Ayers Basement Systems

n…do not walk away. Run. Run. Run. Our unfortunate experience with Ayers Basement Systems began with an impressive sales pitch. Our sales person was Robert. He had a PowerPoint presentation and explained to us that we would not have to worry about a wet basement ever again. That was huge because we had been wanting to finish our basement for sometime. Previously, it would leak around the window just enough to keep drywall from staying dry. We were offered a discount for signing the contract that same day. Overall, the estimated cost to us was $5,600. This price did include a permit they said they would have to pull. They went ahead and scheduled us for the next week. They informed us we would need all of our furntiture and stuff moved away from where the pipe would be installed. That was a pretty huge task due to the amount of “stuff” we have in our basement. The morning of our appt, with all of our stuff moved in such a way that no one could easily access anything (home office, computer, bills, etc), they called and rescheduled. The soonest they could get us in was an entire month out. The second appt was made and once again, they rescheduled the morning of. This was extremely inconvenient, however this wasn’t even the tip of the iceburg. Over a month after signing the contract, we finally had Ayers come to our house. We were taken aback by how young the four workers from Ayers looked. We told them that we had dogs and cats. Both were put up in rooms where they couldn’t bother the workers. However, once they left for the day, our gate was left wide open. Luckily when we let our dogs out, they didn’t notice the open gate. Another issue we had is that they left the front screen door propped open. It was a very windy day in April and the wind blew our screen door off the hinge because it was left open. The workers were there for 2 whole days. In that time they jackhammered our concrete floors, installed a pipe from the leaking window all the way to where our sump pump pumps water outside. We were told by our sales person that they would jackhammer larger pieces of concrete and put them back with a very minimal seam. What we were left with was a huge trail of uneven concrete work that followed the pipe and it was a good foot wide. The concrete was so uneven that a piece of tile wouldn’t lay correctly if we tried to do so. Then we looked at the work around the window. They put holes in the concrete to the outside of the house. They was a piece of plastic blocking a larger hole that was not flush to the concrete. Even now that piece of plastic allows the most water in. To explain that absolute absurdity of what they did is a hard task. There was rag blocking a pipe to the outside. We have no idea why but it was stuck all the way in with purpose. The outside pipe isn’t even connected to the pipe that goes to the sump pump drain. Now we have new leaks that are all over the basement. They basically opened up an entire new area for the water to go. We had a plumber come and look at the pipe and he dumped over 5 gallons of water into their pipe (drains into the sump pump area) and absolutely nothing came out of the other end so the water must be draining to other areas of our basement, causing the leaks that are popping up everywhere. So, what was the purpose of this system? When the kids left, they tried to collect the full balance. They wanted payment for a system that has ruined our basement. We refused. The sales person, owner, and a few other people from Ayers contacted us. The only thing they said is that they would come back out and “fix the problem”. At this point they have drilled holes into our house, broke up concrete, and made the leaking go from one to area to the majority of our basement area. At this point we want them to never touch our house again. They were condescending in every way. We were told that they would have a really good team come to our house to fix our problem. How many times do we have to have someone come to our house before we get a good team? Shouldn’t all of your teams be GOOD TEAMS? Ayers acknowledged they messed up. They said it was their fault. They only wanted to send more people into our home to what????? Fix the huge holes and jacked up work? Why would we trust them again?? At this point we had read some other complaints about Ayers. One said to check your permit. We did. No permit was ever pulled and yes, they did charge us for one. Then, they argued with us about needing one. We had checked with Mason County building inspectors and were told that we did need one. Ayers assured us that they didn’t (after charging us for one). Come to find out, they were told they needed one and quickly pulled one. So, all of this work was UNPERMITTED. They played that down like it was no big deal. The VP of Ayers said they have an entire department dedicated to permits. So, how does an entire department miss that? Yet, the sales person knew to charge us for one. Ayers has ruined our basement. Not only did they not fix the problem, but they made it leak EVERYWHERE. The first big rain we had after they destroyed our basement, we had an inch of water standing in our entire basement. We went from a small leak that prevented us from finishing part of the basement to our entire basement being flooded. We have to have Servpro come and clean up the flood damage and mold. We had to throw away furniture. Our son had nice guitars that had flood damage. We had electrical equipment that shorted out. It is unreal. They were notified of our predicament and the Vice President was nothing but condescending. So here we are with this BS Ayers “system” that is causing our basement to flood with water….done by (apparently) the “non-good team” consisting of only kids. All work was performed UNPERMITTED which means we have to report the unpermitted work when we sell our house. The kicker is that they are using scare tactics and threatening to put a lien on our house to secure the final payment. My question to Ayers….final payment for what? For the extra water in our basement? The big holes drilled into the concrete to the outside of our house? For the furniture you caused us to have to get rid of? The mold you caused? BTW, the plumber that looked at Ayers’ crappy work (that discovered the drain leaks everywhere instead of going to where it is supposed to go) also was able to figure out the original issue. We followed the plumber’s advice and it was fixed with a total cost of $450. So, like I said before, run away from Ayers and call someone else. Possibly, call a good plumber. Check yelp reviews. Ayers pays for their bad reviews to go away on certain platforms. We sure wish we had checked yelp

