ComplaintsforGreenWorks Inspections & Engineering

• Initial Complaint

  07/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  GreenWorks missed what should have been an easy catch on a plumbing leak in our new home. In reviewing photos (in hindsight) you can clearly see water damage on the walls and baseboards in the subject bathroom. This is going to cost us up to $10,000 out of pocket to remediate. Instead of focusing on issues that mattered, our inspector was flying a drone around the roof. The roof was being replaced the next day, so we told him to focus on other areas of the home. But he insisted on flying his toy around for a few hours while our bathroom wall and the adjoining wall were being destroyed due to this undetected leak. The inspection was performed on May 9, 2023. We discovered the leak on July 8, 2023. A water damage specialist told us the leak had been ongoing for many months. And you can clearly see water damage in the photos from May 9, 2023 when the inspection was performed.

  Customer response

  10/30/2023

  From: ***************************** <*******************>
  Sent: Monday, October 30, 2023 1:34 PM
  To: ********************* <******************************************>
  Subject: Complaint ID #********
  
  This message is in regard to Complaint ID #******** against GreenWorks Inspections.
  
  I was in communication with the company in July 2023, and they offered to resolve my complaint by refunding me the approximately $700 inspection. However, my out-of-pocket costs of repairing the damage caused by their failed inspection are in excess of $9,000. As such, I did not accept their $700 offer. 
  
  Instead, I filed a small claims suit against GreenWorks (to which they did not respond), and I expect to receive judgment in my favor in a matter of weeks. However, I am not confident I will be able to easily recover the monetary damages owed to me. 
  
  Since this issue occurred, I discovered the company was recently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. GreenWorks seems to be poorly managed in general.  Many of their internet reviews seem fake (although I cannot prove this). We have heard multiple anecdotes of failed inspections done by GreenWorks. 
  
  If you want to contact the business, here are some valid email addresses:
  
  ************************************************************ - President of Service
  **************************************** - CEO
  
  Thanks,
  
  *****************************
  ************

  Business response

  10/30/2023

   In the original complaint, the client mentions not discovering the leak until July 8th, 2023 but, this information provided in the original complaint details is not accurate.  See attached document sent to GreenWorks from the client.  The inspection was performed on May 9th, 2023.  10 days later on May 19th, 2023, the client took another photo of the area of concern stating water damage was worse.  The clients took possession of the home on June 27th and yet another photo was taken of the area of concern and had a plumber out on July 8th.  Per the signed inspection agreement (see attached), the client agrees to contacting GreenWorks in writing within 10 days of noticing any area of concern, which in this case would have been on May 19th when the clients admits to noticing damage being worse.  GreenWorks' complaint form was not filled out until July 14th, 2023.  Work was already performed, therefore, per the signed inspection agreement, a full refund was offered to the client and was declined.  

  The last week of July, an offer was made for GreenWorks to come to the home and review the work performed and inspect the areas of concern so a resolution could be determined, and this request was also declined, and client stated it was too late and just wanted to settle or else legal action would be taken.  

  To add, several deficiencies were noted for the **** system including indication of the primary drain line being clogged due to the secondary drain pan be full of water.  Per the plumbing company used to find the leak, the leaking occurred from the ** system drain line within the wall.  Therefore, an issue with these lines was indicated and should have been further accessed and corrected per the inspector recommendations.

  Customer response

  10/30/2023

  I am rejecting this response because: GreenWorks incorrectly interpreted the timeline. Yes, we have pictures from May 19 showing the subject bathroom. However, that was before the leak was discovered. We just happened to be lucky enough to have multiple photos between May 9 when the inspection occurred and July 8 when the leak was discovered. Hindsight is 20/20. We looked back through our photos and saw the clear water damage on the walls on the day of the inspection and on subsequent days, but this is something that should have been caught by GreenWorks during the inspection and noted on the inspection report, which it was not.

  Yes, GreenWorks noted some issues with the air conditioning unit. However, the issues they noted are not what caused the leak. I confirmed this separately with the plumber who discovered the leak and replaced the leaking pipe. The condensate line/water in pan was a separate issue from the one that caused the leak. In fact, that condensate line issue continued even after the leak was discovered and repaired, until we eventually got it corrected. 

  The fact remains that there was mold on the exterior wall of the subject bathroom and clear water damage that should have been noted by any competent inspector. The complaint is now being dealt with through the court system. As expected, GreenWorks did not respond to my small claims citation. Recovering the monetary damages will be the difficult part, as GreenWorks does not include payment information on their invoices. GreenWorks is clearly doing everything they can to avoid correspondence from courts, creditors and disappointed customers. 

