T&A Carpentry and Home Restorations

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:T & A Carpentry was contacted to assess the status of astaircase from the 2nd to the 3rd floor of the townhouseI live inAfter the initial assessment, I was provided with two options;restoration, or new staircaseI opted for restoration to preserve the historiccharacter of the houseIt was also determined that the restoration was morecost effectiveThe initial meeting went well with Arthur the owner of T &A CarpentryAt the time they were based in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and was alreadyworking in the neighborhoodTwo referrals were provided but unfortunately theowners of the homes were unavailable to allow entry to their respective homes.After a meeting with the team of contractors at this house, we reviewed thearchitectural plans filed, and the scope of the work that Arthur would need tobe aware of, that would impact his restoration workWe accepted the proposaland he provided a time line for the restorationUnfortunately, not too longafter the problems began and have continued sinceWhile the company was quickto take an initial deposit, they were not eager to fulfill their contract.Start dates were agreed upon, which entailed I take off work to accommodate hisworkersNot one but two start dates were completely missed without any explanation.My likely assumption is that he had been working another job at the same time,and I was pushed to the bottom of the listInteractions with his receptionist,his wife was less than helpfulShe provided little information, and abundanceof excuses, was unprofessional and abrasive Eventually Arthur resurfaced, and anotherstart date was agreed uponAgain I took off work to accommodate his workers.The workers who did show up appeared to be unaware of the scope of the work.Something seemed offThey had many questions and seemed a bit dumbfoundedIinsisted the reach Arthur at once who did not accompany themArthur neverresponded, and after a short time later, they confessed that they weresubcontracted by T & A Carpentry to start the jobI immediately asked themto leave the premisesI reached out to Arthur, who again offered noexplanation, and again redirected the dialogue to getting back on track tostart the project at handWeary but persistent, I agreed to proceed forwardwith the understanding that any worker who sowed up at this house wereemployees of his company and would in fact be supervisedWhat followed weretwo workers showing up for yet another start date, and another day I took offof workThese workers were unsupervised, and unprepared for the job., They didnot have enough supplies or tools, primarily Czech speaking, and, barely spokeany EnglishThey were not here long, and left after a few hours with not muchwork doneI contacted Arthur, and he assured me he would in fact be on thesite tommorrowWhat followed was a disorganized mess The scope of the work was to replace treadsand risers, support the staircase, and accommodate an elevation though a newstringer, as the floors were being redoneWell his workers were fast, butsloppy; treads were cut crooked, and there did not seem to be any support forthe staircaseI snapped a few photos before they closed up the staircase, andthe lowered steps were propped up by a series of wood scrapsWhen Arthurshowed up at some point for an inspection he suggested we hold off work at thistime, while the floors were worked on, and that any issues with the staircasewould be addressed at that time“Don’t worry, we’ll make it work, thestaircase will be beautiful”Holidays rolled in followed by inclement weather,which led to delays in the workIn the spring, work seemed to move forwardagain, and Arthur was in fact contacted to coordinateHe was busy on otherjobs and there did not seem to be a time we could agree on for him to restartthe projectHe agreed to restart the project by the end of the year but beforethe holidays rolled in, but this did not happenHe did though insist thatanother payment be made at that time “to keep the job open”I felt pressured,and he’s a good salesmanI reluctantly provided another third towards thetotal balanceWe eventually agreed to restart after the holidays and winterseasonI am accommodatingAs the New Year rolled in, back to getting everyoneon a time line was a challengeHis office manager was again unhelpfulFinallyArthur agreed to a site visit, and I took off work for the meetingWhen heshowed up, he appeared evasive and irritatedHe appeared uninterested in beinghere and said very littleHe was provided with a punch list of issuesOne wouldthink he had shown up at the job site for the first timeHe looked at thestaircase as it had already been there before the job startedBy this time, Ipointed out that it was clear the elevation of the staircase was off; the twonewel posts were not even raised to accommodate the banister, and the treadscracked in half, interestingly enough over the two steps supported by the woodscrapsHe had no constructive answers, and said at this point I would need awhole new staircaseI attempted to get clarification but he did not provideanySo I am thinking, whatever it takes to complete the job, this is hiscompany, and if he ends to start over so, be it, but it needs to be doneimmediatelyWhat he did say was that he was presently working in theneighborhood, on “two big jobs” so he couldn’t start right awayWe agreed Iwould have my contractor reach out to him later to discuss furtherWhathappened at this point was unacceptableHe stated that after review, he feltthat the staircase would absolutely need to be redone, and he simply did nothave the time or interest for thisHe made it clear that he would not comeback to the job site, and that it was not cost effective it for him to finishthe jobHe further stated, “There’s nothing you can do about it”He dared meto take legal action and shouted profanity then hung upEmails back and forthonly did not accomplish and positive intervention What I am left with his a hot messThecontract was never fulfilled, material was to be guaranteed, and standards ofconduct were not followedIt is likely I will in fact require a new staircase.Putting in a new staircase at this point means not only a time delay, but thatfinished work (the underside of the staircase would likely be damaged) wouldneed to be redone as well.Regards, [redacted]