I started working at American Dream Home Improvment being promised $50 to $100,000 a year, so of course i said where can i sign up.Soon after I learned about their almost impossible point system.If you dont earn enough ponts that week you dont get paid?That is when i stared looking into the company, customers and former employees all with similar complaints.The company gives you a pitch for when the homeowner answers the door which seems normal but to tell homeowners they have damage even if they dont just in hopes the insurance adjuster approves it anyway,thats where i had to draw the line.
I started to realize the company was up to something when i had worked over 40 hours and had 2.5 points and needed 20 just to get a paycheck.They blind you at first with a big brand new fancy truck so they can begin making money off of you while you work your butt off for nothing or close to it (not to mention anything you might make goes into that big fancy truck since you have to pay for your own gas)I would refer anybody who decides to take a job with adhi dont.They are a huge pyramid scheme built for you to work hard as hell and get nothing while the top guys sit on their butt and make bank at your expense.
The company basically has it set up for you to work 24/7 day or night have your phone up your anus more or less.I kept bugging management about my paycheck they told me monday for 2 weeks.Not to mention they tell you to pretty much stalk people that tell you no (which people arent very reseptive to and who could blame them)They basically want you to scare people with the word leak and screw the homeowner out of their deductible and the insurance company out of thousands of dollars.They also tell you that you cant copy anything out of their employee handbook and must turn it in when you seperate your self from the company in order to recieve your final pay.Why? I think its so then you cant proove anything against them.This company some how still gets an A+ from the better business bureau I personally think this company needs investigated and shut down
My journey with ADHI started with pleasant, prompt quotes & responses. Once we agreed on a price it fell apart. When we had questions our calls & emails were ignored. We were told work would start Aug. 19 but didn't actually start until Sept.9.
When roof was complete they damaged 7 of our 10 month old windows, part of our new deck and was a mess. When the siding crew came to complete the job they did things the quick easy way rather than the proper way. For example, replacing the window wraps damaged by roofers they did not remove the old but rather covered them and in doing so cut them too short resulting in us having to recaulk to seal properly.
When we finally were ready to be done with this miserable experience we got an invoice for almost $10,000 MORE than we agreed on. When contacting them about this we went back to the ditch & dodge game. I emailed/called 3 people to voice my concern and finally a week later from my first call got a reply from yet a fourth person only to still not have answers.
When I DO get a hold of someone they talk over me because they don't want to hear the disappointing saga of their company and belittle me with rude comments.
I cannot wait until this is over! Will not recommend this company to anyone! Next step will be a complaint to BBB. As of right now, the only way I will be satisfied is a final invoice lower than agreed due to the upset & STRESS this caused my home. I can't even enjoy the work done because I'm so worried & upset about what deceitful step they will take next
I wanted to inform you about American Dream Home Improvement of Downers Grove and their deceptive business practices. I have been taken advantage of, and I would like to alert others thinking of working with this company to heed my experience before choosing this company.
A representative of American Dream knocked on my door in April and told me that my roof may have been damaged in a recent storm, offering a free inspection. Free is free, so I agreed, and sure enough I had extensive damage. American Dream was good enough to handle the entire process from that point, contacting my insurance company, arranging an inspection with their adjustors, and securing the funds to replace my roof for the cost of my deductible.
While I had many options available to contract for the roof replacement, I chose American Dream mainly because they had been so helpful in every phase of the project to this point, but also because of their A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and their purported commitment to quality, including a 30 year warranty. To that point I was extremely happy with American Dream, but afterwards it's been much less satisfying.
To begin with, the crew that showed up to perform the work in May, was from a different company altogether. While I understand the concept and purpose of sub-contracting, ultimately, American Dream must take responsibility if that sub-contractor does inferior work, because it's their own reputation at stake. Well, that sub-contractor did do inferior work, but American Dream has gone MIA. My calls go to voice-mail. My emails go unanswered.
The first time American Dream reached out to me was when a representative of their company came to my house in July and demanded payment for the work. I informed him that I had been complaining about the work, and took him around the house and showed him all of the areas where shingles had been installed incorrectly, creating waves that would direct water straight towards the most vulnerable areas of the roof. He assured me that this was perfectly normal, and that those waves would flatten out in just a few weeks. I disagreed since it had already been 2 months, and informed him that I would not pay until the issue was addressed.
He said he would be able to get a crew scheduled to come out if I paid a portion of the amount due. While I thought this resolution sounded very fair, the amount he demanded was the entire amount, less the deductible. I offered less, and he insisted there was no way to get a crew scheduled otherwise, and would accept nothing less than the full amount. I had no choice if I wanted the work fixed. So I wrote the check as requested, less the deductible.
A few days later, I received a nasty letter from American Dream, informing me that my withholding of the deductible constituted nothing less than insurance fraud. So, of course, I paid the deductible as well. Now, American Dream has all of the money, and no further reason to come back and address the issue, as evidenced by their inability to schedule a crew for what amounts to an hour or two of work, at most.
I have no further leverage in the situation, and if I contract with another roofer at this point to fix the problem, then the 30 year warranty will be in jeopardy. If I do nothing, it will be winter soon, and if this winter is anything like the last, then those improperly installed shingles could allow my roof to become seriously damaged. In that case, I would have to rely on the 30 year warranty, which is an iffy proposition at best, from a company that won't take my calls or respond to my emails.
It's not clear to me how this company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau when they are so willing to bait and switch with inferior contractors, strong-arm for payment, and then abandon me altogether once they had my money. I find it difficult to believe that I am their first victim given the brazen, unapologetic actions they've taken. While I am not sure that you have any more power than I do to resolve the situation, nor do I expect you to, I do hope that you have some mechanism available to warn other consumers before they make the same mistake.
