Contractors...sigh...

[iceberg]

i even got on angies list to ensure i found a good one. you see, years ago when bringing in a fridge too big to fit in the doorway, we did some damage to the trim and pushed out the inner molding from the frame. turns out we pushed out the outter 1x4 also. i decided to try and be productive and get it fixed. searched on angies list, got referred to a painting and drywall place, and called to give them a shot.

they'll be here sat at 11:30am. great.

12:20 i get a call saying she's running late and did anyone call me. no, no one called me til now and i'm getting frustrated. well she texted the office and asked them to call me to tell me she's running late on another quote. ok, could you not just call me instead and make sure i know?

doesn't appear so.

anyway, she got here, was personable, and gave me a quote of $600. that was about $200 higher than i was expecting but i didn't feel like going through the processes all over again. i asked when they could do it and she said wed/thurs.

here it is wed and i never heard from her so i have no idea if they were planning on today or tomorrow. quite honestly, i had enough of the lack of communication so i called her, left her voice mail cause she didn't answer, and said due to them not telling me monday, as they said they would, when they would do this, i'm just going to back out and find someone else.

she just called and honestly, i didn't feel like listening to apologies and trying to get me to change my mind so i let it roll to voice mail and just screened the call.

apparently she doesn't check voice mail either and said i'm on for saturday may 31st.

wonder when she'll check her voice mail.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Maybe I'm reading your issue incorrectly, but if all you did was knocked-off or cracked the door molding it should be something you can fix easily yourself.

 

[iceberg]

Maybe I'm reading your issue incorrectly, but if all you did was knocked-off or cracked the door molding it should be something you can fix easily yourself.

i would have to post the pic but the drywall is pulling away from the frame. all molding and siding around the door needs to be taken off, wall pushed back in, drywall repair where we actually broke up the sheetrock, then put it all back and paint it. i'm not a huge handyman but i think my brother could do it easily enough so we'll see.

just highly disappointed and the serious lack of communication and only when i call and leave v-mail to cancel does she call to tell me when they'll be here.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

That's a company with a very poor business model. Whoever actually runs that place should be firing some people, IMO.

 

[iceberg]

That's a company with a very poor business model. Whoever actually runs that place should be firing some people, IMO.

Its a husband wife team. This was the wife.

 

[BigStar]

Go with a respectable "quasi legal" contractor if possible. We were getting burnt repeadetedly by "accredited" contractors with terrible communication in terms of keeping a schedule, or timeline, and fluctuating costs, etc. A neighbor had reffered us to an "independent" contractor who has been amazing the last two years or so. No exploitation @ all (on my part) and does amazing work (no need to be over their shoulders) and keeps a great open line of communication if they are running late, or (rarely) have to reschedule. The accredited contractors are erratic from the handful I have dealt with through the years. Usually start strong, and then the nose dive.

 

[WoodysGirl]

I really hate to hear that, because relying on someone to fix something that seems relatively easy can be frustrating when said person is a communication boob.

I've been blessed in that the past 10 years or so, I've had the same handyman/contractor for all my rehab/renovation projects. His communication isn't top notch, but it's good enough that I get what I need done in a timely fashion and with good quality.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Its a husband wife team. This was the wife.

That explains why no one is getting fired for the poor job being done there.

 

[Rockport]

I've never used Angie's List because of the cost. I'll be less likely too after reading this.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Don't even get me started on contractors...

 

[DallasCowpoke]

i even got on angies list to ensure i found a good one. you see, years ago when bringing in a fridge too big to fit in the doorway, we did some damage to the trim and pushed out the inner molding from the frame. turns out we pushed out the outter 1x4 also. i decided to try and be productive and get it fixed. searched on angies list, got referred to a painting and drywall place, and called to give them a shot.

they'll be here sat at 11:30am. great.

12:20 i get a call saying she's running late and did anyone call me. no, no one called me til now and i'm getting frustrated. well she texted the office and asked them to call me to tell me she's running late on another quote. ok, could you not just call me instead and make sure i know?

doesn't appear so.

anyway, she got here, was personable, and gave me a quote of $600. that was about $200 higher than i was expecting but i didn't feel like going through the processes all over again. i asked when they could do it and she said wed/thurs.

here it is wed and i never heard from her so i have no idea if they were planning on today or tomorrow. quite honestly, i had enough of the lack of communication so i called her, left her voice mail cause she didn't answer, and said due to them not telling me monday, as they said they would, when they would do this, i'm just going to back out and find someone else.

she just called and honestly, i didn't feel like listening to apologies and trying to get me to change my mind so i let it roll to voice mail and just screened the call.

apparently she doesn't check voice mail either and said i'm on for saturday may 31st.

wonder when she'll check her voice mail.

Not meaning to be a jerk, but it's weird to me that you would pay a fee to join something like Angie's List. Then just accept a bid that you think is over what you expected, much less even ask for 1 reference regarding their previous work. And then, be putout that they didn't show, even after they told you "we'll get to it wed or thurs". Seriously!?

In the time it took you to type this thread, you could have gone on CL and "thrown darts" at listings for "handymen", who would trip all over themselves to pick-up a simple, 1 day job like you've described, and gladly furnish references.

