|
VERY SPECIFIC Chain of Events to
note:
in 2004
out of the gate
we know heartland homes warranty
does not cover damp spots on
foundation walls.
We signed
paperwork in their warranty
stating this and agreeing to
this.
We knew heartland homes
warranty did not cover "damp
spots" before we moved into our
Heartland Homes brand new custom
built home, our home.
Heartland Homes Pittsburgh
review

3 months
after closing on our brand new
first owner Heartland Homes
home, we start experiencing
water infiltration issues with
our brand new home. please note
we have not posted every single
picture we have taken.
3 months after our 1st owner
new home closing, our water
issues start.
according to
heartland homes statements
they made at that time, we
do have water issues (wet,
not damp) with our home.
heartland homes specifically
state in the emails to us, the
home owners "wet basement
remedy" and "due to the
extreme amount of water" and
"we will continue to work
towards a solution".
review
emails from Heartland
Homes our custom home
builder to us regarding
our
water infiltration
issues.
 |
July 22 2004
-
2 months after our water
infiltration issues
start, Heartland
Homes states -
"WET BASEMENT
remedy to begin in the
next few weeks. We are
working with
Supervisor."
(click image on left to
read all three emails) |
September 21 2004
-
4 months after our water
infiltration issues
start, Heartland
Homes states -
"Due to the EXTREME
AMOUNT of
WATER Friday, etc."
(click image on left to
read all three emails) |
January 21 2005
-
8 months after our water
infiltration issues
start.
11
months after we closed
on our brand new
Heartland Homes home,
Heartland Homes states -
"...We will CONTINUE
to WORK
TOWARDS a
SOLUTION. The
weather is a factor now.
etc"
(click
image on left to read
all three emails) |
in 2005 after our 1 year is
over and we continue to see
the water issues with our brand
new heartland homes home. we no
longer hear from our builder
heartland homes Pittsburgh so we
file a complaint against
heartland homes Pittsburgh with
the better business bureau
(bbb).
the Vice President, now
President of Heartland Homes
Pittsburgh Marty Gillespie comes
to our home. I was
never told during
Marty Gillespie's
visit that our issues
were not covered
under Heartland Homes
warranty. Instead we are assigned
a point person and I am
introduced to and told Craig is
our point person for heartland
homes. Here is what
we are going to do to regarding
your water issues
(paraphrasing). We walked around
our home and Marty Gillespie discussed
various solutions/repairs about what needed
to be done with Craig.
NOTE as well - further
down this page
IS a complete
list of emails sent to heartland
homes AFTER we filed our
complaint against Heartland
Homes with the Better Business
Bureau complaint. Marty Gillespie provided
his email address to me,
please read the emails I sent to
Marty Gillespie Vice President
of Heartland Homes at that time. along with some
of the photos of our water
issues I included in my emails
to Marty Gillespie. click on the
dated links to view each email
in adobe pdf format.
June 29 2005
heartland homes initial
response to our
complaint "We met with Mr.
Romesburg and discussed
solutions for his door
and WET BASEMENT
problems. We are currently
working with Mr.
Romesburg to remedy
these issues."
(again Heartland Homes
indicating our basement is
WET, NOT DAMP, Heartland
Homes Pittsburgh is working with
Mr. Romesburg to remedy these
issues.)
october 4 2006
heartland homes response to our
complaint after we found water
in our electrical panel. "company
states they are currently
working with the customer to
remedy the problems with the
door and wet basement problems.
etc" "company seeks to make
repairs."
october 17 2006 heartland
homes revised
response to our complaint after
we found water in our electrical
panel. to the better
business bureau "company states
they performed work on
customer's townhouse and this
work was done as a courtesy. it
is stated in customer's warranty
that "damp spots on foundation
walls do not constitute a wet
basement. "company further
starts they are not responsible
for damp spots on foundation
walls."