Company recruits by promising high commisisions and advancement but you never really make more than what they want to Pay (maybe $ 500 to 600 per week minus gas expenses)regardless of you success in getting homwowners to sign , get approved or get roofs built. You end up with little pay and little commisisons during the slow process of getting roofs built is complete and all the problems with reckless nstallations get added up . 25 to 40 % commisions is fiction once the accounting dept gets finiished with creative cost accounting and errors you end up paying for through no fault of yours. Many deals are wiritten can credited to other senior sales staff and you end up wasting your time and effort following their bogus system of canvassing and haphazard territory assignments. Management is bogus. sad but true , The employee turnover is tremendous , like movie patrons getting out after a terrible movie , you can nver recover the wasted time and money.
We had American Dream Home Improvements replace a wind damaged roof on June 21st 2014, it is now August 7th, 2014. First word of advise to any considering this company to perform work on your house BEWARE! In our contract it states that the contractor who will perform the work will be OWENS CORNING CERTIFIED, not true... the contractor who was supposed to do the job sub-contracted it out to a family member, who I personally I wouldn't let roof a barn the work was so bad. So to make everyone aware as to what the job was like I will start from the beginning. The sub-contractors showed up on a day where storms were in the forecast for our region. Mistake #1. They proceeded to tear off the entire roof knowing rain was forecasted. Mistake #2. While two laborers were carrying shingles up on the roof two other laborers were papering it, the job boss was out getting " more supplies ", well one of the guys carrying shingles stepped through the decking above my garage, he told the other employees what he done and they laughed at him and told him to be careful. The guys papering the roof then proceeded to cover the hole with paper, now had I not been outside at the time and heard all of this and seen where the guy had went through nothing would have been done or said and that part of the roof would have been shingled over without our knowing. Mistake #3. The reason these guys did not stop to fix this hole is because the boss was out with the truck, they had no wood nor a saw in which to cut said wood ( my opinion) to replace the area of the hole. I stopped their production and made them get off my roof and wait til their boss came back. After the boss got back he said they had no authority to purchase decking to fix the hole, so he called someone and said they gave him permission to purchase up to three sheets of decking. I said OK, yet no one went to get the decking and another area was stepped through again. Rain was moving in and there wasn't a single shingle placed on my roof at this time. I told them they needed to stop and fix the roof with new decking before continuing. Their boss again got on the phone and he said he could get a hold of anyone about the decking so I asked how much was needed to fix the roof, the reply I got was fifty sheets. It is my roof and I want it done right so I went and purchased the fifty sheets of decking. While I was gone it started raining and they covered the roof with tarps that had huge gapping holes that allowed water to go into my attic and throughout my garage. Mistake #4. I run an Auto Repair Business from my garage and all of my equipment got soaked, thousands of dollars worth of tools and machinery that should never be exposed to water was. Got back from getting the decking and seen all of this damage, thankfully my wife instructed these guys to move the equipment to areas of the garage where water was not coming in, otherwise I would have lost it all. Rain stopped long enough for them to put new decking on the roof, however; the amount they requested was short according to them by ten additional pieces. I went again to purchase these sheets, it rained some more while I was gone. Got back and seen more water had come in was not very happy about this. The other ten sheets were put on the roof and again was told that they were short by three more sheets. (wondered to myself does not anyone on this crew know what a tape measure was and how to use it and do the math to know how much decking was actually needed?) Pretty irate with this install at this time. After job was completed on day two, I went up and found several issues on the roof due to seeing water stains in three of my upstairs rooms both at outside walls and inside walls. What I found was step flashing had not been replaced, and even old flashing around my chimney was the original and had not been replaced. So upon contacting the company about several minor issues such as water damage to ceilings and personal property that was stored in garage up in the rafters, along with the other minor issues on the installation such as removing my satellite dish and dropping it two stories to the ground below, two areas of ripped/torn siding, trash left all over the yard along with nails to which I am still finding, the areas of flashing not being replace, they decided to send out the area supervisor to inspect the job. This man proceeded to tell my wife and I that he had given permission to the crew to replace the decking and they were authorized to purchase whatever was needed, he then seemed to be appalled that I had went and purchased this decking loaded it and brought it to my home by myself without any assistance from the crew. He said and I will quote " no homeowner is required to purchase any supplies needed to perform the job they contracted to do." He then made a phone call and advised my wife and I that " the owner of the company said we were to be reimbursed for the $900.00 worth of decking and we would not be expected to pay the installation fees associated with it." He assured us that he would get that crew back out here to my home and correct all that had been done wrong he even took several pictures of the work as well. He took pictures of the receipts showing the cost of the wood. Well the original job boss came out and spent several hours doing "repairs" His nephew who sub-contracted came out a week later because it had taken over two weeks for my ceilings to dry well enough they could be painted. He just spot painted the stains and said he would come back and apply a second coat just to make sure they were gone... here it is day 47 and he shows back up with instructions from the Service Manager to repaint all of the ceilings not just the spots that are still showing signs of damage, the guy comes in and says he is here to repaint the spots and my wife said "no Jason Krueger said you are to paint the whole ceiling in each room" he then tell my wife that he is not going to do that unless she signs a waiver that he wouldn't be responsible for any property damage that may occur from painting the ceilings??? What the hell is that " damages to property from painting ceilings"? He proceeded to argue with my wife about doing the complete ceiling and I reach my point of hearing this and told him to leave my house. It has now been agreed upon that we will get estimates for the cost of having our ceilings painted professionally. It has been conferred that we are to come up with a reasonable estimate about property that cannot be replaced because of water damage, and that another American Dream Home Improvements crew will come out on a date yet to be determined, to replace the flashing that was supposed to have been replaced in the first place. Also we do not have to pay for the installation of the new roof decking but the Area Manager had no authority to tell us that we would be reimbursed for the cost of the decking and that they would not do that. I do believe that since there was a violation on American Dream Home Improvements part of the contract saying the crew doing the work would be OWENS CORNING CERTIFIED and they were not then the verbal contract made by their companies representative for full reimbursement can and should be honored. I have allowed my wife free rein over this matter and believe me it has been very stressful around my house for the past 47 days. I have finally decided that I have had enough of the bullshit (excuse my language) and am myself getting involved and I am not as passive as my wife. American Dream Home Improvement has been notified that they have got thirteen days to make things right otherwise there will be legal action taken. I will let a Judge decide the value of hand painted family portraits that were done in Europe forty some odd years ago and of Christmas ornaments that have been passed down several generations, and some that were custom made for my daughter from her grandmother who has since passed away. American Dream Home Improvements Service Manager told me moments ago that I need to come up with reasonable estimate on these items, tell me people how does one go back in time when they were a teenager and sit for countless hours so that an artist can paint a portrait, what would that cost today? I impose upon anyone reading this too please comment and tell me if I'm wrong in saying that they (American Dream Home Improvements) owes me and my family more than they were paid for the roof they just threw on my house.
