United Steel Building review: United Steel Building Scam United Steel Bad Business Practices - Charge You a LOT MORE than initial 'Quote' or YOU LOSE ALL!!! 37

Great article. Thanks for the info. Does anyone know where I can find a blank initial report form to fill out?

Hey there are many scam victim i know, this is really gonna be Bad.

I used to work for this company and quit because they are a scam, I feel incredibly seedy after working for this company. The owner, Tommy Sofield, does not even want his name mentioned...tee hee I just mentioned it. US steel and United Steel are just the original owners splitting up because they disagree on how to scam people. We are taught very little about the product that we sell. We are told to only sell the main steel part and not to sell the end walls Or ANY Accesories because that is not what our department deals with. The story goes something like this... we ask you what size you are looking for... oh a 25 by 30... well it just so happens that we have a 25 by 32 that we couldn't take delivery on.. you'd be ok with an extra two feet right? It is at a discount price because we have to move this steel out of our building... make room on our show room floor for actual building orders. It doesn't have end walls but they are no big deal most people choose to put them up themselves... you know match them to their homes put up their own doors you sound pretty handy I am sure you can do this yourself ( you big strong man you! ). All the sales associates are working to get this building out as soon as possible so if you want it i need a deposit what is your credit card number... Well if you are still a little squemish about this already fabulous deal if you allow us to take pictures and use it in our advertising after it is put up we could offer you even a further discount. that credit card for your down payment is what?... My personal favorite bilding is the one that has a few dents and scratches, barely noticable but we obviously cannot charge full price for damaged goods... of course this is a fast tracked item as well in need of immediate deposit to hold the building in your name...blah blah blah... In reality there was never a 25 by 32 there are no buildings with dents and scratches and soem one will sell a 25 by 30 for $1200 one minute and then turn around and sell the exact same building for $4, 000. We start at the highest price and then continue with a bull ### story and go down and down and down untill you give the magic credit card numbers. We are taugh tto sell a building in 30 minutes or less. SCAM SCAM SCAM stay away from this company.

us buildings got me too.a long story short i agreed on a 16x24 building at there office in deerfield.they got my 25% which is 1500.after reading contract when i got home i realized i lost my deposit.these guys are good they tell u what u want to hear.they are scam artist.do not buy from these people.i donot want to risk anymore time or money with these people.i cancelled my visa and put hold on original deposit for 120 days for investigation it cost me 150 to put on hold.they already contacted visa and tryed to bill 3200.visa will probable give them my 1600 but not the other 25% they will have to bring me to court to get any more money from me and i dont think there is any judge inthe world that sees these guys record and will reward them with more money.i am taking my claim to bbb. terry, angry in fort lauderdale

Apparently they have changed there tactics too. I made a deal with this company to buy a building for shipment at a later date and put a 25% deposit down for a building for delivery at a later date. All seamed ok until they ask for a zip code for were my building was to be erected and when I told them they clamed that the building that I had bought would not meet code requirements for my area and that I would be required to go to a smaller building in a heaver guage or pay more for the same size building in a heaver guage. Basicaly telling me I would haft to take a smaller building, pay more or lose out completely as my deposit was not refundable and that the building they had contracted to sell me would not be shipped to me because it could not be used in my state of Arkansas. According to the state building inspector Arkansas has had the same code for metal buildings state wide for the past 10 years and that they (suposedly) as a metal building manufacturing company should have known that and furnished me with a certificate ensuring that there building would meet those codes before selling it to me. Which they did not. basicly I am out $5000.00 with nothing to show for it and them threatning to file suit against me for the ballance even though they will not send me the building I bought. But I am fileing suite against them for there fraudulant practices and actions. I don't know how that will come out but I am not willing to throw my money away without a fight. I will post the outcome of what ever dose happen when it is complete.

Sorry to hear it...same scam different company. To my knowledge U.S. Buildings and United Steel are two separate entities.

