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Rob Bilt

Rob Bilt review: poor workmanship and won't stand behind their own guarantee and standards 7

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7:11 pm EDT
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I had a 40'x90' pole barn built by Rob-Bilt in August of 2008. According to Rob Bilt, thier buildings can withstand winds up to 90 mph. Also according to Rob Bilt, they place their posts 3' into the ground and sometimes even deeper. Here's my problem. We had sotrms last night with high winds up to 70 mph. Their building did not withstand these winds. The entire building was uprooted and thrown into nearby timber in several piles and pieces. The posts did not shear off, but were pulled directly out of the ground. When I measured, and took pictures, of the the markings on each post to see how deep the were really in the ground, they were only 2'-7" in the ground. Any decent contractor could tell you this is by far not deep enough. So I contacted Rob-Bilt almost immediately. I spoke with Jan at the company and then also the owner Melissa. Melissa only talked to me after being told several times that the owner didn't want to hear my story. Neither Jan nor Melissa even made an attempt to help me out. All they said was that it was an act of God and they were not responsible. They flat out told me they would not help me out and that I was on my own. I then reminded them of their standard of posts 3' into ground and they never addressed that until the very end of the third phone call when they told me that that was plenty deep...obviously not! I also remnded them that they had just told me that their building could withstand winds up to 90 mph...once again...obviously not. Melissa actually flat out lied to me when she told me that she had gotten a weather report of buildings down in our entire area from the massive storm from the Gilson Police Department. Two lies actually. One. There is no Gilson Police Department! Two. There is not one building down. Not one. Other than my Rob-Bilt building of course. Trees and branches yes...buildings, no...not one! Both Jan and Melissa were very rude to me in each phone call and one had one goal. To get out of their responsibility. If this is how a company that gladly cashed my $22, 895 check last year treats people, please do yourself a favor and NEVER hire Rob Bilt, NEVER! I have now contacted an attorney and hopefully he'll go after them tooth, fang and claw. Oh, they also hung up on me the last time and said they didn't want to hear from me anymore.

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The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

7 comments
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BeeBob
, US
Oct 17, 2018 4:52 pm EDT

So, what you are saying is that you wanted a windstorm rated building, but not the expense of engineering certification or proper inspection. Both my Robbilt buildings are excellent construction and I personally measured every hole at 48"+. My windstorm inspector (Gulf Coast) even commented it was the best barn he had seen. So, "maybe" you got a bad crew or " maybe" you had a localized twister. My brother's steel barn was relocated 500 feet and his neighbor lost a few shingles! Storms do all sorts of things, which is why I would guess she called it an act of God.

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Still UNhappy
, US
Aug 25, 2017 9:33 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Glad you took my advice. The replacement building was built by National Barn...also out of Oklahoma. National Barn actually used American laborers, unlike the undocumented workers Rob Bilt sent. Rob Bilt sent three men, not one of them knew a word of English, and they actually slept in a pick up truck on my farm for the three days they were here.

Rob Bilt is a total joke. And to the person who said I should have turned this matter over to my insurance company first, I completely disagree. Why should my insurance company cover this cost when it was warranty work? Once I realized how shady Melissa's business practices were, I contacted my insurance agent.

Buyer beware with this dishonest company.

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John from Missouri
, US
Jan 20, 2016 9:53 pm EST

I just received a quote from Rob Bilt and to say "Just turn it In to your insurance?" Thats ridiculous...The first call I would make would be my insurance but my second call would be to the folks that built it especially after seeing that the post holes were not done correctly. If they didn't dig deep enough right at the beginning of the project...imagine how they cut corners when they wanted to "get finished" I feel bad for this customer and will not be hiring them to do my pole barn. Just because they came in at a very competitive price of $6.82 per square foot, I won't be hiring them due to this complaint. Well Done UNhappy... Thanks for the heads up because I was seriously thinking of taking their quote to the next level of due diligence...you saved me the time...thanks again

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ray kuhl
oklahoma city, US
Jun 25, 2012 1:48 pm EDT

Why dont you turn it into your homeowners policy, instead of stressing out?
With a building that had that kind of cost ( which seems extremly low for the size)
It sounds more like an argument then a get the matter soved thing.
Please dont say your not covered because yhat would be a silly situation you would have put your family through. Your building and all content will be covered no matter how strong a wind came through or how strong a wind the building should take.
Problem sved and get some sleep.

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unhappy Rob-Bilt customer
Gilson, US
Dec 30, 2009 12:19 pm EST

Nice try, Melissa. We had no tornadoes in our area. The reports were flat line winds up to 70 mph. You told me my building was guaranteed up to 90mph. Quite the discrepancy between what you guanantee and what you really guarantee. Your building was the ONLY building down. Your blown down building was the spectacle in our area with neighbors stopping by just to see it. By the way, I do have insurance and a new building is up...built by a crew that used to work for you that give me several Rob-Bilt horror stories. In fact, your crew stopped work on my job for one full day because they had to go back to their previous job in Elmwood, Illinois for code violations. Remember that one, holes not deep enough and no pads...against local codes? You run a shoddy company that does not stand behind its work or its own guarantee. God bless anyone that reads this and still hires Rob-Bilt. Not one bit of help did I receive from you Melissa. You even told me you didn't want to hear from me again which explains you lack of returned calls and emails. If you continue to post your excused on this site, I will continue to let people know how you treated my family.

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unhappy Rob-Bilt customer
Gilson, US
Dec 30, 2009 12:12 pm EST

If anyone would like to see pictures showing/proving how shallow Rob-Bilt put the posts in the ground, just leave your email here and I'll be glad to send them to you, just as I did for Rob-Bilt...though Rob-Bilt decided to never respond to my pictures, phone calls or emails.

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Rob-Bilt
Tahlequah, US
Dec 14, 2009 4:50 pm EST

My name is Melissa Todd, I am the owner of Rob-Bilt. I would like to comment on this complaint. This building did blow down, but what the man is not telling is how many tornados went through the state of Illinois the week this occurred. There were many televised reports plus newpaper reports about storm damage, power outages and other blown down structures due to these storms. What we simply stand by is the fact that our structure nor little if any structure can withstand tornado powered winds. This is considered an Act of God. I believe this gentleman possibly didn't have insurance on the structure, which is why he felt so compelled to blame our company for the destroyed barn. You can check the BBB about our company, we have an a+. If this man chooses to turn us into the BBB, I feel very confident that I would be able defend the matter, and there would be no bad marks given.
Rob-Bilt has many barns in south Texas and Louisiana that have withstood Katrina and other hurricanes. Most of the buildings in these areas have to be built to 120 mph wind codes. This is not a requirement in the state of Illinois, and even it were, no barn can withstand a direct blow from a tornado.