I believe that Fortis Homes has an illegal operation going on internally; and perhaps only locally. I believe that these people know exactly what they're doing to attract the consumer and they know exactly how to steal money from them. I also believe that in order for them to deliver a competitive product, they have no choice but to lie, cheat and steal; which is truly unfortunate.
In addition, I believe that their people are trained to plead ignorance when asked specific questions and they are trained to fudge on answers so that they can charge fees, after the fact.
Lastly, I believe that someone will die before there is a complete investigation that will reveal their poor business practices. My only hope is that someone does something before this happens.
Here are my stories...
When I signed a contract for Fortis to build my home, their agent was "new on the job" causing him to make mistakes in the contract and procedures. These mistakes ultimately cost me $500.00.
You see, I was "suppose to" select structural options at the time the contract was signed. However, no one (including their representative) was aware of that.
As a result, Fortis "kindly" agreed to allow me to select options after the oversight was discovered. However, at this point, it became necessary for me to pay for all of my options in full, up front as well as a $500.00 "change fee". The cost were over $1400.00!
After numerous arguements and threats, they later refunded the money I gave them for the options, however, they kept $500.00 as an administrative fee to correct their own employee's mistake! Wow! What a scam.
With this in mind, I suggest that all prospective Fortis home buyers select an attorney before selecting a home. Have the attorney do all the negotiating for you so they can make amendments as appropriate, and/or get you out of a bad faith deal.
I believe that an attorney can prevent you from getting screwed by the "I don't know, I'm sure it will be fine" assurances Fortis uses. Afterall, what they're really saying is, "I'm going to charge you at least $500.00 to answer your questions truthfully!" And "Don't be rediculous! I'm not going to answer your question until you've given me $3,000.00 earnest money that I can keep, if you don't like the answer!"
Unfortunately, I decided to turn the other cheek on that particular incident. Afterall, the house was worth an additional 500.00. I just wish that they had the integrity to ask for it honorably, rather than scam me out of it. My guess is by stealing it in this manner, they pay less taxes or something. Anyway, on to the next infraction.
After moving into my home, I wanted no parts of these people so I intentionally stayed away from them until they started building the house next door. First, they cut my phone line. Once again, I let it go. Second, while moving dirt on a windy day (they're not exactly rocket scientists), my entire house was covered in dirt. The wind was blowing it around so high that you could see the cloud of dusk all the way up to the second floor of my home!
I contacted the construction representative to see if I could arrange for power washing. After all, my newly constructed home now has an orange tint to the driveway, patio, trim, etc. Of course no one has called me back because they're not into service. My recommendation: Ask for a look at the booklet they provide you at closing and count the number of times you see the words no, don't call us, it's not our fault.
This brings me to the most recent situation. They're still building the house next door. I'm hoping that my little boy and I will live through it-LITERALLY.
You see, they struck a power line causing a major power surge in my home. At this point, every major appliance and almost every minor appliance in my entire home has been fried. That's right. A/C, TVs, VCRs, microwave, frig, playstation; you name it. The most frightening part however, is that the repair teams informed me that my son and I would have been fried too if we had been interacting with any of these appliances!
Of course, Fortis has been handling this situation in their normal, non-customer focused way. They contacted me two days after the event to advise me that I had not followed proper procedure by contacting their insurance company. I think what they really meant was "How are we going to cover up this mistake now?"
They also informed me that it was not their fault. Of course, nothing ever is. Actually, it probably is my fault for buying a home from them and actually moving my child and personal belongings into it. Afterall, there's nothing in the contract that says that they will actually let us LIVE in the house. Hmmm...
And so far, it looks like they will be successful in pawning the responsibility off on one or more of their subcontractors. You see, they have no problem screwing their partners either.
The last thing the Fortis rep told me was that she was going to make sure that the insurance company NOT pay the claim.
So what's the end of the story? My son and I are still alive. The insurance folks will in fact pay off at some point because they, unlike builders, answer to a higher authority. And yes, it looks like Fortis will successfully lie their way through this one and have some poor subcontractor take the fall for their poor management.
As for me? I've turned the other cheek twice. However, I take exception to those who have almost killed me and my son. I am therefore filing this report as well as taking other actions that will make me feel much better about the situation.
Ira
Charlotte, North Carolina
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