Complaint Review: American Home Design of Lexington Kentucky - Internet

HOME IMPROVEMENT SCAMS

American Home Design / Sun Rooms and More

Lexington, KY

BUYER BEWARE ALERT!

If you are visiting a festival in a small town in Kentucky or walking through Home Depot or Sams Club, you need to beware of a well organized group of people operating under the name of American Home Design or Sunrooms and More. They have one thing in mind to get your money. They accost you in Home Depot and/or Sams Club and beg you to fill out a card with your information.  Next thing you know, they are calling trying to set an appointment. Then they send out a well-trained salesman who is smooth and likeable and knows all the right things to say. Then, before you know it, you have paid three times the price for some home improvement project. I know how the program worksI was one of these salesmen. Please accept my apologies! It is embarrassing to be included with this particular group.

It all seems perfectly legitimate. They come offering to you Sunrooms and Windows and Home Improvements of various sorts, things that you may want and need. The only thing is this they are offering you a window for $1,100.00 that other companies are selling for $450.00. They are offering you a Sunroom that adds very little value to your home for $25 - $35,000.00. whereas true home remodelers can build you a true all-season room addition that is heated and cooled for year round use and adds true appraised value to your home for substantially less. You only find this out AFTER the contract has been signed! They are counting on your laziness in ability to research the market for products.  After a sloppy installation is done and after you have had your nerves fried trying to get Jon Penn (Operations Manager) to make good on lifetime warranties! Then it is too late. You are stuck.  

FACT

All companies are started by someone with an idea;  Ford had Edsel Ford, Du Pont  Chemical was started by E.I. du Pont,  Kellogg Cereal was begun by W.K. Kellogg and his brother, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. I say this to point out the fact that all companies reflect the general characteristics and aspirations of the founder.  Look at the character of the owner of the company and you will have a good idea of what the company will be like. It is always good to know who you are dealing with. It will tell you a great deal about what to expect. We have a used car dealership near us called Lyin Lees Auto Sales. A friend of mine is complaining about getting ripped off by this place. I asked if she bought a car there and she said she did. Well, he is simply living up to his name! If you know the character of the owner and still do business with them, shame on you. If you get burned, it will only be your fault.

American Home Design / Sunrooms and More is one company you need to run from. (If you are a customer or if you are someone needing work.) They short-change both customers and employees. They have no shame and show nothing but defiance when confronted with facts. You simply need to stay away from this level of humanity.

Jerod Hagen is the founder and Owner, though Jon Penn will tell you that he is an owner as well. Jon is deeply challenged by the truth. Jon holds no ownership in the company. He is a pretender and a real wannabe. He talks a lot and he talks fast. His attitude is one that follows this line: We got his money so we are done! He was doing a remodel job for a fellow in Louisville, KY and was supposed to get the man refinancing on his home mortgage. Well, the job was completed and American Home Design got paid but never completed the refinancing as promised. It left the guy with payments he could not handle. The salesman responsible for the sale asked Jon about the situation and Jon just put it all on the line. Look, we got our money for the job. We completed it. There is no money in the refinancing. Tell your customer to go somewhere else for that. Ladies and gentlemen, I to present you Jon Penn, Operations Manager of American Home Design. Now, lets meet the owner.

Jerod is perhaps one of the slickest salesmen I have ever met. This does not mean that he is a good salesman. A good salesman deals in truth and convinces you that he/she has a superior product using facts and demonstrations. Jerod does not use truth all the time, only when it is convenient. He is tall, dark hair, young, athletic and can talk the paint of the side of a barn. He has a smile and a wink that melts the ladies hearts. He does sale quite a bit, but BEWARE. The company is a direct reflection of this mans philosophy of his character, if you will. Allow me to show you something that I discovered printed in the Wall Street Journal. It involved Jerod Hagen, owner of American Home Design/Sunrooms and More and The Melting Pot restaurant.

WSJonline - Frustrated at the refinancing, Lexington Habitat officials intervened in the case of Brenda Bonds, who bought her four-bedroom home in 1993 with a $42,500 zero-interest Habitat loan. In September, Ms. Bonds, a 43-year-old mother of three, met with a local contractor, Jerod Hagen, who came to her home after she expressed interest in building a sunroom off the back of her house -- but had been turned down for financing. Mr. Hagen suggested a $14,000 addition and said he could help get her a loan through mortgage broker Jeff Willis of WMA Mortgage Services in Lexington.

A day or so later, when a lawyer for Countrywide came to her home with the loan papers, Ms. Bonds said she wondered about the steep terms -- a 13.125% interest rate for a 30-year, $36,750 loan, and monthly payments of $410, almost twice that of her Habitat loan. Mr. Willis says he told her the sunroom would add to the value of her property, and that once her credit improves, she could refinance later at a lower interest rate.