I was contacted by Josh, a sales person with U.S. Metal Buildings. I gave Josh a drawing of a 60'x40' with 12' sidewalls metal building with one 7'x3' door, one 10'x20' framed door opening (both in the sidewall) and one 10'x38' door opening in the gable end-wall.
During the next call from Josh, he said 28' was as wide as the engineers could make the gable end-wall door opening and recommended to leave the end-wall open, and he sent me a sales contract to sign. I told him, in order for that to work for me the gable part of the end-wall would have to be closed in. Josh said, he would send me the material to completely close in the end-wall, then I would be able to make the opening the size I wanted. Josh also agreed to provide the sheeting for the 10'x20' door in fern green. Josh ask me to sign the sales contract and he would make the changes we had talked about. The cost of the building was $15, 300.00 with a $3, 800.00 nonrefundable deposit. I signed the contract, gave him my credit card information. That was on June 26, 2010.
On July 8th or 9th (I'm not sure which) I received a short call from a representative that said if I wanted the sheeting for the doors in fern green it would cost more. I told him I needed to talk to Josh and was told he was not available. The man told me a manager would call me and hung up.
I tried to contact Josh on the 12th and 13th of July and was told he was at lunch, on the phone or out of the office. I left several messages. Eventually on the 13th I was told by a receptionist I needed to talk to a manager who was on the phone, I left a message about 10:45am. I called back several times during the next 4 hours, the receptionist would not give me the managers name, but he was always gone to lunch, on the phone, or out of the office.
I closed my business at 6pm and went home. Around 7pm I received a call, at home, from John, a manager with U.S. Metal Buildings. John said if I wanted to change the original order it would cost an additional $750.00. I tried to explain what Josh and I had agreed to do, but John was very rude, said I was lying and said I had three choices; 1- take the building with no end-wall; 2- pay the $750.00; or 3- cancel the contract and lose my deposit. I told him three was not an option, and I wanted to talk to Josh and that I had left him several messages. John said I could not talk to Josh, and was going to tell Josh not to return my calls and instruct Josh that if I did reach him to hang up and not talk to me. John said I was lying about what I was told by Josh, gave me my three choices again, and gave me until July 14, 8am his time, 10am my time, to make up my mind as to what I was going to do, or he would cancel the contract.

My name is, John

e-mail; jdphoto2000@yahoo.com

Yup, US Buildings is full of scam artists telemarketers and they call you all day!

FIGHT THEM!

Fight back, click their Google Ad at the top:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=us+buildings&aq=f&aqi=g-p1g9&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=84c7fb41710deb10

It cost them $2.00 - $3.00 each time. I hate these guys.

For those who did not receive your building...
Kathy Livingston is no longer with the Broward County State Attorney, Consumer Services. This office is helping negotiate settlement for SOME victims of the USB scam. They will not assist a business filing a claim against USB.

I went through many of the same problems with delivery of my building. Long story short I was able to take delivery of my building for the original contract price after much delay and headache. I filed a complaint to Kathy Livingston of Broward Consumer Protection who dealt with USB's attorney (Berlowitz). I was hit with a $10, 000 change order for steel increase nearly 6 months after I ordered the building. At one point they agreed to refund my money in 4 monthly payments, but then decided to deliver the building for the contract price. My advice is to document all correspondence thru e-mail and use Consumer services for leverage (copy them on everything). Read the fine print and do everthing within the time frame they give you or they will claim you delayed the project and hit you with a price increase. They will play hard ball after they have your money no matter what good buddy act they put on at initial sale. Also if they agree to move forward with fabrication and you decide to take delivery arrange to send the remaining payments to their attorney to hold in trust - do not send any more money to USB. I checked with the Florida Bar Assoc. and at the time of my dealings (end of 2009) Mr. Berlowitz had a clean record. Advice I got from an attorney friend turned out to be true - Berlowitz is unlikely to tarnish his standing with the Bar if you use him for the transaction. Again document everything making sure every "t" is crossed and "i" is dotted. A heavy paper trail will lessen the chances of them finding a backdoor and sticking it to you.

Apparently I was one of the lucky ones. I wouldn't recommend USB to my worst enemy. The good news is once I finally recieved the building it went together like a dream and all parts were included. I attribute this to the fact that it was fabricated by Whirlwind Steel Buildings in Houston, Texas. Apperently USB is only a broker.

Best of Luck to anyone going through USB Hell. I sympathize with you!