I used this roofing company, American Dream Home Improvement, that was suggested my my real estate agent. Not sure if she is getting a kick back but wow was I taken for a ride.
They were over 2 weeks late on the job, took down my gutter and spouts and left them off for a week and a half. When I asked why I was told the only reason they are needed is so that your hair does not get wet when you walk into the house. Did not put flashing on correctly, incorrectly put on ice and shield.
Needlesas to say, I called over 20 times with complaints and most ignored. Most phone calls not returned and when they were they told me they were doing me the favor.
Well the lack of workmanship left my family room and bedroom filled with water that was seeping through the wall because the flashing was not on correctly or not on at all in some spots. I am now in fear of mold, bad drywall and wet electrical sockets.
When I called about this water catastophe and sent pictures, not one phone call was returned back to me. Needless to say, they will not see another dime from me or my inusurance company. I will be talking with an attorney and hope that Allstate takes legal action as well.
This company is horrible. The work that was done on our roof seemed good until 6 months later we started receiving water in our attic. The installation of gutters was beyond shoddy, the gutters poured water into our basement and during the rain and winter water ran through the sides of the gutters down into our foundation causing mold and dampness in the basement. The company also has illegally attempted to obtain thousands of dollars having we paid them the amount that was quoted to us in full. They have posted yellow notices on our door, and reported fraudulently to the credit bureau. We have obtained an Attorney. Do not do business with American Dream home improvements.
American Dream Home @@***??? I will never do business with or recommend them to build a doghouse. They are totally untrustworthy.
1) In November of 2014, their sales rep. inspected my roof and helped get the insurance approval for replacing the hail damaged roof, my stipulation was that it be done in the spring, rather than the damp snowy weather. There was an area missing a shingle or two and the were supposed to put temporary protection on the area. IT DID NOT HAPPEN.
2) They showed up in mid-February, just after a snowfall and wanted to work, no one on the crew understood English and spoke very little English. I called American Dream and the assured me that it was an experienced, well trained crew and would do the work correctly. The shingles were in my driveway covered in snow and ice. They returned 2 day later with the temperature in the 40's and began work telling my my objections were unreasonable (per the shingle manufacturer, cold weather installs are okay providing the shingles be keep in warm location for normalization before installation).
3) There was money in the claim to replace a portion of the gutters, the crew removed all of the gutters around the house; when asked why, the crew supervisor could not understand or explain. ADHI told me that it was done so the the gutter crew could come out to put up the gutters (arrived two weeks later; oh and by the way, when I called regarding the long wait for gutters, the sales rep. forgot to put them on order). There was a heavy rainfall starting about 11 PM on March 7th and continuing until late March 8th. The patio that was just build in late Sept., had all of the sand washed out of the joints on the stoop and it began to sink where the heavy rain came cascading off of the roof. They would only pay $200 for the damage. The extra work I had the contractor do to build the stoop cost $1,500.
The insurance covered the removal and re-installation of the satellite dish on the roof. I had to call the dish company to put the dish back on the roof; when the dish tech arrived the dish was nowhere to be found. After searching everywhere, the tech found the dish in the trash trailer left be the roofing crew, it was broken. They never notified me of the problem.
4) It took 3 return trips to fix the problems I and the Village Inspector found with the roof flashing that looked horrible.
5) On June 6th, during a heavy rain, the over-hung roof for the garage began to leak. This area had a previous leak in another spot two years ago and was repaired by another contractor and it never leaked again, now the leak is in a different area to the overhang. I called ADHI to have someone come out and was told to take pictures; so, to my misfortune I did and fell from the ladder onto the concrete floor. I am 70 years old with sever neuropathy, fortunately, nothing was broken, just bruised and hurting.
6) On June 4th, I gave the final payment to ADHI. Today June 12th, I received a bill for the gutters that their experienced, well trained crew took down in February.
