The Basic Companies reviews

1507561863

Melissa Maressa

google

In response to Ms. Maressa's post: We have been communicating with Ms. Maressa to resolve her issue amicably Before starting the basement finishing project, we applied for permits with her township. The township approved the permits, and inspected and passed all work performed for this project. We have taken the position that we did nothing to compromise the waterproofing system, and that the system itself was not installed or functioning properly. According to Ms. Maressa, she hired an engineering company that was recommended to her by her attorney to determine who was at fault - our company or the waterproofing company. After an onsite visit by the engineering firm, which Ms. Maressa referred to as 3P's, Ms. Maressa stated that 3P's findings were that we compromised the waterproofing system and she requested the we pay her $1,295 to have the waterproofing company to fix the issue. Before we agreed to pay the amount, we requested a written copy of 3P's report and a release of liability from her Attorney after payment was made. Ms. Maressa denied both requests. We tried to contact 3P's Engineering to pay for and obtain a written copy of the report. A search on Google yielded no results for any engineering firm in New Jersey with that name. We remain open to resolving this issue with Ms. Maressa. To do so, we simply need a copy of the report stating that we were at fault and a release from her Attorney stating that after payment is made that we will not be liable for any future water issues. We would appreciate you contacting our office to move forward. Thank you.

1506993997

1

BEWARE! BEWARE! BEWARE! I had them remodel my basement. They punctured my water proofing system by using nails vs. liquid nails which resulted in mold growing in our basement (health concerns) and now will not take ANY accountability. The water proofers (separate contractor) stepped up and fixed the issue right away for us because they were concerned for our health but Basic Basements could care less!!!! I've only requested Basic Basements to replace the moldy molding, a hole in the wall, and pay the balance for the work the water proofers did to fix Basic Basements mistake. As it is, the water proofers absorbed half of that cost so the out of pocket is only $1295.00 and Basic Basements has refused to help. They are requesting documentation that is going to cost me even more $$ out of pocket before they even agree to assist. We are the innocent victims in all this. We spent over $38k (all our savings) to have our basement water proofed and finished and instead of enjoying new construction that we paid for we now have a moldy mess and outstanding debt to correct their mistake! I've reported them to the "call for action" news and better business bureau and will continue to report them because I want other hard working consumers to know to avoid this company at all costs. We trusted in them, they were referred to us and they have done nothing to make this awful situation right!!! They out right refused. Don't make the same mistake we did! Just because they are licensed and insured doesn't mean they are a stand up company that cares about their customers. 10/9/17: Response to Basic Basements comments: What they stated is factual. I have refused to invest yet more money into this situation just to get them to agree to do what is right on their end. Even if we were to take the financial part out, they verbally committed to replacing the moldy trim and are now not taking any action. So again, it goes back to them not caring about their customers. They have made that extremely clear, even more so now based on their response to this. It all comes down to money, and not even caring about the health risk we are facing. We paid for new construction, instead 2 months after the job is finished we have a moldy mess!!!

1451923870

Dave Basner

google

2

Basic Basement is very basic and will do the least amount possible to get the job done and take way too long to do it. There were many issues along the way and while they responded to them, they shouldn't have happened in the first place. Overall, the basement looks good, but only because I had to point out many issues. Our job, which began on October 26, was supposed to be three weeks and wound up being 9 weeks. Even with Thanksgiving in there, this is way to long for a simple basement refinishing. Things started poorly in September, when they sent our inspection paperwork to the wrong address. After a week of waiting for it, I contacted them and the error was discovered. They sent new paperwork and I took time off from work to drop it off at the township, only to be rejected on the spot because the paperwork wasn't signed. That meant more time to get new paperwork, which again wasn't delivered when we were told it would be. Once it was, more time off from work to drop it off. The first of many delays. The framing went well, though one day the guys had to quit halfway through because they ran out of wood. Deliveries were scheduled and I changed around my schedule for them, but then the deliveries didn't happen and that caused more delays. There were things about the job that were completely amateur. Some I pointed out, others I didn't, but had I not requested they be fixed, they would still be like that. Debris clogged our French drain and I asked multiple times to have it corrected. It took until after the trim was put on and three requests later for it to be cleared out. By that point, there was some water that came up. Where the drywall meets the stairs there were gaps that I wanted corrected. I requested this multiple times. Finally they sent over a carpenter to fix a couple issues and while I made a lot of noise about this one, he was never even told about it. Fortunately, a painter we hired separately corrected it (as well as other issues from Basic Basement). This speaks volumes about the annoying communication with Basic Basement. Any issues go through Gail at their office. Gail is not easy to get a hold of and I had emails to her go unanswered for days. Without a cell phone number, the only phone number is her office, which did not get picked up often. The company was supposed to clean around our house and barely did that. I had to tell them three times about trash they left around the house. Even after they finally did pick up some of the remaining stuff, I still had to go around and get a bunch of big stuff that they missed since my kids were touching the pieces of glass and large shards of wood leftover. Additionally, the workers left cigarette butts on our lawn and driveway. (they also had garbage sit for days in our driveway before finally having their truck pick it up. I almost would've preferred a dumpster). They also left massive amounts of drywall dust in our furnace room. Fortunately, by coincidence, PSE&G came by a few weeks after the drywall was installed and pointed out how, because the heaters suck in air, they are sucking in all that dust, which is not at all good for them. PSE&G were kind enough to clean it. When I pointed this out to Basic Basement, I got a call from the co-owner of the business, irate and combative. While I was mistaken about some of the things I thought might happen to the furnace when I wrote them demanding they clean the room, the main point was that it was not good to have all that dust and they should've cleaned it. Nonetheless, he was very aggressive, angry and clearly not into my complaint. In the end however, he did send someone to take care of it. There were some good things: The installation of the frames caused some old pipes to leak, but Basic Basement did immediately send over a plumber who fixed those issues. They did not charge me the $30 or so for the railing they installed.

1601594576

Ashesh Chaudhuri

google

Thank you for your review. We appreciate your business!

1601607507

5

We have been using Basic Companies since 2014. We had them finish our basement (2014), remodel our kitchen (2018) and add a bathroom in the basement (2020). In all cases, the projects were completed on time, budget and with the highest quality. Needless to say, we are very satisfied and will be going to them for our next remodeling project. You cannot go wrong with this company.

1612991501

Stan Su

google

Thank you for your comments. We appreciate your business!

1613017936

5

They refinished our basement and made a laundry room. The whole process was painless, the workers were all very courteous and professional, and the price was very reasonable.

1571940545

Vincent Ioia

google

1

The nerve of these people. They demanded to have both my wife and I present when their estimator came out to do a "free" estimate (is there any other kind). They explained that they don't want/like to send someone out again just to say the same thing to the other party in the house. And I'm like, my wife doesn't want to be there. So I said, "let me put it this way, do you want the job or not". Her response to me was "let me put it this way, if you want an estimate, both parties in the house have to be there". And I said, forget it, delete me from your database and never call me again. The nerve of them.