There is a reporter in Florida who is chasing these guys! Eme with THE SCOOP has apparently made some progress with getting money back for some people. She is also pursuing the individuals WILLIAM KNOTE, HOWARD ZIMMMERMAN, and others for Fraud under the FDUPTA laws. These guys need to go to jail. I was told they are currently operating another metal building company called SUPERSTEEL! Stay away from these terrible people! Here is a link to THE SCOOP http://www.v1-p.com/unitedsteel.html These guys, along with their attorney Jeffrey Berlowitz, have been deceiving folks for more than two years. I originally contracted to purchase a $37, 000 building in February of 2008 and immediately made a deposit of $15, 000 (more than required). A year later, I was still trying to take delivery of the building, and they sued me giving no legitimate reason for the lawsuit! It was their attempt to use the Broward County courts to "WIN BY DEFAULT". I am in Texas, so I was forced to hire a Florida Attorney for another $5, 000 who managed to get the case DISMISSED, but getting a building or even some portion of my deposit back never happened. I have heard that almost 50 people were victims of this scam and the Florida Attorney General Office has still not opened an "Official Investigation" as of Feb. 2nd

I don't know if United Steel Building & US Buildings are the same, but I bought what I thought was a complete building from US Buildings & the paperwork was sent to me from Deerfield Beach Florida. This has been the biggest rip off nightmare I have ever seen in my life! They use decptive trade practices when they have you on the phone & tell you that you are getting a complete building & then they sell you the end walls, base connectors, & everything else they can gouge you for at an inflated price. They lie, connive, and if you are unfortunate enough to get the actual building, you can tell that whoever put their construction manual together has obviously never put one together before. What a fiasco! They tell you one thing & then mean somthing else. I would have cancelled my order if they hadn't already took my deposit. Then they tell you when you have to take delivery & they you have to rent a forklift for a whole day for about an hours worth of work. Not to mention the jerkwad truck driver they sent that allmost got his ### kicked as he wanted a cashier's check before he did any unloading & then he wouldn't hang around so I could count everything. He waved by as he was driving off my property & I gave him my middle finger. I paid for the end walls but received no side steffeners or door header so my sheets are hanging in the wind. I will be sending letters to the Attorney General, the Better Business Beaureau, and the Federal Trade Commission & will in all probablity sue them over their deceptive trade practices. This company sucks the big one so don't buy anything from them.

I guess I'm not the only one that got screwed over, this is what happened to me.
About the beginning of April of 2009 I was on the internet checking out web sites to get a quote on a metal building that I wanted which was to be used as a garage. I came upon the site for USB and after checking it out, I was throughly impressed. There were a number of things that really caught my attention, one being that under the heading of Company MissionStatement, it states 'USB pledges to deliver the highest quility building at the most economical price with full Honesty and Integrety'. Another one was "from the same day quotes to the fastest delivery time on earth". The third was under the heading of Straight Talk it stated "USB's reputation of telling it like it is". The fourth was under Company Motto which stated "USB lives by the Golden Rule: Do unto to others as you would have them do unto you". The fifth was that "USB could deliver your building in as little as five weeks"' And the last was that "the customer would get state stamped engineered drawings for the state that they live in".
All of the above items that I just mentioned was why I went with USB to get a quote. I filled in all the information that was required to get that quote. A few days later, I received a call from someone by the name of Randy. He said that he was from USB and that they had a building that was partially built that was exact same as I requested a quote for but it was two feet wider.
He told me that it was a building that another individual who was also from NYS but defaulted on their payment. The list price was $ 17, 983 and with the discount of $9, 000 (it was what the other customer supposedly paid before defaulting on the rest balance) leaving a balance of $9, 000. I told him that as long as ALL the items that I requested a quote for were included in that building that I'd take it, which he assured me it was.
OK here is were things start to get screwed up. I received the necessary paperwork a few days later which I filled out and mailed back along with the $2, 000 deposit fee. Prior to sending it out, I noticed that the color of the roof has been changed but thought nothing of it thinking that it was because it was part of the original order and that it couldn't be changed.
The other thing that was strange was that none of the openings were included in the bill. Thinking that it was already include in the package as I was assured by Randy that it was, I didn't really give it much though. I got to thinking about it over the next few days and thought that I'd call USB just to ease my mind.
I ended up talking to Jack, told him about my concerns and was then informed that none of the openings were included in that price and that Randy made a mistake. I said due to the fact that I was quoted a price which did included those openings that that's what they should give me. He said that he couldn't do it so we ended up going around and around to no avail. I asked to speak to his supervisor, whos name was Meinda and had to go through and explain the whole thing to her. She said that she was sorry about the "misunderstanding between me and Randy" and that they would cover the cost of two of the garage door openings which I agreed to.
On may 8th of 2009, I received a "revision order" which was now billing me for an upgrade in building code for $1, 511.43 as well as $379.07 for change in end wall spacing and another $910.00 for 2 10x8 garage door frame and trim package for a total of $3, 050.50.
I almost sh-t in my pants when I saw this so I called and talked to Jack. He stated that the last two items wasn't supposed to be on my bill as it was a mistake made by one of the girls in the office. However, the upgrade in code was required as it was an upgrade from 2003 code to 2007 codes. He said that he was sorry about the mistake as well as the extra cost but was unaware of the change in codes the last time we talked.
At this point, the building went from $9, 000 to $10, 500. He said that they needed the 50% of the increase before final fabrication could start. I sent it that day via fax.
I found it very strange that after Melinda said that they would cover the cost of the two garage doors that I get a bill three weeks later for that "code upgrade"
Then on 6/10/2009 I received a bill of $2, 000 for "fabrication deposit". I sent that out that same day.
Now the web site stated in the "FINE" print that once the fabrication deposit is received it" should " be between 80 and 120 days before delivery of your building. With them notifying the customer 30 prior to that delivery.
Well I never did hear from them so when I emailed USB to check on the status of my building, they told me that it wouldn't be delivered till the week of Dec. 7th of 2009 which would be around the 120 day mark building. By the 18th of DEC., I still haven't heard from them so this time I emailed them again requesting the status of my building. That's when they told me that it wouldn't be until sometime early in Jan. of 2010.for the delivery of my building.
As of now, I've made six attempts to contact them with no responce what so ever. I contacted the Florida State Attorney Generals Office but they were no help at all. They did tell me that there were numerous complaints against United Steel Building but that when it came right down to it, they couldn't do anything about it.
So basically you me and the next guy are screwed. I really don't know why this company is allowed to stay in business.With businesses like USB, no wounder the US economy is going down the crapper.
Anyone willing to drop me a line, please feel free to do so at birdman12035@yahoo.com and please put USB in the subject matter. Good luck to everyone. Ron