"company seeks to be released
from any further responsibility.
company further states they will
not provide customer with a
warranty and will not compensate
for the washer/dryer."
from 2004 until October 4
2006 Heartland Homes has
specifically referenced our
water infiltration issues as
wet, numerous times.
including the statement "due to
the extreme amount of water" and
"we will continue to work
towards a solution."
now October 17 2006
Heartland
Homes now states we
have damp spots and all
work was a courtesy.
as quoted by Heartland Homes, which you can see in the image
directly below.
"Company states they performed
work on customer's townhouse and
this work was done as a
courtesy. it is stated in
customer's warranty that "damp
spots on foundation walls do not
constitute a wet basement.
"Company further states they are
not responsible for damp spots
on foundation walls." "Company
seeks to be released from any
further responsibility."
Emails from Heartland
Homes
dated July 22 2004, up to and
including October 4 2006, over 2
years later our issues have been
referenced by Heartland Homes
Pittsburgh, our builder as
WET. See emails from
Heartland Homes and Better
Business Bureau documentation
from Heartland Homes, photos to
be posted.
also remember the person that is
now the President of Heartland
Homes Marty Gillespie also
visited our home and assigned a
point person for our issues.
Please
read all 3 letters from
Heartland Homes to the BBB
responding to our compliant.
please note the timeline with
each letter/response from
heartland homes as well.
All 3 letters are
combined into the 1
image directly below.
Letter 1
from Heartland Homes dated
June 29 2005
"we met with Mr.
Romesburg and discussed
solutions for his door
and wet basement
problems."
Letter 2 from Heartland Homes
dated October 4 2006
"Company states they are
currently working
with the customer to remedy
the problems with the
door and wet
basement problems."
Letter 3 from Heartland Homes
dated October 17 2006
"Company states they
performed work on
customer's townhouse
and this work was done as a
COURTESY."
It is stated in
customer's warranty that "damp
spots on foundation walls do not
constitute a WET BASEMENT.
"company further states they
are not responsible for damp
spots on foundation walls."
review
Heartland Homes Pittsburgh
response to our complaint

- we are told on 3 occasions
Heartland Homes was working on
our water infiltration issues,
see emails.
- after our 1 year warranty was
over, our water infiltration
issues continued to exist. our
water infiltration issues
started 3 months after closing
on our brand new heartland homes
home. we notified heartland
homes every time water
infiltrated our home.
- we sent a certified letter to
the owner of heartland homes
pittsburgh and never received
any response from
heartland homes.
the certified letter was signed
for, we have the signature and
the date as proof someone did
sign for this package.
- almost 3 weeks later we filed
our bbb complaint against
heartland homes.
- the vp at the time for
heartland homes pittsburgh was
marty gillespie. he came to our
home to see our issues after we
filed our bbb complaint.
- Marty Gillespie also brought a
point person with him for our
issues, his name was craig.
craig was the person in charge
of resolving our water
infiltration issues.
- we were told they would
resolve our issues and craig
would be our point person for
everything.
- additionally we received a
signed letter from heartland
homes stating
"We met with Mr.
Romesburg and discussed
solutions for his door
and WET BASEMENT
problems.
We are currently
working with Mr.
Romesburg to remedy
these issues."
- our front door was replaced.
trenching was performed on the
front of our home. major
trenching was then performed on
the front and side of our home,
over a period of 12+ months.
none of this resolve our issues.
- July 18 2006 we find water in
our electrical panel and decided
we needed to escalate our issues
with the complaint against
Heartland Homes.
- July 24 2006 email from
Heartland Homes specifically
states the "electrician found a
compromised conduit which
housed wiring for the
breaker
box that was allowing water in.
etc"
- October 4 2006 Heartland
Homes response to our complaint
to the Better Business Bureau
"company states they are
currently working with the
customer
to remedy the problems
with the door and wet basement
problems. etc" "company seeks to
make repairs."
-
October 17 2006 Heartland
Homes revised response to our
complaint to the Better Business
Bureau
"company states they
performed work on customer's
townhouse and this work was done
as a courtesy.
It is stated in
customer's warranty that "damp
spots on foundation walls do not
constitute a wet basement.
