ComplaintsforCall A Painter LLC

• Initial Complaint

  06/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  We met with owner ************************* in our home 05/05/2022. He asked our desired result of the refinishing work we requested. We said we wanted our kitchen cabinets to look, with the same stain & varnish finish, as when they were new, before wear occurred over the years. He agreed to do this & we were required to sign an agreement which required us to pay him $4,104.55...50% before the work began, 25% when he deemed the work half done, & 25% via cashier's check, when the work was completed. When the sanding was done & before staining began he required us to pay the 25% half done installment, with overall payment increased by $500 (no written agreement for this) as he'd have to use oil stain instead of water base to stain in one coat. He did a terrible staining job, didn't stain evenly with the wood grain or wipe off evenly to prevent stain over penetration. Stained cabinets weren't ready to varnish when he did an equally terrible job varnishing...areas missed, very rough finish when dry. He considered the job well done, when he came back for final payment the next day--we required a signed statement of his having rec'd payment in full (he gave us invoice ******) before we gave him a cashier's check making our overall combined payment $4,606. We told him we were not paying him more to try to improve his terrible work. In doing the work our refrigerator, stove hood, and counter tops were damaged...the countertops so badly we had to replace them. He told us it was our responsibility to file a damage claim with his insurance company & said he'd provide us the necessary information but didn't follow through and do so. His work was inattentive, distracted by being on the phone, etc. while doing careless work. His overall work ethic was shameful. I said he had been dishonest about what it would cost for our desired result. He asked, "If I'd told you what it would really cost, would you have hired me?" and then insisted he is an honest man who never lies.

  Business response

  06/27/2022

  Hello,

  Rod and *********************** hired Callapainter to stain cabinets for the amount of $4,104.55

  The job was complete and i was paid the final check on the last day. Rod and **** can both confirm this. By paying the final check written via contract shows they were satisfied with the job. Once final payment is made, contract is closed and completed as we agreed to in written form. I was not contacted from Mr or ****************** since the final payment and unaware of their complaint. As far as im concerned as written in the contract our business is complete.
  

  Thank you

   

   

  Customer response

  06/27/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [Please type your response here.]
  
