1st Response Water Damage

We at 1st Response Water Damage take pride in our work and strive to make every customer happy, unfortunately with Mr *** this was not the case as much as we triedAs Mr*** has stated in his complaint he did order the stain himself and we purchased and picked up the stain that was
ordered by himHis decision to use this particular stain was based on cabinets that he has in his personal propertyOn numerous occasions during the refinishing process we made requests to see a sample of the cabinets he was trying to matchThis was not received so we made sure every step of the way he approved the look of the re-stained cabinetsThe issue came when a clear coat was appliedAfter the issue the customer produced a cell phone picture of what he was looking for, and it was a different species of woodAs stated in the attached document from *** *** (paint and stain specialist and sales rep for *** *** ***) different species of wood will absorb stain differentlyMr*** also states that he informed us that he wanted a dark brown color with no red/cherry hues, and this statement is partially true as the only information we got was no cherry/red colorFinally on the color issue we did use a clear polyurethane sealer instead of an amber (yellow) as it would not affect the color of the stain that to this point Mr*** and his wife both stated looked amazingWe did have the stain analyzed for imperfections in the batch by the manufacturer Sherwin-Williams, and submitted our process to them to make sure that manufacturers recommendations were followedThe attached document (Sherwin-Williams Letterhead) confirms that the process was done correctly*** *** of *** *** *** also agreed to meet with Mr*** and 1st Response Water Damage on site to see if there was a solutionUpon ***'s inspection he stated that the stain had a natural blue color to it and that they (*** *** ***) could mix a custom polyurethane to subdue the blue coloring of the cabinets, but would need to take a door with him and it would take approximately week After days Mr*** contacted both 1st Response Water Damage and *** *** stating he wanted his door back because he was going to have them painted, not giving any***e for a solution to be foundThe previous statements can be confirmed by the attachment Letter From ***Mr *** also complains about a couple of quality issuesThe stain sloped on the back refers to the drawer faces, and the streaks in the stain are from the polyurethane clear coat that never got sanded and polishedWe never got the opportunity to finalize the project as Mr *** told us he did not want us to do anymore work and would have somebody else paint the cabinetsAlso, Mr*** has issues with the end panels of the cabinets being painted not stained, the option was given to Mr*** to either paint the end panels with a paint that gives wood a stained apperance, or at an additional cost the veneer (which can not be sanded) could be replacedMr*** chose to paint the end panels, and he and his wife both stated that they were impressed with how well it turned out and could not tell the differenceAs for Mr ***'s complaint about not disclosing what the job cost us, we did not disclose that information to himSo here it is, after an initial 50%+ discount before even starting work the job cost 1st Response Water Damage $3330.33; this is for labor and materials only; there is no mark up or overhead & profit to this number That is a loss of $not including over head & profitIn short Mr*** and his wife were happy with the work all the way through the process until the ***e for payment was nearing there is nothing 1st Response Water Damage could have done differently to make this customer happy and it is also not our fault that the stain the customer ordered and had us pick up did not take to this species of wood the same way as the ones in Mr***'s personal home1st Response stands behind their work and warranties to the extent of the law and tried to correct this issue at a loss to the companySupporting documentation includes Sherwin-Williams Letterhead, Letter from ***, photos pre and post clear coat, and the es***ate provided to Mr*** stating the price and notations for cabinet faces only

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received, your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
Revdex.com,
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]  In reply,I am very disappointed in 1st Response Water Damage's response to my complaint.  [redacted] and [redacted] continue to avoid the issue that the job they were hired to do was done poorly and with a completely unacceptable result.  [redacted] and [redacted] argue that the difference in wood type caused the final outcome to be navy blue.  This would be true if their finished product was a different shade of dark brown (not blue) as requested, but staining oak with an intended, and used before, dark brown stain should never turn dark blue.  They argue that the Sherwin William's rep feels the "process was done correctly" but I have spoken with this same representative.  This representative at Sherwin Williams informed me that the use of a fast drying clear polyurethane has made the final outcome blue since they did not use a usual yellow tinted lacquer that would be "normally" used.  [redacted] and [redacted] also argue that [redacted] at [redacted] paint was confident he could "fix" the problem.  This entailed [redacted] adding an orange coating of gel over the blue cabinets to make them turn brown.  Please see attached photos of the result for it looks like orange Kool-Aid was spilled on the cabinet doors; completely unacceptable.  Also, [redacted] never asked for a week more [redacted]e to fix the cabinets.  He finally agreed that the desired outcome of brown stained wood cabinet doors was impossible.[redacted] and [redacted] never asked to see a sample of my previously stained cabinets as stated in their reply message.Both of the attachments that [redacted] and [redacted] have attached are very vague general statements by [redacted] at [redacted] paint and the Sherwin Williams rep and do not address any of the issues at hand.The horrible streaks in the stain are not in the clear coat as argued by 1st Response, they were in the stain.  The entire piece would have needed re-sanded, stained, and coated.  It was very poorly done.Neither [redacted] nor [redacted] offered to replace the veneer on the ends of the cabinets instead of painting.  The only option given was to paint these the same color of blue.  This is a completely false statement by them.A 50% "discount" was never given.  I was hoping to help a small business by giving them my job, so they decreased their price quote to match other price quotes I had been given.  This is not a "discount".  I had to pay in full for their initial bid (to avoid a threatened lien on my house), they did not bid to lose money, so by claiming they lost $985.32 is very suspicious.  A full refund is still request and 1st Response Water Damage continues to stand by their work of staining my cabinets navy blue (when dark brown was requested) and doing a very poor job in the process.  They would not negotiate a final price when they knew I was unsatisfied and they threatened a lien on my house if not paid in full.Please see attached photos.-[redacted]
Regards,
[redacted]

Review: I hired 1st Response Water Damage to sand and stain my kitchen and bath cabinets DARK BROWN. I ordered the stain for them to use since it turned out beautiful in my other house. They sanded the cabinets and put a coat of stain on them. It looked good, dark brown, and they continued to show me samples thru the third coat. They then decided to use a fast drying clear polyurethane instead of the customary yellow lacquer and finished all the cabinets. They also painted the "ends" of the cabinet boxes since they later found they misspoke and were unable to sand and stain these. I therefore had part stained and part painted cabinets.