"company further starts they are
not responsible for damp spots
on foundation walls."
"company seeks to be released
from any further responsibility.
company further states they will
not provide customer with a
warranty
and will not compensate
for the washer/dryer."
2006
Heartland Homes response
to our compliant filed
with the
State Attorney
Generals office.
KEY NOTES:
Note the
date stamp
received on
the response
from
Heartland
Homes
is dated November 6 2006.
See
OUR PHOTOS
to the right dated
after this date of
November 6
2006. Showing water in our
basement on both ends
and in our garage.
Most of our
photos do
have a
newspaper
held up in
the photo to
verify the
dates.
Not in every
photo, but I
think you
will get the
idea.
OUR dated photos showing
water issues are from:
Dec 8 2006, February 9
2007, May 2 2007,
July
11 2007, July 17 2007,
December 2008.
See all
photos, our
photos to
the right.
KEY ITEMS TO
NOTE ARE:
item #11
from Heartland Homes
states
"Heartland Homes
will continue to
monitor
the situation but
believes that the
remedial
steps taken
have eliminated the
water
staining
issue."
item #12
from Heartland Homes
states
"... As to Mr. Romesburg's
complaint of
water
stains in his
garage.. the
garage area
is on the side of the
dwelling where the
remedial actions
have
been
taken and
accordingly,
should
have
been
taken
care
of."
item #13
from Heartland Homes
states
"Heartland Homes
had previously offered
to paint Mr. Romesburg's
basement wall, but he
declined said offer due
to his belief that water
was still saturating the
basement wall."
|
We created both images
below, so we could
combine emails,
letters and some photos
into 1 file.
Again hopefully to
simplify 5+ years of our
Heartland Homes
experience.
See photos
below showing water
issues dated after the
response from the
Heartland
Homes to the
State
Attorney
Generals
office
responding
to the
complaint we
filed.
Dated photos showing
water issues are from:
Dec 8 2006, February 9
2007, May 2 2007, July
11 2007, July 17 2007,
December 2008.
Most
pictures have newspapers
in front of. Hopefully
this makes it legible
enough to see the dates.
We have
other photos
indicating
the same.
Again we are
trying to
streamline
this website
because of
our 5+ yr
history with
our water
infiltration
issues. |
Here is the response we
received from our
complaint against
Heartland Homes
Pittsburgh to the
State Attorney Generals
office.

Review all Heartland
Homes responses and a
few photos in the image
directly above. This is
a large file, so please
be patient.
|
Pictures of our
Heartland Homes basement
showing water issues
after the November 6
2006 date.
 |
2008
Heartland Homes garage
photos.

This photo
of water in
our garage is after
November 6 2006 date as
well.
|
|
| |
1. During our 1
year warranty, we notified
Heartland Homes on every
instance of water infiltrating
our brand new Heartland Homes
home.
February 2004 we closed on our
brand new first owner Heartland
Homes built home.
May 2004 we started experiencing
water infiltration issues, 3
months after our new home
closing.
May 2004 Heartland Homes
notified immediately of our
water infiltration issues and
every time water infiltrated our
home, see link below.
Read every email by clicking
here In between the 3 emails
from Heartland Homes, water
infiltrates our home numerous
times and we notify Heartland
Homes each and every time. Again
see link directly above to read
every single email. A minimum of
12 - 15+ emails TO
Heartland Homes
regarding water
infiltrating our home.
Additionally you will
see emails below on this
page and the link above
to Marty Gillespie who
is now President of
Heartland Homes
Pittsburgh. Those emails
were sent to Marty
Gillespie after he
visited our home to see
our water issues with
our new Heartland Homes
built home. |
2.
July 22 2004
email from Heartland
Homes - two (2)
months after our water
infiltration issues
start and we've
already contacted
Heartland Homes various
times;
July 22 2004 - Heartland
Homes email states "WET
BASEMENT remedy to begin
in the next few weeks.
We are with with
Supervisor." |
3.
