College Works Painting

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have been contacted by a supervisor.  We found a resolution that is satisfactory to me.  I have received this action and consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]

Hello Mr. [redacted],  We apologize for the scheduling delays. We were planning on finishing the job today, but as you are aware the weather was not ideal. We are planning to have everything wrapped up by end of day tomorrow as long as weather permits. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at 888-450-9675. We thank you for your patience. Thank you, College Works Painting

Revdex.com:
Although, not the final outcome I was hoping for, an agreement was made with with College Works.  I will wait for the business to...

perform their required actions and, if they do, I will consider this complaint resolved to a satisfactory level allowing both parties to part ways.

We are very surprised to see this e-mail as we pride
ourselves in above and beyond customer service, communication, and follow
through. When it first came our attention Mr. [redacted] was unhappy with the
preliminary power wash, we scheduled another to be completed at a later date.
When the...

painter, Mark, first noticed paint on the trek, he immediately brought
it to the Mr. [redacted]’s attention. The homeowner then acknowledged that it was
a pre-existing mark, and not the product of the current work. The painters were
diligent in covering the trek, as it is a part of their standard protocol.
During the painting phase, when we realized the paint order error, we
immediately halted production, re-purchased the correct paint and personally
delivered it on site for the painting to recommence. During this process we
recognized Mr. [redacted]’s concerns and have done our best to address them
immediately. In terms of the alleged door damage, we have video documentation
that shows the minor discoloration on the door trim cause by painter’s tape
being removed (this was originally placed on to cover and protect the door).
This is a small cosmetic discoloration that can simply and easily be fixed.

For clarification purposes, oil based paint can absolutely be
painted over latex. It is acrylic (latex) paint that cannot be painted over
oil-based paint without a primer coat.

We will more than accommodate Mr. [redacted]’s request to
reinstall the downspouts, re-install the house numbers, and remove, if any,
plastic on the home. In addition, we will offer to repair the cosmetic
discoloration of the door trim, re-paint the areas requested with oil-based
paint (balcony floor, wooden handrails, and cellar door). Any areas of the
siding that need to be re-prepped, will be addressed and taken care of.

In terms of the monetary dispute request, this is denied. We
have a $4,000 contract, of which Mr. [redacted] has paid a total of 1,000. We
acknowledge the project is not complete and are committed to completing the work
at no further collection of the balance due (3,000).

We have left Mr. [redacted] a voicemail on Friday, July
3rd and again called and left a voicemail on Monday, July
6th. Each of the aforementioned attempts has failed in any sort of
response from Mr. [redacted].

Hello, our project coordinator [redacted] has contacted the client and has set up a time to visit the job site today to find a resolution. Thank you, College Works Painting

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
I have had several email communications with [redacted], the VP of the CO Branch and we are unable to come to an amicable agreement. She originally offered a $500.00 refund, which I refused as I was seeking a full refund. She has now offered: Although we understand that you would like a refund, we would like to have at least one or two additional contractors out to your residence to confirm what your alleged damages are, under the law.  Although your position is that the services College Works provided had no value (i.e. you believe you are entitled to a refund), the only way for us to confirm that this is reasonable is to obtain multiple bids to determine what it would cost to have another contractor complete the paint job and/or repair the alleged damage.  Thedifference between our bid and the bid to have the work completed by another contractor is the amount that we would refund you.  You can always use the contractor of your preference to complete the work, but we would like to have at least one additional contract review the workmanship and bid the work. I do not want any contractors that they work with on my property as I have lost all trust in this company and its lack of workmanship and accountability. I'm happy to send the 80 photos of damage/poor paint job, etc. that I sent [redacted] so that other homeowners will be aware of working with this company. Please let me know if there are any further details I can provide.
Regards,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/10) */
our president Marc [redacted] has reached our client directly and we look forwarded to getting this resolved. We strive for 100% customer satisfaction and we are very sorry that we fell short of that during the project.
College Works...

Paintin
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/09/10) */
College works owner Marc [redacted] called and offered a settlement.Not the settlement we asked for.We are considering a offer but have not accepted an offer at this time.Thank you-[redacted]
[redacted]copied and pasted from email.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 9, 2015/09/17) */
College Works and I have reached a settlement of $1500.A check has been received on 9-15.Thank you.[redacted]
[redacted]copied and pasted from email.

