ComplaintsforGoldsmith, Prest & Ringwall, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  02/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I gave this company a $5,000 check almost a year ago to survey our land, do perc testing, etc... to determine if we can subdivide part of our property and list for sale. GPR refuses to respond to our emails as we continue to ask for updates but none are given. They have not given any plan of action, they have not explained what they have done with the money. They do not even respond to our realtors emails...Bruce R from GPR last emailed us on 12/12/22 saying "we did get a lot of information and haven't been able to get through it all yet. I'll try to get through it in the next couple of days and get back you all."We have not heard back from Bruce or anyone at GPR since then, and have emailed them asking for an update twice with no response..it's been 73 days with ZERO communication.

  Business response

  03/16/2023

  To date GPR has met the client on site, conducted a boundary survey of the property and researched the site to uncover and evaluate previous testing done by others on the property and in the immediate neighborhood.  (This work alone has exceeded the deposit the client has given us.)  The result of our research and findings from our site walk was discussed with the client within the last two weeks.   The site is a very difficult site with shallow depth to ledge everywhere, much of it visible when you walk on the property.  There are no easy solutions on this site.  The previous owner was an engineer who sold the property without developing another lot, which illustrates the difficulty of developing this site further.  We have explained this to the client as well.  We owe the client a written communication so that they can make a decision as to whether they wish to proceed further or not.   We will do so within the next week.

  Customer response

  03/17/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I have not heard from this company in writing, by phone, or by email since December when they refused to respond to multiple emails....They have not provided any statement of work or any documentation whatsoever.   
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  04/04/2023

  This is the email we sent to them to explain what weve found. 

   

  Good afternoon ******************** and *******

   

  Weve finally dug through the information that we gathered from the *********************************** office and double checked with the Agent and his filed books for any additional information.  The result of that research is that we are not able to find any log of tests conducted on the *** property other than those shown on the septic plan for the dwelling itself.

   

  Reviewing the information available for the other 3 lots that use the common driveway, it is clear that the shallow depth to ledge and ledge outcrops that Bruce observed during his site visit with you are not limited to your property but continued over the other 3 properties that use the common driveway.  The agent reported that one of the lots in the rear he and the design engineer spend about 4 months of testing dates to find the 4 passing holes to be able to design the system.  The materials gathered in our searches to this point are available to be downloaded here - ***********  should you want them for any future reference.

   

  As Bruce mentioned during his phone conversation with ***** recently, the process to find an area suitable to support a new lot will be challenging and we would recommend unofficial soil testing be done to scout for an area.  If found, then schedule for official soil testing with the Board of Health The scouting costs to cover a hired excavator and or services would run around $2,400 per day.

   

  While our searches did not find any soil testing data useful for your property, you have taken a couple of steps that make you closer to being able to divide your property.  You had a Title 5 inspection done to show that your current system passes.  Further, we were able to locate the design plan for your current system which shows a future reserve area on it.  In discussion with the Board of Health Agent he did state that he would accept that area shown on the original plan to satisfy the Title 5 requirements relative to review of an existing system prior to the division of a property. 

   

  Those steps coupled with our survey work relative to the boundary of your property means that you are at a point that you would be able to split your property to create a new parcel but you would have to market it in a fashion that places the burden of finding and designing a septic system on the buyer.  Typically this reduces the price you can get for the lot, but Ill leave that for Amy to discuss and expand on with you.  While this process would generally cut you out of the design and layout of the new lot, you could attempt to protect yourself with the establishment of buffer restriction areas on the new parcel to maintain a section / strip of trees around your dwelling.

   

  Another option would be to leave the current property limits alone and reduce your property tax exposure by placing the natural portion of the property into one of the Chapter 61 programs.  This would keep the entire property under your control and allow for any future unofficial soil testing explorations (should you choose to have them done).

   

  Each of these options have their own pros and cons that we or the people that would help you set up would be able to expand upon.

   

  In summary:

  1. We have completed the boundary survey field work and office calculation of your property;
  2. Reviewed the site for possible septic leaching areas during a site meeting.  Upon visual observation of each area that looked promising from afar, closer reviewer showed evidence of multiple old test holes, indicating the prior owner already tested the area and didnt find adequate depth oof soil;
  3. Researched and reviewed all forms of available records of prior soil testing data for your lot (which we did not find any) and the abutting properties (which confirmed the observed general conditions of our visual observations).

   

  Please let us know the direction you would like to proceed. 

   

  - ****

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