Decksouth
reviews and complaints

Decent Deck, Terrible Service and Support

I've been dealing with a warranty issue for a $15k 2014 deck built by Decksouth. The Trex decking has faded and needs to be replaced under the 25 year warranty. We are happy with the overall quality of the deck; prior to this problem, we had two other minor issues that the company resolved in a timely manner, even though one of the resolutions was drilling holes in a gutter system that won't drain due to poor installation angle. You read that right, they drilled holes so that standing water can drip out and called it a day.

We reached out to Decksouth in May 2019 and could not get a a return call. That's me calling daily and speaking with real people and being sent to voicemail for two weeks. I eventually reached out to their GC for the project, Mike Reasons, and found out he is no longer with the company but he gave me the direct contact info for the owner John Lea.

I was eventually able to get John Lea to respond after over a month of trying. His initial response was to tell me that my deck wasn't built by Decksouth despite me having all the documentation from his company. He claimed that my deck was built by a rogue subcontractor (Mike Reasons) that had "done a lot of things wrong". It took me contacting my bank and getting copies of the actual canceled checks that were made out to Decksouth to get to him to acknowledge they built it. He then said he never had intended to "not take care of cutomers who thought they got a Decksouth deck" and had me send him pictures of the faded Trex material. He agreed it was faded and said he would open a Trex claim for me.

Crickets for 2 more months. Couldn't get him to return an email, voicemail, text, or a message left with a real person at his company. Contacted Trex directly and found out he had yet to contact them. Opened a claim myself and was offered a settlement of replacement decking or $900 cash.

I left him a message in August of 2019 about my level of dissatisfaction with his company and he finally responded back. After a few more weeks of shenanigans where he canceled coming out to look at the deck last minute after setting up multiple appointments to meet us there (including once telling us after we took off work that he wasn't coming because Atlanta traffic was bad at rush hour. He set the time he wanted to meet-who knew traffic in the ATL was bad at 5pm?) we eventually got him out. He took pictures, said he would handle the Trex claim, and that his crew would replace the faded decking and fix the non-draining gutters to boot. He said that the best time of the year for his crew was after Thanksgiving and that he would call me to set up the date.

Since that visit we can't get him to respond. Talked to Trex; he never called them. We have one text message from him October 18th saying he will call back in 5 minutes. Nope.

Stay away from this company. John Lea's word is not as good as his work. If you need customer support after he has your money you won't get it.

On April 1, 2009 I signed a contract with DeckSouth Inc. to build a deck to include electric fans and a drip irrigation system. I gave John Lea, the DeckSouth president and salesman a diagram and detailed specifications to be followed. Actual work was not begun until 4/23/2009 and all but four items were completed on 5/23, 2009 when work was suspended so that DeckSouth could order the proper parts. Those four items which Mr. Lea promised to complete were:

1. Install four (4) drip irrigation manifolds

2. Terminate the drooping ends of the drip irrigation properly

3. Replace an amber light globe that his painter broke

4. Provide 1 gallon of deck stain.

Subsequently I informed him that there were two other issues

1. A deck rail that seems to be bowing up

2. Three major support beams that have developed deep cracks.

On 6/2/2009 I began to inquire about the status of the efforts to complete the deck.

On 6/4/2009 I received a message that Mr. Lea would schedule the work for "mid next week".

On 6/12/2009, after waiting all week, I inquired again and was told that mr. Lea had been "under the weather" and that he would "absolutely get you complete first of the week".

On 6/15/2009 I inquired again why nothing had been done and was promised that his team lead would be at our house on wed. At 8:00am.

On 6/17/2009 I told mr. Lea that I was very dissatisfied with being put off so often without even so much as a phone call to cancel these past appointments.

On 6/23/009, mr. Lea finally admitted that the irrigation manifolds had not been ordered and that he would do so. On 6/29/2009, his construction lead arrived to install the amber light globe and the manifolds. He broke the first manifold and finally installed the others. He did not know that he was supposed to terminate the drooping ends of the drip irrigation, provide 1 gallon of deck stain, and check the deck rail and cracked support beams. He did get the required parts and fixed the drooping lines. From 6/30/2009 until now (8/14/09) we have been calling and texting mr. Lea to find out when he intends to install the last irrigation manifold and respond to the warrantee issues we have raised. We have received no answer.

On 10/10/09 we notified john lea of decksouth that the work lights over the grill area were tripping the gfi. We received no response from decksouth however we did get a response from the electrical contractor who made an appointment to come out and fix the problem. They called to follow up, however they never showed up or called again. We have tried to contact them but have received no response.

As of 10/19/09 the deck has not been completed, nor have the various warranty problems been addressed. Decksouth has completely ignored all communications from us. Decksouth has been paid in full and I am stuck paying someone else to complete the work. I hope that you take appropriate action so that other customers in the future don't have to endure unprofessional and inconsiderate actions by decksouth.