I was offered a half fininshed building for $9800. After it was spect up to my counties codes it was over $16000. I said no way and we agreed on $13000 just like all the other prices I got from their compition. It's been 9 months now with half down, no building or refond

I have been investigating United Steel Buildings and you can follow the investigation here:
http://www.v1-p.com/unitedsteel.html and you have an avenue for recourse by going to that site, scroll to the bottom and file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General - who happens to be running for Governor in 2010.
Thanks The Scoop

purchased a 40 x 60 building from united steel building. Received the building about a month later than promised. Was told that delivery would be 180 days after deposit was received. Apparently they quote working days, so 180 days is more like 7-8 months. even then it was still a month late. further more the building arrived "sticker-stacked" on the truck not palletized as they claim. missing gable column was found at another job site and returned two weeks later. bracing cables were too short and had to be re-manufactured. for the most part, I was not terribly disgruntled to that point. then I started making phone calls and e-mailing to find out where the insulation and roll-up doors were. at first I got responses and excuses then all correspondence stopped, still no deliveries. now the phone message says all representatives are busy and to leave a message, I have done this several times. check the website only to find they are updating their internal servers and website (for nearly a week). this company is primarily internet dependent for sales, without a web page they are loosing business or just plain going broke. I would not recommend united steel buildings to anyone. they are pushy with all of their contract terms, always want money up-front, and provide poor customer service.

i think i have been ripped off by united steel building cant seem to get ahold of jack rackln 0r sue alder. anybody know any thing about if still in busines. longkcl@sbcglobal.net or [protected] ths ken

Everyone thanks for the info. I was called today and told they
had a 30 X 32 building that was cancelled by a buyer and they would sell it for almost 1/2 the orginal price. I would have to put 2, 000.00 down as a deposit and they would hold it up to six months at no charge, since I am not ready to have the building right now. I need it in 3 months. So, thanks to all of you that have written comments. I did not buy, however it was very tempting. I always research every
thing I can about the conpany before I buy.

Thanks for saving me money. I will not be buying from this company. Good luck on you law suits. Get an attorney that will do a class action suit. Then, you can all have an attorney
for free if enough of you start the class action suit.

