ComplaintsforTarget Painting & Contracting, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  07/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Target Painting:Committed fraud in the inducement of a contract. They were aware my house had lead paint and requires a specific license, and they knew they didn't have it. They represented themselves as being qualified. I specifically asked if they were qualified for lead paint work.Supplied workers without the required skills. ********* work took multiple attempts, and we are still finding problems that other contractors will have to fix. They represented that they could fix a window sill with aluminum wrap but had no skills in doing it.Left pieces of lead paint and wood chunks strewn around my yard from carpentry with no drop cloths. Provided a contract over $1,000 with no start or end date whatsoever, in violation of Massachusetts law.Caused months of delays due to incompetence, risking my house never being painted this year.Breached our contract by cancelling it without justification or any cancellation clause at all. They will try to defend themselves by citing that I withheld the 3rd progress payment until they gave me a firm date for the prep work to begin. It was absolutely necessary for me to do that and not put more of my money at risk, when they already took more than 6 months from the date of contract signing to the power washing. An exterior painting project should take no more than 2 weeks. At that point, they had more than a $1,300 surplus of my funds, so the work they did was more than paid for. On top of that, I actually had a right to fire them if I wanted to due to lack of a required license and failure to provide skilled workers.

  

  Business response

  07/15/2024

  Homeowner was sent her overage paid of $1,369 (Ck #*****) was mailed to her home address on 7/12/2024. Homeowner signed the contract with Target Painting in December of ******************************************************************* late *****/May dependent upon the weather. Target Painting has fulfilled the carpentry and the wash portion of the contract. *** company is fully licensed and insured. Homeowner is asking for a license for every manager and worker which is unreasonable for the numerous team members we have. We have provided the homeowner with out insurance and licensure for the company. The months of delays were caused by it being the winter season ( December - *****.) *** company has also not been provided the completed and sign paint selection form which is necessary in order to start the prep/painting on the project. As stated on our form we must received this at least 2 weeks prior to the prep work/painting. *** contracts are stated with an estimated start date as we have no control over the weather and other aspects that come up on each job. We do not give firm dates as they are always changing due to weather that is outside of our control. We usually provide ranges. We do the best that we can to stick to the estimated start dates, but many weather factors (to include rain, humidity, temperatures) can greatly vary our weather dependent business and this is made clear to all customers. The homeowner was told that we would start the prep/painting work the first week in August when they returned from vacation, but they wanted an exact date, which again due to weather we are unable to give.  We no longer felt that we were the right company for this homeowner and decided to move separate ways and refund the money that she had paid in surplus of the work that she had received. After checking our records we agreed with the surplus amount Target Painting had of the customers money for the was that was completed thus far and mailed a check on 7/12/2024. 

  Customer response

  07/15/2024

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. It is completely false that delays were caused by weather.  There is no evidence whatsoever of this in emails or texts, and Target has been working on some other houses.  Target claimed they could start carpentry in January, but delayed it until March for no apparent reason.  The other delays were due to Target having to send multiple people back to redo work that wasn't done correctly and simple failure to be organized enough to schedule the work.  They kept promising us the work would speed up, and it never did.  I did an analysis of the delays they caused and determined they would be unlikely to fulfill the contract in 2024, resulting in breach even if they had not cancelled.  The paint form is a red *******.  I told them I would provide it by July 17th before my vacation, but I needed the prep work to be scheduled first so I'd have some assurance the work was even proceeding.  That would have given them more than 2 weeks before prep.  They refused to provide a firm date.  As to the allegation that they are lead licensed, there is no license on file with the state.  As to the allegation that we required proof that every manager is certified, that is false.  They didn't know for sure who would be on site during prep, so I merely suggested they send proof for all possible managers who could be on site.  It's not a big task to provide that, and they cannot expect customers to put money at risk with no proof that state requirements will be met.  Other contractors are finding carpentry mistakes that Target made.  It is also proving very difficult to find someone available to paint this year.  Target is liable for these problems.Regards,*****   

  

  Business response

  07/22/2024

  The homeowner is also contacting our company via email, and our latest email response to homeowner on 7/19 was the following - "Thank you for your email and for outlining your concerns. I understand the gravity of the situation and your frustrations.I appreciate you sending a photo of the deck boards when you have a moment. However, I acknowledge your decision that Target is no longer permitted to enter your property for any further attempts to correct the issues.Regarding the payment, we will await any bills for the corrections of work that we have already performed from the signed scope of work and address them appropriatelyI regret hearing about your experience and that of other homeowners. We aim to provide skilled work and meet timelines, and I am sorry we have not met your expectations in this case.Would you be open to meeting and discussing a resolution that best fits both you and us? I believe a direct conversation might help us find a suitable solution." In response to homeowners email from 7/18 "I will send a photo, I have just been very busy.  Understand, though, that Target is now prohibited from coming on my property and attempting to fix anything.  No more attempts.  If we have to pay anything to have it corrected, we're sending you the bill and heading to small claims if it's not paid. I'm also collecting similar stories from other homeowners about their experience with Target.  These are not hard to find.  I believe you never had a right to sign a contract for the work because you failed to provide skilled workers to do the job, completely blew the timeline I finally found in the contract, and do not have the required state license.  I asked for a refund.  Simply returning the unused funds is not enough. My next step will be to file a complaint with the state." Target Painting representatives would like to set up an in person meeting with homeowner(s) to discuss a mutual resolution and are awaiting an answer from the homeowner. 

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