Good businesses act like good businesses.  They don't hide behind contracts and the letter of the law to take your money.  THe customer was told that he was only responsible for the plans if he backed out, and he placed his deposit in good faith.  However these plans were paid for, and no merchandise was delivered.  Why would the company be entitled to the deposit without delivering any product?  The contract is for services delivered and the business has provided nothing of value, outside of a fancy set of pictures which was paid for.  I am starting to wonder if these defenses are from other steel building "professionals" as this seems to be the scam du jour in that industry.

Think of it this way.  You go into a car dealership and discuss a custom truck.  Design the truck, pickout the options, colors etc. and save it into the computer. THe salesman printos out a picture and you put down a deposit.  Nothing is ordered, you jsut have a deposit at the dealer as a credit towards a future purchase.  Months later, you come back and say that you don't want to order the truck anymore.  Does that dealer have a right to your money?  Even if you signed a contract to order it, they have not provided you a truck and thus deserve no money.  Again, good businesses act like good businesses because they care about reputation and take a long term persepective.  Crappy businesses try to force you into doing business with them because they cannot win the business honestly.

I noticed how many people latched onto the fact the company did not provide a refund and commented that this was so unfair.  The customer states he made the order in February and attempted to cancel with refund in May.  Buyer's remorse is typically considered from 72 hours to maybe even a week.  Outside of this timeline, you really have to consider the impact to the supplier on refunds, returning materials, etc.  It should not have taken eight weeks for this customer to realize this purchase is not a good fit for the company at this time.  Even if this was the case, the consumer's responsibility would have been to accept the delivery and be accountable for the storage of this purchase until he was ready to use it in the stated two years.

I read a few of the responses stating they were glad to see this ripoff report before they ordered from this company.  The problem with these comments is the lack of consideration on the company's part regarding the timeline the consumer gave us in his original complaint.  How can you penalize a company for following the contract the consumer signed as in agreement?  I am not privy to the contract, but it may very well state that any agreements outside the contract would not supercede the contract.  You would have this same problem no matter which of their competitor you do business.  

The contract agreement protects the consumer AND the supplier.  When we begin a group exodus without considering both sides of the complaint we open the door for fewer choices in suppliers, higher prices, and the potential of a monopoly within the industry.

It may have been possible for the consumer to go to the supplier and negotiate applying his deposit to a future project rather than demanding a refund more than 45 days after placing the order.  Becoming a good consumer takes practice.

well, actually, it sounds like a bunch of crap to me.... based on what I've seen, I am no longer considering doing beusiness with this company.

I can't believe some of these comments. First I'd like to say I've had no dealings with future buildings as of yet.I would also like to Say i have never Commented on any forums...ever before. After reading Some of the above people I couldn't resist. To me, The above situation is cut and dry. The two parties Negotiated a deal...and signed a contract. It wasn't on a Whim...he had the plans...decided it worked for his situation and pd the Deposit. now he wants to back out of the agreement. The Cooling off period in Canada regarding contracts Is only for door to door contracts I believe. how can anybody blame A company for upholding a signed agreement. The customer should show some integrity. If he wasn't Sure about his purchase...don't sign the agreement! The agreement Is in place so both parties know what is expected From each other. It wouldn't be ok for the business To decide after the agreement was signed to raise the Price or change the conditions so why is it ok for the consumer??

I'm in the market this yr for a building....and I will have no problem considering future buildings as a company that can be trusted

 Glad I had sense enough to 'Google steel building reviews'  on the internet this morning.. was considering Steelmaster or some of their 'competition'. Think  I won't bother to check out any Canadaian companies if this is what they do to you. What if the customer had been a victim of a medical issue, layoff  or Storm. It also helps to read these contracts from these suppliers and run them by your ATTORNEY  before jumping into the deal instead of after especially purchases MORE then 5k . What if their building doesn't pass your counties building requirements.. you gotta pay a down payment to just see the engineering plans and have them approved- I DON'T THINK SO.

You are correct. In Ontario, where Future steel is located, there is a cooling off period on any contract of this value. You can change your mind and get your money back. Future Steel would be wise to abide by the law. If they do not, simply take them to court. For amounts up to 10,000 this is very easy to do in small claims. Its a few hundred dollars to file and you will get that money added to your judgement when you win. And you will win. The law is very clear about the cooling off period. The more documentation you have the better as small claims is not like criminal court. Its not about guilty or innocent but who is more believable. The Judge will decide who is telling the truth based on evidence presented and has the authority to decide who is telling the truth. This wont even get to court. I would bet that it will be decided in discovery. Discovery is the meeting before court where both parties meet before a court appointed mediator. The purpose of this is to avoid wasted court time. The Mediator will look at evidence and warn anyone who is ill prepared and let all know what is most likely to happen in court. This gives parties a chance to settle without future proceedings. Should the "loser" disagree and wish to go to court anyway it does not bode well for them as the judge will take their refusal into consideration. This does bode well for the victor as the judge will likely add to your judgement and wit also makes it easier to put liens on the company since they demonstrated uncooperative behaviour.

