Long story short, hired them for complete residing of house, after reading mixed reviews here (I know, I know...sigh) Was told materials were "Special Order" so we waited for 3 months. Still nothing. Continuously called asking for times when they would be there. I took 1 week vacation, they cancelled. GF took one week vacation, cancelled again. Finally came, but shocker...they hadn't ordered enough material and had to cancel again. But not before they left what materials they had in my backyard for 2 more weeks. Finally got started, was told job would take 2-5 days and proceeded to take 10. Left ladder up in neighbour's yard when they left at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon. Following Friday (with guys hanging all over the house still) they called and demanded full payment! Site Manager/Quote guy/salesguy was non existent and inaccessible the whole time, until payment was due, saying he was too busy to come by and check on job. Presented me with "Overage" at the end of $4500.00, which included "63 Corners", insulation and other stuff I had already paid for.
BTW - house WAS NOT round when they originally quoted the job. Suggested he should have found the time to 'drop by' as I had not sanctioned overage, not signed off on any of it nor had I even been told there was an overage, until he showed up with "New Invoice". Did not/WILL NOT pay it. Called BBB, they are listed and not in a good way, if you know what I mean.
My experience - would NEVER use them again. If warranty/labour issues need to be addressed, I'll find someone else and just pay for it out of pocket, rather than have to deal with these guys EVER AGAIN. I'm still trying to get my certificate of warranty for the siding (material) but apparently they tell me I don't need it?!?! WHAT??? I guess the materials company mysteriously 'remembers' all of your details when they have to.
As for previous poster who mentioned re: speaking to the owner, I say at least they gave you his name! I couldn't even leave a voice mail for him as "he doesn't want to hear from you"
Back away slowly and find someone else. Trust me.
Sep 08 (1 week after full payment) Downspouts that they relocated from house evidently did not bother capping. $360.00 for dead rodent removal from furnace room drainage pipe. This just gets better by the minute.
Response to whoever Steve Graves is:
1. Yes – there were numerous conversations between the estimator and us…as in “when are you guys showing up?” “Do you know how much longer this is going to take?” b) Site visit was before they started work and after they completed. If he showed up during the job, it was not when we were home.
2. The neighbour was never asked if it was ok to leave ladders in her backyard. Fortunately, we have a nice neighbour who understood the situation. I imagine some of your customers may not be so lucky.
3. 2-3 days vs 10-12 days….I think that speaks for itself. The “extra work” you allude to was actually completed in a single afternoon sir.
4. Apology accepted.
5. Yes absolutely, Guys were friendly and courteous. Overall the appearance of the house is much improved. The company was prompt to respond to fixing defects in workmanship when we made final payment CONDITIONAL on rectifying the issues first.
6. See above.
7. "We'll take care of your warranty". Who would accept that? The one they mailed was a warranty from the website I could have downloaded myself. The warranty is something I will always ask about prior to purchasing anything, it's basic common sense.
8. Please see original post, we do not want you back and simply hired someone else to complete what you started job.
9. Yes you are correct, I did see it AND I even shook hands...ON the $850.00, of which we honoured. Not the presented $4700.00 AFTER THE JOB WAS COMPLETED with "Uh...you're not going to like this". Frankly that's just being dishonest and no one in their right mind would pay it.
Finally, who are you anyway? I've honestly never heard of your name. Certainly not the owner who I wasn't allowed to speak with, or get his name.
Bottom line sir, get your facts straight whoever you are. You weren't there, I've never spoken with you before and I find it in very poor taste that you would even TRY to defend this.
I stand by my original post.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $16,000.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Hire a Project Manager or Senior Operations staff to manage the work load, estimates, customer expectations and timelines.
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- GET REFERENCES
- Company Response
1. This customer has the estimators phone number, it is written right on her contract and there was contact between the two throughout the job, he even made a site visit.
2. The neighbours were fine with our crew leaving the ladder on their property and we have not received any complaints from them.
3. It took us longer to do the job than originally estimated, this happens and we have no control over it, especially when there is so much added work.
4. Obviously there was a lack of communication between the crew and our office when we called to collect payment before the job was done. We are sorry. We have worked to ensure this does not happen in the future.
5. When the estimator arrived to do the final inspection of the work and pick up a cheque the homeowner was very happy and had wonderful comments about the crew and the work. Why hasn't she posted those?
6. The posted pictures have either already been fixed or it has been explained to the homeowner why it looks the way it does. (Functionally)
7. She requested a warranty from the manufacturer and was told that she did not need one because if there are any problems with the material she should go through us. She still wanted one so we mailed one to her anyway. Problem?
8. I do not understand the Sept 08 comment and have not received a call from the customer so I cannot comment. If there is some sort of problem we need to be notified in order to fix it.
9. Finally, the costomer still has an outstanding balance that she is not willing to pay. The extra charges were for extra work that was found after removing her existing siding. She was home at the time that these discoveries were made, the rotten wood and insulation was shown to her, she okayed the extra work and watched it being done. I guess we can only blame ourselves for trusting that she would follow through on her end and not get it in writing. Is there a website where we can publicly post about homneowners who have decided not to pay?