UPDATE: SOLVED: Olshan Foundation Repair’s Warranty Not So Lifetime

Olshan Foundation Repair Company’s motto is “Fix it and Forget it.” In their Yellow Page ad these words emerge from Nolan Ryan’s mouth.

Attracted by their promise of a lifetime warranty, Charles contracted Olshan to repair his house foundation in 1999.

In 2007, even after warranty repairs by Olshan, Charles’s house still has numerous cracks, damages, sagging walls, bulging walls, doors that won’t close, etc etc. You can see it in his YouTube above.

Charles thinks thinks their motto should be changed to, “Break it and forget about it” and blames Olshan’s incompetent performance. We don’t know much about house foundations and cable lock piers, but maybe Charles’s house is built on on a bog?

In any event, Olshan should at least have the courtesy to answer his letters, posted inside…

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On October 18, Charles wrote the Olshan Foundation Repair Company:

“Steve Meier, General Manager
Olshan Foundation Repair Company
5835 N. Commerce Plaza Dr
Jackson, MS 39206

Gentlemen:

As you are probably aware I am an unhappy customer that has lost faith in your cable-lock system, your service and expertise, and Nolan Ryan. I would rather be a happy and satisfied customer that could and would write you a testimonial based on your company motto “Fix it and Forget it” as stated by your spokesman, Nolan Ryan.

As mentioned in my attached letter to your Jackson Office dated October 16, 2000, since I have contracted with you to fix the foundation of my entire home, I have had continued problems on the Living Room Dining Room side of my home even though I initially contacted you for problems on the Kitchen Den side of my house.

Most recently your Production Manager Tony Richards responded to my call and upon inspection with use of your electronic water level determined that my living room was at least an inch lower and my chimney was leaning away from the house and pulling the house apart in the middle and causing doors to jam. I showed Tony the large substantial separation cracks in the upper foyer ceiling with the dislodged wood beam and cracks throughout the living room, dining room and office. I also pointed out the bulging brick wall at the left side front corner on the chimney side of the home, the cracked cement block wall under the porch next to the same left side front corner. Tony made note of the separation cracks in the bricks and the cement footing under the chimney and stated that the chimney needed additional cable-lock piers to handle the weight of the bricks. We also went under my home and I pointed out the monkey-rigged pier built by your predecessors, which Tony said that he would replace. I then pointed out the unshimmed piers left by your firm.

I understand that Tony is on the production side of your firm and does not typically deal with warranty work, but he gave me some reassurance that Olshan could and would fix my problems. He only asked that at completion, I would give Olshan a letter approving your work, to which I gladly agreed!

When your crew came last week I pointed out where you had put your previous piers, both outside and under my home. I also pointed out where you had cracked my bricks previously and asked that you take care not to crack them again. Well, YOU CRACKED MY BRICKS AGAIN, and I expect you to repair them again!

After your crew had exposed the old piers and jacked up the chimney, your Warranty Manager Robert Martinez did an inspection of my home and we noted that while the chimney appeared straight, none of the cracks or separations on the inside of my home had closed. He used a hand level and determined that the living room was level while dismissing the electronic level used by Tony. He stated that he could not help me with these cracks, but I pointed out that the cracks were substantial and did not occur until after Olshan’s cable-lock system was installed. I continued by stating that in fact your system had failed and I was expecting what your firm advertises with Nolan Ryan’s “FIX IT AND FORGET IT”. To this Robert was dismissive and he also dismissed the bulging brick wall, the monkey-rigged pier, and the unshimmed piers. He pointed out Olshan’s Lifetime Transferable Warranty, to which I replied, that if the system is failing and breaking my house in the process, It is NOT Fixed and I CAN’T Forget It. I concluded our discussion by stating that we would agree to disagree, and he stated he would discuss the matter with you.