#2, make video, exaggerate, sell the claim (100% scripted)
#3, if no hail or wind damage, pressure for a claim anyway
#4, whoever insurance is say "we work well with them"
#5, call in the claim (together with homeowner)
#6, get homeowner to tell us adjustor's inspection time (most important, meet adjustor exactly when they stop by or else
#7, tell everyone they have damage, hail or wind, up to 1 year from last storm, even if area was worked by their own and other crews actively for the last year
#8, employees must USE OWN LADDER, its their fault if they fall and cannot work to come back, not ADHI fault
#8, meet with adjustor, focus on independents who will "buy the roof" easier, always act shocked if they don't want to buy it, realize adjustor could have a bad day, try it again, keep in good graces
Know which adjustors on which buy roof easy, maintain good relations with adjustor, EVERYthing to stay on good side. Don't pre-judge, no damage at all but sometimes they buy it. Learn everything about adjustors, area they work, collect all information about them. Last thing adjustor wants, unrelated homeowner, to file a complaint with the department of insurance, trump card for highest level, could cost him his job, fear. Weapon for bad adjustors not buying roofs, DOI, problem adjustors cost alot, go away.
Make employees spend their time, inputting data by unpaid labor
1. FREE, Employees input leads into "build fly" system, leads for their mailers
2. FREE, Employee bandwidth for inputting their leads all free
5. Make GPS locator enabled employees, log IN on the clock into build fly system
6. Make employees take lunch 1pm-2.30 pm
7. Make employees pass out their flyers, for free
8. Even their top salesperson in the office(5 years at Downers Grove), finally paid back draws to actually receive commissions, 2-3 years ago
9. Even if employees make it to the point, of paying back all the draws, and actually making commissions, the day they leave, all commissions in progress, are NOT PAID, default into the company coffers. If a homeowner refuses to pay their deductible to American Dream Home Improvement, that last portion, is purported to come 100% out of the employees pay, to have never been paid, despite the fact, that American Dream Home Improvement has been paid.
10. The contractors they use, are INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, and NOT allowed to have any information on their vehicles, disclosing to the general public they are NOT AMERICAN DREAM HOME EMPLOYEES, but independent contractors, also dictating responsibility for injuries, etc. Independent Contractors, are CHARGED BACK, by American Dream Home Improvements. Sometimes, on charge backs, employees are receiving no pay, on the jobs that are even done as commission because of miscommunication and disputes between contractor, American Dream Home and Homeowner.
11. The strategy, is to keep the INDEPENDENT SUBCONTRACTORS, so busy, that they are UNABLE to market or work to get any other jobs. They also are DEPRIVED from soliciting ANY REFERRALS in the neighborhood, or doing any marketing or letting any homeowner know, about their services. Therefore, the INDEPENDENT SUBCONTRACTORS, are trapped into the same carrot & stick approach as the employees. All American Dream Home Improvement win, all subcontractor & employee losses.
Commissions Paid to employees
25% of net profit (calculated by company), how much is paid, after paying back loans/draws/advances. Even workmans comp is deducted as a cost calculation before calculating net profit. It would be interesting to see, exactly how their policy is, on calculating net profit, if it has been consistent, tweaked, and modified, to lower the gross profit amount, to minimize commisions.
They have a large contract, they expect all new employees to sign, start employees in training, before they sign it, last minute activity and must collect contract, no negotiations, no changes, sign or leave, unconsionable, no power, employees receive NO copy of contract.
Bottom line, all employees, they see the SUCKERS, walking into the office, know they aren't going to be paid, you have the label "dummy" written all over you, they'll then tell you how smart you are. All office people know, have seen the endless training programs, of 12-16 employees at a time, as many training programs as they can get, they'll keep training people, because nobody will stay, especially when they learn American Dream Home Improvement, does NOT pay their employees, scam the homeowners into filing false claims with insurance, control the adjustors with the carrot and stick approach, and make money, laughing all the way to the bank, building and expanding into new territories, with the obscene profits that they make.
Nothing but an on-going headache, following a substantial hailstorm. My mistake, I will take credit for choosing this company over many others, however, not anything close to being satisified. In a nutshell, materials not delivered where and when speciified. Clean-up on-going, I keep finding debris in my yard and landscaping. $8,000 check lost in their accounting department, sky-light glitches for almost 2 months, etc... This is my favortie part, the permit was posted on my house for months, I call my city inseption department and find that noone from American Dream called in for the insepction! So I got myself on the list. When talking to AD, they admitted it slipped by, change of staff. Luckily my check was "found" and an adjusted billed came withing days! Oh, I forgot I was being charged for many items that were never addressed. Numerous other issues, not a quality American service.
This icing on the cake was today, I find a bright orange sticker on my door threatening me to take action! Seriousl, I don't know if the repairs passed inspection. Now I have to scrap off the remants from a crappy sticker on my new door. I will be looking for the most pricey handiman I can find and deduct that from the balance.
I'm thinking about hiring a lawyer, this is a joke that continues.....maybe it would be worth throwing away a few more $$$ to get a little satisfaction!
American Dream Home Improvement, Inc. Reviews
I started working at American Dream Home Improvment being promised $50 to $100,000 a year, so of course i said where can i sign up.Soon after I learned about their almost impossible point system.If you dont earn enough ponts that week you dont get paid?That is when i stared looking into the company, customers and former employees all with similar complaints.The company gives you a pitch for when the homeowner answers the door which seems normal but to tell homeowners they have damage even if they dont just in hopes the insurance adjuster approves it anyway,thats where i had to draw the line.
I started to realize the company was up to something when i had worked over 40 hours and had 2.5 points and needed 20 just to get a paycheck.They blind you at first with a big brand new fancy truck so they can begin making money off of you while you work your butt off for nothing or close to it (not to mention anything you might make goes into that big fancy truck since you have to pay for your own gas)I would refer anybody who decides to take a job with adhi dont.They are a huge pyramid scheme built for you to work hard as hell and get nothing while the top guys sit on their butt and make bank at your expense.