Sincerely,

Bill

Sorry to here it.
Are you sure United Steel Building, Inc. and US Buildings are the same company?
Might be the same scam but another outfit. If it was United and you have been scammed join my group on this site "United Steel Building SCAM victims " for helpful info.

I think it's important to note that this company has changed it's name several times...

What does THAT tell you?

I dealt with "Frank" and then his manager...

This was for a 60*25 building I was going to purchase from them..

This is a warning for anyone considering buying one of these prefabricated steel buildings from usbuildings...

They run commercials on tv some times...

On the surface these things seem like a good deal... You get a steel building for a cheap price... BUT...

What they don't tell you is they are selling you HALF of what you need to put the f*cking thing together..

Once you buy the initial steel building and put down a "non refundable deposit" they will wait for a week then call you back and tell you that you need to buy the "end walls"... for another 3 grand...

So you say ok.. f*ck I need end walls after all.. and buy it..

Then they wait another week and call you back and say well.. you need this steel channel to install the building or else it's going to be a major pain in the ### for you to erect it... and that's going to be another 3 grand...

I mean what the f*ck you know?

That's like selling someone a car and then saying oh by the way you'll need to buy these breaks to make it stop..

f*cking ###..

So I tell them to go f*ck themselves and refund my deposit and they refuse..

I've now charged it back with the credit card company..

I'm mainly posting this here so google will pick it up and people will be warned that usbuildings http://www.us-buildings-direct.com is a scam and a rip-off. Consider this an official complaint about their business practices.

J. D. - You're not the only one. Sorry to hear it.

Make sure and file a fraud complaint with the Florida State Attorney General. You can also file a complaint online with the FTC. The more complaints they receive, the sooner they will investigate. You might also try Ft. Lauderdale PD, Economic Crimes Division, for a criminal complaint...it is fraud.

I was too taken for a ride by this outfit . Yes United steel buildings Dan Marino's boys . I emailed for a qoute then the next day I recieved a call from salesman Billy who said they had a very special deal on a building that was perchused Circut City that they had backed out on . He also told me that it came with two door openings of my choice great . Well you need to send your deposite in won't last long . So i did they faxed me a deposite sheet and check sheet 1500.00 down 6000.00 remainder ok . Then two days later Deena calls me saying to my surprise that it is going to cost more for this openings I told her that Billy had told me no cost for this openings . So I told her I would think about it . So later I tried to call Billy she intercepted my call like a bad Marino pass said he was busy could she help me . I said that I have already taiked to her about this so she got her manager a women who I have forgotten her name she said I would have to pay for this so I told her I wanted my deposite back no was the answer . I asked how much then that I could not afford any increase . She said it would only be a couple of hundred dollars Deena would work out the price . Next day deena calls tells me she has emailed the cost 630.00 for the door 445.00 for the other opening .I emailed her back said I couldn't do it . I slept on it hatting to piss away my hard earned money I agreeded to pay this . Took my drawings downtown got approval to build feeling good I mailed them back three days later I recieve a call from Jack who said that it was going to cost me more for the opening . What was it going to cost he wouldn't say also buy the way I called your inspecter you will need a foundation drawing that will be 1750.00 . Wow ! I had talked to the inspecter we talked about the foundation had it covered I don't know what he told him . Come on a stanard drawing for a small buiding I am sure they have hundreds laying around there office . I talked to some builders who said it who be hard to find a engineer to sign off on there drawings being they didn't design it because of liability. So that the price had increased out my range I was forced to cancel my building thats 1800.00 dollars a months wages for me and my family. What what I have read this is comman practice for this company.

Chuck, I think you have been mis-informed. General Steel is the biggest scammer in the whole industry. They will snatch your deposit and find any way possible to not deliver your building. The only reason they say they will hold your price for 6 months is because they put a 100% markup on the price from the factories they buy from. So if steel goes up a point or 2, they don't care. I lost my deposit with them, $15, 000. I found out they don't even make buildings. They are a broker. They sold me a 50x100x14 for $52, 000. I put $15, 000 down. Then they wanted to charge me about $20, 000 more for openings, doors, insulation, gutters, downspouts. They even tried to charge for closures which were already included with the building. To make a long story short, I bought directly from Olympia's factory, a nicer building, same size for $29, 480. I lost $15, 000 to General STEAL but still came out ahead. I found out General was buying this from the Star factory for around $29, 000 and selling it to me for $52, 000. If steel goes up, it's from the mill/factory. On a 3% increase the factory price would be b$28, 870, so General STEAL is covered. That's why they will hold your price for 6 months, but they will never deliver the building anyway, so it will not matter. They make their money on deposits.

