Krest Homes is a company who cares about their bottom line first, and their clients satisfaction second, if at all.
I purchased my home from Krest in January 2016 with a move in ready date pushed back first to the end of February, and then eventually to April, for a number of reasons; including having them finish my basement, which was part of a handful of projects that Krest promised to complete in a timely fashion to secure the deal.
One of the other projects that Krest committed to complete within weeks of my move in date (April 19, 2016) was to have concrete poured in the back for a back-patio pad, as well as steps, and to lay sod. I saw Mark several times a week in my close, as Krest was completing several new builds in my area. Each time I saw Mark, I would flag him over and ask when my sod would be put in, to which he would reply “should be next week”.
The Landscaping company, Young’s Yard Service came over to look at the work that needed to be done, assessed that it would be smart to wait until the concrete was poured, which I agreed.
Somewhere along the way, someone at Krest neglected to co-ordinate things with the concrete company (who was fantastic to deal with by the way, kudos Cen-Con ) so while I waited patiently for the concrete to be poured, so my sod could be laid, nothing was being done at all in so far as progress, and I was none the wiser, as every time I asked Mark, he assured me “should be next week”.
Finally after much time had passed, the concrete was poured (after I reached out to Krest wondering why it was taking so long), dried, and we were ready for sod. The sod was not installed until the last week of September, 2016. We were advised at that time by James Young, the Landscaper who laid the sod, and whom I have dealt with primarily from that company, to stay off the sod for at least 2 weeks (which is common sense, and can be found anywhere on google). By the second week, the temperatures had plummeted, and frost had made it impossible to mow the grass at all before there was snow on the ground. (see attached graph of the weather from the week the sod was installed to 3 weeks post installation; the link to this information is https://agriculture.alberta.ca/acis/alberta-weather-data-viewer.jsp )
When the snow started to melt, I saw the sod had been completely destroyed. I didn’t know if it was because the sod was laid late, or what, so I reached out to Krest immediately to express my concern. The first week of April, a rep from Krest homes reached out and advised me to wait until the grass was good and dry, (which could take a while because of the direction my lawn faces) and give it a good rake. The landscaper they sought counsel (the same aforementioned Landscaping company) from thought it was mice or moles that did the damage, and that was their recommendation.
After following their advice to a tee, the lawn still looked deplorable, so once again I reached out to Krest with my concern, as at this point, it was the beginning of May, and my children had not been able to play in their lawn at all since we moved in over a year prior. Again, I was dismissed, and talked down to by the Krest representative stating my yard looked like everyone else’s at that time of year. She advised me to just please give it a few more weeks.
At the end of May, the lawn still looked horrible, so again, I reached out to Krest with my frustrated concern at that point.
Their response to me:
“…
I spoke with James (landscaper) again yesterday after forwarding this photo to him. It had already been determined by him, who has been landscaping for 30 plus years and has seen this many times over those years, this damaged was caused by either mice or moles…. Neither Krest Homes or Young Landscaping has control over pets or wild animals and what they do to your lawn, therefore this is not a warrantable issue. The sod was installed correctly and from the pictures we have from last year, the lawn was thriving and looked great….You are also welcome to have a third-party expert come and assess the damage. I would suggest checking with your insurance company to see if this is covered under your home insurance policy…”
I responded that I was extremely dissatisfied at this point, and wanted this looked into by either Kevin or Lise themselves. I felt as though Krest had said what they needed to say to close the deal, and now that they had my money, they had no problem leaving me high and dry.
A meeting was arranged to have James and a representative from Krest discuss the situation with us. Neither Kevin or Lise was at the appointment, rather they sent Mark to deal with it, which wasn’t altogether shocking given how this business seems to run themselves.
At the meeting, it was clear that Mark and James were there only to justify their insistence that they shouldn’t have to pay for it. They told me things like “we had to wait for the concrete to be poured…you had over a month you could have mowed the grass…we never promised you anything….”. Not at any point did either party apologize, or offer any remedy of any kind. When I realized that neither of these companies cared about their client, just their cash, I asked them to leave. They did.
Following the meeting, I received the impending canned letter of acknowledgment that once and for all, it was completely 100% my fault, and no way was Krest going to accept any responsibility for the damage to my lawn.
Here’s the reader’s digest condensed version. Krest promised me I would have my sod within a few weeks of my possession date (April 19, 2016). Krest did not install the sod until the last week of September, 2016. We were told by Young’s Yard Service, who were hired by Krest to lay the sod, to stay off the sod for at least two weeks. After two weeks, there was so much frost, and the temperatures were so cold, it was impossible to mow the grass before the snow came, and the mice and moles had a glorious feast all winter, destroying my yard in the meantime. Krest says too bad, so sad.
Apparently I am to blame. And perhaps I am, for putting my trust into the wrong companies’ hands.
Shame on you Krest Homes, and Young’s Yard Service. Shame on you.
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