Reply from BuildZoomJun 17, 2024
Hi Kent,
We're sorry to hear that this has been your experience with BuildZoom.
Upon reviewing our calls and communications with you, it was definitively clear that there was never a promise of premium achieving your goal budget. In the initial call, our rep let you know a range of costs that the cost of the build could be in. When our reps speak with you about potential costs, we use our internal cost estimating tool, which considers multiple factors such as project type and budget to come up with a rough estimate on what cost could look like for any given project. BuildZoom does not host a suite of contractors that provide us the cost to build. None of the contractors are associated with BuildZoom, and we do not have any leverage in pricing for your project, as well as time frame for the project. The cost to build is heavily reliant on type of materials, land (if it is sloped vs flat), proximity to job site, and other criteria that need to be added into the total cost equation.
During our sourcing for you, we reached out to 41 contractors in the surrounding area to get preliminary estimates before moving forward with the project to ensure there was transparency with the desired scope and budget. From the ones who responded, a couple said the project was too far or out of budget, and 2 opted-in as interested. All in all, throughout the entire time we worked with you, we were transparent to you with the information we had on hand, and we continued to update you throughout the journey once our team had done research into your project specifications at greater length. BuildZoom's Premium service is helpful for property owners because it can help save money throughout the course of a project, mainly in the respect of reducing the change orders that you would typically face if you continued to go with a contractor with a low budget (This is typical from our professional experience). The value you received from your premium service was that you did find that the project is unfeasible (which is not a bad thing), and saved you the time to figure this out by other means and potentially spending much more than the $2400.
Additionally, we billed you only for what was in line with your Premium contract. The contract clearly states that you will be billed for all incomplete work. As a good faith measure and understanding that you wished to cancel your project, we provided you a 50% refund on your second invoice.
I hope that this clarifies your reservations about the Premium service.