The company basically has it set up for you to work 24/7 day or night have your phone up your anus more or less.I kept bugging management about my paycheck they told me monday for 2 weeks.Not to mention they tell you to pretty much stalk people that tell you no (which people arent very reseptive to and who could blame them)They basically want you to scare people with the word leak and screw the homeowner out of their deductible and the insurance company out of thousands of dollars.They also tell you that you cant copy anything out of their employee handbook and must turn it in when you seperate your self from the company in order to recieve your final pay.Why? I think its so then you cant proove anything against them.This company some how still gets an A+ from the better business bureau I personally think this company needs investigated and shut down
My journey with ADHI started with pleasant, prompt quotes & responses. Once we agreed on a price it fell apart. When we had questions our calls & emails were ignored. We were told work would start Aug. 19 but didn't actually start until Sept.9.
When roof was complete they damaged 7 of our 10 month old windows, part of our new deck and was a mess. When the siding crew came to complete the job they did things the quick easy way rather than the proper way. For example, replacing the window wraps damaged by roofers they did not remove the old but rather covered them and in doing so cut them too short resulting in us having to recaulk to seal properly.
When we finally were ready to be done with this miserable experience we got an invoice for almost $10,000 MORE than we agreed on. When contacting them about this we went back to the ditch & dodge game. I emailed/called 3 people to voice my concern and finally a week later from my first call got a reply from yet a fourth person only to still not have answers.
When I DO get a hold of someone they talk over me because they don't want to hear the disappointing saga of their company and belittle me with rude comments.
I cannot wait until this is over! Will not recommend this company to anyone! Next step will be a complaint to BBB. As of right now, the only way I will be satisfied is a final invoice lower than agreed due to the upset & STRESS this caused my home. I can't even enjoy the work done because I'm so worried & upset about what deceitful step they will take next
I wanted to inform you about American Dream Home Improvement of Downers Grove and their deceptive business practices. I have been taken advantage of, and I would like to alert others thinking of working with this company to heed my experience before choosing this company.
A representative of American Dream knocked on my door in April and told me that my roof may have been damaged in a recent storm, offering a free inspection. Free is free, so I agreed, and sure enough I had extensive damage. American Dream was good enough to handle the entire process from that point, contacting my insurance company, arranging an inspection with their adjustors, and securing the funds to replace my roof for the cost of my deductible.
While I had many options available to contract for the roof replacement, I chose American Dream mainly because they had been so helpful in every phase of the project to this point, but also because of their A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and their purported commitment to quality, including a 30 year warranty. To that point I was extremely happy with American Dream, but afterwards it's been much less satisfying.
To begin with, the crew that showed up to perform the work in May, was from a different company altogether. While I understand the concept and purpose of sub-contracting, ultimately, American Dream must take responsibility if that sub-contractor does inferior work, because it's their own reputation at stake. Well, that sub-contractor did do inferior work, but American Dream has gone MIA. My calls go to voice-mail. My emails go unanswered.
The first time American Dream reached out to me was when a representative of their company came to my house in July and demanded payment for the work. I informed him that I had been complaining about the work, and took him around the house and showed him all of the areas where shingles had been installed incorrectly, creating waves that would direct water straight towards the most vulnerable areas of the roof. He assured me that this was perfectly normal, and that those waves would flatten out in just a few weeks. I disagreed since it had already been 2 months, and informed him that I would not pay until the issue was addressed.
He said he would be able to get a crew scheduled to come out if I paid a portion of the amount due. While I thought this resolution sounded very fair, the amount he demanded was the entire amount, less the deductible. I offered less, and he insisted there was no way to get a crew scheduled otherwise, and would accept nothing less than the full amount. I had no choice if I wanted the work fixed. So I wrote the check as requested, less the deductible.
A few days later, I received a nasty letter from American Dream, informing me that my withholding of the deductible constituted nothing less than insurance fraud. So, of course, I paid the deductible as well. Now, American Dream has all of the money, and no further reason to come back and address the issue, as evidenced by their inability to schedule a crew for what amounts to an hour or two of work, at most.
I have no further leverage in the situation, and if I contract with another roofer at this point to fix the problem, then the 30 year warranty will be in jeopardy. If I do nothing, it will be winter soon, and if this winter is anything like the last, then those improperly installed shingles could allow my roof to become seriously damaged. In that case, I would have to rely on the 30 year warranty, which is an iffy proposition at best, from a company that won't take my calls or respond to my emails.
It's not clear to me how this company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau when they are so willing to bait and switch with inferior contractors, strong-arm for payment, and then abandon me altogether once they had my money. I find it difficult to believe that I am their first victim given the brazen, unapologetic actions they've taken. While I am not sure that you have any more power than I do to resolve the situation, nor do I expect you to, I do hope that you have some mechanism available to warn other consumers before they make the same mistake.
Company recruits by promising high commisisions and advancement but you never really make more than what they want to Pay (maybe $ 500 to 600 per week minus gas expenses)regardless of you success in getting homwowners to sign , get approved or get roofs built. You end up with little pay and little commisisons during the slow process of getting roofs built is complete and all the problems with reckless nstallations get added up . 25 to 40 % commisions is fiction once the accounting dept gets finiished with creative cost accounting and errors you end up paying for through no fault of yours. Many deals are wiritten can credited to other senior sales staff and you end up wasting your time and effort following their bogus system of canvassing and haphazard territory assignments. Management is bogus. sad but true , The employee turnover is tremendous , like movie patrons getting out after a terrible movie , you can nver recover the wasted time and money.
