BEWARE – Timothy Howell – Engineer – Austin / Cedar Park TX – Review

If you are considering doing business with Timothy Howell, beware. He has failed to communicate with us regarding work he hired us to do at his house. We tried to resolve the issue with him once it was raised. But he has refused to communicate. Instead he went online to slander us and make false accusations. Here is Tim’s LinkedIn Page. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call us.

In an effort to be transparent, we are sharing the hidden conversations here.

If Tim shall choose to resolve the issue with us peacefully, we would be pleased to remove this page and all remarks regarding Timothy Howell. He is an engineer located in Cedar Park Texas near Austin.

Unfortunately Google does not allow us to post photos in response to Tim’s accusations, so we had to put it all together here and link to it from the Google review.

Here is what happened:

In early April 2022 we were scheduled to remove the old insulation in Tim’s attic and install spray foam. Tim paid a 3% deposit for the work to be done. (Our competitors require a 30-50% deposit). The rest of the payment was due ONLY AFTER the work was done, he had inspected it, and approved the work.

The crew preformed the work. After a final inspection Tim saw it was appropriate to pay us the balance of the project. Which he did. We thought he was pleased. The inspection showed that the work was done to the work order.

Then roughly a month later, we sent Tim an email asking for his feedback on how we did. We do this with all of our clients because doing a good job is very important to us.

On May 9 2022 we found a response from Tim, cryptically saying

I don’t think you want to know what I’d have to say about your company.

– Tim

This was quite shocking. What went wrong?

We want all of our clients to be pleased with our work, and if they are not, we want to make it right. So our Quality Assurance & Operations Manager sent Tim a text message and phone call immediately in an effort to get more information and solve the issue. See below:

 

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Tim was non-responsive. Again on May 22 we sent him another message, and phone call.

 

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Again, due to Tim’s lack of response, we followed up May 24.

 

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Then again May 25 when he finally replied many days later. Tim’s response was “sorry I’m busy, let’s do something later.” So a phone call was made again later to try and uncover what it was that he was cryptically dissatisfied with on our work.

Due to Tim’s lack of cooperation, we never found out what the concern was.

Fast forward from May to November. Suddenly we receive a 2-star Google complaint from Tim Howell.

 

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Immediately we reached out to Tim again on Nov 10. Now we had some information on what he has dissatisfied with.

 

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After several un-returned phone calls, and offers to help, we resolved to respond publicly just as Tim had made his complaint public.

Here is what we posted in a Google review reply

 

Tim, upon seeing this, we immediately called and texted you to see how we could fix anything. We were not made aware of any punch-list items before you wrote this. 

When we finished the project, you and Sheldon reviewed the project. You were encouraged to tell us if something was not how you wanted it. You seemed pleased with the project at the time. You did not voice a concern.

Based on your satisfaction, we requested payment of the 90% balance. You paid in full. If you were unsatisfied, we needed you to tell us. Then we could fix your concern.

I don’t believe the real issue is not whether we did a better job than any competitor. 

I believe the real issue is that you are dissatisfied that you hired an electrician to install a plug in your attic for the dehumidifier. You believe we should have hired the electrician. 

We should have done better at explaining the situation in your proposal. We have taken steps to avoid this frustration in the future with any other client.  

We offered to pay for the cost of the electrician. You declined this offer.  

We offered to discount/compensate you for the punch-list items you worked on. You declined the offer.

We asked to go back to your home to see the problem and fix your punch list. You have refused.

If you don’t let us fix your punch list, how do we get any resolution for you? You declined all offers of resolution. 

I understand you would not hire us again because of the punch list items. Sir, you did not make us aware that you had a punch list until you posted this review. I regret that we did not get you to communicate with us about your concerns sooner. 

I do hope you enjoy a more comfortable and energy-efficient home. I know that you will be pleased with the home performance results. 

The offer to “make it right” still stands. If you ever decide to let us make you happy. Don’t hesitate to contact us. We are ready for help

FINALLY Tim decides to respond.

After seeing Stellr response below, I amI lowering my review to one star. I was NEVER offered any discounts after the work was complete.This is simply not true.

– Tim Howell

So we responded again privately via text message and a phone call

Good evening Tim Howell.