Since you have finished your work I have noted the following:

• My chimney appears straight
• I do not know if in fact the house is level
• Two additional piers were added to the front left corner area of my home
• No additional piers were added under the chimney
• My Front Door and Living Room Door no longer stick or jam
• My back door to my garage still sticks
• The front left brick wall still bulges
• Even with a new pier the concrete blocks under my front porch are still separated
• The cracks and separations (especially the foyer ceiling) are open and substantial
• The monkey-rigged pier was not replaced and the unshimmed piers are the same.

Every few years I cannot afford or justify having you jack up my house while I make costly repairs resulting from a system that fails and is not doing what your firm promised, “Fix It and Forget It”. I would rather have my confidence restored, and my house fixed (cracks and all). I want to be a HAPPY Customer that enthusiastically recommends Olshan.

I expect Olshan Foundation Repair Company to live up to its spokesman statement of Fix It and Forget It, by addressing the above items and the damage resulting from the failure of the Olshan Cable-Lock system by repairing the substantial damage in the Foyer/Living Room/Dining Room/Office areas of my home, repairing the bulging brick wall and the separated concrete blocks on the outside of my home on the left front corner area, and repair the crack bricks on the outside wall of my living room as mentioned above.

Sincerely,

Charles A.”

Receiving no response, Charles wrote again on January 23, 2007:

“Olshan Foundation Repair Company
5835 N. Commerce Plaza Dr
Jackson, MS 39206

Sir:

It is unfortunate when a business chooses not to respond or acknowledge the concerns submitted by a customer, as I have sent you two letters in regards to the failed services from your firm that has resulted in considerable damage to my home. Your company motto, from your ads as promoted by Nolan Ryan your spokesman, is to “FIX IT and FORGET IT”. Gentlemen, you have not fixed it and ONLY YOU have done the forgetting, as I cannot forget it. Yet I still believe that there can be accommodations to help settle our differences. If you choose to ignore this third letter and provide no written response or dialogue to my concerns, then Olshan Foundation Repair Company acknowledges that any arbitration of our dispute is excluded from any future consideration in resolving these issues.

By any measurement, my home and its foundation are in far worse condition as a result of your services and products since I contracted with Olshan to fix my entire home, and you installed your cable lock system. There are numerous cracks in the foundation, bricks, and walls; the floors and house are not level with an approximate 3-1/4 inch drop from the high point to the low area; door frames and windows are shifted out-of-square, support piers have loose or no shims, and on and on.

Since my last letter to you, I have contracted with a structural engineer to document the condition of my home. In the living room-foyer area where my home is splitting apart, he documents an almost 2 inch drop from the border of the dining room and living room to the chimney on the left side of my home. Your warranty manager Robert Martinez used a hand carpenter level to determine the house was level, but he was obviously mistaken. Since you did not level my home by making the proper adjustments you are in violation of your warranty.

When your firm performed its warranty services on October 11, 2006, your warranty manager Robert Martinez determined that your initial proposal did not provide for enough cable lock piers installed on the left wall (office-living room chimney side) of my home and had your crew sink a cable lock piling just in front of the window of my office.

He also asked your local job manager to check the cable lock piling that your 1999 contract showed as being installed at the front left corner on the office side (living room chimney side) of my home. When your workers excavated the area they found that there was no Olshan cable lock pier. In fact your original crew and managers did not install the proposed corner piling system, which has resulted in considerable damage. Yet at that time when I asked for a report showing all the cable lock pilings and the depth that they were driven, your manager in 1999 gave me a report showing that the phantom missing cable lock pier was driven 20feet 9 inches deep. When your crew found no pier, they went under my home in the crawl space to install the missing pier under the front wall footing just to the right of the corner. Although I am glad that you added the extra cable lock pier and the missing pier, my home has suffered considerable damage as a result of Olshan’s mistakes and misrepresentations.

Gentlemen, we need to resolve these issues on a positive note by engaging in an open discussion.

Sincerely,

Charles Awad”

— BEN POPKEN

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