Last Chance to get it right
We had American Dream Home Improvements replace a wind damaged roof on June 21st 2014, it is now August 7th, 2014. First word of advise to any considering this company to perform work on your house BEWARE! In our contract it states that the contractor who will perform the work will be OWENS CORNING CERTIFIED, not true... the contractor who was supposed to do the job sub-contracted it out to a family member, who I personally I wouldn't let roof a barn the work was so bad. So to make everyone aware as to what the job was like I will start from the beginning. The sub-contractors showed up on a day where storms were in the forecast for our region. Mistake #1. They proceeded to tear off the entire roof knowing rain was forecasted. Mistake #2. While two laborers were carrying shingles up on the roof two other laborers were papering it, the job boss was out getting " more supplies ", well one of the guys carrying shingles stepped through the decking above my garage, he told the other employees what he done and they laughed at him and told him to be careful. The guys papering the roof then proceeded to cover the hole with paper, now had I not been outside at the time and heard all of this and seen where the guy had went through nothing would have been done or said and that part of the roof would have been shingled over without our knowing. Mistake #3. The reason these guys did not stop to fix this hole is because the boss was out with the truck, they had no wood nor a saw in which to cut said wood ( my opinion) to replace the area of the hole. I stopped their production and made them get off my roof and wait til their boss came back. After the boss got back he said they had no authority to purchase decking to fix the hole, so he called someone and said they gave him permission to purchase up to three sheets of decking. I said OK, yet no one went to get the decking and another area was stepped through again. Rain was moving in and there wasn't a single shingle placed on my roof at this time. I told them they needed to stop and fix the roof with new decking before continuing. Their boss again got on the phone and he said he could get a hold of anyone about the decking so I asked how much was needed to fix the roof, the reply I got was fifty sheets. It is my roof and I want it done right so I went and purchased the fifty sheets of decking. While I was gone it started raining and they covered the roof with tarps that had huge gapping holes that allowed water to go into my attic and throughout my garage. Mistake #4. I run an Auto Repair Business from my garage and all of my equipment got soaked, thousands of dollars worth of tools and machinery that should never be exposed to water was. Got back from getting the decking and seen all of this damage, thankfully my wife instructed these guys to move the equipment to areas of the garage where water was not coming in, otherwise I would have lost it all. Rain stopped long enough for them to put new decking on the roof, however; the amount they requested was short according to them by ten additional pieces. I went again to purchase these sheets, it rained some more while I was gone. Got back and seen more water had come in was not very happy about this. The other ten sheets were put on the roof and again was told that they were short by three more sheets. (wondered to myself does not anyone on this crew know what a tape measure was and how to use it and do the math to know how much decking was actually needed?) Pretty irate with this install at this time. After job was completed on day two, I went up and found several issues on the roof due to seeing water stains in three of my upstairs rooms both at outside walls and inside walls. What I found was step flashing had not been replaced, and even old flashing around my chimney was the original and had not been replaced. So upon contacting the company about several minor issues such as water damage to ceilings and personal property that was stored in garage up in the rafters, along with the other minor issues on the installation such as removing my satellite dish and dropping it two stories to the ground below, two areas of ripped/torn siding, trash left all over the yard along with nails to which I am still finding, the areas of flashing not being replace, they decided to send out the area supervisor to inspect the job. This man proceeded to tell my wife and I that he had given permission to the crew to replace the decking and they were authorized to purchase whatever was needed, he then seemed to be appalled that I had went and purchased this decking loaded it and brought it to my home by myself without any assistance from the crew. He said and I will quote " no homeowner is required to purchase any supplies needed to perform the job they contracted to do." He then made a phone call and advised my wife and I that " the owner of the company said we were to be reimbursed for the $900.00 worth of decking and we would not be expected to pay the installation fees associated with it." He assured us that he would get that crew back out here to my home and correct all that had been done wrong he even took several pictures of the work as well. He took pictures of the receipts showing the cost of the wood. Well the original job boss came out and spent several hours doing "repairs" His nephew who sub-contracted came out a week later because it had taken over two weeks for my ceilings to dry well enough they could be painted. He just spot painted the stains and said he would come back and apply a second coat just to make sure they were gone... here it is day 47 and he shows back up with instructions from the Service Manager to repaint all of the ceilings not just the spots that are still showing signs of damage, the guy comes in and says he is here to repaint the spots and my wife said "no Jason Krueger said you are to paint the whole ceiling in each room" he then tell my wife that he is not going to do that unless she signs a waiver that he wouldn't be responsible for any property damage that may occur from painting the ceilings??? What the hell is that " damages to property from painting ceilings"? He proceeded to argue with my wife about doing the complete ceiling and I reach my point of hearing this and told him to leave my house. It has now been agreed upon that we will get estimates for the cost of having our ceilings painted professionally. It has been conferred that we are to come up with a reasonable estimate about property that cannot be replaced because of water damage, and that another American Dream Home Improvements crew will come out on a date yet to be determined, to replace the flashing that was supposed to have been replaced in the first place. Also we do not have to pay for the installation of the new roof decking but the Area Manager had no authority to tell us that we would be reimbursed for the cost of the decking and that they would not do that. I do believe that since there was a violation on American Dream Home Improvements part of the contract saying the crew doing the work would be OWENS CORNING CERTIFIED and they were not then the verbal contract made by their companies representative for full reimbursement can and should be honored. I have allowed my wife free rein over this matter and believe me it has been very stressful around my house for the past 47 days. I have finally decided that I have had enough of the bullshit (excuse my language) and am myself getting involved and I am not as passive as my wife. American Dream Home Improvement has been notified that they have got thirteen days to make things right otherwise there will be legal action taken. I will let a Judge decide the value of hand painted family portraits that were done in Europe forty some odd years ago and of Christmas ornaments that have been passed down several generations, and some that were custom made for my daughter from her grandmother who has since passed away. American Dream Home Improvements Service Manager told me moments ago that I need to come up with reasonable estimate on these items, tell me people how does one go back in time when they were a teenager and sit for countless hours so that an artist can paint a portrait, what would that cost today? I impose upon anyone reading this too please comment and tell me if I'm wrong in saying that they (American Dream Home Improvements) owes me and my family more than they were paid for the roof they just threw on my house.