  They know they failed, and they know the right thing to do would be to reimburse me the $8,000+ (or file a claim with their insurance company, if they even have insurance). But I know they are not going to do that. I will keep fighting this until all avenues for recovery are exhausted. 

  Business response

  11/06/2023

  GreenWorks strives to perform excellent home inspections and provide top tier customer ********************** and satisfaction. It is clear that GreenWorks was not able and may not ever be able to meet the client expectations in this matter.  All information from GreenWorks has been communicated on several occasions.  GreenWorks will stand by our inspection agreement and the fact that if the client is not happy with the service provided a full refund of the inspection amount will be provided.

  I understand the frustrations of the home buying process and everything that comes with that. As mentioned previously, GreenWorks always strives to provide customer satisfaction and would never desire anyone to run into unexpected finds within a home.  But that does not mean that GreenWorks or any inspection company is responsible for everything that happens to a home or things found in the future.  A home inspection is a snapshot in time and future items cannot be determined and as mentioned by the client, hindsight is 20/20.  This home in question is approximately 90 years old and the inspector found 140 items to be deficient.  Based on the inspection report provided, the client opinion of the home not being inspected thoroughly is plainly not true.  A home inspector examines the home as thoroughly as possible in the 3 hour time allotted for the inspection and cannot be swayed by the client.  Even the roof must be inspected even if given the information of it being replaced.  

  In regards to the small claims notice, if this was attempted to be delivered in person, GreenWorks is a full remote company and does not have a brick and mortar business office in which someone can receive in person.

  Customer response

  11/06/2023

  I am rejecting this response because:   I understand they try to perform high quality inspections, but the inspector missed a glaring issue in this case. Plain and simple. This issue disrupted our lives, especially my two year old son since the issue was found in the bathroom connected to his bedroom. And as previously stated, the leak caused us financial harm. We will continue pursuing all options to make this right. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have purchased an inventory single family home from builder in Sep. 2020 & paid $535.00 to have GreenWorks Inspections company to do a thorough inspection of the new house. They sent out inspector ***************** to do the inspection. No major issues was on the final report. The whole problem is major issues were missed which should have been caught and included in the final report. Two of my shower rooms' drainage were totally clogged. There's a huge gap between front *********** frames. There are huge gaps left & right between the garage ************ so ice, snow, rain & heat comes & occupies half of the garage when winter storm hits, rains and extreme heat during summer. Had fought with builder for over a year to get garage door fixed. A huge honey comb on the foundation was missed. I have contacted GreenWorks Home inspection to enlarge complaint with their manager multiple times in 2020 & 2021, their manager never responded to voice mails or contacted me. I always hand wash all the dishes, not until early this year to keep my dishwasher running & found out what their inspector has missed, the clogged Drain due to broke pipe hooked between ******************* disposal, all the water was back up into the kitchen island. Spent $175.00 to have a professional to replace broke pipe & stop leak. During this May while the A/C company does the annual maintenance, was informed about the rats' marks in attic right above the garage due to Greenworks Home Inspection failed to examine external gaps between ************ frames specifically above the patio door right under the roof which allows **************** climb into the house through open ************* Now I have to spend a fortune to hire a licensed company catching the rats, not only running in the attic but also between the walls throughout the walls of my house. An soliciting email arrived 7/25/21 @4:51AM from ************************* GreenWorks Inspections & promised to have their manager to reach out & again they never did.

  Customer response

  09/07/2023

  As usual GreenWorks home inspection never responded to my complaint. Please let me know what is next step, thank you.

  Business response

  11/02/2023

  Id like to start by saying that I am sorry that these things are being experienced.  We would never wish anyone to have this experience while living in their home.  

  I reviewed the pictures sent with this complaint as well as the home inspection report.  The pictures of the "gaps" at the exterior are not "gaps".  That is where the frieze board meets the wall.  This area does not appear excessive and is the way a home is built.  These areas would not be sealed during construction. I only saw one brick that appears to have some sealant above it now but unless there is a picture from the time of inspection it is difficult to say that was or was not there.  This inspection was performed 3 years ago and the home will not be the same in that amount of time. Homes change and things shift and move due to our soil movement and house are made to expand and contract with this movement.  I was unable to open the foundation cracking picture but in the home inspection report, corner pops were noted and there are pictures there.  Corner pops are cracks on the edge of the foundation wall. I do see in the report there are some gaps noted around the home but cannot confirm whether these are the ones of concern or different ones.  Photos of all plumbing being run are present in the inspection report as well with no issues noted.  During an inspection water is run, outlets are filled up and then drained.  The insides of the piping cannot be viewed unless a sewer camera inspection is performed and that was not done for this home.  Pictures of the piping under the kitchen sink are also present in the report with no damage or breaking visible.

