What steps can I take if I believe my parents were taken advantage of by a remodeling company?

Dear Nitaboo,

I'm very sorry to hear what happened with your mom and dad. It is reprehensible to how some contractors take advantage of the elderly. I don't know if you can go through the Better Business Bureau in your area. Other options include the police if there is fraud involved or going to see an attorney. I know some news station have a Consumer reporter, so that might be another avenue to get some resolution for your concerns.

I would call around to other plumbers and contractors to check on the pricing and work to have a better idea if the price is right.

I hope your parents get their money back or at least get the shower they wanted.

Thank you, so much for your speedy reply. I have contacted the BBB and yes! my recommendation to my parent is instead of paying the company another $1400-$1500 retain an attorney to seek a full refund.

Keep in mind that ALL the BBB does is act as a data gathering center. They are NOT a regulatory agency and have ZERO power to take any action against anyone. Your best bet is for your parents to seek compensation in civil court. Bear in mind that few lawyers will take a case on contingency (only pay if you win), but they are out there. If you can't find one, their legal fees will be, of course, out of pocket and up front.

I'm so sorry this has happened. I'd like 5 minutes alone with whoever did this to your folks.

Ok so I'm going to tell you something you don't want to hear. While the company is responsible to fulfill their contract to the best of their ability, and shoddy construction is not acceptable, $9000 is not an unreasonable price, depending on your area of course. A fully accessible handicap shower can cost $3-4k in materials alone. A general estimate of labor is double materials. I would encourage them to have you discuss it with the company as their representative. A lawyer/lawsuit to get a refund would cost them $20k. It's much better to ask for copies of the contract, pre-bids, and discuss with the owner of the company to make sure all repairs are made. In my area Small Claims has a cap of $5,000, so you'd have to take it to a greater court. If the original bid included the shower door, then insist it be installed, if not and you didn't already have your parents diagnosed with some kind of cognitive decline, then you will have no luck back dating a contract. Trust me, don't involve lawyers until you have to.

Sassy75 I'm sorry but you are wrong about your cost guess. My family does this for a living. There are many expenses in a remodel that are not calculated by the inexperienced, and certainly not without knowing the extent of this particular remodel. Like Freqflyer stated, there's plumbing that has to be moved, drains that have to be centered. (no easy task no matter what subfloor is being used) Did you calculate into your mental note all of the labor involved in the demolition, treatment of mold perhaps, reframing if necessary, insulating the walls for noise pollution, fixtures, handcap improvements, leveling the floor to slope to the drain, etc. Then materials, a walk-in tub/shower is in fact $3000 by itself. If that's not what was used, there could be a shower base and a spill guard, glass shower walls or doors are very pricey depending on the style and thickness of the glass. Then there's the variation in labor pricing across the US. In California the labor is extensively higher than in Texas. You may be making a judgment call based on your area without enough information to do so. $9k is not unreasonable, but without more information on the actual installation and products used I can't explain further why. You were, however, right about collecting her money after a judgement. That's not easy, but you have options. You can also sell this debt to a collection agency. You'll only make about 50% of the debt owed you, but it's easier than waiting and fighting for money.

Depending on the complexity of the job, and the materials used, 9000 dollars doors not seem out of line for a new handicapped shower installation. And the glass shower doors are huge and expensive in themselves!

There are lots of great ideas here! I would review the contract and do your best to work it out with the company, but there his never an excuse for Crappy Work. If they are unwilling to correct their shabby work, or make things right, I would take therm to small claims court. Hopefully your states small claims court maximum limit is ten thousand dollars, as somebody else had mentioned.

I’m not lawyer but this is what I would do.


I suggest filing in small claims court. They have up to $10000 as their limit. Look on this chart for your state.

nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/small-claims-suits-how-much-30031


 This type of thing is what it's for. Take pictures of the problems, write one page or less about what your complaint is, and show all the paperwork passed back and forth. Keep your complaint simple and it in your own words about what your asking him/her to make a judgement on.


IMO, you have three points to make; First is the method used to pressure your parents to buy what may be considered work that requires a new contract to complete without advising them fully of that point... and their ability to understand this. Second is failing to complete the contract in a reasonable and acceptable manner that would be fulfillment of the contract. Third, I would get two statements from other contractors about the condition of the project and cost to fix any problems. Courts like to have numbers to base their decisions on as it makes their job that much easier.


Have your parents there because the judge will want to talk to them to understand their current ability to make a reasonable decision that applies to this type thing. Any good court will have seen this more than once before and ask the right questions.

The handicap showers at hotels don't have doors. How would an aide be able to reach in from outside to help if there is a door? I think you are done with the contractor.

Before you hire a lawyer, you should try to get a copy of the contract. If the business did the work shown in the contract at the agreed price, going to court will get you nowhere. Also look for a clause that allows price increases for unexpected events. As mentioned above, there may have been damage under the existing tub that needed to be repaired or unexpected plumbing issues. You would not want the contractor to just install the new shower over leaking plumbing, right? Older homes often have some "creative" former work that needs to be corrected.

As to the shower door, if it was not in the original contract, your parents are under no obligation to have this company install one. You can call other companies to compare prices and hire someone else to install the door. It is always a good idea to get more than one estimate for any job.

For example, elders are taken advantage of by contractors all the time. My mother thought it was a genius idea to hire her cleaning girl's bf to put in a new kitchen floor. NOT! When I saw what a disaster it was, I told her to get the guy back to her house to correct his mistakes!