I will join the group with complaints against United Steel Building. The details are in my complaint but are similar to others complaints. I have been awaiting delivery since Sept. My most recent email has gone unanswered and calls/messages left are not returned. HAs anuone received any positive action from state or federal offices?

Click red 'Review all United Steel Building complaints 'at top of column to read my complaint of fraud perpetrated by the thieves at United Steel Building. Same as the rest...more or less. Anyone have Ms. Livingston's e-mail address at Broward County? My phone calls to BC Consumer Affairs have gone unreturned. The new website is nice Mr. Gentry...stay on it! Thx.

Billy B are you kin to these rip off artist or what? You can be assured I have been contacted by people from Cal. to South Carolina and even YES even a Church In Florida that was Taken in by Jack Rachlin Sue Alder and the rest of this gang. I hope you got paid for you Blog and besides this is a complaint
Board!

Go to my web site www.unitedsteelbuildingfl.com or unitedsteelbing.org you will find information on this company and many questions will be answered if you think things are going wrong. They take you money and will not stand by the contract which has been proven to be worthless get a look at their lawyer and remember even O.J. had a lawyer that is the answer the Florida Bar will tell you. This is one of the reasons the economy is going to hell. do not lay down the information is out there fight back David E. Gentry

These people are scammers who play enormous games of deception other than just operating as an honest business. I ordered a steel building in late April and gave United a $6800 deposit. Slick sales people. A few days later, called to speak with the sales person, Mike, about a raise in height on the building. Denna from customer service refused to let me talk with him and was very rude. This is how things started out. I later visited the office on Cyprus. No sign. They buzz you in to this little lobby like their in a witness protection program -- for obvious reasons once you learn more about them. Jack Rachlin became my contact. Jack is also a liar and will make you believe they are reputable if you listen to his b.s. He almost had me fooled. I delayed the building myself for several weeks while attending to my father who died this year. Two months ago, once again picked up the project and have been attempting to have United be reasonable about dates and to give me a final price quote. So far they've delivered nothing except prints to be marked up. Thank God I never signed the Terms and Conditions which are totally obsurd and leave you with no rights as a consumer. After getting my attorney involved because of their lack of responsiveness, promises not kept, and generl pain in the ### to deal with, as of yesterday, we gave them notice that we are cancelling the order and demanding a refund. Thanks to others, I also called Kathy Livingston at Broward Consumer Protection. United has over 20 complaints against them from all over the US, and I'm told at least a couple of law suits here in FLL. They've had to make concessions with some of the people thanks to Broward County getting involved. Why the State Attorney General for Florida has not acted, I'm not sure. Maybe with enough of us from Florida complaining and Broward County's help, the AG's office will help shut these guys down. And btw, Dan Marino's agent is now asking about the situation, so maybe Dan will get his mug off their web site. I'd really like to see that web site shut down.

I checked out united steel building and it seems this customer has been fully satisfied. The only companies I wouldn't trust in the steel industry are the ones that have nothing good to say about their competitors. United Steel Building seems to be the only company I've called that doesn't make sale by bashing other companies. Those are the guys you really have to watch out for because they are probably hiding something themselves. I saw a response about buying from General Steel, well make sure to do your homework before doing business with them because the facts are as follows - http://www.ago.state.co.us/press_detail.cfmpressID=127.html. I'm a business man and sometimes customers will complain but to let it go as far as a lawsuit is bad news. Furthermore not that I'm a Dan Marino fan, but I'm sure if he put his name on a product his people did their homework checking them out.

I've called around to many steel companies and see the same thing. However, General Steel offers a 6 MONTH price guarantee...all you have to do is take delivery within 6 months and you will not be charged any steel price increases. Also, price increases should not occur once the building is being fabricated as the company/broker should have already paid the fabricator. The reason you're getting upcharged between fabrication and delivery is probably because the supplier you ordered through (ie United, Olympia, Freedom, Premier) probably hasn't even paid for the building yet! General Steel had a court case...but not over this stuff. Their case was about sales people claiming that buildings were sitting on a truck ready for delivery. However, that was 6 years ago and now they seem pretty clean. They've never been involved with this scam in taking people's deposits then upcharging them at delivery. well...they give you 6 months before the possibility of any upcharges. A lot of people complain that General Steel is expensive...maybe it's just that they're right the first time and everyone else is trying to undersell them unethically.

