St. Louis, Mo., Aug. 17, 2011 – A mail handler from Berkeley, Mo., says a contractor hired to repair her tornado-damaged home did such poor quality work that she has been unable to move back into the house nearly four months after the Good Friday storm.
“I’m just trying to understand why he did this,” the woman said. “All I want is my money back so I can get my house finished.”
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) suggests caution when dealing with Pettis Construction Company or Bruce Pettis. Pettis lists an address in the 6500 block of Parker Road in Florissant, Mo. He has a lengthy criminal history and most recently was released from federal custody in January 2010 after serving nearly four years on a charge of distributing cocaine. Pettis registered his construction company with the Missouri secretary of state two months after his release.
A Berkeley building inspector who inspected Pettis’ work on three storm-damaged homes on Blanchard Drive described the quality as so amateurish as to be “unbelievable.”
“I have a 2 ½-year-old granddaughter who could do better (work) than he did,” the inspector told the BBB.
Pettis Construction has an “F” grade with the BBB, the lowest grade possible. Several BBB complaints involving the company went unanswered.
Michelle Corey, BBB president and CEO, said choosing a good contractor takes patience and research.
“In many cases, after a tragedy like the April tornado, homeowners want to get the work done as quickly as possible so they can start moving on with their lives," Corey said. "But it is critical that they take the time to make sure they are getting a contractor who can deliver what he or she promises.”
A couple living next door to the Berkeley mail handler said they paid Pettis $17,000 to make several repairs on their home after the April tornado. The work was to include roof and siding repairs, guttering work, replacement of doors and windows and renovation of a severely damaged kitchen.
The husband said he had been aware of some of Pettis’ past problems, but said, “I was trying to give him a break.” He said he told Pettis, “I’ll set you up and get you squared away.”
The husband said the quality of the work was so poor that Berkeley officials put a stop-work order on the project. The wife said she had to take $30,000 from her retirement account – almost all of the money she had – to hire another contractor and make the home habitable.
“He can’t just walk away with my money,” she said.
The mail handler said she paid Pettis $10,000 for repair work on her home after noticing him working on her neighbors’ home. Berkeley inspectors also stopped work on that project after finding roofing work to be substandard. “He left the house a mess,” said the woman, who has been living with a friend since the tornado struck.
The Berkeley inspector said Pettis has received six city citations. The citations cover a variety of building violations, including failure to obtain work permits, failure to obtain required inspections and substandard workmanship.
“Virtually nothing was done correctly,” the inspector said. Pettis is scheduled to go to court on those allegations next month.
In addition to the federal drug conviction, Pettis’ criminal record includes convictions for burglary, felony stealing, driving with a suspended license, forgery, felony possession of marijuana and carrying a loaded .38 caliber revolver without a permit. Earlier this year, a federal judge rejected Pettis’ request to end his court supervision early after the U.S. Probation Office noted 2010 arrests for traffic warrants, property damage and trespassing. The office also noted that he had missed five drug tests.
In a phone interview, Pettis told the BBB that most of the complaints against him involved homeowners who wanted to squeeze more work out of him than they had paid for or who asked him to cut corners to save money.
He referred to one complaining family as “illiterate” and accused another woman of “nit-picking and crying” about his work without cause. He called the majority of the complaints “a bunch of baloney. I’m about fed up with it.”
He acknowledged that he still needed to finish work for the Berkeley mail handler, but said he is concerned about returning to the neighborhood because he fears that neighbors he had done work for might become violent. He said the Berkeley citations were the fault of homeowners, not his company.
The BBB offers the following tips for homeowners looking to hire contractors:
- Don’t make a hasty decision. Take time to ensure the business is local and has a track record of reliable workmanship. Visit www.bbb.org or call 314-645-3300 for a BBB Business Review, which includes the company’s BBB rating (A+ plus to F) along with the complaint history and company contact information.
- Ask the company for references and call those property owners. Ask them if the jobs were performed as agreed upon and whether they were satisfied with the results.
- Check to see if the contractor has all required licenses and insurance and ask your city whether they have had experience with the business.
- Ask for a written contract and read it to ensure that everything discussed is included. Make sure it includes all details of the job and when and how payments are to be made.
- Do not make all payments in advance. Suggest a payment plan that would include 1/3 of the money in advance, 1/3 once work is underway and the final 1/3 when work is completed to your satisfaction.
Contacts: Michelle Corey, President & CEO, 314-584-6800, mcorey@stlouisbbb.org; Chris Thetford, Vice President-Communications, 314-584-6743 or 314-681-4719 (cell), communications@stlouisbbb.org or Bill Smith, 314-584-6727, tpc1@stlouisbbb.org