September
21 2004 email from Heartland
Homes - four (4) months after
our water infiltration issues
start and we've already
contacted Heartland Homes
various times;
September 21
2004 - "Basement walls look much
better. Due to the EXTREME AMOUNT
of WATER Friday, I am
noting in your file. Castleview
is still a work in progress."
|
4.
January 21
2005 email from Heartland Homes
- eight (8) months after our
water infiltration issues start
and we've already contacted
Heartland Homes various times;
January 21 2005 - "I received
your pictures. I forwarded them
on to Rick for review. We will
CONTINUE to WORK
TOWARDS a SOLUTION.
The weather is a factor now.
Thanks and we will be back in
touch." |
|
5. Nothing
further from Heartland Homes
regarding our water infiltration
issues, period. We were never
asked IF our water issues were
resolved. No one from Heartland
Homes ever came in to our home to
actually see/view our water
infiltration issues, no one. Nor
were we asked IF our issues
were resolved OR if anyone could
come into our home to see from
the inside of our Heartland
Homes home our water issues,
nothing. |
| 6.
April 2005
what I was told by
Heartland Homes Warranty
Department, on the phone
at that point, was
considered hearsay at our trial. So I am not going to repeat
what I was told
on this webpage. Lets just say
we never saw our water
infiltration issues resolved,
NOR did we hear back from
Heartland Homes again until we
filed a complaint with
the Better Business
Bureau in June 2005.
|
7.
May 17th / May 19th 2005
we sent a
certified letter to the
founder/owner of
Heartland Homes Alan
Gillespie.
Addressed the package to
the owner(s) of
Heartland Homes Alan
Gillespie or Marty
Gillespie.
101 Commerce Blvd
Lawrence, PA
We received
No response from the
founder of Heartland
Homes Pittsburgh, Alan
Gillespie. No response
from the VP, now
President of Heartland
Homes Pittsburgh, Marty Gillespie
and No response from
Heartland Homes
Pittsburgh, period. (In our letter we
gave them 3 weeks to
respond before we filed
our Better Business
Bureau complaint) |
| 8.
June 2005
we file a Heartland
Homes Pittsburgh
complaint with the
Better Business Bureau.
|
June 7 2005
Spoke with and
sent a letter/envelope
of photos to
The Meritage Group.
The Meritage Group
handled our home owners
association at that time until we
were at a certain
capacity and our own
Homeowners Association board was elected.
|
|
June 11
2005 our Better Business Bureau
online complaint we
filed against Heartland
Homes Pittsburgh. |
June
16th 2005
Marty Gillespie (now
President of Heartland
Homes Pittsburgh) calls
me directly to discuss
our issues, etc.
- Marty
Gillespie stated that he
knew nothing of us
having issues.
- discussed setting up a
date/time for Marty
Gillespie to come to our
home.
|
June
21st 2005
President
of Heartland Homes Marty Gillespie (now
President of Heartland
Homes Pittsburgh) and
Craig Faulkner (to
handle the repairs
needed to correct our
issues) visit our home
at 27 Castleview Drive
(Castle View Drive).
KEY
NOTE:
Marty, Craig and myself
looked at the water
issues visible on our
foundation block, in our
basement, outside the
front of our home and
around the outside of
our front door and door
trim. Marty
Gillespie shows Craig
Faulkner what is needed
to correct our issues.
I, Dave Romesburg, am
told Craig is our point
person for our repairs
and resolving our
issues and that was
about it.
|
|
Complaint we filed
against Heartland Homes
Pittsburgh with the
Better Business Bureau.
June 29 2005
Heartland Homes response
states
"We met with Mr.
Romesburg and discussed
solutions for his door
and WET BASEMENT
problems.
We are currently
working with Mr.
Romesburg to remedy
these issues."

Signed Rick Murray
Warranty Manager
Heartland Homes, Inc.
|
our 3 year old home
built brand new.
 |
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Review
photos of our garage in
our brand new Heartland
Homes home.