If I posted about the wrong company then I apologize. Evidentally, this company is taking advantage of your good name while screwing around their own customers.

I'm also a USB customer and have no complaints. I ordered from them in 2005 and got a nicer building than all my neighbors. Then I ordered in late 2007 and could not take delivery until May 2008. I also got a 35% increase but noticed that their May 2008 pricing was still higher than my new price. They must be doing this because they have to, not because it's something they do to rip people off. It's not like they're General Steel, who lost a $4.2M lawsuit. And they're not taking deposits and shutting down either, like so many fly-by-night outfits.

Also, to Mr. Chad, I think you're thinking of US Metal Buildings out of Deerfield Beach, Fl. Gary Rack is their company officer and is not affiliated with United Steel Building. US Metal Buildings actually named themselves after United, to take advantage of USB's positive reputation. I bet after reading this page that is hard to believe! But it's true. Check the BBB.

Wow i really can't believe they are trying to screw this many people. I made my first deposit 1-4-08 with the o7' discount locked in. I made two more deposits and with all three they totaled 10, 800. My last deposit was made the first of may and was not contacted until the second or third week of june about the "price increase" which gave them around six weeks to buy the materials. They told me no materials would be bought until building was ready to be fabricated. This is wierd because in their response from the BBB complaint I filed, they stated that my money could not be refunded because the materials were already bought. As of right now i just want my money back and be done with this. I have filed with the BBB and Divison of consumer services in Florida and i encourage anybody who hasn't to do so. I'm only 21 and the money that has went towards this is from my savings and i am very very angry. Never in my life i thought i would be taken like this. I'm in the process of contacting an attorney and see what i can get with that.

The same thing happened to us. Sent their deposit in "right then" to get discount of 35% off original price, got drawings, told them to send the building intact, not expensive doors or trim, according to their paperwork our building was supposed to be in fabrication, waited for contact that building was ready, got 35% increase price. Was told only locked in discount, not price. Their 35% increase was figured on original price, not our discount. Typical bait and switch. They have us because we have already sent them 2 deposits in excess of $7, 000.00. I am contacting everybody, including the Broward Consumer Protection Agency and am sending copies of all our paperwork to the Florida Attorney Generals Office. Somebody has got to do something about these illegal practices.

United Steel Building has done the same illegal transaction with me. I purchased a building 4-1-08. They kept sending me new revision sheets with charges of $250 each time; even when it had been their mistake. I mailed them my contract and building permit 5-07-08. I thought my building would be coming 6-8 weeks later as they had promised me. On 7-14-08 I contacted them to ask if they knew when my building would be completed. Imagine my shock when they informed me that my building had not even begun to be fabricated. They informed me they hadn't received my building permit. When I mentioned I had sent it, they told me to fax them a new one. I asked why no one had called me; they responded that it was my responsibilty not theirs' to get my permit to them. A few days later they accidentally sent me a standard form they had called " Release of liability to fabricate without permit." Why couldn't they have sent me that form then and fabricated my building. On 7-25-08 I am informed I owe more money for a fabrication fee. I paid this hoping to end my nightmare, but no, on 8-15-08 I was informed that according to Section 18 of their contract they can increase my price and did by 35%. If they had completed my building in a timely manner, perhaps their steel prices wouldn't have increased. By the way the letter said prices had increased 60%, it was really about 18%, at that time. Do not let these people have any of your money or you will be sorry. The Broward Consumer Protection Agency has sent them a letter telling them to stop this illegal buisness activity. Their representative informed me they had never received this letter. Sorry, but I have a copy, try again.

I ordered a building in March from United Steel Building. The increase on my building was 20%; after some negoation with a rep. from the company named Jack. I called a few other steel companies as I was pretty upset with the change in price. I was told this is common industry practice, one rep. from Olympia named Mark, said you need to have production started immediately to avoid increases, they can't controll the price of steel. I'm a little bitter, what can you do, the building is nice.

Mike, Jupiter Fl