Geckler & Associates Inc.

I would go with a negative 4 stars if I could. We have experienced all of the same problems that everyone else has had. Andy Geckler is responsive until you sign the contract. We often went weeks to months without a response despite repeated phone calls and e-mails. It wasn?t until they needed money that they would again become responsive. Prices agreed to would often shift and products agreed to would often be changed to that of lesser quality. Unexpected extra charges were also commonplace. Time-lines were completely fictional in dealing with these people. 90 days, more like a year or two or never. Our home has yet to be finished. Geckler and Associates greatest weakness is that they failed to communicate to anyone. We were at the job site daily and often had to correct the sub-contractors because they were rarely given any information from Geckler and Associates. We caught numerous shortcuts on our home and I have serious concerns for everyone else who had a home built by Andy Geckler. Effectively there was no Job Supervisor at any of their job sites. The individual designated for this position was completely unqualified and was ridiculed by the sub-contractors for his lack of knowledge and his lack of competence. Andy Geckler himself was nearly as bad. If he didn?t have the work he had to offer in this market, most of the sub-contractors would have refused to work for him. The only times that anything went smooth on the construction was when I contacted and coordinated directly with the sub-contractors myself, which makes you wonder why we paid Geckler and Associates to be the General Contractor. He was also continuously changing sub-contractors which he claimed was because of lack of quality in their work but I think most of us now know it was because he was not paying them. We are also experiencing the wrath of the unpaid sub-contractors through Liens placed on our home. I am certain that at least with some of the sub-contractors he brought in, he never intended to pay them. Initially his value was good which is one of the reasons we went with him but you pay for this value in pain, suffering, and unexpected extra charges. I can say that at the beginning Andy was great to deal with and despite all of the problems I find it hard to believe he intentionally set out to make his customer?s lives hell. I mean what kind of moron would intentionally build a bunch of homes poorly around his own home? Apparently Andy Geckler would, just talk to those dissatisfied customers in his neighborhood. As his parents company went down things got worse and worse for Geckler and Associates. Their offices were locked out but they never admitted to that. Geckler family members took over most of the work and customer service went into the toilet. They were unorganized before all this happened but things got much worse as the Geckler family members became more involved. Desperation appears to have driven more and more of Andy?s actions, eventually leading to actions that would be considered criminal by most in accordance to the laws of this state. If I had to summarize Andy Geckler of Geckler and Associates I would use incompetent, disorganized, irresponsible, selfish, disrespectful, and criminal to name a few. more

Its very disappointing to see someone or some people take advantage of others dreams. These men will get what is coming to them. There are a lot more victims here. more

Like a few others have already said if I could put in negative stars I would. Where do I start with all this? Well as I've now seen like many others we were told many great things about Andrew ""Andy"" Geckler and about how all he cares about is making your dreams come true in your new home. Well as many others have already stated once we signed the papers he was no where to be found. We would go to the home as it was being built and like Andy and Todd Priebe (Andy's realtor) told us we should do when we met with them before signing. Then as things are going wrong and there wasn't a ""job sup"" to be found we would try to call them and wouldn't hear back for weeks. Anyway now Andy has taken our down payment and from what I understand 12 others down payments and filed bankruptcy. We were told there would be ""no problem"" at all getting us into our new house by July 1st. Well now we still aren't in it and we are left with no down payment and no home. more

Insert NEGATIVE STARS HERE! more

Can I give negative stars? He is a great salesman with good ideas, but it stops once you sign on the line. My ""3 month"" project took 5 months and only because I called and e-mailed him daily when over a week would go by without any progress. I eventually started calling subs myself to get stuff done. I thought the pain was over once I moved in, but then the lien notices started coming in because he didn't pay for a few things (floors, yard). I try to give people the benefit of the doubt too, but I draw the line when it means I'm expected to pay subcontractors for things I already paid my contractor to do. I would build my own house before I ever have Geckler do another house for me. You can call it financial mismanagement, but I feel stolen from. more

I notice that a lot of these reviews have been posted recently. It really is funny considering I was unable to find anything negative about Geckler and Associates when I was first looking them up. I had a fair experience with the building process. There were a lot of small issues that were preventing us from closing, but we have a wonderful first house and have not had too many issues as of late (it is still fairly new mind you.) After the fact things were a little more rough. I try to see the good in everyone and I am giving Andy, or whoever managed the finances for his company, the benefit of the doubt. Geckler and Associates recently filed for bankruptcy. Unfortunately, even though I have close on my house, I am getting a back lash from some of the contractors who are filing leans to get their money. It seems like Geckler probably over extended their credit building new houses for the end of the first time home buyers rush and too many of those closings fell through. Long story semi-short, I should be saved by my Owner's Title Insurance, and since I do not blame Geckler and Associates for their financial inexperience I'll at least give them a fair review. more