I was told how much I needed this system and that I would be amazed on how much water would be removed from my walls. I was sold a system for almost 15k. My salesman later told me I would still want to fix the main problem outside after they were paid. (I feel I was hustled) 1st visit they cracked my foundation and moved a support post without checking with the engineer. Also 80% of the seems were not sealed, the cracked most of my concrete under my furnace, plumbing was coming out of the wall, the plastic was supposed to be tight to the wall and most was 3-4 inches away and they left 2 holes in concrete. 2nd visit same crew, slapped a shotty patch on the crack in my wall, they used hydraulic cement and mortar looking, sloppy. They didn’t fix the plumbing coming out of the wall, they cemented the floor under my furnace but made it so no water could drain. Also the seams were no better and the concrete was splashed all over . 3rd visit they tried to use duct tape to get the seams better but that did not work. The cement was still blotchy. The crack was still spreading the plumbing still coming out of the wall and they drilled small holes in the concrete were they cemented the drain closed. Also test ports for drainage were cemented shut. 4th visit they came out with another crew and redid 80-90% of the work. They re drilled bigger holes by the furnace and got it about 60-70% better. Now after the concrete has settled I have cracked all over and they refuse to fix them. My foundation crack is spreading and they will only fix it if I sign off my right and that even if the crack spreads after the patch they will not be back to fix it. I chose not to sign away my rights. Whether or not, I can take legal action I have no idea, but was not gonna sign off my right, especially for a fix that may or may not work and them not be responsible to fix it if it gets worse. End of the day I feel like I was lied to and sold a product that I didn’t need. I spent almost $15,000 and found out I could’ve spent $4500 to fix the problem outside of the house.. I’ve been dealing with them for almost a year and had nothing but a headache they came today to try to get me to sign away my legal rights for a patch job that may not work. They did come out again saying they would do more patching but it wouldn’t keep my wall cracks from spreading. But only would do the work if I removed my bad reviews and didn’t say anything negative about them on social media 🤦♂️ I would not recommend Ayers Basement Systems to anyone. #AyersBasementSystems #hustled 

Amazing service, they got the job done. Thank you.

It didn't go at all. After several email exchanges where Ayers kept changing the date of my appointment. They changed the date three times, the final time was almost 7 weeks past the first contact. I'd warn others to beware if they need to cancel the first appointment.