  Regards,
  
  Rod And ***********************

  We do not accept the response by the business.  We paid only because we had signed the agreement which we now know was written to protect the interests of only the business.  We are 100% dissatisfied with the work ethics of ************************* and with the work done on our kitchen cabinets.  **************** arrived to at erratic, unknown ***** and would be suddenly gone without our awareness.  He spent much of his time on the phone do inattentive, irresponsible work.  Any objections to the work we pointed out during the process, **************** blamed on his helper, Kaleb...even work done when Kaleb was not even present.  **************** frequently complained about the unreliable arrival ***** of ****** when ******************** reliability was no better, even worse.  They did a terrible sanding job and got our entire house filthy with dust, due to inadequate, irresponsible tenting with plastic sheeting.  We pointed out areas when sanding was not done evenly or completely and received only unacceptable excuses from ****************, telling us we did not understand wood.  We do understand wood and recognize incompetent work, when we see it and are paying for it.  During the sanding our refrigerator, stove hood, and counter tops were damaged...the countertops so badly we have had to pay to have them replaced.  One evening after they left for the day, we found a pool of water standing in our deep wooden window sill over the sink.  **************** excused his carelessness in that he washes his hands vigorously.  That evening, when **************** left, (Kaleb did not come that day) a pool of water was again standing on the window sill.  When it was time to begin staining, we were required to pay the second installment, as **************** considered the work 50% done.  He also required us to pay and additional $500.00 (no written agreement on this) as he'd have to change from water base to oil base stain to do the staining in one coat.  When we signed the agreement before work began, **************** put on a  sincere (so we thought) face and asked us our desired outcome of the project.  We said we wanted our kitchen cabinets to look as they did, when new and before wear from use.  There was wear only around knobs...otherwise our cabinets retained their original stain and sheen.  **************** then had us sign the agreement and pay 50% of $4104.55 before the work began.  He presented the agreement knowing the stain color could not be achieved with water base stain and that the varnish sheen could not be achieved with one coat of varnish.  **************** asserted himself to be an expert on refinishing cabinets. Why then did he write an agreement allowing for one coat of stain (no indication of water base or oil base) and one coat of varnish?   In required the additional $500 payment , we were told my wife we could call ******************************* ourselves if we wanted confirmation that only oil base stain would cover in one coat.  (We did call ******************************* and were told what **************** told us wasn't true.)  When we later told him we had called ******************************* he asked if we had talked to a certain man, a name he said he had given my wife.  We talked to the manager in charge, when we called.  **************** said only the man he had named could be talked with at ******************************* and that no one else there knows anything.  We believe only one man there would cover for ******************** lie and perhaps share in the extra $500 payment.  Due to distraction from phone call after phone call and also from not knowing anything about staining wood with the grain, carrying it evenly throughout the length of the wood and doing the same when wiping stain off to prevent over penetration in many area, **************** and ***** did a terrible job of staining...many areas missed, many areas applied only part way on a given length of wood.  Every objectionable area we pointed out to **************** were blamed on ****** again even when we saw **************** as the one who applied and wiped off the stain in those areas.  The cabinets were in no way ready for apply varnish, when the varnishing (one coat) was unevenly applied.  Like the staining, it was a terrible job of varnishing.  It was unevenly done, areas missed entirely and dried to an crusty rough finish with minimal gloss...not the satin finish it should have been.  When **************** arrived the following day, my wife and I had agreed we could not allow **************** to damage our cabinets further.  They looked terrible, and our money had been totally wasted.  When he arrived to collect the final 25% payment, we showed him the areas missed, poorly done, etc.  He said he had never experienced varnish drying to such a rough finish.  We had emailed him the night before, after he left for the day) telling him of our dissatisfaction with the overall job they had done.  He later write back expressing his dismay at our disappointment after they had worked so hard.  He came in defending their job and said, "see, they cabinets need more coats of varnish."  I said I assumed he meant we'd have to pay additionally for each additional coat of varnish, and we were told of course that would be required.  This after he initially asked our overall desired outcome of the project and wrote an agreement to provide that result.  The agreement allowed for one coat of stain and one coat of varnish.  If he is the experienced cabinet refinisher he states himself to be, why did he require us to sign an agreement which would certainly not provide the result we wanted and were told we would received.  We told him we were not paying him one cent more than we had already agreed to.  Being honest people, we felt compelled to pay in accordance with the agreement we had signed, trusting **************** to be hand honest person.  To our detriment, we found out he is not.  Our payment in no way indicates satisfaction with or acceptance of the work done by **************** and *****.  

  We have paid to replace our refrigerator, stove, hood and counter tops, all as a result of irresponsible damage done by **************** for certain and possibly by Kaleb as well.  We now are in the process of hiring a reliable refinishing company to do not only the job we hired Call A Painter, llc. to do but also to try to compensate for  and overcome the very poor job done by **************** and *****.  It will cost us even more than we paid **************** because of the incompetent work done by **************** and *****. We feel that we are due a 100% refund of total $4,606.00 paid to *************************, Call A Painter and hope there is a way to warn other potential customers of our experience, in hope that they will reject his false claims and one-sided agreements for their own financial benefit and to avoid damage to their homes  that we experienced (and have paid to recover from).  We have owned this home for 44 years and have never hired any company to any work on our home which has had the terrible result and final loss to us of the work done by **************** and *****.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Customer response

  07/08/2022

  Thank you for your help.  *************************, owner of CallAPainter, lied to you in his response to my complaint.  I wouldn't have expected anything else from him.  In reviewing feedback/reviews left for him on various sites, he consistently denies knowing the person or having done work for them, if a review isn't positive.  I suspect the majority of positive feedback left for him on any site is not legitimate, possibly left by ****** himself.  On one site one person leaving a positive review has the last name ******.  I haven't confirmed it yet, but my son tells me he researched and found that ****** is a member of **************************** I need to look into this more and report his dishonesty and, if ****** is a member, report his very poor work performance to them.

  
  

  Is ******** denial of the complaint I sent to you the end of it, or can more be done to get a refund for us due to his terrible work?  We aren't asking for payment for the damage he did to our refrigerator, stove hood and counter tops.  It would be hard to prove a value on his carelessness resulting in the damages.  We have paid $thousands to replace our ruined countertops, work we hadn't planned on having done now, due to the cost of restoring the finish of our kitchen cabinets. We feel at the very least ****** owes us a full refund for the terrible job he did.  We are now working with another company to have the work done properly.  It will be more expensive than it would have been had ****** not ruined our kitchen cabinets through negligence and complete lack of "know how" with regard to staining and varnishing wood.

  
  

  Thank you.  We hope to hear back from you.

  
  

  Rod & ***********************

  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