Hello, We are very sorry for the delay. We have received approval from our vice president to refund your deposit of $150 and to void the contract. We are very sorry that we were not able to provide you service.  We will mail a check out to the address we have on file. If you have any...

questions or concerns please contact us at our corporate office 888-450-9675.Thank you, College Works Painting

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/24) */
We strive for 100% customer satisfaction and we are very sorry that we fell short of that during your project. We have agreed to lower the job size and have already received final payment in our office.
College Works Painting

Hello, Please accept our sincere apologies for the poor experience you had with us.  We strive for 100% customer satisfaction and we are very sorry that we fell short of that during your project.  It is to our understanding that our VP of Colorado is currently working directly with...

you to come up with a satisfactory resolution. If that is no longer the case please let us know as we hope to come to a satisfactoryresolution.  Regards, College Works Painting

Again, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. We
understand that refunding you the deposit does not close the issue, moreover, we
were simply looking for a method to expedite the return of your deposit as we
are unable to paint your home.

As you may be aware, the College Works employee who you
were working with, i.e. the individual provided you with the estimate and was
going to oversee the work, is no longer with College Works. Unfortunately, in
this very rare circumstance, we simply do not have anyone else available to
oversee the production of your job. Again, we are truly
sorry.Respectfully, College Works Painting

Hello,  We are very sorry for the delay. We have our GM Jenny [redacted] now assigned to this and they will be in direct contact with you. We currently have it on our schedule for the weekend of September 24th. if you need further assistance please contact us at ###-###-####. Thank...

you, College Works Painting

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.  The action that the return crew does must be to scrape all the peeling paint as stated in the contract, and apply a coat of paint that covers the wood work. If they preform this work satisfactorily then I will consider this complaint resolved.  
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Regards,
[redacted]
Thank you for reply.
Please provide clarification on how did CWP come up with
$1,000 and where exactly does it apply.
Recap:
1. Before the project I had:
 1.1 unpainted house  1.2 no issues
2. Now I have:
 2.1 a house painted
with wrong paint 2.2 issues such as
with latex on the floor, porch and a coating stripped from the door
I would be happy to have CWP fix the project, however I do
not see how this is possible given past experience.
Let me point out the reasons of my respectful disagreement:
 - There are 3 parties
in the project: the customer (C), CWP Intern (I) and subcontracted painters (P) - C and I discuss the
project and sign off. No issues so far except C could not reach I in many cases
for days.  - There was a problem
in if/how [redacted] is communicated from I to P. It is either not communicated at all
or P folks did not take "I" management as seriously as they should have.  [redacted] was detailed and most items were ignored, beginning with
paint type and ending with items to remove from walls before spraying. Speaking
about paint, it was actually me not CWP, who checked and questioned if paint
was right and asked to stop. - There was a problem
in C to P communications. P simply did not turn to C showing unwillingness to
talk on project details, which makes one wonder if this is by design.   - P were cutting
corners every step of the way. P workmanship was poor. 
Basically in the morning when driving away to work I could
not ask P anything and be sure. Coming back home - issues every day.
I would only want CWP to put back in place downspouts, house
number figures and remove protective plastic from where it is still attached. I
am trying to arrange this with [redacted], sent 4 emails and this is still not done.For your reference: the door is [redacted], the porch is [redacted]For above reasons please take CWP fixing the project out from the table. If you have reasons to believe 2.1 is of value, please
elaborate on how 2.1 and 2.2 compare and come up with a bottom line number.
There is still time and room for settlement.

We understand
your frustration and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused,
unfortunately as previously stated we will not be able to paint your home. We
have already processed a full refund of your deposit, it was sent to your
attention to the address we have on file on...

6/19/2015.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I have been contacted by this company twice since I made the complaint:  Once by a phone call and another time by a text message.
Regards,
[redacted]

Hello,  Thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with you to resolve your concerns. It is to our outstanding that [redacted] has reached out and we have agreed to come out a add one more coat. If you need further assistance please contact us at [redacted]. Thank you, College...

Works Painting

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.dHowever, this resolution should not have been so difficult, and should not have required the formality of involving the Revdex.com.  I believe this resolution would not have happened without involving Revdex.com.  
Regards,
[redacted]

