this rehashment after yours and Ronnie's actions were not warranted and not called for. There was not a phone call placed by you for me to return. For the readers, this house sits on the Alabama River. It's a great location and the Rich's own, I believe, over a hundred acres here. They have cows, maybe horses, pastures, and barns. We were instructed not to use the semi graveled driveway, but instead, had to cross an uneven pasture to get to the house down at the river bank. Before you got to the pasture, however, you had to go around the driving range, past the tree surgeons piles of wood, and through some serious mud that was very slippery after a rain. One particular hole is about three feet deep. Today, I stopped by this property. With a range finder, I noted the distance through the woods and muck to be over a quarter mile, and it is almost another half mile across the pasture to the plateau/pad that the house sits on. November to February in Alabama is usually fairly wet. Even though the contract agrees the owner is to provide an “adequate road” now wants to blame us for delays when we sometimes could not even get to the site. I had to use four wheel drive on several occasions, and personally pulled out workers three times. I show I emailed the Riches only once, letting them know that we were done with the house and all their requests as listed in the multiple “final” punch lists. It does not mention washing a truck. The engineer's soil report, commissioned by Ronnie Rich, was completed in June 2010 detailing the pad construction and special footings required. I met Ronnie Rich on site for the first time, after he had the over 12ft tall house pad constructed, to lay out the front corners where they wanted the house to face on September 15, 2010 at 5:00am. It took the Rich dirt contractor, over two months just to build the pad. The slab was poured on 9/26/11, after the Rich caused delays as mentioned earlier. The house was blacked in and ready for inspection by the City of Millbrook on 10/30/10. Framing delay as mentioned earlier. The spray foam insulation was done the next week, but the sheet rock could not be delivered due to the road conditions for several weeks. This was completed in mid December The company that manufactured the stone Ronnie Rich chose for the fireplace went out of business, so another had to be chosen by him and ordered. This order was done on January 12, 2011 so there was another delay out of our control that we waited for. Once it arrived, the fireplace was completed, carpet went in, other items completed, and after several days of walk throughs with Ronnie Rich, a “final” punch list was generated and agreed to on Friday, 2/18/11. Despite the previously agreed upon “final” punch list, Mrs. Rich fax'd in another list (with much rehashing of old issues) promptly the following Monday morning. This itemized list was also addressed, completed, and even looked into at my request by the city building officials, by Thursday of that same week. This made our portion of their home construction complete, and the balance approximately $18,500 due that day – Thursday, February 23, 2011. So, we met on site, once the Rich constructed house pad was completed, on September 15, 2010, and completed the house and all the various specific requests by the Riches on February 23,2012. My calendar says that is just over six months from initial site visit to finish. Mrs. Rich's calendar says that's “one year”. My actual job log and receipts show over two months worth of delays that were directly caused by Mr. and Mrs. Rich, or their site. For good measure, let's also note that on most calendars, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years holidays also fall into this time frame. As we tell everyone, “three to four months” of construction time. Despite Mrs. Rich's claim to be paying cash, according to Ronnie, their final funds were not available in the end. Despite plenty of lead time and a contract detailing the pay schedule, Ronnie Rich waited until March 17, 2011, to sign off on the house and pay the balance due back on February 23. She says the work was completed on “April 1, 2011.” I believe it was well over a year, prior to a contract even being written, that we spent doing site visits, discussing plans, and assisting with Mr. and Mrs. Rich in whatever way possible. During this time, two dirt contractors known by Ronnie were haggled with and beat down on price until one gave in. Ronnie also indicated to me that he had similarly shopped us around, and what a value for the dollar spent Elizabeth Homes is. Several of our past customers were known by Mr. and Mrs. Rich prior to their signing a contract. If our price couldn't be beaten, how did we not get rated an A? Her own post says “[Elizabeth Homes] can do a house cheaper.” If we are half as bad as she says, how did we fool her friends who were already living in houses we built? How could any alleged “lie” enrich us? How could anything she has levied against us benefit us? It doesn't. Her post is simply a contrived, baseless, and malicious attack, and she waited until there was no chance she would need us again to launch it. Further, she chose a forum where her statements don't require a basis in fact. Mine are. I have the facts, and will be glad to make them available to anyone needing a real picture of what occurred in our office and at 2094 Alabama River Parkway, Millbrook, AL. Mrs. Rich, my hope is that you were just a little in the dark on what actually was going on. Perhaps you would like to review these matters more thoroughly and reconsider if your post should exist. I know Ronnie didn't let you sign the contract, and you were not around during the day, so maybe you just don't know. If that is the case, I hope my factual response does not embarrass you too much, but your assertions against our family business and reputation cannot go unanswered. Regardless, you and Ronnie have a terrific property. I hope your misguided bitterness doesn't stop you from enjoying it and the house that Elizabeth Homes painstakingly built for you. Jimmy Flanagan Managing Member Elizabeth Homes, LLC