2005 Heartland Homes
garage photos.
 |
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2006
Heartland Homes garage
photos.
 |
2007
Heartland Homes garage
photos.
 |
2008
Heartland Homes garage
photos.
 |
IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
1. click
on any photo/image to
view a larger sized
image.
2.
Any dates with
underlines, click on the
date with the underline
to bring up the email or
document converted to an
Adobe PDF file.
3.
Most of the emails
contains digital photos
I included in the emails
I sent to Heartland
Homes. Note some of the
PDF files may only show
the filename inside of
the email and not every
photo. I believe this is
due to the size of all
of the photos in the
emails I sent to
Heartland Homes, even to
Marty Gillespie of
Heartland Homes after
his visit to our brand
new 1st owner Heartland
Homes to see our new
home issues. |
 |
|
July 5 2005 |
Email TO
Marti Gillespie
with 39
pictures
regarding our
issues
I never received
any emails from
Marty
acknowledging or
mentioning any
emails or
pictures |
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NOTE: July 28th
2005 – August 14th 2005
- Front of our home
completely DUG UP to
re-tar front of our home
(1ST time) |
|
August 23 2005 |
Email TO
Marti Gillespie
with pictures
regarding our
issues |
|
|
NOTE: August 23
2005 (Heartland Homes
performs work) our
entire front door, door
frame, threshold are
COMPLETELY removed and
replaced. |
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September 29
2005 |
Email TO
Marty Gillespie
with 92
pictures
regarding our
issues;
water flowing
into our foyer,
basement, etc |
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NOTE:
November 01
2005 -
(Heartland
Homes
performs
work) on
front of
house; vapor
barrier, j-channel,
etc
I have a conversation
with Craig, our
supervisor point person
from Heartland Homes. |
|
November 8 2005 |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
regarding
basement
infiltration
after coming
back from a
trip. |
|
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|
November 9 2005
- 9AM resend |
Resend email
TO Craig
Faulkner from
November 9th
2005, he never
received my
email regarding
basement
infiltration. |
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NOTE: November 28
2005 - Heartland Homes
performs work caulking
everywhere in the front
of our home. |
| |
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NOTE: November 28
2005 - 1st time we find
water in our garage
walls |
| |
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November 28 2005
- Pictures from
November 14 -
November 16 2005 |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
regarding
basement
infiltration. |
|
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November 28 2005
- Pictures from
November 28th
2005 |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
regarding
basement
infiltration,
garage
infiltration,
loading up front
of house with
caulking, etc...
|
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|
November 29 2005
- Pictures from
November 29th
2005 in the AM
and PM |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
regarding
basement
infiltration and
garage
infiltration.
|
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|
NOTE: END OF 2005
- NO issues resolved,
new issue introduced due
to Heartland work
performed (garage
infiltration). |
| |
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| NOTE:
January 02 2006
- 2nd time we
find water in
our garage walls |
NOTE:
January 31st
2006 – February
2006 - Front and
Side of home DUG
UP (trench
dug/120 ton of
stone placed)
(2ND time work
performed in
front whereas
our sidewalk was
to be replaced) |
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March 30 2006 |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
regarding
landscaping,
front door, etc. |
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April 25 2006 |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
regarding
basement
infiltration,
dead shrubs,
landscaping,
etc. |
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June 28 2006 |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
regarding
basement still
leaking,
landscaping,
outside work,
outside trenches
that need filled
in, etc.
All work still
outstanding
since the
trenching was
done in January
2006.
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July 5 2006 |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
following up on
my June 28 2006
email I haven't
heard anything
back from and no
work has been
corrected from
my email.
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NOTE:
July 11 2006 -
Heartland Homes
performs outside
water saturation
tests |
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NOTE:
July 17 2006 -
8PM - electrical
panel saturation
found - 1ST TIME
(see email to
BBB below) |
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July 17 2006 |
Email TO
the Better
Business Bureau
because of the
water found in
our electrical
panel and
following up on
our BBB case
since these
issues still
exist and new
problems have
been created.
