Carter, Ben - Kansas City

My wife and I expressed interest in the model home at Sunset Ridge. We took a tour on a snowy night, but the seller had not bothered to turn on any lights. We had to check out the house while shivering. We used our cell phones as flashlights. We should have realized the huge sign that the selling agent was either incompetent or unthoughtful. Before we had a chance to make an offer on the home, we found out it had already been sold. Our agent had never been contacted. The response from The Carter Team was, "Sorry, we had a substitute agent on duty and she was confused about who was interested and who was making offers. We would have contacted you if we had known more than one person was interested." Luckily, they soon put another house on the market. It was a spec home just up the hill with a lot left to finish. We were excited to get to choose options, but then we had an awful time contacting anyone. Every question was met by silence or "Go look for yourself." We wanted to know the exact paint color so we could choose shutters and a front door that coordinated. "Go look for yourself." We wanted information on fixtures. --Silence.-- We wanted to know about the carpet, about the wall color, etc. On closing day, we found out the home had a half-dozen liens from various service providers. I expect the selling agent to be more prepared for closing day. It was only due to extraordinary work by the title company and the loan provider that everything was worked out in time for the deal to be closed so we could move in on the weekend that everything was lined up for the move. Once we moved in, the real nightmare began. The contractor continues to stonewall. Two months after moving in, we have 16 unfinished items and have chosen a lawyer for a lawsuit. Ben Carter has not been helpful. I asked for Butch's address so I could start the lawsuit process and he never responded. He works repeatedly with this contractor and yet does nothing to help. The contractor is notoriously awful, and Carter proudly displays his name and "Better Homes & Gardens" on the properties. I noticed the model home driveway barricades are finally gone from the model home. When I went for a run, I noticed the barricades had been thrown in the storm drain. He didn't even take them away or throw them in the nearby Dumpster. He just threw them in the storm drain. From my experience with Ben Carter, he works with cheap, notoriously awful contractors and then does nothing to help the customers. I would avoid any home sold by Ben Carter.