I used this roofing company, American Dream Home Improvement, that was suggested my my real estate agent. Not sure if she is getting a kick back but wow was I taken for a ride.
They were over 2 weeks late on the job, took down my gutter and spouts and left them off for a week and a half. When I asked why I was told the only reason they are needed is so that your hair does not get wet when you walk into the house. Did not put flashing on correctly, incorrectly put on ice and shield.
Needlesas to say, I called over 20 times with complaints and most ignored. Most phone calls not returned and when they were they told me they were doing me the favor.
Well the lack of workmanship left my family room and bedroom filled with water that was seeping through the wall because the flashing was not on correctly or not on at all in some spots. I am now in fear of mold, bad drywall and wet electrical sockets.
When I called about this water catastophe and sent pictures, not one phone call was returned back to me. Needless to say, they will not see another dime from me or my inusurance company. I will be talking with an attorney and hope that Allstate takes legal action as well.
Karen
Orland Park IL
Thieves
This company is horrible. The work that was done on our roof seemed good until 6 months later we started receiving water in our attic. The installation of gutters was beyond shoddy, the gutters poured water into our basement and during the rain and winter water ran through the sides of the gutters down into our foundation causing mold and dampness in the basement. The company also has illegally attempted to obtain thousands of dollars having we paid them the amount that was quoted to us in full. They have posted yellow notices on our door, and reported fraudulently to the credit bureau. We have obtained an Attorney. Do not do business with American Dream home improvements.
American Dream Home @@***??? I will never do business with or recommend them to build a doghouse. They are totally untrustworthy.
1) In November of 2014, their sales rep. inspected my roof and helped get the insurance approval for replacing the hail damaged roof, my stipulation was that it be done in the spring, rather than the damp snowy weather. There was an area missing a shingle or two and the were supposed to put temporary protection on the area. IT DID NOT HAPPEN.
2) They showed up in mid-February, just after a snowfall and wanted to work, no one on the crew understood English and spoke very little English. I called American Dream and the assured me that it was an experienced, well trained crew and would do the work correctly. The shingles were in my driveway covered in snow and ice. They returned 2 day later with the temperature in the 40's and began work telling my my objections were unreasonable (per the shingle manufacturer, cold weather installs are okay providing the shingles be keep in warm location for normalization before installation).
3) There was money in the claim to replace a portion of the gutters, the crew removed all of the gutters around the house; when asked why, the crew supervisor could not understand or explain. ADHI told me that it was done so the the gutter crew could come out to put up the gutters (arrived two weeks later; oh and by the way, when I called regarding the long wait for gutters, the sales rep. forgot to put them on order). There was a heavy rainfall starting about 11 PM on March 7th and continuing until late March 8th. The patio that was just build in late Sept., had all of the sand washed out of the joints on the stoop and it began to sink where the heavy rain came cascading off of the roof. They would only pay $200 for the damage. The extra work I had the contractor do to build the stoop cost $1,500.
The insurance covered the removal and re-installation of the satellite dish on the roof. I had to call the dish company to put the dish back on the roof; when the dish tech arrived the dish was nowhere to be found. After searching everywhere, the tech found the dish in the trash trailer left be the roofing crew, it was broken. They never notified me of the problem.
4) It took 3 return trips to fix the problems I and the Village Inspector found with the roof flashing that looked horrible.
5) On June 6th, during a heavy rain, the over-hung roof for the garage began to leak. This area had a previous leak in another spot two years ago and was repaired by another contractor and it never leaked again, now the leak is in a different area to the overhang. I called ADHI to have someone come out and was told to take pictures; so, to my misfortune I did and fell from the ladder onto the concrete floor. I am 70 years old with sever neuropathy, fortunately, nothing was broken, just bruised and hurting.
6) On June 4th, I gave the final payment to ADHI. Today June 12th, I received a bill for the gutters that their experienced, well trained crew took down in February.
PURPOSE: warn other victims that may become lured in (beware):
American Dream Home Improvement, highlyprofitable:WHY+HOW?