  I have also went back and searched for any calls or messages about this property and none have been found. There are no notes in our system under this order as to any request for call backs.  GreenWorks is very adamant about our client experience and would not have ignored someones request to speak to a manager.

  I would love to have my inspection leader come to the home and walk through any issues and the report with the client.  Report is attached.

  Customer response

  11/06/2023

  I am rejecting this response because:   They can say what they want which is totally untrue, irresponsible, denied my complaints to cover themselves. I already got everything fixed out of my own pocket so let me ask how does it help to get my house inspected again by them, is this a joke or what? I wouldn't want to have any further business with them ever after how they have treated me previously. I have a busy schedule and have to take out the time to enlarge the complaint because they keep ignoring my problems and avoiding my complaints repeatedly. Now I am relying on BBB to get my situation and complaints justified. It's really a bad business practice refused to take care of customers' problems/complaints. Thanks to BBB,I am able to get response from them. They have caused me with so much unnecessary stress, anxiety, time and hassle because of their negligence. Why is it so hard for them to admit the mistake they have made? 

• Initial Complaint

  03/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired Greenworks to do an evaluation on my roof. They told me they needed to do a number of things, including:"Verify the waterproofing between the top of the rooftop deck and the bottom of the fourthfloor exterior walls. It may require the temporary removal of the lap siding at the bottom of the walls.""At locations where the caulking of the concrete roof has separated, replace the caulking with an expanding caulking material that completely seals the expansion joints.""Expose the rooftop deck framing by removing the ceiling of the third floor for water intrusion inspection. Verify with the inspector on the amount of ceiling to remove."I hired them to then do the analysis and fix the is***s found, which includes all of the recommendations from the initial inspection. I paid them over $30K to do so. As a part of this, they had identified is***s with the door and had agreed to waterproof that area. It is shown in the customer total amount line items. A few months later, I started getting leaks again. It looked like my walls were crying. It was a nightmare. I reached out to Greenworks and the subcontracted roofer. Greenworks didn't even respond. The roofer took 2 months to come out and stated the is*** was the area near the door. I contacted Greenworks to fix it, as they were supposed to have done so. They said they would get it taken care of, then delayed for months.On November 8th they texted me saying they would get a contract with the roofer and fix this. It still is not done. They have never honored their promises to fix this.I have to threaten to *** to even get a response from them. It's been a nightmare. I have to pray day in and day out that it doesn't rain, and the $50K overall and $30K to Greenworks means nothing to them, as they lied to me about getting it fixed to run out the contestation time and then told me they had no record of warranty because their employees had left. It's appalling.--Aiden

  Business response

  03/04/2023

  The assessment done by GreenWorks was performed in June of 2021. Work performed on this property with GreenWorks being the project manager began in September of 2021. The project managers on this job departed from GreenWorks ****************** in December of 2021. Roof work performed and sealing of the door area in question was performed by Paramount roofing, not internal members of GreenWorks. The roof workmanship warranty is provided by Paramount Roofing. GreenWorks was contacted by the client in October of 2022, approx a year after work performed. Supposedly, the roofing contractor was reached out to previous to GreenWorks but contact to GreenWorks directly was one year after the job was performed. Numerous attempts were made to schedule the roofing company to go on site to investigate further and these attempts were met with threats of legal action each time. Paramount roofing is performing services currently on other units at and around this property and has found many defects due to the original construction and believes the worked performed by Paramount and GreenWorks is not the current cause of leaking. The original builder of this property is currently in a legal dispute with this client and many others. Repairs to the work originally performed were offered at no charge to the client after contact was made to GreenWorks, however, it was communicated to the client that if items not originally included were the cause of new leaks that would be an additional charge. This communication was met with more legal threats. It is extremely difficult to get a contractor scheduled to get out to the property and assess damages when that person is automatically met with threatening conversation. GreenWorks and Paramount would be happy to assist this client with the workmanship warranty provided. No other warranty information was noted or offered.