We also built our home through Andy Geckler. Before we signed papers and paid the money he was available both day and night. Answered all questions via email and phone and was available to meet whenever. After he got paid and the building started it went downhill VERY fast. No lie, we came out to the jobsite atleast once every two days and never once saw Andy on the site. We had to babysit their every move. They shortcut in everyway they can, it's evident when now we call subcontractors because Andy's nowhere to be found two have said they no longer work for Andy because he had them cut so many corners and they were sick of getting the backlash from customers. more

I built a home in '09 and should have listened to ""Buyer Beware""s review. I've never written a review before but my poor experience with Geckler and the other reviews now showing up I wanted to add to that. Andy is all great and creative before signing with him, then after that it falls off abrubtly. You constantly have to babysit them and the stress of them not doing what you asked of them gets old. Contacting them is an absolute nightmare. Build quality is OK, but when you find something that's wrong or broken it is a pain to get fixed. STAY AWAY more

Andy Geckler may love to build home but all you'll get from him and his ""associates"" is a huge run around! Like others have said they want you to sign and then you can't get a hold of anyone. You'll see your house being trashed as it's being built and they don't want to talk to you. I would never build a house with these guy's again. We have a house now but nobody should have that much stress in this process. Also they do try to add a bunch of extra charges so watch that also. To many BAD surprises in the home building process with them! Run and run far from them! For that matter run from anyone that is an ASSOCIATE! Don't trust them\r Pros: All they want is to get you to sign \r Cons: EVERYTHING......they don't want to help you more

Andy Geckler may love to build home but all you'll get from him and his ""associates"" is a huge run around! Like others have said they want you to sign and then you can't get a hold of anyone. You'll see your house being trashed as it's being built and they don't want to talk to you. I would never build a house with these guy's again. We have a house now but nobody should have that much stress in this process. Also they do try to add a bunch of extra charges so watch that also. To many BAD surprises in the home building process with them! Run and run far from them! Pros: All they want is to get you to sign Cons: EVERYTHING......they don't want to help you more

Both the Geckler fundraising company owned by the parents and Geckler and Associates home builder owned by the son Andrew have gone through business failures. On one hand one has to feel sorry for them but on the other hand we see vacationing in Italy, BMW, Cadillac Escalade, extravagant home, etc. Still, despite all the financial damage they have caused others, NOT ONE APOLOGY. Instead they say that they will honor all their agreements and help the people that they have damaged. That is garbage because it never happens. The schools, suppliers, salespeople, subcontractors, home buyers, etc. are all SOL and it is not going to change. It would be a somewhat redeeming gesture if the Gecklers would accept responsibility for what they have done to others by communicating some form of regret and apology. To just write this off as ""S_ _ _ Happens"" and it's the economy and the banks fault does not excuse all the disingenuous and self serving behavior. Pros: Highly motivated & ambitious Cons: They're always right & everyone else is always wrong more

Worst Experience Ever, Andy has great ideas and is very helpful until he gets you to sign the papers and starts building. After that you never here from him or his job sup. Things are always up in there air and things that were agreed upon during the process are never completed and always told those things were not said. Always get things in writing if you want any chance at having them done. Even then, they may not. Be sure to walk through on your own to make sure youre getting what you were told as they take short cuts and use other materials that was is bid out to save money in relation make more money. Pros: At your Hip until papers are signed, good ideas, avg prices Cons: Un-organized, shortcuts, Non Responsive, doesnt follow thru more

I agree with the ""Buyer Beware"" review. I liked Andy's model homes, and he was helpful in the beginning, but once construction started things changed. There was no organization, no communication. The job supervisor was never around, and it showed in the quality of the construction. Andy claims that he provides great value. Well, there is no doubt he likes to cut corners. Now I have to pay more to correct flaws. I don't recommend. Pros: Helpful at the beginning Cons: Too many shortcuts, sloppy, no supervision more

Andy is very dedicated to his work. He builds a wonderful home. Pros: unbeleivable value, best price, hard working, very dedicated more

Great to work with at the beginning, but fell through at the end. We met with many builders and found Andy Geckler to be one of the most reasonable. We toured a couple of homes he had built in the past and they seemed to be of high quality. We went forward with the building process and soon found out that many things were very unorganized. Prices quoted to us at the beginning would often be dramatically different later on in the building process. We have a laundry list of uncompleted items that have yet to be addressed, even after being in the house for several months. And customer service dramatically fell off towards the end of the building process. If asked whether I would use Andy Geckler again to build a home, my answer would probably be no. Pros: Reasonable Prices Cons: unorganized, poor customer service more