Had Ayres salesman out to our residence on June 1, 2019 to give estimate for basement egress window system. Salesman looked at location and noted that there was a sizable chunk of concrete (2'x6') at egress location and would be removed at no additional charge. Total job cost was $6798.00. We signed contract and paid required $1489.51 deposit via CC on 6/2. Work was scheduled for August but they called with opening on 6/24 so we accepted it. Workers showed up (much later than we were told they would), unloaded the mini-excavator, spent about 20-30 minutes trying to break up the noted concrete and then stated that they would need to come back with a larger air hammer and compressor to break up the concrete and it will add $3000.00 ($2400 labor/$600 equipment rental) to the job cost. We declined to continue the job so they covered up the hole and left us with 2 big ruts in our yard where the excavator traveled, a large chunk of concrete (6" x 1') sitting off to the side and a muddy mess where they dug, which had previously been a nice mulch bed with butterfly plants. I talked to David P, the salesman over the next few days about getting the deposit back and he said I would be receiving a call from corporate about the next step. Instead, I received a couple of calls about scheduling the job and had to tell them that they had already been out, the situation and that we had cancelled. I called their headquarters at 1-866-379-1669 on 7/18 @ 3:45p to inquire about my refund, and was told by Melissa that the refund would be $1340.56 as there is a 10% charge to defray the cost of the workers coming out on 6/2. I said I thought that wasnt really fair as the contract stated the concrete would be removed no charge and that I have quite a bit of yard damage to have repaired. She stated she understood but changing that would have to be approved by Ed, the owner and she would see what she could do and let me know. By the afternoon of 7/29, I hadnt heard back so I called and talked to Melissa again but there was no news. On the morning of 8/8, I called and was told Melissa was on vacation so I asked who her boss was and was told Bob so I asked to talk with him. I was forwarded to his VM so I left a message stating I was looking for my refund. On 8/13, Bob called me at 9:30am and stated that the charge was 15% not 10% as they had been losing too much money at 10%. I said Melissa had already stated 10% and I guess Ed wasnt approving less? He said if she told me 10% then thats what they would honor. At 10% my refund would be $678.90. I asked how he came up with that and he said that it was 10% of the job not 10% off the deposit. (If they were losing money at 10% of the job then how does 15% help them? Follow the math...Bobs trying to pull one over on me.) He said he would have to talk to Melissa and Ed and they would call me back. On 8/22, I called and talked to Melissa, she said Ed had only approved the $1340.56 and should be returned to me soon, and that she would find out and call me back. I called later that afternoon but had to leave a voicemail for her. I called the morning of 8/23, left another VM. Melissa called me back that afternoon but I couldnt take it so she left a VM stating Ed still has it. I called at 2:15pm on 8/30, Melissa was out at training, Bob was out, Ed was out so I asked to talk to anybody else in the office and was given to Matthew, the Customer Car Mgr. After going back through my situation, was told that its with Ed and he would see what he could do and call me back. On 7/3 I called, Melissa was out of the office so I left another VM. Earlier today, I called, asked for Ed, was put through to his VM, left a message for him to call me. I called back and asked for Melissa, was put through to her VM, left message for her to call me. I called back and asked for Matthew and he was in and said it was with Ed. I asked if Ed would be in the office today and he stated he did not know.

Contracted with company on a Friday 9/7/18. They called to change terms on Monday. Cancelled on Tuesday. 12/31/18--Still have not received downpayment refund despite many promises. Small Claims Court order for payment ignored by Ayers. Cannot reach anyone of importance by telephone; ever.

It took a couple months to schedule the work but at each piece (estimate, electrical, excavation and installation) they called ahead, arrived on time, did all the work required with professionalism and courtesy. They even volunteered to clear the snow from my driveway by shovel when my machine wouldn't start. The use of plastic sheets and a high efficiency vacuum system connected to the jackhammer kept the dust down.

The leveling went well and I am satisfied with the work done there. The foundation repair is another story. When the workers filled in the hole around the foundation wall it was not done properly and now my steps are uneven. Also the crew left clumps of sod on my grass and did a poor job with clean up, I understand tracks and mud on my lawn but I had to clean up after them to be satisfied with the worksite. I checked with my township office about the quality of their work and found out that Ayers Basement Systems did not file a building permit for the work they did. It was their responsibility to do this and they did not do it.