  I was looking into buying a steel building and happened by your ad on TV. I immediately went to the web to look art you buildings but the first thing I saw was "Future Steel Buildings Ripoff". I red the first story how FSB was keeping the entire deposit of Mr Flemmings. I thought in large purchases like this the customer had 3 days to change his mind by law.
   It doesent matter anyhow. Now that I see how FSB does business, by their own admission, they will not be considered for my business. To bad they trat their customers that way.
   But in all fairness Mr Flemming should not have handed them $3000 before he was certain he was purchasing the item. Doing that you are asking disreputable companies to steal your money.

I purchased a future steel building.  They charged me what they quoted.  Delivered on time.  were freindly all round good service. 

That being said I have never tried to return or cancle on my contract with them so do not know if they would have kept my deposit or not.  but as mine was a custom spec I guess they would have to keep some of it to cover their costs.  They may or not beable to resell so they would be stuck holding my builing.

So let me get this straight..... You called about the building; negotiated a price; signed a contract and then put down a $3000 deposit.   You did all that and didnt think about changing your mind.  Then you changed your mind and decided not to go through with the contract.....

And now you want your deposit back?!?!

Seems to me like this is your fault.  100% your fault.  You are lucky they are a good enough company to give you a $3000 credit on a purchase in the future.  How are they supposed to stay in business if they allow every person who changes there mind, out of the blue, and not honor the contract .... which by the way, they signed.

I'm just really surprised that you expect your money back even though it was your choice to to not uphold the agreement.  It was 100% your fault.

Ms. Everson,

If a company will lie to you, they will cheat you and steal from you, which is what Future Steel has done to me thus far. Your employee, Mr. Johnston, a representative of your company, both told me via phone and then followed up with an e-mail to me that if I changed my mind and cancelled the order, I would only be out $350. Now Future Steel claims their representative made a mistake and that what he said was not what he meant. Any moral and decent company would stand behind what their sales representative communicates to the customer. Wal-Mart, for example, is a company that takes responsibility for their employees' actions. I went to Wal-Mart to purchase a weed-eater, which their employee had marked at a particular price although the item was not an advertised sale item. Wal-Mart took responsibility for the employee's action and sold me the product at the price for which their employee had marked it. That is a sign of a company with integrity.

With the deceitful practices I have encountered with Future Steel to date, I can only imagine the underhanded practices they use in handling their warranty claims.

As a representative of Future Steel, you sent a letter to me stating that the company is prepared to issue me a credit for the $3000 to be applied towards the purchase price of another building of equal or greater value than the building in question. However, you added that Future Steel may, at its sole discretion, rescind the credit upon providing 10 days written notice. Again, what kind of integrity is this?

Ms. Everson,

If a company will lie to you, they will cheat you and steal from you, which is what Future Steel has done to me thus far. Your employee, Mr. Johnston, a representative of your company, both told me via phone and then followed up with an e-mail to me that if I changed my mind and cancelled the order, I would only be out $350. Now Future Steel claims their representative made a mistake and that what he said was not what he meant. Any moral and decent company would stand behind what their sales representative communicates to the customer. Wal-Mart, for example, is a company that takes responsibility for their employees' actions. I went to Wal-Mart to purchase a weed-eater, which their employee had marked at a particular price although the item was not an advertised sale item. Wal-Mart took responsibility for the employee's action and sold me the product at the price for which their employee had marked it. That is a sign of a company with integrity.

With the deceitful practices I have encountered with Future Steel to date, I can only imagine the underhanded practices they use in handling their warranty claims.

As a representative of Future Steel, you sent a letter to me stating that the company is prepared to issue me a credit for the $3000 to be applied towards the purchase price of another building of equal or greater value than the building in question. However, you added that Future Steel may, at its sole discretion, rescind the credit upon providing 10 days written notice. Again, what kind of integrity is this?

