BuildZoomReviews of buildzoom.com

We hired Fast and Fine Carpentry to rebuild a deck in a Beacon Hill condo. While the carpentry was done as expected and one can even argue that the quality of work was quite good, the owner of this firm is very young with next to no business sense. He had written a very vague quote giving the impression that the total cost was a lot less than what he had expected ($5,100 versus $3,600). Upon realization of his error, he not only never apologized but threatened to sue us as well as placed a mechanics lien on the property. The owner lacks professionalism and experience and, most annoyingly, was hostile, aggressive and even racist in his exchange with us as we endured the ordeal of assessing our true payment. Do not be incentivized by the firm's supposed lower quote to hire it for any work. The confusion and frustration of dealing with it from a business point of view is not worth it.

BuildZoom called me repeatedly after my initial inquiry into what they do for people who are trying to build or remodel their homes. Living in a resort town resulted in finding most contractors beyond reach for months. I was discussing with one contractor my project and had signed a preliminary contract. I told the BuildZoom representative that I had signed this contract and his answer was that they could work with my builder in getting local bids and sub-contractors for the work. To get this help I was to pay an initial fee of $1875. The contract they sent me stated that they did not ask for payment before the section of work they would be performing was completed. Despite this statement, BuildZoom wanted this initial payment right away. No mention was made of it being non-refundable, a fact that only later I found at the very bottom of the agreement. Not being well versed in contracts, fraud, pressure salemen's tactics, etc. and getting ready to spend several hundred thousand dollars worth of work on my home, I thought BuildZoom could help be a "watchdog" on the process. As soon as I gave them my credit card number and started discussing things with some of their team, I was asked to help them get in touch with the contractor (Bill) I had started with locally. But in speaking to Bill he refused to have anything to do with BuildZoom who said that they really couldn't interfere with Bill, but would try to do some things for me anyway. What, exactly, was not clear. I said it didn't sound like it was going to work out, and I felt that I would have to just rely on Bill. I asked for my money back but would be willing to pay them $300 for the few phone calls I had had with one of their team. They said the payment was non-refundable and that was the end of it. I even tried calling to see if I could get SOMETHING for my $1875! After many attempts to get my money returned, even trying to take them to small claims court (I found out after spending more countless hours and an additional $75, that I can't take a company that is registered in another state to small claims court in Colorado, even though BuildZoom is obviously are doing business all over the country on the phone!) The company hires people just to make numerous initial calls to anyone who shows any interest, and pays them according to how many they are able to sign up, with much high pressure on the callers to sign people up. The only recourse now is writing reviews, which I am going to do prodigiously! Please don't get involved with BuildZoom unless you read their reviews! Look them up on the Better Business Bureau website also. It is an unscrupulous company with no conscience. Reply to Buildzoom response: Your service agreement was not clear, it did say that you would charge only for services rendered which I never got. The non-refundable clause was literally the last two words of this 4 page agreement, which was never stated by your phone representative who called repeatedly. The only "service" that was rendered was informing me that you could not work with my contractor after all! which your rep clearly told me you could work with him! How is that not misleading!? I pursued this matter with my credit card company as most people would, since you refused any refund. The only thing they could respond to was your "non-refundable" point. They would not look into the legalities of your contract and conversations. they suggested that I would need a lawyer for that. So I tried small claims next. After spending much time trying to find out where exactly you are located, Scottsdale? San Francisco? I tried to send a certified letter through my local county court. After spending $75 for that privilege I was informed that their instruction sheet had to be revised to say that only businesses owned in Colorado could be sued in small claims. Since Buildzoom works all over the US on the phone and is offering help with my property, I thought they could be held responsible for this work in this state. You say that "even when your contractor declined to collaborate with us" you offered support. First of all, you did not. I asked several times about getting SOMETHING for my $1875 and even though I never signed your cancellation document, you would not even reply to my question as to what you could not do for me. Second, I told you that I had already signed a contract with a contractor here and I was told you could work with my contractor, this all occurred before giving you my money. So that is just not true. You make it sound like you were so helpful, but one I asked for a refund as I could see it was not going to work out, you sent all my emails to your "NO" person. Sure, contracts need to be understood, but companies have an obligation to be honest about the small print and not try to bully folks into incredibly one-sided deals.

I am canceling everything with your company because you don't communicate. I've asked for a phone call several times. Your company obviously is a scam.

Not helpful for customer and Pro Also.. I got a service from a Pros and need to make a review for them about their service but they didn't live my Feedback till now.. Feedback service so bad..

Requested Module home installers, Got nothing but contractors to build modulars. Installation is different than building. I let them know the problem and they still couldn't get me the correct contractor for the quote.

Almost all the leads were fake. Customers do not respond to emails, phone calls of texts. I have only had luck booking two jobs. Went out there and gave Estimates. Both customers not hire us and admitted that they only needed our Estimates because the insurance required them to have 2 competitive Estimates. Buildzoom does not work for me.

You send to many scammer emails after the review... and I don't even remember putting a review on your site... so stop it.

Sooo, apparently BZ didn't like my review and had it removed. Likewise, they also removed my critical review from the BZ website because "the contractor disputed it". Conversely, BZ, Trustpilot and other review sites seem to have no issue with posting positive reviews for BZ that are vague, brief and offer little detail. I will note that the company employed a contractor to do work that he was neither qualified nor permitted to perform resulting in multiple violations and costly repairs on our behalf. When I notified BZ of this they ghosted me. Interestingly, this was a company that somehow had a rating in the 180s (excellent rating). According to BZ's website, their criteria for rating companies is primarily work experience, customer feedback, licensing and certification, responsiveness and communication, and "additional factors". My experience was that this company failed in at least 3 of those categories. BZ decided to ignore my feedback in not posting my experience with this contractor and the result was that their rating was not impacted and other customers will not have the benefit of knowing how this company (aided by BZ) does business. I am truly beginning to wonder whether review sites like Trustpilot and BBB are really more about aligning themselves with businesses and protecting their own self interests than in advocating for and being a resource for consumers.