INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis concrete business is facing growing complaints from consumers who say the contractor took down payments but never started the work.
The Better Business Bureau has issued an alert for Quest Concrete, located on Sadlier Circle on the city’s southeast side.
“BBB files indicate that this company may have a pattern of complaint,” read the alert.
The BBB says consumers allege the Quest Concrete:
- Collects down payments but fails to begin work within the timeframe established
- Becomes hard to reach and/or fails to respond to consumer requests for updates
When WRTV Investigates stopped by Quest Concrete, the door was locked, and it appeared to be empty inside.
WRTV also called the phone number listed on customers’ contracts, but it said the call could not be completed as dialed.
Customer confidence in Quest Concrete is crumbling.
"You don't like paying people and just having them ghost you,” said Lee Mortensen of Westfield.
Mortensen found Quest Concrete on Angi.com, formerly Angie’s List, and met with a Quest Concrete representative.
Mortensen paid Quest Concrete $3,091 up front in July 2022, which is half of the project’s total cost, records show.
His contract said the work would be completed in 8 to 10 weeks.
"We were given a date of September 21," said Mortensen.
But Mortensen said Quest Concrete never showed up, and he’s been unable to reach the contractor to start the job.
Mortensen sent them a demand letter requesting a refund, but said he never received a response.
Brandon Seitz of Carmel had a similar experience with Quest Concrete after finding them on Angi.com.
"We kept being told, you're on the list, we'll get to you,” said Seitz. “And then, they didn't."
Seitz paid Quest Concrete $2,387 in August to fix his sidewalk, but he’s been unable to get in touch with the company to begin the work.
"We thought the only thing we can do is to report this to the Attorney General's office, the Better Business Bureau and to call you,” said Seitz.
When Brandon Seitz contacted WRTV Investigates, we went to work trying to contact the company.
We checked Quest Concrete’s website, but it’s “down for maintenance.”
The website says, “Meanwhile, if you need assistance, please feel free to call our office at (317) 775-8534.”
However, that phone number doesn’t work.
“Your call could not be completed as dialed,” a recording says.
The Better Business Bureau has issued an alert for Quest Concrete saying the business has a pattern of complaints with consumers alleging the contractor collects down payments but fails to begin the work and doesn’t respond to customers.
"It's something to be taken pretty seriously when we issue that,” said Jennifer Adamany, a spokesperson for the BBB Serving Central Indiana. “It's a bad business practice to not be responsive to people."
Customers Lee Mortensen and Brandon Seitz received emails from “Quest Exteriors,” which is a separate business, but the BBB notes in its alert that it may be affiliated with Quest Concrete.
“Several consumers informed BBB that the name ‘Quest Exteriors’ and ‘Quest Concrete’ had been used interchangeably during exchanges with their assigned salesmen,” read the BBB alert.
“The contract said one thing, the salespeople said another,” said Adamany. “We reached out to try to get some clarification on that but unfortunately there wasn't a response to our follow up questions. So, it's not yet clear who is who and the involvement between the two entities."
State records show Quest Concrete’s registered agent was Todd Holzer, and on January 25, the company’s registered agent was updated to Ben Tyler Caughey, an attorney that specializes in bankruptcy.
Carie Gossett was listed as a manager for Quest Concrete.
Quest Exterior’s registered agent is Mike Gossett, records show.
WRTV Investigates reached out to all four of them, but we didn’t hear anything back.
WRTV also stopped by addresses listed for both Quest Concrete and Quest Exteriors, which are in the same office complex, but we couldn’t find anyone.
Quest Exteriors told the Better Business Bureau that the entity that owns Quest Exteriors is also a minority owner in Quest Concrete.
"For start up purposes both companies ran out of the same office and used some of the same back-office staff until early November,” read the response to the BBB. “The office had to be closed in early November due to labor issues that were brought on by the nationwide raw material shortage of Portland cement."
Quest Exteriors’ response to the BBB went on to say, “Our attorneys are working on the path forward as it relates to Quest Concrete LLC. As it relates to Quest Exteriors, Quest Exteriors has met and continues to meet all of its contractual obligations."
Since November 2022, customers have filed more than a dozen lawsuits in four different counties against Quest Concrete or Quest Exteriors or their leadership, records show.
Customer Lee Mortensen sued Quest Concrete in Hamilton County.
WRTV Investigates showed up for the January 10 hearing, but Quest Concrete did not show up.
“It's rather distressing he didn't show up, but not unexpected,” said Mortensen.
Mortensen won a $3,221 judgment against Quest Concrete.
"It's good to have the judgment,” said Mortensen. “I'm still about 50-50 whether I'll get the money."
Four other customers have also received a combined total of $21,306 in judgments against Quest Concrete or Quest Exteriors or their leadership, records show.
The remaining eight lawsuits are still pending, court records show.
As for Lee Mortensen, he ended up spending thousands of dollars to pay another contractor to do the job.
"It's been very frustrating,” said Mortensen.
STATEMENT FROM ANGI.COM
"Thank you for reaching out about Quest Concrete/ Quest Exteriors. This business was terminated from our network in November of 2022 following a series of negative reviews and issues from consumers. As soon as customers brought concerns about this pro to our attention, we worked to get alerts put on this pro's profile and removed the pro from our network. We take pride in the pros on our network and are always disheartened when an issue with a pro arises. We encourage anyone who found this pro on Angi and has paid for work to get done to reach out to our team." - Angi Spokesperson