 

[iceberg]

Not meaning to be a jerk, but it's weird to me that you would pay a fee to join something like Angie's List. Then just accept a bid that you think is over what you expected, much less even ask for 1 reference regarding their previous work. And then, be putout that they didn't show, even after they told you "we'll get to it wed or thurs". Seriously!?

In the time it took you to type this thread, you could have gone on CL and "thrown darts" at listings for "handymen", who would trip all over themselves to pick-up a simple, 1 day job like you've described, and gladly furnish references.

well i've heard of CL horror stories also. the people i picked had great feedback and i didn't see anything negative on there. so to me all the references were already on AL. and the "fee" is only like $9 a year. i thought it was worth it to get something positive out of it.

and i'm frustrated cause they said 11:30 am sat. when she called at 12:20 she wanted to know if anyone called cause she txt'd them to call. why not just call me yourself at 11:30 if you're running late.

then to tell me wed or thurs they will do it, call me later that day to say yes, wed or thurs will know for sure monday and then to simply not call?

maybe i will check out CL. then again, maybe my brother can just come up and do it for me. i just found it like the icing on the cake for me to call and leave voice mail that i've decided NOT to go with them then an hour later she calls back to tell me it's a week from saturday now.

live and learn.

 

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

Don't even get me started on contractors...

Me either! I just had my 2,660 square foot home re-tiled and it was a nightmare of epic proportions. It took them 1 1/2 months to finish the job and sometimes they would go 2-3 days without showing up at all. The entire time we're living with plastic sheeting over everything in our home and the dust is an inch thick. In the end they did fantastic work but I would never give them a recommendation due to the poor service and communication.

About two weeks ago my home was pummeled by golf ball size hail. Insurance wrote me a check for a new roof and the contractor fun has started again. I picked my roofer and told him I wanted to stay with a very similar roof color. He brought me two samples the following day to look at and I picked one. He told me that one wasn't in stock and he'd have to order it. I was fine with that and in no hurry for the roof. The next day I came home at lunch and guys are all over my roof tearing off the shingles. Not a huge deal, but he didn't even mention they were starting then. I happened to glance at the new shingles (which fortunately weren't being put on yet) and notice that not only is it not the shingle I picked out, but not even one of the samples I looked at. I called my roofer and his excuse was no more than "Sorry, my bad". Then he tells me he can't get the shingles I picked in for a week. So now I'm sitting here with no roof and praying it doesn't rain. We don't pray against rain here in Texas but here I am.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

well i've heard of CL horror stories also. the people i picked had great feedback and i didn't see anything negative on there. so to me all the references were already on AL. and the "fee" is only like $9 a year. i thought it was worth it to get something positive out of it.

and i'm frustrated cause they said 11:30 am sat. when she called at 12:20 she wanted to know if anyone called cause she txt'd them to call. why not just call me yourself at 11:30 if you're running late.

then to tell me wed or thurs they will do it, call me later that day to say yes, wed or thurs will know for sure monday and then to simply not call?

maybe i will check out CL. then again, maybe my brother can just come up and do it for me. i just found it like the icing on the cake for me to call and leave voice mail that i've decided NOT to go with them then an hour later she calls back to tell me it's a week from saturday now.

live and learn.

I've had pretty good luck w/ CL. But, I always ask for references FIRST, then I call the person back and schedule the appt if/when they checkout.

It's ironic, literally 2 hours ago, I had a tree guy I'd found on CL out to give me an estimate on some red oaks I need work on. When I balked just a sec on his 1st bid, he told me the job was really smaller than he wanted to mess w/. But, he gave me name/number of one of his crew supervisors that does smaller jobs on the weekends. I thought that was pretty cool.

 

[iceberg]

my brother just called. said $600 was $300 too much if not more. he said to wait a month or so until he can get back up here from austin and he'll do it.

ka'ching.

now i just have to hope they read their e-mail or check voice mail before saturday 5/31.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

Contractors ...sigh ... People who don't correctly capitalize ... sigh

 

[iceberg]

Contractors ...sigh ... People who don't correctly capitalize ... sigh

 

[CyberB0b]

I've never used Angie's List because of the cost. I'll be less likely too after reading this.

I am a landlord, and Angie's List has saved me a lot of heartache. Best $5/mo. I can spend. I don't have time for contractors to screw me around. I have had good luck. I always pick contractors with more than 5 ratings and haven't been burned yet.

 

[iceberg]

I am a landlord, and Angie's List has saved me a lot of heartache. Best $5/mo. I can spend. I don't have time for contractors to screw me around. I have had good luck. I always pick contractors with more than 5 ratings and haven't been burned yet.

well i was hoping to avoid the hassle of the "dart throwing" method and to me, $9 for a year of having ratings to go by seemed fair enough. but my 1st experience has not gone anywhere near the way i was hoping. i still have not heard back from my voice and e-mail on saying STOP YOU'RE NOT HIRED FOR THIS ANYMORE so i wonder if i do nothing from here they'll come knocking a week from saturday.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Contractors ...sigh ... People who don't correctly capitalize ... sigh

Contractors doesn't need to be capitalized if they're sub-par!

BTW...Shouldn't it be "Ninja" then?