  Customer response

  03/07/2023

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  My screenshots speak for themselves. I am re-attaching all of them so everybody here can see that ******* admitted this was a problem they should fix for MONTHS. He said he would apply a temporary fix until they could get it permanently done. He then said he would get a contract done with the roofer to fix the is*** on November 8th.
  He was alerted to this is*** roughly 4 months before that. He lied claiming he would take care of this while promising to get somebody out there over and over again until late November where he said he doesn't warrant his own work and disappeared from there. The rest is a lie. I have been consistently speaking to the roofer and they are entirely willing to work with me on this and in fact have offered to bid on the work and went to the home yesterday. The reality is Greenworks should be covering this because they were hired to fix the builder defect and were paid nearly 50K to do so. Anybody considering using this joke of a company should avoid them like the plaque. The only threat of legal action against Paramount that has occurred was when they refused to come out to look at the is*** for roughly 3 months and then disappeared and refused to provide any update on the property for another 2 months while water poured into my home. I already hashed that out with Paramount who is getting me another technician, so *******'s excuse blaming me above is a complete lie. ******* also is flat out lying in his response here about the timeframe of his notice and his response, and for what Greenworks was originally hired to do. This is especially alarming because he tried to state the same to me and I corrected him and sent him the receipts, which I will now attach here. ******* is thus VERY aware that he is being dishonest here. Notice also that ******* provided absolutely 0 proof he ever did the original repair. Regardless, I am attaching here a screenshot of Greenworks being alerted in August 2021 not October as he states. When I alerted Greenworks (****** from the email), they didn't even bother replying. So it's not that I "supposedly" reached out to somebody else and that explains the delay, which is what ******* is suggesting. I reached out directly to Greenworks. They just didn't care enough to even respond. They then repeatedly promised to get Paramount out to fix it. Then months went by while they did nothing. 4 months after the initial complaint was the first time they even looked at the leak after I spent about $50K having it fixed. When Greenworks blames my builder they are only half telling the truth. There is a builder defect but Greenworks was hired specifically to fix and troubleshoot the defects to prevent exactly the leaks I am experiencing now. After Greewnorks and Paramount failed to provide any update as to what or when any repair would be done, I told them to start taking this seriously or that I'd have to **** Paramount has responded and acted like professionals. Greewnorks has continued to ignore the entire thing. They are a true disaster of a company who won't stand behind any of their work, and I guess I'll have to *** at this point. Also, the door area was handled by Greenworks not Paramount, and Paramount still responds to me and has been working on finding a different tech to do the work. Greenworks is the only one who has decided that the customer who paid them nearly $50K to fix the builder defect shouldn't be helped when their roof continues to flood just months after the so-called repair.
  See Attachment/File: Screenshot_20230307_211151_Messages

• Initial Complaint

  03/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I contacted this company to come out and do a structural report on a foundation that had been poured for a new home shop. The gentlemen who came out was no more then a young, fresh out of school, inspector. We showed him pictures of how the shop was constructed and gave him a history of what occurred when the concrete was poured. We believe that this concrete is not sound enough to put a structure on and wanted an independent review. What I got was a report that is 90% of what we told him and 10% of BS. There was no testing done, just a measure of the pad. Furthermore, it is signed off by an engineer who was not even on site. They are quick to want to collect the $525 for this service, but I all got was **. This report does nothing if I need to take this contractor to court.

  Business response

  07/21/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 25, 2022/06/08) */ The client has indicated a lack of confidence in the representative sent to perform the site visit. The individual who performed the site visit, Matthew, is a registered engineer in training (EIT). An EIT, unlike an unlicensed inspector, is a licensed position. To obtain this licensure, the candidate must graduate from an accredited university with a degree applicable to engineering. In August 2019, Matthew obtained a Bachelor's of Science degree in Civil Engineering from ******* ***** University. In addition to obtaining a degree, an EIT must pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. Matthew passed this exam in April 2018. Matthew also has over 6 years of experience in civil engineering, 5 of which were specifically in structural engineering. Our licensed engineers consider Matthew as one of our most qualified EIT's for residential and light-frame construction inspections as he is extremely experienced in projects similar in nature to the that of the client's. We apologize that the credentials of this inspector failed to give confidence to the client regarding his qualification to perform the inspection, but we assure our clients that our inspectors are selected appropriately at the discretion of our PE's. For every structural engineering report published by our company, a PE reviews the data and analyzes the measurements using accepted engineering practice to draw and verify conclusions regarding the structural subject. Every report is then sealed by a PE and issued to the client. The PE seal represents that significant pertinent engineering experience has qualified the PE to provide a professional opinion on the subject and document receiving the seal. While similar reports provided by our company have been effective in providing accountability for faulty workmanship in the past, we do not currently offer 'Forensic Engineering' services, which is the standard of service that is generally required in cases regarding litigation. Our tests are non-invasive and non-destructive in the best economical interest of our clients. We feel confident in our ability to collect and analyze visual and dimensional data in our site visits to provide accurate opinions on the present performance of the structure and its ability to support anticipated loads. When we feel that invasive or destructive testing is required to obtain an appropriately accurate opinion of the performance of the structure or of its ability to support anticipated loads, we explain the extents and limitations of the data we collected in our report and would potentially recommend more intensive testing. We assert that we have performed our due diligence as a service provider, but we are deeply remorseful that our client was not fully satisfied, and we offer a full refund for all services and reports in compensation. We thank the client for bringing this dissatisfaction to our attention and will consider how to enhance the transparency of and confidence in our services to avoid such dissatisfaction in the future.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