Scam employees, scam Homeowner, scam Adjustors, scam Insurance co's
Fast expansion is true. Why? Because:
1. all employees not staying 80 hrs (receive no pay)
2. departing long term employees, no pay for claims in process not yet paid
3. payments made are called "draw", "loans", "advances"
4. Employees are scammed, Subcontractors are scammed, departing employees are scammed, insurance companies are scammed & homeowners are scammed
Employee Scam Free Payroll, Employees do not receive verbally proimsed pay
1. No Training pay+ No Field pay (counterdicting verbal promises $100/day)
2. Timing of paychecks, 2 weeks from start,
ADHI'S Human Resources written EMAIL RESPONSE: "nothing paid out unless 40 hours reached in first week per employee agreement"
Everything they say+do: timed/scripted, precision executed
1. Seduce victim how wealthy they are, tell you a w2 figure, lure you in
2. Tell victim (Everything) is paid $100/day and commissions
3. Tell victim state of the art training (its exclusively to learn a script)
4. Questions, tell employee "we're not there yet", "we'll cover that later"
Everything scripted, crafted pitch (employee, homeowner, adjustor)
Step#1, get on homeowners roof (100% scripted)
#2, make video, exaggerate, sell the claim (100% scripted)
#3, if no hail or wind damage, pressure for a claim anyway
#4, whoever insurance is say "we work well with them"
#5, call in the claim (together with homeowner)
#6, get homeowner to tell us adjustor's inspection time (most important, meet adjustor exactly when they stop by or else
#7, tell everyone they have damage, hail or wind, up to 1 year from last storm, even if area was worked by their own and other crews actively for the last year
#8, employees must USE OWN LADDER, its their fault if they fall and cannot work to come back, not ADHI fault
#8, meet with adjustor, focus on independents who will "buy the roof" easier, always act shocked if they don't want to buy it, realize adjustor could have a bad day, try it again, keep in good graces
Know which adjustors on which buy roof easy, maintain good relations with adjustor, EVERYthing to stay on good side. Don't pre-judge, no damage at all but sometimes they buy it. Learn everything about adjustors, area they work, collect all information about them. Last thing adjustor wants, unrelated homeowner, to file a complaint with the department of insurance, trump card for highest level, could cost him his job, fear. Weapon for bad adjustors not buying roofs, DOI, problem adjustors cost alot, go away.
Make employees spend their time, inputting data by unpaid labor
1. FREE, Employees input leads into "build fly" system, leads for their mailers
2. FREE, Employee bandwidth for inputting their leads all free
3. FREE, Employee gas, purchase of office equipment, ladder, clip board
4. Make employees work from 9am until 9pm
5. Make GPS locator enabled employees, log IN on the clock into build fly system
6. Make employees take lunch 1pm-2.30 pm
7. Make employees pass out their flyers, for free
8. Even their top salesperson in the office(5 years at Downers Grove), finally paid back draws to actually receive commissions, 2-3 years ago
9. Even if employees make it to the point, of paying back all the draws, and actually making commissions, the day they leave, all commissions in progress, are NOT PAID, default into the company coffers. If a homeowner refuses to pay their deductible to American Dream Home Improvement, that last portion, is purported to come 100% out of the employees pay, to have never been paid, despite the fact, that American Dream Home Improvement has been paid.
10. The contractors they use, are INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, and NOT allowed to have any information on their vehicles, disclosing to the general public they are NOT AMERICAN DREAM HOME EMPLOYEES, but independent contractors, also dictating responsibility for injuries, etc. Independent Contractors, are CHARGED BACK, by American Dream Home Improvements. Sometimes, on charge backs, employees are receiving no pay, on the jobs that are even done as commission because of miscommunication and disputes between contractor, American Dream Home and Homeowner.
11. The strategy, is to keep the INDEPENDENT SUBCONTRACTORS, so busy, that they are UNABLE to market or work to get any other jobs. They also are DEPRIVED from soliciting ANY REFERRALS in the neighborhood, or doing any marketing or letting any homeowner know, about their services. Therefore, the INDEPENDENT SUBCONTRACTORS, are trapped into the same carrot & stick approach as the employees. All American Dream Home Improvement win, all subcontractor & employee losses.
Commissions Paid to employees
25% of net profit (calculated by company), how much is paid, after paying back loans/draws/advances. Even workmans comp is deducted as a cost calculation before calculating net profit. It would be interesting to see, exactly how their policy is, on calculating net profit, if it has been consistent, tweaked, and modified, to lower the gross profit amount, to minimize commisions.
They have a large contract, they expect all new employees to sign, start employees in training, before they sign it, last minute activity and must collect contract, no negotiations, no changes, sign or leave, unconsionable, no power, employees receive NO copy of contract.
Bottom line, all employees, they see the SUCKERS, walking into the office, know they aren't going to be paid, you have the label "dummy" written all over you, they'll then tell you how smart you are. All office people know, have seen the endless training programs, of 12-16 employees at a time, as many training programs as they can get, they'll keep training people, because nobody will stay, especially when they learn American Dream Home Improvement, does NOT pay their employees, scam the homeowners into filing false claims with insurance, control the adjustors with the carrot and stick approach, and make money, laughing all the way to the bank, building and expanding into new territories, with the obscene profits that they make.
Nothing but an on-going headache, following a substantial hailstorm. My mistake, I will take credit for choosing this company over many others, however, not anything close to being satisified. In a nutshell, materials not delivered where and when speciified. Clean-up on-going, I keep finding debris in my yard and landscaping. $8,000 check lost in their accounting department, sky-light glitches for almost 2 months, etc... This is my favortie part, the permit was posted on my house for months, I call my city inseption department and find that noone from American Dream called in for the insepction! So I got myself on the list. When talking to AD, they admitted it slipped by, change of staff. Luckily my check was "found" and an adjusted billed came withing days! Oh, I forgot I was being charged for many items that were never addressed. Numerous other issues, not a quality American service.
This icing on the cake was today, I find a bright orange sticker on my door threatening me to take action! Seriousl, I don't know if the repairs passed inspection. Now I have to scrap off the remants from a crappy sticker on my new door. I will be looking for the most pricey handiman I can find and deduct that from the balance.
I'm thinking about hiring a lawyer, this is a joke that continues.....maybe it would be worth throwing away a few more $$$ to get a little satisfaction!