I gave Ayers Basement Systems a deposit of $3400. They never performed any work but decided to keep my deposit anyway. I sued Ayers in court. The court ordered Ayers to return my deposit. Ayers did not follow the court order and I had to petition the court for a second time to garnish Ayers bank account. Ayers does not even follow the laws of our court system. Overall it took 8 months to get my deposit back. Save yourself some trouble and avoid Ayers Basement Systems.

Fantastic! Joel Meller and his team member, Tom, did a fabulous job! Great product knowledge and customer service!

After a bit of confusion (due to a previous quote from another technician) regarding our deep crawl space, we and Ayers finally made a joint decision on the best system to use. Gage Pederson, the Foreman, did an outstanding job of explaining what they were going to do, kept us totally informed each step of the way, and repeated everything, along with the warranty at the end of the job. We felt free to ask any questions and Gage replied with confidence and quickly. I can’t say enough about this young man’s professionalism. Ayers needs to keep him long term, and putting him in sales earlier than later. He really knows his stuff. He gave us complete confidence that the trenching and encapsulated system will work! Cody Redman and Andy Best were also on the job and did an outstanding job. All three of these guys worked their tails off, not stopping for long. When they left each day, Gage was sure to say what time they would return the next day. They called each day to say they were on their way, and showed up sooner than their expected arrival. It was a real pleasure getting to know each one of them, and they were excellent representatives for the Ayers company. Congrats to a job well done!

I received quotes from multiple companies and they were all comparable. All other companies spent approx 45 min looking at the house and taking measurements. Ayes spent 4 hours total at my home. Very comprehensive, professional and knowledgeable. My home required 21 Helix Piers which are much preferred to Push Piers. Matt was my contact person, Evan was on site. Just an excellent job all round. Evan team hit a main water pipe which caused a small leak in the basement. Matt drove 90 min to my home at 9pm arriving at 10.30 pm to ensure me they would fix the problem. The local water dept turned off the water, Matt spoke with them and had the bill taken care of. The next morning the pipe was repaired and we were off and running. Matt did not leave my home until after 11pm and a 90 min drive home. That is what I call customer service. Thank you Ayers for an excellent job. My family appreciated all your efforts.

My service tech, Jordan Foy, called promptly in the morning and arrived right on schedule. He was friendly, knowledgeable and did a great job installing my sump pump and the underground line. He made sure I approved of what he was going to do each step of the way. He was also very nice to my golden retriever puppy who wanted to be his assistant. I will be using Ayers Basement Systems again for additional work on my basement next spring.

excellent work would highly recommend

They are easy to work with. They came when they said they were going to come and finished when they said they were going to finish. They left a bit of a mess downstairs. They left holes in the walls that I wasn't anticipating. Other than that they were good to work with.

the owner himself came out to give us a quote on finishing our basement. After he looked at our basement he said he was going back to the office to work up a quote and he'd call us with the info. that was 4 months ago .haven't heard from him since. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

The finished product (installation of drainage system/piping along the parameter of my basement) was done very well. However, I was told by the salesman (Bob) that the crew would remove the paneling before work commenced. I should have known that was too good to be true and questioned this but I didn't. The crew cut a foot of paneling off the bottom all the way around the basement parameter. If they didn't want to remove the paneling as promised, that's fine, I would have made arrangements to remove the paneling myself. Now I have to replace/cover all of the cut paneling, at an extra expense not anticipated (nor can I really afford). Also, at the end of day 2 the crew removed all of the protective plastic covering all of my furniture & everything in the basement, even though they had a whole entire day's worth of work still do complete the following day. They assured me that they wouldn't kick up any dust with the work that remained to be done. Totally not true. Dirt and dust all over my belongings. Plus there were a couple of little things that gave me pause (like forgetting to plug in the sump pump after they left on day 1 - the emergency alarm went off because it was going to overflow and I didn't know what was happening - I had to call a crew member on his cell phone to figure out what was going on - thank goodness I was home.) And they left a box of product in my garage that someone had to come back out to pick up a few days later. Everyone was super nice and polite, and I hate to complain about these things, but it was enough to leave me a bit disappointed.

