Complaint Review: Deck Masters Technologies INC. (S. Hills) - Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

This is not a total "FLAME ON" of this organization, but over the course of the past 16 months,

I have yet to see problems and complaints fully addressed to my satisfaction. There has been

a total lack of response to my inquiries, despite several phone calls, (And I lay a lot of the blame on the person that answers the phone at this division You know who you are (K) - Condescending, un-cooporative, and non-responsive - Sort-of along the lines of "what do you need from us???") ... Anyhow, to make a long story short, My wife and I contracted with Deck Masters on March 23rd, 1999 to have an addition to an already existing deck located at the rear of our property. We had really received some high accolades from one of OUR clients (We run a home based computer consulting/Software design company, and provide services to Contractors/Construction companys of all things!!!) regarding this particular company. Anyhow, construction began in April of 1999 with 2 guys that we came to know as "George & George" - Both of them worked fine with us to a point that we felt totally comfortable and could see eye to eye with them as our project developed and took shape - They even helped us fine-tune a few items that their Sales Person hadn't addressed, and the "3-D Blue Print" (What a Joke) guy didn't do. 3-D??? Yea, like I couldn't draw this with a crayon too???... Anyhow, back on track... Well, during the course of this construction we repeatedly suggested to our sales-person that an 18 foot span would most likely need at least a bit of support probably somewhere around the mid point of 9 feet to prevent a sag or a bow in the structure, and George and George kept insisting that this wasn't the case... Lo and Behold, we had to get our local building inspector to come and verify to us that "yes, this does sag a bit" and to call Deck Masters and talk to his old chum "the 3-D guy" to advise him that his plan wasn't on the "level". Well, with a lot of complaining from "George & George", they finally came back and dug holes for the new 9' support posts (G&G really hate to return to a job site once they've signed-off on it we were told) and this portion of the job was completed. Golly! Hated to have to interupt the next job that G&G were assigned to by Deck Masters. Anyhow, we ARE satisfied with the construction, and the quality is on par with what others do in this area plus or minus $500-600 here or there, but now we run into another snag with the "Masters of Decks"... After the completion of our new "out-door" play room, we had a signed proposal from our Sales Person to get our entire new toy winterized - Meaning; Cleaned and Sealed before the world came to an end on Jan 1st of 2000. Yes, they did send some young kid to pressure clean the deck in Sept of 1999, and we had agreed to their bid of $300 for this to be done, but you know what happens when you pressure clean and then "forget" to seal wood??? It's like "black heads" on your nose... Well, we let it ride until this past spring expecting them to follow up with another squirt-down, and then a seal as per our contract, but nada. Several phone calls yielded absolutley no results, aside from TWO missed appointments by their "maintenance guy", so finally we had to get this thing resolved before the splinters of Y2K got unbearable on my 2 kids piggie-toes and found a new contractor in a young start-up named Jeff from "Steel City Decks" here in the South Hills with a bid of $440 to do the job that Bob from DECK MASTERS wouldn't finish... Jeff even offers a 2 year warranty for his work!!! We'll see if Jeff is still here in 2 years, but based upon his effort, I think that he will give Deck Masters a run for the money... Anyhow, here it is 16+ months after our deck is completed, and customer service via DECK MASTERS is still lacking... Sorry Mr. Nicholson, Jr - I still have leftover Debris from this project stacked under my kitchen window and I've had to spend my money on other persons that feel obliged to provide a service that your organization felt that I wasn't deserving of... If this is the only way to get your attention to provide a follow up to your formally loyal clients, then so be it... I had the check drawn and signed and ready to go, but apparently my expenditure of 4,500 dollars, and cash and even a $100 tip to George and George wasn't enough to keep customer service in your vocabulary. I couldn't imagine what would happen if my 50-year warranty on the ULTRA-WOOD were to need some satisfaction....