CM BUILDERS OF THE GULF COAST, INC. Tracy Walter, James Minsky Beware of CM Builders, they will quote you a payment that is substantially lower than what it will really be. Largo, Florida
After doing an "Energy Audit" of my home, the sales rep for CM Builders of the Gulf Coast, Inc., a Mr. James Minsky, started throwing out numbers like a bingo announcer in heat. He was tossing around square feet, cost per unit, twenty-watt fans vs thir-watt fans, financing plans ("no payments for 17 months"), government rebates, tax incentives, state rebates, electric company rewards, etc.
All of this ended up to be an investment of $174 a month for 36 months to cut our energy cost by "...at least $175 a month forever." The package included a new solar powered attic vent fan, thermal barriers, new insulation, mastic on the ducts, a new window, hurricane film on all the windows, etc. and would qualify us for thousands in refunds and rebates which we could apply to the home improvement loan he would arrange through GE Capital with whom I'd done lots of business.
He made the call from my kitchen table and I was immediately approved for more than enough. I signed the order and he quickly scooped up all his paperwork and scribbles and left. It was only then that my brain kicked in. $174 for 36 months is only a little over $6K. I called GE Capital and was informed that my payment would be $405 a month for 36 months.
I also noticed that there was no per unit cost for all the stuff I'd "purchased," just totals so I had no good way to compare prices or even judge whether or not I was being overcharged.
I decided to do a background check on the people involved here and it turns out that one is reportedly in financial hot water with foreclosures and the other was allegedly involved on some sort of stock scam back in the 90's. Be that as it may, these are not the sort of people with whom I wish to do business.
So, beware, if a door knocker from Florida Energy Management, Guardian Solar or CM Builders of the Gulf Coast, Inc. asks if you'd like to make an appointment for a "free Energy Audit," politely dismiss him. You'll be glad you did.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Duramade windows and doors stole my money
new port richey,Florida,
USA
I have invited this consumer to a conversation.
#5REBUTTAL Owner of company
Sun, June 27, 2010
I have invited this customer to a conversation so that I might personally appolagize to him and let him know that those employees involved, have been let go. I am truly sorry that he feels the way he does. I have done all that I can do to fix the issue and can only wish him the best. I would like to make it known that any customer who has any issues with any employee of my company can contact the office and let me know. I will protect my customers from any scams. You be the judge of my company and employees. Stop in and visit any time you like.
Adolph
Homosassa 46517,Florida,
USA
The response of the anonymous employee is the epitome of perfection of attempted damage control......
#5General Comment
Sat, June 26, 2010
I have ever read! The anonymous responder employee truly has a golden tongue.
.
Not even one misspelled word, perfect syntax, sentence structure, impeccable paragraphical rendering. Truly the musings of a well educated person.
That said, the believability of the content doesnt replicate the aforementioned (level of) perfection, IMHO.
Sucker
Valrico,Florida,
United States of America
In Reference to the Rebuttal
#5Author of original report
Sat, June 26, 2010
Here is the crux of the matter:
1. I don't care whether or not CM Builders of the Gulf Coast thinks they are a reputable company.
2. The world is full of scam artists and it is the responsibility of any businessperson who wants to do business legitimately to make absolutely sure that all of his/her employees are on the same page. The buck stops with the owner/president/ceo of the business. I know. I also own a business (actually, several).
3. It is NOT, I repeat, it is NOT the customer's responsibility to safeguard the reputation of any business. It is the customer's responsibility to safeguard themselves, their families and their money, period.
4. The "auditor," or "salesman," was at my house for four hours only because he wouldn't shut up. He could have completed the deal in half the time. He told us he owned 25% of the company, was a day trader who makes "big" bucks and was only out selling the services of CM Builders because he bought into the company AND wanted to do something for the environment.
5. He sold us payments of $176 a month (a correction from $174). He said, "I promised you that I would save you as much as the payment on your energy costs. I can save you $175 a month and the payment will be $176." With that he reached into his pocket, pulled out a dollar bill and tossed it onto the table saying, "...so, I'll make up the difference on your first month's payment."
6. After he left, I called GE Capital and was told that they had quoted the "auditor" a payment of $405 over the phone. So, "Jimmy the Auditor" deliberately mislead, OK, lied, to us.
7. Finding that out, I did a background check on both the owner of the company and on the "auditor." Neither came back very favorable.
8. After canceling the order a representative of CM builders, a woman, called and asked if I would be interested in having all the work done if they could do it for $181 a month. I told her no. $181 a month equates out to a little more than $6,000 for the entire job. If they could do it for $6K, why did they initially try to charge me $14.5K?
9. A day or two later the owner of the company left a long message on my voice mail saying they they were an honest company with no complaints, that they fired the "auditor," etc., etc.
So, the claim in the rebuttal that they respected my wish not to be contacted is untrue. They contacted me twice.
10. Again, it is NOT the responsibility of the scammed to be civil to or negotiate with the scammer to undo the scam or make it a more palatable scam.
In their rebuttal they state that all contracts are reviewed for what pretty much amounts to grammatical errors. Had I gone on vacation, or just trusted that everything was fine, the three-day cancellation period allowed by Florida law would have passed, the work would have been done and I would have been surprised when I received my first bill for $405. I can almost hear the conversation now. "Gee, I'm sorry, Mr. Smith, but the work is done and you signed the contract, there's nothing we can do. Have a nice day."
Duramade windows and doors stole my money
new port richey,Florida,
U.S.A.
Contact to company should have been made
#5UPDATE Employee
Thu, June 10, 2010
The consumer who filed this report unfortunately has truly done and injustice to all those who could benefit from the outstanding consumer services C.M Builders has to offer.
The correct way to ensure proper attention to any matter in question would be to contact the company and to honestly inquire as to the companys overall customer services polices. Instead the consumer has decided to write his version of the instance with some pretty incredible adaptations.
CM Builders would never allow ANY employee to lie or defraud a customer or consumer in anyway what so ever. CM builders take great steps and have measures in place to prevent such occurrences such as the following:
Instead, the customer spent a total of five hours with the salesman and auditor; and at the end of the evening he did a PERSONAL search on the salesmans past and did not like what he found.
When CM Builders did get the contract the next day, it went to the Customer Service Representative for verification. When the representative contacted the customer, the customer alerted her as to what he had decided to do and that he was misled by the auditor. We quickly canceled his contract and pulled our auditor into the office to inquire as to his side of the story and the appropriate actions were taken.
If the Customer would have given the company a phone call or let us know any of his concerns we would have handled the matter immediately. Instead the customer writes a letter to rip off Report and accuses the COMPANY of treating him badly, when in fact he never tried to make contact with the company before he took any action.
We deeply regret his newly formed opinion of our company. We as a company have measures to prevent this treatment and would like any potential new consumers to know that this is not the way our company operates. This customer sent this letter to Ripoffreport.com before anyone could help him or satisfy his needs. We are a great company and have many references from satisfied and happy customers to stand behind us. This is a mark on our reputation that could have been avoided and handled with professionalism and class, IF we would have been contacted at the time of the incident. The customer asked us not to contact him in his letter to cancel so we will respect and honor that wish. All we ask is that before taking such drastic measures and potentially black listing a company that employees 250 local people please call and give us a chance to show what kind of company they truly are.