Job was supposed to be finished 3 weeks ago. My house is partially painted and is currently 5 different colors. They keep changing return date.College works started on our exterior paint job on May 23 and said it would take a max of 3 days to finish. They pressure washed half of the house on May 23rd, started caulking and painting the 24th and left mid day because my neighbors were throwing a fit about them spray painting the house. We were never told that they were going to spray the house vs. rolling. They tried to back out of the contract that evening. Didn't come back the next day. Was able to get them back on 5/26 for a couple of hours. They partially painted one side and a portion of the back and got overspray on the brick, pipes, hose, fence, spigot and deck. They left before I got home. They also painted over spots that hadn't been prepped or pressure washed yet. The DM came out the next day for 6.5 hours to remove the overspray. Had a call with the DM & VP that day. Said they would get out the next week but due to rain it might have to be the following week. This week is that following week and now they offered to come out on a Fri.-Sat. middle or end of June. I said that was unacceptable since I was told it would be finished 5/25. They said they could come on June 17th. My home is currently 5 different colors and partially painted and has been for weeks now. They keep lying to me and pushing the end date out. This has become so time consuming and stressful. To top it off we are trying to get our house on the market while it is so good for sellers. They could potentially be making us miss a sale.Desired SettlementWe would prefer CWP to pay for the next affordable quote that we received to have the house painted by someone else since they have only lied to us by not informing us the house would be sprayed vs rolling and they promised there would be no overspray at all and it ended up being a ton just for half of 2 walls. We are afraid to have them finish the job but for the price we don't really have much of an option since the next affordable quote was $4k. Since they started painting the house already we can't just get a refund and not paint the house since the new colors don't match exactly. Our second option is for them to finish the job this week and hopefully they will do it right so we don't have to keep going round and round like this. Business Response To whom it may concern,We resolved the situation with [redacted]. We paid for another company to paint their house. Which is exactly what she wanted. Thanks,[redacted]