I also included
pictures in this
email sent to
the BBB.
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July 17 2006 |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
following up on
Clints water
testing outside
the front of our
home.
Clint is a
contractor to
Heartland Homes
I think, or a
Heartland Homes
employee.
Clint is the
person that
specialized in
siding
(according to
our Heartland
Homes contact
list and our
conversation. Wasn't sure why
he was asked to
perform the
water testing
outside the
front of our
home.
- Never received
any
acknowledgement
or response from
Craig on this.
The following
emails and
events where
from the water
infiltration
into our
electrical
panel. |
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July 17 2006
- 9PM - 28
pictures |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
following up on
the 2 voicemails
I left about
finding water in
our electrical
panel.
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NOTE:
July 18 2006 -
Jim (?) from
Augenstein
Electric cleans
inside
electrical
panel. Jim also
stated the front
gasket to
outside conduit
needs replaced
and something
elbow related to
the conduit. |
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July 24 2006
- rebuttal from
Heartland Homes
regarding water
in electrical
panel |
July 24 2006
- (Heartland
Homes response
to BBB
rebuttal);
”… Augenstein
sent an
electrician to
Mr Romesburg’s
townhouse.
The electrician
found a
compromised
conduit which
housed wiring
for the breaker
box that was
allowing water
in…. The
apparent
moisture problem
to the breaker
box had been
identified and
the breaker box
was serviced by
1PM, Tuesday
July 19th 2006.”
signed Michele
Takacs |
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NOTE:
August 01 2006 -
electrical panel
saturation found
- 2ND TIME |
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August 2 2006
- more
electrical
infiltration
pictures |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
regarding more
water
infiltration in
our electrical
panel yet again |
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NOTE:
August 02 2006 -
Electrician from
Augensteins was
out again due to
water in the
panel on
08/01/2006. |
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NOTE:
August 02 - 03
2006 electrical
panel saturation
found - 3RD TIME |
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NOTE:
August 03 2006 -
7:15AM -
electrical panel
saturation found
- 4TH TIME |
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NOTE:
August 03 2006 -
11:30AM - (came
home for lunch
to check)
electrical panel
saturation found
twice the same
day. |
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August 3 2006 |
Email TO
Craig Faulkner
regarding more
water
infiltration in
our electrical
panel when I was
home at lunch
time. |
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NOTE:
August 04 2006 -
Craig Faulkner
comes to 27
Castle View
drive to look
into electrical
issue(s).
Inside panel
saturated again!
I did NOT take
any pictures
since Craig
actually saw
this in our
electrical panel
(5TH TIME)
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NOTE:
September 12
2006 - 3rd time
we find water in
our garage walls |
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October 4 2006 |
October 04
2006 (BBB
revision
submission from
Heartland Homes)
-
"Company
states they are
currently
working with
customer to
remedy the
problems…"
Company seeks to
make repairs…" |
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October 17 2006 |
October 17
2006 (BBB
revision 2
submission from
Heartland Homes)
-
"Company
states work they
performed was a
courtesy…"
Company seeks to
be released from
any further
responsibility,
etc…" |
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November 3 2006 |
November 3
2006 - Attorney
for Heartland
Homes responds to the
PA State
Attorney
Generals Office
for the same
complaint we
filed.
October 4
response to the
Better Business
Bureau, then
October 17th
response to the
Better Business
Bureau, now the
November 3rd
response to the
State Attorney
Generals Office
in our opinion
seem to vary
substantially
over a short
period of time.
Please read PDF,
NOTE:
"Heartland Homes
will continue to
monitor the
situation but
believes they
have eliminated
the water
staining issue.
NOTE:
"Heartland Homes
offered to paint
basement wall
but Mr Romesburg
declined said
offer due to his
belief that
water is still
saturating
basement wall" |
All emails to
Heartland Homes
Pittsburgh's #1
Custom Builder
end here.
From this point
on, we pursue
the Pittsburgh
Better Business
Bureau, then
legal action.
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