A little bit ago my son, Shawn, the owner of Stellrr Insulation, called me in response to your downgrading your 2-Star review and making it a 1-Star review. Shawn told me you said you downgraded it because we had never offered to compensate you for the electrician and the work with which you were dissatisfied.

Sir, on November 11 at about 5:34 PM I sent the text message that I am sending 3 screen shots to you. It is in three parts because when I take a screenshot it does not show the entire text. 

Clearly my text said I would pay $300 for the electrician an additional $300 for the work you were not satisfied with. 

It included the sentence “that is a total of $600”

Tim, do you agree I worked diligently since I first started contacting you about this.

In May I contacted you several times trying to get a resolution. At that time you had not posted any Google review. Without meeting with me or talking with me further you said you were busy right now and you’d get back with me later. 

You did not get back with me.  Instead, you posted a 2-Star review. I again began contacting you in early November to resolve this.  I did not receive any reply.

The day before yesterday, (Thursday) Shawn replied to your Google 2-Star review. Today, Friday you replied to Shawn’s response.  You said we never made a monitory offer to you.  

That is not accurate.  

Perhaps you did not read or receive my Nov 11 text.  (See screen shots)

Tim let’s agree to find a solution.  Let’s find a way to move forward.  

I will be happy to bring a check to your home tomorrow morning for $600 to show you the good faith Stellrr has for you. We do value your business and we want all of our Stellrr Clients to be happy.  That is why I have contacted you many times.

What time tomorrow, Saturday, January 7, 

may I come to your residence to take care of this.

– Wayne

As is Tim’s practice, he refused to respond to get things addressed. So we reached out again the next day as promised:

January 7, 2023 @ 8:01a 

Good Saturday morning Tim Howell.  I hope this message finds you in good spirits and the beginning of a happy  New Year.

Thank you for responding to Shawn’s Google review response that you posted in November. I understand he replied on Thursday and today the next day you responded. I hope that we can continue to respond.  My goal for Stellrr is to gain a happy client.  I am sure you understand why we continue with our ongoing efforts which may allow you to upgrade the 2-Star review and make a 5-Star review.  Or at least remove the 2-Star review. 

Perhaps you did not see text messages I sent. 

On November 11 at 5:37 PM I sent a text. In that message I committed to reimburse you $300 for the electrician.  Further, 

I committed to pay an additional $300 for the work that we did not conduct to your satisfaction. A total of $600 was offered in an attempt to gain your satisfaction.

After you reply to the Google response today, I want to once again offer to you $600 as indicated above and as was indicated in early November and as was indicated on another occasion.

Regardless of what has or has not happened before, I would hope that we can reach a mutually agreeable decision today. If you agree to this, I will make a trip to your home today to deliver you a check for $600. 

Will you call me and tell me what time you would like for me to come by your home with the $600 check. To be clear, we would desire the 2-Star review to go away and replace it with a 5-Star review or no review at all.

– Wayne

And since Timothy Howell has refused to resolve the issue privately, we have responded in-kind publicly.

Now, it is not a lack of our trying to resolve his concerns. We do our part. But when the client fails to respond and do their part, how are we supposed to make it right?

We disclosed to Tim that he would need to hire an electrician. He is upset because he had to hire an electrician.

We acknowledge that we could have done better. We are trying to fix it. But he has to do his part.

Since Tim has refused to accept our refund, Shawn has decided to donate the $600 to a non-profit on Jan 19, 2023. The Boy Scouts of America. Shawn is an Eagle Scout and tries to make the world a better place.

We will continue to attempt to resolve things with Tim, but since he is leaving us with a public-black-eye, we will continue to leave this response public for others to review before doing engineering business with Mr. Timothy Howell of Cedar Park TX.

Before hiring Tim Howell, how would you rate him?

  • Conflict Resolution
  • Communicating Clearly
  • Achieving desired project outcomes
  • Teamwork
  • Tying up loose ends
  • Procrastination

We would like to remove this commentary regarding Timothy Howell from the internet. But he has been non-responsive to many phone calls and text messages. If Tim decides to take this situation private, we will remove this page and make everything private as well.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call us.

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