Ms. Bonds signed the papers, but Countrywide had made a mistake in the papers that invalidated the closing. WMA and Countrywide had the papers drawn up again, correctly, but in a two-hour meeting in Habitat's offices, Grant Eaton Phelps, Habitat's Lexington director, appealed to Ms. Bonds, telling her the new loan would cost her $150,000 over 30 years, compared with about $19,000 left on her Habitat loan.

At the same time, Mr. Willis says he urged Ms. Bonds to contact a local TV station to suggest a story on Habitat keeping her from doing what she wanted with her own home. Habitat did receive a call from the station, although no story ever was aired, and Ms. Bonds says she never contacted the station. Finally, Ms. Bonds hired an attorney, who convinced Countrywide to give up on the loan.                             

 http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/mortgages/20011211-hechinger.html                                 

This shows that there is only one guiding principle in the mind of Jerod HagenMONEY. His conscience is governed by his raging greed. His company reflects this philosophy as well. His employees complained to me about this constantly. Jerod even told me in no uncertain terms that he is only in this for the money. This is all that matters.

I began working for Jerod after closing my building business due to bankruptcy. I was in a difficult position and needed work. I went through his training class and actually sold enough to make a decent living. However, I began to hear rumblings about Jerod and some of his business practices. The entire program at American Home Design is designed to line Jerods pockets with as much money as will fit. He takes money from his salesmen (I know from personal experience) and from overcharging his clients.  I decided to do some homework and find out who I was working for when I came upon the Wall Street Journal article. This was in late September or early October of 2009. I gave the guy the benefit of doubt and thought that surely he had mended his ways since that incident.

I was mistaken.

In the month of September I had sold a couple a screen room that required American Home Design to pay off an account for them in order to get the project financed. The amount was $6,000.00. We were to pay this amount off, freeing the couple from having two substantial notes to pay. Otherwise, they simply could not afford the project. This was extremely clear from a simple examination of their budget.  The process is a common happening in business and quite simple. We simply would add the payoff amount to our cost and provide the customer with a lower interest rate. The lower interest rate would allow the customer to purchase the project because it now was something they could afford. The key here is AFFORD. This couple had a fixed income. Both husband and wife were disabled and were limited on what they could pay on a monthly basis. I worked with them for six weeks to get this project set up where they could afford it.

Jerod Hagen is the acting finance manager so he went out to get the financing papers signed. While he was out there, he practically rewrote the entire contract. He withdrew paying off the other account, added that amount to our contract, took off the shingles and an exterior door, basically leaving the people with a shell of what was originally ordered in addition to a huge financial burden that they in no wise could afford. Never leave the wolf in charge of the hen house!

He called me up laughing at how they acted and recounted what all he had to do in order to secure the deal. The couple asked him to leave a copy of my original contract so they could compare. He had assured them that they were getting everything the same as I had promised. His is famous for saying, Its gonna be O.K. I am sure he smiled and winked. He did not leave anything for the couple to compare with and left. I assured him that he hurt this couple. He hurt them so he could gain a little bit of money. Their lives were going to be miserable and filled with worry but Jerod made a couple of bucks. Did I receive a commissionregardless of what American Home Design may say, I did not. That is a fact.

The couple called me up and were absolutely flabbergasted at the audacity of Jerod Hagen. The assured me that he lied, he redid the contract, he took my copy and that they were not going to allow American Home Design on their property. I assured them that I concurred and would not allow them to come on my property either. Jerod had just proven himself to me.

It was then that I knew I had to leave American Home Design. I cannot and will not work for this type of low life. Sure, he had a big houseeven owns a restaurant called The Melting Pot in Lexington. Check it out on line at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g39588-d1090265-Reviews-The_Melting_Pot-Lexington_Kentucky.html. According to the reviews, it too reflects the Jerod Hagen philosophy of Charge a lot, get as much as you can and give as little as you can.  Jerod lives a million dollar mansion and has vacation homes and such. He is only thirty two years old.  Some will say he is a very astute business man.  But beware CUSTOMER AND POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES.he is a wolf in sheeps clothing! He will lie, steal, cheat and do whatever it takes to get your money. He is not above anything and has absolutely no moral bottom.   American Home Design/Sunrooms and More does not have your satisfaction in mind. I assure you.

CUSTOMERS AND POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES BEWARE!

These are strictly my opinions based on my personal experience with American Home Design. The incidents sited can be substantiated and the Wall Street Journal is an actual reprint.