Avoid Yamada & Sons (Con Agg) Concrete

[robguz]

Just wanted to pass along this information to anyone needing concrete. I realized there are only 2 suppliers in Hilo, Yamada and Jas Glover. While Yamada came out $250 cheaper, they shorted me significantly and were complete jerks on the phone when I called to complain and they hung up on me. My builder significantly overestimated what was needed, and added and extra 1/2 yard on top of that. We were shorted by at least 1/2 a yard, probably closer to a full yard. Unfortunately this means greater expense and delays for me and now my foundation is poured except for one footing. Of course they claimed that they weighed their trucks, but weight is not the same as volume. I realize companies pull this kind of BS all the time. My builder said previously they shorted him a full yard.

I will be doing the usual: Contacting BBB, filing a claim with my credit card, and writing a formal letter demanding a refund for the amount I was shorted.

Buyer beware!

[Daniel]

Yamada does excelent work, they have great drivers and the mud always comes exactly how we order it. Buyer Be Not worried yamada is great.

Daniel R Diamond

[robguz]

Yes, I imagine if they know they can get repeat business out of you they treat you differently. Unfortunately their attempt to save themselves 100 bucks or so in this case is going to cost them far more.

[janeadams]

Well, we had several pours, a couple under extreme circumstances, and they came through for us every time. That includes one where we had 18 14' steel posts that had 4' X 18" holes and had to be set in a very thick mud. The driver was incredibly patient, helpful, and the pour of one load took many hours to get the posts perfectly vertical and lined up. They could have charged us lots extra for the long pour, but did not.

I don't know what went wrong with the calculations, or whether someone was having a bad day, but I would not hesitate to call them again. They were nothing but professional and helpful.

Jane

[Kapohocat]

quote:

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Originally posted by robguz...Buyer beware!

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Why dont you try getting ahold of Kahuna Scott and see if he can work some magic - he may know the right buttons to press?

Also having seen your footings and the issues presented the day I was there - it may be that the calcs were incorrect on the quantity needed.

You can actually take the weight and figure out the volume of cement you got and hey if the math doesnt work out then - contact them - what I could find is 1 cubic foot of cement (.037 CY)= 145 lbs. So if I do this math correctly .... 1 CY is 27 CF = So a full truck at 10 yards = 27 x 145 x 10 = 39150 lbs. So you could divide it backwards - (Truck weight) divided by (27 x 145) = # of yards

(By truck weight I mean the difference in weight between empty truck and full truck).

And IMHO, I would have to not agree - Con-Ag (especially Max & Riordan there) have been incredible - SB probably averages 600-800 yards a year (which is small potatoes) from them. One disagreement with a driver and Riordan/Max took care of it - issuing a fairly substantial credit.

I do have to say though - this is like P&P versus slab. There are people who only use Glover, and people who only use Con-Ag.... us we just use who ever has a pour date on a sunny day.

Catherine Dumond
Blue Water Project Management
808 965-9261
"We help make building your dream home a reality"

[David M]

Robguz

Considering this happened to your builder before, I think I might question his calculations.
It is not uncommon for a builder/contractor to make this error. A curious question would be how many yards you needed. How many yards were delivered/charged?

Mistakes do happen though. Have to wonder why the builder didn't call to correct and let you get involved. I know when I did my slabs, my concrete guy did all the talking except when I called the office to pay.

I would wish this is the very last challenge you face building, but [][][]

David

Ninole Resident

[robguz]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I will double check the measurements but since the builder didn't have problems with the other company and has now twice with Yamada, and given what a complete jerk the guy was on the phone while I tried to handle it diplomatically, I'm not exactly happy with them. As for responsibility, I am doing owner-builder so I am hiring out labor and with every bid am asking them to factor in me helping out as much as possible, which includes making all the phone calls and obtaining supplies.

I know overall this is a relatively minor and correctable thing, and I know there are much bigger challenges ahead.[] I have appreciated when others have shared positive or negative comments about companies to hire, and feel I should do the same.
Rob

[David M]

Rob
Wishing you only the best of sucess with your project.

The real bugaboo in the measurements (IMHO) is depth. That unperceived fraction of an inch can become a monster over large sqft. My concrete guy, one of his guys, and I always figured out yardage independently (4 major pours). We'd get 3 different answers, albiet close. And we always had a secondary form ready for the extra.

I'm also an owner-builder, very very hands on (as opposed to owner-checkwriter). One of the factors I think is important is the relationships that come with whomever is hired. Hiring a professional means I get that benefit at no additional costs regardless of my nail pounding. To disregard this relationship could be wasting capital. It may be my money, but I'm building only a single house, vendors probably don't expect repeat business from me. If the professional doesn't have good vendor relationship there is probably a good reason.

BTW, if you want an "interesting" experience talk with some of the drivers about the requests they get from owners and builders to, let's call it - "make things right"

David

Ninole Resident

[Rob Tucker]

I have noticed over the years that more miscalcs of concrete volumes occur when the unit of measure used to calc is basically feet. Years back I converted to using inches. It might seem that there is no difference in the two units but there is. A 2x4 is, for instance, not 4 inches tall or .33 feet tall. It is 3.5 inches. Meansurements visually calced at .5 feet might be 5, 6 or 7 inches or varibles thereof and errors accumulate.

So in using inches as a base measurement unit I would not arrive at a cubic foot number until the very end of the math. Might have a number like 375,428 cubic inches divided by 1728 = 217.26 cubic feet divided by 27 - 8.05 cubic yards. Order 8.5 yards and, like David M, have a secondary form ready for any excess.

Using the smaller unit of measure tightens up the numbers.

[jm minica]

It wasn't the calcs, I use a slide rule concrete calculator that has not failed me for years now.
Aloha,
Mark