Program sold as experienced/trained painters. When asked each student, not ONE actually had ANY training provided. Results reflected this completely.The intent of the program is a great idea, but the reality is that you have College students, being paid minimum wage, having no proper home preparation, cleaning or painting skills and very little incentive. I was told that they had qualifications/certifications/training, but when I inquired of each, they confirmed that they had zero training. This combined with basically no supervision is a recipe for a very bad result and I have proof. For the first 3 weeks, the 'college' supervisor showed up for approximately 1 hour a day each morning, basically sitting on a bucket and texting while his crew made mistake after mistake. For several days they had 1 paint brush between 3 workers. This meant that if one needed it for a different color, they had to and were continually washing out the same brush. Eventually there were 5 workers but only 2 brushes I was also highly disturbed with the Practice of freely dumping of many 5 gallon clean out buckets with a mix of 20% paint and 80% water into the ground. I inquired about this with the VP of College Works, ony to be told that it 'Common Practice' and will not harm a thing. I just do not believe this cavalier 'Common Practice' can be great for the environment. Thankfully, I was home and could watch the continual mistakes being made and in fact I had to stop them several times, in order to explain the correct way to prep or apply paint. I truly feel sorry for people who have to work and can not see what really goes on with this unfortunate crew of great college folk. They worked on my home for 4 weeks, until the VP of College works ([redacted]) pulled the entire crew off of my home, BEFORE completion. [redacted] made this decision because there was so much inadvertent damage caused to my home that it became a liability and not income for College Works. In my opinion it was an extremely UN-Professional move by Mr. [redacted]. I could never, and will never recommend College Works Painting program to anyone. In fact I will however highly recommend that people stay as far away from this College Works Painting program as humanly possible. Do yourself a favor, research and save yourself a lot of headaches and hire a true Professional Painting crew with experienced painters.Desired SettlementCollege Works Painting advertises, as do their canvasser state that you "Get the job done right with student painters who bring solid credentials, top notch training and materials and a rock solid work ethic, with the promise of becoming tomorrows leaders". I have a serious issue where it states..."Get the job done right with student painters who bring solid credentials, and top notch training...." When I asked each individual College student, and there were 8 total, if they received any training. They ALL replied that they had received NO training. The unfortunate part was that they also no real supervision being provided to these folks, until finally we entered week 4.The other issue I have is where College Works Painting website entitled 'For Student Interns' it has a full page of Training. The manager over seeing our home was on site ony 1 hour per day for the first 3 weeks. When on site, most of that, supervisor [redacted] spent sitting on a 5 gallon bucket and texting, as the untrained college students made mistake after mistake (Not their fault). I blame this on the lack of any training and also the lack of any true supervision. Even the correcting of mistakes, compounded into even more mistakes.College Works either needs to change their misrepresentation of training, or actually provide true training. College Works Painting also needs to complete my Home and not walk off because of mistakes caused by untrained and poorly unsupervised staff resulting in a negative cash result for them. It is not the Consumers fault that there were sooooo many costly mistakes.Business Response /[redacted]/Contact Name and Title: [redacted]Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXXContact Email: [redacted]@collegeworks.comI would be more than happy to continue working on the house if that is needed. On the last day, when I was on site helping finish touch ups and clean up, the client and I agreed that since the back screens were estimated for $350 to replace in the past that we would stop trying to clean them and just take $350 off of the contract and close out the job. About a half hour went, and the client then changed his mind about the screens and wanted to get a new estimate on re-screening the porch. This was very frustrating considering we had just reached an agreement 30 minutes prior. Nonetheless, we agreed to speak the following morning after the new quote had been given. It came back at $1350 so we took that off of the original price because we agreed that there was no way the cost should be more than that. The client informed us that he had a few other estimates scheduled and that he would get back to us on pricing and cut us a 2nd balance check once the other estimates were in. At no point did we "walk off the job" and I certainly didn't pull the crew off of the project. The only thing I told the crew to stop doing was cleaning the screens because he had given money back for it and came to an agreement. If the client found a few more touch ups not involving the screens, we can go back and repaint those areas. In regards to the cleanup involving painty water: We only use latex based paint with low VOC. On this home, we specifically used Resilience paint from Sherwin Williams. We washed our brushes out in the back woods and used no chemicals in the process. In regards to the sales process, I cannot comment on what was said at the original estimate because I was not present. However, in conversations I have had with this client I can make a few comments. The client kept using this word "training" as if painters go to school to learn the trade and get a badge of certification to pick up a brush. He asked our painters if they attended the above said training and they accurately responded no. Just like any basic trade, our painters get trained on site by a more knowledgeable manager that has experience. Hopefully that clears things up and we can get this resolved quickly. Consumer Response /[redacted]/The truth is that, [redacted]'s words to the crew were, we are done...pull all your equipment. All of the equipment (ladders, paint etc) was either taken away within 30 minutes, or was stacked up and removed first thing the next morning. I am not sure how that can be construed as NOT telling his crew to pull off the job....BEFORE it was/is complete. The job needs to be finished.I will also repeat...that College Works Painting 'Misrepresented' themselves, several times, by several people, stating:1) Initially it was stated that all Work will be performed by a Sherwin Williams Paint crew2) Then it was stated by a different person that all painters are trained / certified by Sherwin Williams3) Then, when questioned again, it was stated that all painters are trained by the supervisor. 4) Then the VP said that he actually had a class at a Sherwin Williams store.When I inquired of each of the painters, not ONE said they ever received ANY training or instruction as stated above. VP, [redacted] even eluded that I was a liar, because the College student that sold me the program with these promises, no longer works for College Works. He told me that he never said that. Very, UNPROFESSIONAL, and this obviously translates down to his crew.Look, I have nothing against college folks trying to work. I just have a problem with UNTRAINED and seriously lacking the skills to Correctly prep, prime and paint a home. They simply lack the necessary skills to correctly paint a home.I was also told, at initial sale...that the siding would be sprayed and the trim would be brushed, yet the trim was sprayed. Why is this important? I just paid a large amount for a new roof. There is now overspray and a lot of paint chips on a lot of my new roof. College Works does not even have a method, such as a back pack leaf blower to remove paint chips. IF College Works performed as initially promised....this would not have happened. The common practice is to brush trim, and the VP even stated this is common practice. Again, IF there was correct supervision, and he was actually on site or not texting and was properly trained, this would NOT and SHOULD NOT have ever happened. This is just one of the areas that still lack completion by this program.With these folks it's ALL about money....It starts with the 10% discount if you sign that day.(FLAG) Instead of pricing / quoting the job and simply trying to do the best to meet the Customer expectations and meeting the promises stated, they are more about slapping paint on an ill prepared substrate, getting their money and moving on. There is no consistency with the crews and I will repeat NO supervision, training, certification, or incentive. Final Business Response /[redacted]/In regards to paragraph 1 about pulling crew off: Yes, we began to pack up because we had finished the list of touch ups on everything around the house except the screen porch that was still being worked on by two painters. So no, I did not pull the crew off of the job. The following day, the foreman came back again to get the rest of the materials and did what we were told were the remaining touch ups. If that is not the case and there are a few misses on the screen porch then we can go back to do the remaining hour of work. In regards to the misrepresentation: I will not take responsibility for how a customer interprets information. There is no such thing as a Sherwin Williams paint crew. The are a paint manufacturer not a painting company. That wording was never used. What was mentioned was that the painters we hire have a training at Sherwin Williams to learn about the products and the basics of how to prepare and paint a home. That training did occur in May 2015 at the Sherwin Williams off of Hillsborough St. in Raleigh. However, the crew that was on site at this particular job were hired after that training occurred so they did not attend. Hopefully this clears up the confusion. The crew in question that helped early on in the job were lacking the experience required on this project. That is why I went to the job site multiple times and also only brought back the better members of the crew that the home owner liked the most. In regards to the paint chips on the roof, we did sweep up the chips at the end of the project. I did not personally inspect the whole roof though so if there are chips that need to be blown off we can absolutely do that. We do have a leaf blower. In regards to the pricing, we do offer a 10% discount for early scheduling. We price every job according to industry standards. Each customer can decide or not decide to schedule early and use this discount. We are willing to lower profit on a job in order to create this incentive. There are a few things stated above that sound like work is needed. Would you like use to come back out to finish the cleanup and touch ups on the back screens? Also did the screen estimate come in yet so we can finalize the deduction for replacing the screens?