My wife and I have experienced issues with Advantage prior to our closing in February. We wanted to upgrade the refrigerator that was going to come with our house, and asked our realtor to ask Chad Keune, President/Owner, if this would be possible. Our realtor told us that Chad said it is not possible to do so as there were no refrigerators available to accommodate our request. We assumed that he couldn’t be bothered to look on our behalf, since we did some shopping around on our own and found that Costco had the fridge in stock and that it could be delivered in 3 days. We shared this with our realtor who again contacted Chad. Only after we did the work for him did he agree to contact his appliance supplier. Turns out that they could accommodate our request without issue, and the refrigerator was upgraded and installed before our closing.
Fast forward to March, just over a month after we closed, and I notice that the concrete slab of our driveway is failing. There is a separation of layers in the slab and you can kick the top layer of the driveway off with your foot. To any construction savvy individuals reading this review, no we did not use salt or other ice melt on it and it was manually cleared of snow by shoveling, not with a plow or s****.>
I submitted a warranty claim on the Advantage website on March 29, 2021, with a reply time specified to be 7-10 business days to determine whether or not the claim qualifies under the warranty. On the 16th business day after submitting the claim, I had not received any communication from Advantage about the status of the claim, so I called their office. I spoke to Echo Wecker, who transferred me to Kim, who didn’t answer or return a call after I left her a voicemail. Then I made a phone call to Blake Herschberger Enterprises, the subcontractor for the job (they get their supplies from Iowa City Ready Mix FYI). I spoke to Virginia (who has been incredibly helpful) and asked if she or anyone that she works with had been in communication with Advantage regarding the issue. She calls me back and lets me know that she, nor any of her employees, specifically the foreman of the job for my home, has been contacted by Advantage about any issue.
She let me know that she spoke with the owner Blake, who agreed to come by and make an assessment of the issue. A few days later, Virginia called me to let me know that Blake did in fact do this, and supplied Advantage with a report detailing his assessment. I’ve tried to contact Advantage about this, and as I’ve learned to expect, they don’t return any communication.
What’s particularly irritating about my situation is that Advantage is building homes across the street from me. On multiple days since submitting my claim, including today, March 29, 2021 (the 24th Business day since warranty claim submission), there has been an Advantage company vehicle parked across the street. Anyone would find it reasonable that whoever it is from Advantage that was on that job site any of those days would have walked across the street to look at my driveway. That’s not the case. Today is the 24th business day since I submitted my claim to Advantage. I have made 5 phone calls, left 3 voicemails, emailed and hand delivered 1 letter, and sent 12 emails to various Advantage employees (Chad, Echo and Kim), all of which have gone without response. After talking with my neighbors who have also done business with Advantage, it is clear that this treatment is not unique to me. This is the way that they operate and they pride themselves on it.
The estimated cost from a local company to resolve the situation is 12,500 - tear-out and replacement, labor and materials included.
Advantage Built Reviews
My wife and I have experienced issues with Advantage prior to our closing in February. We wanted to upgrade the refrigerator that was going to come with our house, and asked our realtor to ask Chad Keune, President/Owner, if this would be possible. Our realtor told us that Chad said it is not possible to do so as there were no refrigerators available to accommodate our request. We assumed that he couldn’t be bothered to look on our behalf, since we did some shopping around on our own and found that Costco had the fridge in stock and that it could be delivered in 3 days. We shared this with our realtor who again contacted Chad. Only after we did the work for him did he agree to contact his appliance supplier. Turns out that they could accommodate our request without issue, and the refrigerator was upgraded and installed before our closing.
Fast forward to March, just over a month after we closed, and I notice that the concrete slab of our driveway is failing. There is a separation of layers in the slab and you can kick the top layer of the driveway off with your foot. To any construction savvy individuals reading this review, no we did not use salt or other ice melt on it and it was manually cleared of snow by shoveling, not with a plow or s****.>
I submitted a warranty claim on the Advantage website on March 29, 2021, with a reply time specified to be 7-10 business days to determine whether or not the claim qualifies under the warranty. On the 16th business day after submitting the claim, I had not received any communication from Advantage about the status of the claim, so I called their office. I spoke to Echo Wecker, who transferred me to Kim, who didn’t answer or return a call after I left her a voicemail. Then I made a phone call to Blake Herschberger Enterprises, the subcontractor for the job (they get their supplies from Iowa City Ready Mix FYI). I spoke to Virginia (who has been incredibly helpful) and asked if she or anyone that she works with had been in communication with Advantage regarding the issue. She calls me back and lets me know that she, nor any of her employees, specifically the foreman of the job for my home, has been contacted by Advantage about any issue.
She let me know that she spoke with the owner Blake, who agreed to come by and make an assessment of the issue. A few days later, Virginia called me to let me know that Blake did in fact do this, and supplied Advantage with a report detailing his assessment. I’ve tried to contact Advantage about this, and as I’ve learned to expect, they don’t return any communication.
What’s particularly irritating about my situation is that Advantage is building homes across the street from me. On multiple days since submitting my claim, including today, March 29, 2021 (the 24th Business day since warranty claim submission), there has been an Advantage company vehicle parked across the street. Anyone would find it reasonable that whoever it is from Advantage that was on that job site any of those days would have walked across the street to look at my driveway. That’s not the case. Today is the 24th business day since I submitted my claim to Advantage. I have made 5 phone calls, left 3 voicemails, emailed and hand delivered 1 letter, and sent 12 emails to various Advantage employees (Chad, Echo and Kim), all of which have gone without response. After talking with my neighbors who have also done business with Advantage, it is clear that this treatment is not unique to me. This is the way that they operate and they pride themselves on it.
The estimated cost from a local company to resolve the situation is 12,500 - tear-out and replacement, labor and materials included.