I was referred to zephyr homes by prudential gardner real estate, my agent for prudential assured me that they were the best contractor to go with for renovation. I had to deal with a customer service rep who seemed to dance around all the important questions i had and demanded a $1000 deposit before he would even give me any information. I asked to see the manager and unfortunately was not able to get much further.instead i was pressured to sign an agreement for a price of the renovation, being assured that i was given the best price. I felt like i was in a car dealership dealing with high pressure salesman. I was also told that my house would be exactly as i wanted it and would be finished in 90 days or less.
After giving them a deposit and signing their agreement, i went home and contacted other reputable contractors to give me estimates so that i could compare prices. Every other contractor came in signifigantly less than zephry homes. When i tried to contact zephyr homes to speak to them about this, i kept getting the run around and was not able to get anywhere. I contacted my prudential agent who also tried to get a call back, however, was just as unsucessful as i was with getting a response.
It took almost three months before i could finally get someone on the phone and that was only because they called and told me my final paperwork was ready to be signed. When i went in to the office i was shown papers by a gentleman who claimed to be the "closing manager". He showed me disclosures and became irate every time i questioned the additional charges. The only answer i continued to receive was that they did the most quality work and that i would be completely satified in the end. I also questioned why i had been hearing on the radio zephyr homes commercials that claimed to have renovation costs starting at $44 a square ft. My price was almost three times that. I challenged them to show me a client or scenario where someone was charged $44 so i could compare. Of course they refused and also refused to give me my deposit back.
I was drastically overcharged for my renovation, given an interest rate that was higher than quoted from my own bank because they assured me that their "in house" mortgage system would give me the best rate possible, and later also found out that prudential gardner agents were paid a hefty fee for "referring" clients to zephyr homes. It has been almost seven months since my initial meeting with zephyr homes and had my paperwork signed for over five months.
They have just started work on my house and i have already had complaints from neighbors about the trash left in my yard from their workers as well as the less than presentable appearance of the people that are working in my house. Come to find out also that they claim to have their own "crews" employed. This is incorrect, they hire subs just as everyone else does and most of them dont even speak english. I would like everyone to give a second thought to getting yourself tied up with zephyr homes, they are scam artists and i do not trust them.
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