Ms. Everson,

If a company will lie to you, they will cheat you and steal from you, which is what Future Steel has done to me thus far. Your employee, Mr. Johnston, a representative of your company, both told me via phone and then followed up with an e-mail to me that if I changed my mind and cancelled the order, I would only be out $350. Now Future Steel claims their representative made a mistake and that what he said was not what he meant. Any moral and decent company would stand behind what their sales representative communicates to the customer. Wal-Mart, for example, is a company that takes responsibility for their employees' actions. I went to Wal-Mart to purchase a weed-eater, which their employee had marked at a particular price although the item was not an advertised sale item. Wal-Mart took responsibility for the employee's action and sold me the product at the price for which their employee had marked it. That is a sign of a company with integrity.

With the deceitful practices I have encountered with Future Steel to date, I can only imagine the underhanded practices they use in handling their warranty claims.

As a representative of Future Steel, you sent a letter to me stating that the company is prepared to issue me a credit for the $3000 to be applied towards the purchase price of another building of equal or greater value than the building in question. However, you added that Future Steel may, at its sole discretion, rescind the credit upon providing 10 days written notice. Again, what kind of integrity is this?

Ms. Everson,

If a company will lie to you, they will cheat you and steal from you, which is what Future Steel has done to me thus far. Your employee, Mr. Johnston, a representative of your company, both told me via phone and then followed up with an e-mail to me that if I changed my mind and cancelled the order, I would only be out $350. Now Future Steel claims their representative made a mistake and that what he said was not what he meant. Any moral and decent company would stand behind what their sales representative communicates to the customer. Wal-Mart, for example, is a company that takes responsibility for their employees' actions. I went to Wal-Mart to purchase a weed-eater, which their employee had marked at a particular price although the item was not an advertised sale item. Wal-Mart took responsibility for the employee's action and sold me the product at the price for which their employee had marked it. That is a sign of a company with integrity.

With the deceitful practices I have encountered with Future Steel to date, I can only imagine the underhanded practices they use in handling their warranty claims.

As a representative of Future Steel, you sent a letter to me stating that the company is prepared to issue me a credit for the $3000 to be applied towards the purchase price of another building of equal or greater value than the building in question. However, you added that Future Steel may, at its sole discretion, rescind the credit upon providing 10 days written notice. Again, what kind of integrity is this?

Dear Mr Fleming

In response to your entry of April 13 we would like to first say how disappointed we are to see here that you feel you have been somehow intentionally misled by one of our building specialists throughout your purchasing experience. Future Steel Buildings prides itself on the fact that our company operates on a level that is geared towards what works best for all of our customers including prospective ones. Our philosophy is simple, we provide straightforward, affordable steel building solutions and we bank on the fact that the testimonials and customer referrals that we get after the fact about our products, our service and our commitment to good business practices will keep us in business for another 30 years and beyond.

Therefore in addition to the communication that we have had directly with you since your post here we are also taking the time in this forum to address your complaint and provide some of the details that were omitted that we feel will immediately correct your perceived wrong concerning the contract you authorized to purchase a Future Steel Building.

The number one confusion we must clear up is with regards to your statements: out my $3,000 deposit and the $3,000 the company now wants. Each is entirely erroneous in its context. As we have clearly communicated both in writing and via telephone with you directly, the down payment you made on one of our featured sale buildings is still just that a down payment - and as such will be held as credit in your name until you are ready to complete the purchase and take possession of your new building.

The contract you received clearly states that by terminating the Purchasing Agreement you signed:
Future Sales is prepared to issue you a credit towards the purchase of another Future Steel building

The credit will be applied to the purchase price of the building at the time that the credit note is used and not on the pricing that was in place at the time of the original sales agreement

The building that you selected is, as you pointed out, one that was already manufactured and for that very reason as an inventory clearance item it was sold to you at considerable discount and the deposit you made secured that building at that price. It is standard policy in the industry to treat these clearance situations on a first-come first-served basis. We simply cannot hold the building and the price indefinitely. But what is never mentioned in your write-up is that given that you claimed that you were facing a situation where you just did not need the building right away, our customer service representative did offer you a delay until September 2009 to reinstate your original order so that you would not lose the building you wanted at the price that you paid.


The important point here is that at no time were we in default of honoring the purchase agreement you signed. Your deposit became a full credit and if anything, as is now evident, we were prepared to stretch our terms in your favour to better accommodate you, our customer.

And finally, with regards to the $350 charge for engineering drawings our building representative referred to that you could be out of pocket for, he is correct in that statement but he may not have properly explained why. So to be clear now, the only way that you would need to repay that charge, and hence be out of pocket, is if a second set of drawings needed to be engineered at a later date. This would happen in the event that the delay meant that you actually purchased a different building hence with a different set of specifications or if something changed with respect to your building permit. Either of these things would necessitate a second set of drawings and it would therefore be a second charge to you to have them engineered.

Mr. Fleming, you are welcome to contact our office directly to further clarify any of the above points.