Has anyone else been a victim of bad contractors?

Question

we have recently been screwed over by our contractors SCS Builders in Odessa, Texas. We are suing them for building a death trap for my kids to live in. the house was put in backwards, plumbing was wrong with the water heater in my kids room, windows were a fire hazard, the framing was freestanding, the building had holes, doors and windows were dented, no footing for the two story building, the wire mesh was lying on the ground, and the list goes on. we have had a structural engineer inspect the property and he informed us, the toilets wouldnt flush, there were no traps for the plumbing, and that the structure would have collapsed within the month, with my kids inside...

how often does this happen? what can we do to get the word out about these people? we have filed legal action, but i dont want an innocent family to get physically hurt by these people, i have a 3 year old and a 7 mo old. What if this happens to kids?! help!

if you're in my area, do NOT hire SCS Builders Inc. !!!

Answer 1

Did you check them out?  License number along with bonded and insured? There are a lot of scammers out there looking for victims.  Make sure you file a complaint with your local BBB.

Answer 2

Yes, people get screwed by contractors sometimes.

My question is how did they get the building up without inspections?  All of these items you mentioned are code violations and should have been caught by the inspectors.

If you are in an area that doesn't have inspectors, the only thing you can do is sue the contractor and start over on the house.  

I really truly am sorry you got caught up with a bad contractor.  They make the rest of us look bad too, and we aren't all bad.

Answer 3

Your best bet now is to contact a large city tv station and ask for a reporter that covers this type of issues.

On a larger scale you might try a national tv network such as MSNBC. They are always looking for fraud segments.

BBB is a joke, do you know that they charge you to be a member? It's not free. We are not a member and I have been a General Contractor for 30 yrs. Our reputation is more important than anything, we don't need bbb because we handle any and all problems as they come up, and they do come up sometimes-mostly due to misunderstandings.

Someone should have been paying closer attention as this work was going on from the start. You can't hire someone and just let them go on their own without bringing a friend or someone over to look at their work once in awhile.

Answer 4

there are more legit contractors than there are bad ones so don't let this discourage you. sorry this had to happen to you. you need to get references, check with the bbb, check their business liscence. i am in canada but it shouldent be any different there in texas.

Answer 5

Hello there is a site that is on the internet that has reports of bad contractors I will try to find it for you Im sorry for that terrible expiearance. Next time hire some that has a great track record or was recommended by a friend that you trust