| Business Categories | Custom Homes in Levittown, PA |
|---|
My wife and I contacted Jim Forbes of Forbes Associates LLC to build a patio the first time in 2019. He came to our house, took measurements, and provided us with detailed FREE estimates and drawings. Unfortunately, we could not start the job because back in 2019 we did not have enough funds. After saving for two years, we invited him back in May 2021 and agreed to a revised estimate of $29,0000. We gave him a deposit of $9000 on May 12th, 2021. By May 13th, 2021 (the day after) the money was already deposited into his checking account. It almost seemed like he needed my money immediately. The job was supposed to start by June 14th, 2021 (according to a signed contract) and be finished by July 4th, 2021, He never started. By July 2nd I found out that he did not even apply for permits with the Township. When I asked him why he didn’t apply for permits, he responded: “I was told I didn’t need them”. Then I asked if the job could be finished by July 22nd, ( In time for my daughters graduation party) he wrote me a text saying:100%. Still never started. He requested multiple times for two extra weeks to start the job. We didn’t want that. The only reason why we hired him, was because he told us that he could start immediately, and be done by a specific date. At that point he clearly breached the contract, and we asked for a full refund, the contractor said he would offer money-back minus expenses. There were no expenses because no work was done, no material was bought, no permits were submitted to the township. I inquired what cost he was speaking of and he said he would offer a termination letter which we had never even seen, agreed or signed. He presented us with a bill of $4100 for drawings which was never included in the estimate, nor in the scope of the job. He is only offering 4900 back instead of the full $9000 that was paid. He was trying to charge us $85.00 an hour per 40 hours of drawings, which he gave it to us for Free two years before. Just so we are clear, We did not terminate the job, he breached our signed contract. He insisted that he emailed us a termination letter, which I never got, never seen it, never signed it or agreed to it. And even if we did sign it (which we didn’t) he still breached the contract. We had to take him to court, and obviously we won. He appealed and lost again, and now we have a judgment against Him and his company for $27000.00. We asked him to pay back only the deposit money that we gave him, plus attorney fees for a total of $12k. We didn’t want the $27k. He agreed to pay us back and started to make small monthly refund payments, but in 2 years he only repaid $4400.00. As of today, as much as I try to ask to pay us back, he comes up with an excuse every single month. When I told him that with the fully executed judgment I could have the sheriff confiscate and sell his car he threatened me on a text message, and he said and I quote: “You take my car and I will go to jail for the rest of my life”. I then replied: “is this a threat?” He replied: “No it’s a fact” So, my wife and I are giving up. Jim Forbes will never pay us back. Just to be clear, I am rewriting this review, because the first time I wrote it, he cried and begged me that because of my bad review, he wasn’t getting any leads or jobs. So I felt bad and deleted it. But after 2 years, I googled him again and found out that what he did to us, he also did it to other people, just check the reviews on Google, Angie, Thumbtack, Yelp etc. Jim Forbes will show up at your home and will look very polite and professional, but he is nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I am sure he will try to challenge my review, but I am true to my words and have all kinds of emails and screenshots of my text messages conversations with him, and also a fully executed Judgment that confirms that everything that I just wrote is 100% true. Beware of this individual. He is not to be trusted.
After promising to start right away and the main reason we chose him over 3 other contractors, he didn’t show up until 6 weeks later to start the work. We had asked him to give us our $7k deposit back but he told us he didn’t have it. We felt bad for him so gave him another chance. He then asked for additional payments of $25k after obtaining permits, but we found out from the township he never filed the permits, so we were out of the money and had to get permits on our own. Gave him benefit of the doubt again after apologies, then he adds additional costs for lights without our consent for additional charges. Contract requires consent in writing for change orders. Stops working until we pay him for said additional work. He now decides he hates us, quits the job, with maybe 10% of our job complete and refuses to pay us our money back so we can hire a professional to complete the job. Most unprofessional experience we’ve ever had. Actually has caused us so much stress and anxiety. I wouldn’t wish this experience on my worst enemy. We’re now left having to deal with this with law enforcement and the civil courts. Stay away!
Though a standard question, it's important to ask. Most contractors will tell you how long they expect the job to take without you asking. If they don't volunteer that information, be sure to ask. It's also helpful to ask if that's a hard finish date, meaning that it's the definite finish date. If it's a soft finish date, it may be extended for any number of reasons.
Many jobs in Pennsylvania will require municipal permits in order to be approved by the town's inspector. It's always good to ask who will be responsible for pulling those permits, and if you'll be expected to do it. You'll almost never be told to pull your own, but knowing that Levittown Custom Homes permits are required makes you appear to be a well informed customer.
This is important mostly for larger jobs. Clearly a two man operation is going to build a home much slower than a 15 man crew. This is also a good indication of the overall size of the Custom Homes company, if that's an area of concern for you. The reason you may want to ask about the fleet is that fleet size is a good indicator of the mobility of the company. Mobility may not sound important, but it's hard for the Levittown contractors to get to job sites if they lack appropriate vehicles.
Some companies may require a 10% deposit, some may not require any. For larger projects, you'll almost always need to give a deposit, and it's good to ask how much the deposit will be before going forward with a project. The Levittown contractor will know how much they need for a deposit when they've given you the estimate, so ask early.
This will be answered when you ask if all employees are licensed. The only way to obtain a legitimate tradesman's license is to be a legal or naturalized citizen of the US. The company may employ people in positions that don't require a license, however, so it's wise to inquire.