Went very well, arrived on time and cleaned out crawl space, put down liners, installed insulation and left on time a spotless crawl space. Definitely would hire again!

Pros: - Drain/dry well installation done very well. - Window installation - one was fine, the other had poorly finished cement (was expanding past the wall in some spots); Ayers came back and fixed this. - Crack repair - done well. Could have been explained better as to how it works. - Workspace was cleaned up well, no mess was left. Representatives are nice. Field people (those who perform the work) are knowledgeable. Cons: Our service representative (who initially came out to our house and quoted the project) chose the wrong size windows for the job; when the project manager came out to perform the work, they were not able to install and due to the distance between locations (Grand Rapids to Lansing) they had to reschedule window installation. Also had to postpone crack repair until windows were done (at that point some of the cement work was done on the crack repair, which left a large hole at the floor joint). The project had to be postponed for two weeks. Initially they wanted to postpone the entire project, but the first frost was approaching and if we waiting to install the ice guard on the sump pump discharge, it would be too late. We had to push them to install that while they were on site. After the repairs were done and we had paid for the work, we saw some issues with the quality of work (we were told not to go in the space for 48 hours after repair to give the cement time to cure). We immediately called. We had to wait a week for them to come out and inspect. They called the day before to confirm the appointment, and then didn't show up. The next day we called, they were apologetic, and wanted to come out that day (not going to happen - we have full time jobs and had taken time off to be home the prior day when they were supposed to come). Set up another day the following week. They didn't show up again. Called AGAIN. They wanted to come out right away, but again, we couldn't get away from work at a moment's notice. We finally got on their schedule at 9am first thing so we wouldn't be missed. They showed up about 30 minutes late (no notice) and made the repair to the cement casing around the window. Bottom line: they do quality work, and they are nice people. Once we had paid for the work, I felt like we were at the bottom of their priority list. Just need some improvement on their communication with the customer and making sure their service people run on time (or reevaluate their estimated time for jobs).

Work all finished in one long day. Good workmanship. However salesman didn't seem totally prepared for initial visit and came back a couple times. Also didn't tell me about all available products to choose from.

Very impressed with the job that Terry Ortez, Jack, and Ethan did on my house in Okemos. The space is tough to access, and they didn't complain. Very professional. No hidden charges. Free annual check-up. I plan to hire them again to do some work on my sidewalk and gutters. Price was better than a competitor.

I was very impressed with the foreman Jake Sinko and his crew, Martin & Ray. They did an excellent job, and were very professional. The process was amazing and they answered my questions completely. They completed the project in two days and they did an outstanding job cleaning up when the waterproofing was done. I also liked Ayers because they have their own electrician division to do the necessary electrical wiring instead of me having to find and get quotes from an electrician on my own. I would definitely recommend Jake and his crew! Thanks, guys!

Construction crew was good. Their estimator needs more training, more familiarity as to what the job would actually require.

Construction crew was good. Their estimator needs more training, more familiarity as to what the job would actually require.

This is a follow up review of a previous one that I posted on Ayers Basement for concrete work done on our entry way. The repair job was unacceptable and we reported it as such. We received a letter and a call from Ayers after we posted our review and sent them a letter with pictures and outlining our displeasure. Although it took a little while for them to respond they did. A refund for the cost of cement stain was sent along with a gift certificate. In addition Scott came out and looked at the job agreeing that it looked bad. He offered to fix the problem. The original work was done on 6/28/2016. On 11/9/2016 Ayers came out, cut out the cracked slab and re poured a new slab. They did an excellent job and did not charge for the repair. Their response and responsibility were exceptional and we were very impressed and happy. They stood behind their work and I cannot complain. With that type of honesty and response I would definitely recommend them and use the again if needed.