Certapro Painters of Central Connecticut

Review: This complaint involves service issues, customer service, contractor issues, and delivery of goods/service in a timely manner issues. Outside of the initial visit for quotation, this has been nothing but a nightmare. I highly regret hiring Certa Pro Painters of Wallingford to paint my house. After receiving the quote from [redacted] on May 3, 2014, I decided to sign the contract within a week and send a 25% deposit, which was coordinated over the phone with [redacted]. I opted to add the painting of the front rails, and I also explained that I was lenient with the timing at which they could start the job. I was told that once the job was close at hand, [redacted] and/or the foreman would be in touch to schedule a time to come out and discuss the job, the colors, etc. After that, I would have a minimum of 3 days notice so that I could get everything in order with my dogs and with logistics of entering and exiting my home while they were working. Weeks passed, and occasionally I would hear from [redacted] with a guestimate of when they would be starting. I was told the end of May. When June came around, I contacted [redacted] about when they would be starting. She said I was next or close to next and that I should prepare and go to [redacted] and pick out 3 pallettes that appealed to me. That way the guys could put all 3 on a small part of the house and I could choose which I liked best. She explained they would be calling any day now to start and again assured me that I would have at least 3 days notice. When I said, Arent you going to come out with the foreman, or at least send the foreman out to meet with me? Her reply was no, they would just start, they dont come out before the job. I was taken by surprise because she had told me more than once that this was the process. I found it bizarre that the foreman would not come out and meet with the homeowner to go over exactly what I wanted, how I wanted things painted, what color I wanted where.but, I figured, they did have prep work to do, so I am sure that the foreman will want to speak with me before they start the actual painting. Flash forward to Sunday, June 15th, when I received a voicemail from [redacted], apparently the foreman of my painting job, at 8:35 pm saying that they would start the next day, June 16th. So much for 3 days notice. How was I supposed to make arrangements for my dogs at 8:35 on a Sunday? This was unacceptable. I hit the roof, left a less than happy voice message for [redacted] and tried to call the foreman back at the number that had called my cell phone. Finally the next morning, I was able to reach them and say that they could not start that day. Then I had to scramble finding a place for my dogs at the last minute, so they could finally start on the 18th of June. Immediately there were quality issues. They scraped the house in the wrong direction, they painted over imperfections, they trampled plants. I have photographs of this all. I contacted [redacted] to let her know that they had ruined several shingles and that I was very unhappy. I also let her know that I still had not met the foreman and I was not very happy about that fact. When dealing with [redacted], I was always met with weak excuses, always excuses. And the story always seemed to change. There were also many more shingles beyond the quote that needed to be replaced that were clearly not going to be replaced; they were priming over rotted wood. I had always known that there would likely be additional costs due to extra carpentry than what was quoted to me. In fact, [redacted] had mentioned this when he gave me the quote. These guys were not even asking if I wanted anything replaced. I was also to tell them what colors I wanted at this time... what happened to picking 3 palletes? At this point, par for the course. I told them the colors and also left a voicemail for [redacted] with the color names and the [redacted] catalog numbers. Finally, on Saturday, June 21st, I met [redacted], the foreman. I explained to him that I wanted anything that was damaged or rotted to be replaced, and that I understood that it would be an additional cost. He even specified $15 a shingle. I also pointed out to him the damage that the guys had done to the house. The shingles that they had scraped the wrong way and ruined, would be replaced at no cost to me. He also said the job would be completed Monday, but if not Monday; definitely Tuesday, the 24th of June. That was the first and last time I would see my foreman, [redacted]. They finally started painting the doors Wednesday the 25th, the day after the job was supposed to be completed. I pulled into the driveway to discover that they had painted the doors a completely different color than what I had picked out. [redacted], one of the workers, called [redacted] to report this. I was put on the phone with her. She insisted, sight unseen that my doors were painted the color I had indicated (pewter green). I assured her that they werent. After a few more minutes of pointless conversation and more excuses, I made my way to the can of paint that they were using on the doors and snapped a picture. It was certainly not pewter green, but something called Pro Grey. I handed the phone back to [redacted], and he assured me they would now be back again the next day to re-do the doors. Another extra day of day care for my dogs and inconvenience. In fact, they didnt finish until Friday afternoon. They still had not replaced all the shingles they had ruined, they never replaced the rotting and damaged shingles. One side of the house was painted over rough wood, I dont think they scraped it at all. They had paint on the stone parts of my house and had sprayed on my wicker outdoor furniture. There was already paint peeling off the house. They ruined a brand new door I had just installed. The list goes on and on. This was just overall a very poor and careless painting job. I also feel I was treated very poorly asDesired Settlement: They have been paid 80% of this job, which honestly is more than they deserve. This nightmare has been going on for over a month. Between the extra days I had to "board" my dogs, and all the damage they have done, they do not deserve one more cent. This has been a major inconvenience to me and I have never been treated so poorly. I am not certain they will ever fix the breezeway either. I have pics, but they are on my phone, not this computer.

Business

Response:

I am away this week, responding by phone so plz excuse brief msg. Will followup when I get back.