When they were finished, without approving a sample of the polyurethane coated cabinets as they had with the stain process, all of the cabinets turned out NAVY BLUE. They looked awful. They were not dark brown as requested (and this was discussed at length, they also repeated to me that they knew I did not want any red/cherry color) and were unacceptable. Upon further inspection with a consultant to paint them (since 1st Response admitted they sanded them down to the core and couldn't be sanded any further to fix) the quality was horrible. Stain was slopped all over the back, not stained in their entirety. The owner then offered to paint (not stain) the back to cover the slopped stain, but this is not acceptable. They also had severe streaks or runs in the stain along with not staining several sections that were in obvious need of staining.

I discussed with the two owners of 1st Response that the color and quality was not acceptable. I asked them to keep the 2/3 down payment and that I would pursue having them painted on my own. They did not accept this negotiation. I then asked what their "cost" was in performing the labor since this could have been further used to negotiate a fair price but they refused to share this information. I asked that we share the cost in this very poor outcome instead of asking for my money back but they refused. I remained nice and open minded but they continued to demand full price payment. I tried to negotiate but they would not. They threatened a lien on my home if I did not pay in full. As any successful businessman or article would tell you, a lien should be a last resort and negation should always occur first. 1st Response was unwilling to negotiate.

I am requesting a full refund since I had to then pursue painting my cabinets (which I never desired) and this cost over $1,200. I feel that I could just as easily justify requesting brand new, stained, cabinets since they ruined the ones I had but I continue to remain fair.Desired Settlement: Refund of full price, $2,385.

Business

Response:

We at 1st Response Water Damage take pride in our work and strive to make every customer happy, unfortunately with Mr [redacted] this was not the case as much as we tried. As Mr. [redacted] has stated in his complaint he did order the stain himself and we purchased and picked up the stain that was ordered by him. His decision to use this particular stain was based on cabinets that he has in his personal property. On numerous occasions during the refinishing process we made requests to see a sample of the cabinets he was trying to match. This was not received so we made sure every step of the way he approved the look of the re-stained cabinets. The issue came when a clear coat was applied. After the issue the customer produced a cell phone picture of what he was looking for, and it was a different species of wood. As stated in the attached document from [redacted] (paint and stain specialist and sales rep for [redacted]) different species of wood will absorb stain differently. Mr. [redacted] also states that he informed us that he wanted a dark brown color with no red/cherry hues, and this statement is partially true as the only information we got was no cherry/red color. Finally on the color issue we did use a clear polyurethane sealer instead of an amber (yellow) as it would not affect the color of the stain that to this point Mr. [redacted] and his wife both stated looked amazing. We did have the stain analyzed for imperfections in the batch by the manufacturer Sherwin-Williams, and submitted our process to them to make sure that manufacturers recommendations were followed. The attached document (Sherwin-Williams Letterhead) confirms that the process was done correctly. [redacted] of [redacted] also agreed to meet with Mr. [redacted] and 1st Response Water Damage on site to see if there was a solution. Upon [redacted]'s inspection he stated that the stain had a natural blue color to it and that they ([redacted]) could mix a custom polyurethane to subdue the blue coloring of the cabinets, but would need to take a door with him and it would take approximately 1 week. After 2 days Mr. [redacted] contacted both 1st Response Water Damage and [redacted] stating he wanted his door back because he was going to have them painted, not giving any[redacted]e for a solution to be found. The previous statements can be confirmed by the attachment Letter From [redacted]. Mr [redacted] also complains about a couple of quality issues. The stain sloped on the back refers to the drawer faces, and the streaks in the stain are from the polyurethane clear coat that never got sanded and polished. We never got the opportunity to finalize the project as Mr [redacted] told us he did not want us to do anymore work and would have somebody else paint the cabinets. Also, Mr. [redacted] has issues with the end panels of the cabinets being painted not stained, the option was given to Mr. [redacted] to either paint the end panels with a paint that gives wood a stained apperance, or at an additional cost the veneer (which can not be sanded) could be replaced. Mr. [redacted] chose to paint the end panels, and he and his wife both stated that they were impressed with how well it turned out and could not tell the difference. As for Mr [redacted]'s complaint about not disclosing what the job cost us, we did not disclose that information to him. So here it is, after an initial 50%+ discount before even starting work the job cost 1st Response Water Damage $3330.33; this is for labor and materials only; there is no mark up or overhead & profit to this number. That is a loss of $985.32 not including over head & profit. In short Mr. [redacted] and his wife were happy with the work all the way through the process until the [redacted]e for payment was nearing there is nothing 1st Response Water Damage could have done differently to make this customer happy and it is also not our fault that the stain the customer ordered and had us pick up did not take to this species of wood the same way as the ones in Mr. [redacted]'s personal home. 1st Response stands behind their work and warranties to the extent of the law and tried to correct this issue at a loss to the company. Supporting documentation includes Sherwin-Williams Letterhead, Letter from [redacted], photos pre and post clear coat, and the es[redacted]ate provided to Mr. [redacted] stating the price and notations for cabinet faces only.

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received, your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Revdex.com,

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.] In reply,