Home Improvement Beware!

This is what you should see in a valid ad!

As usual, I have to take a few minutes and get my frustration out. Recently, I've been pondering some home improvements on the exterior of my home. Nothing too radical mind you, just a few necessary things like:

New roof shingles
Siding Repairs
2 replacement windows

So happily I went through my local yellow pages and picked out the biggest ads, wanting to get some reference estimates before I go after my referrals. A few things things I wouldn't budge on were:

- Licensed & Insured businesses
- Clean Consumer Affairs record

The first company I called was backed up, and said they could come out on July 30th. Okay - it is the busy season in the NE anyway. The second one I called said they would call me in a few days. Great. The third one had a fairly elaborate website with a referral form, so I filled that out hoping they would still call me the same week.

The 1st one is still scheduled for July 30th
The 2nd one (M.A.K. Construction who I would NEVER recommend - see below) showed today
The 3rd one I haven't hear hide nor hair...


Hello? Who? BOB? He's not here. He's out loosing our company some more money. Yes he is isn't he! ha ha!


Getting to the M.A.K. Construction for a second. So we exchanged back and forth different times to come to the house for an estimate for a week. The representative, "BOB" (a fictional name) first called on Wednesday then called back and cancelled. He called on Thursday for a Friday estimate and called Friday morning to cancel and reschedule on Sat. He calls Saturday morning and confirms (finally).

Something about "BOB" - he's quite an excitable chap, always seeming out of breath and annoyed, which to me was also annoying. Anyway... back to the story...

So I make a list to help things along to best describe what I want done.

The actual list:

Roof:

- Remove & dispose of roofing shingles, felt & liner
- Inspect ply board and replace as needed
- Install 15# felt (no ice dam needed)
- Install 3-tab shingles & Ridge cap
Owens Corning or CertainTeed in Grey
- Replace Flashing around chimney and attic fans
- Encase rake board with aluminum

Siding:

- Replace North side of house with grooved Cedar shakes
- 2 Replacement windows (4 over 4 Pella or Andersen replacement windows)
- Inspect window framing and replace as needed
- Inspect, mark and replace other loose/curling shingles

Estimate:

- Itemized pricing
- Separate time and materials cost
- Walk-through clean-up and magnetic nail pick-up

ETA on job site
ETA on job start (date)



So you'd think this would easily and quickly lay out exactly what I want done for an quick estimate to be completed. Heck, I bet I could fax this to most contractors with the dimensions of the house and roof and get an estimate faxed back to me.

Well, "BOB" seemed annoyed even more, and said everything must be spelled out exactly oh and by the way, it's company policy not to separate the time and materials.

"Huh?" (that's me saying Huh?)

BOB: "Yes, sorry. It's against our company policy to separate out the labor costs and materials costs, so thanks anyway." He walks off.

Now M.A.K. Construction, Roofing and Siding has a half-page ad in the yellow pages. This is very expensive by the way (look up the rates sometime). They also do a whole host of other things as well, including framing, windows, cement, porches, decks, etc. They have an impressive resume by being part of a large company with both business and consumer divisions.

BOB just didn't want the business. Either I scared him off with my impressive list, or he saw the opportunity to "pad" the cost fly out the proverbial window when I asked for the costs to be itemized and separated. Aww... no 20% gouging for you! I was even going to offer to buy the materials myself if we had any further conversation, but I have the feeling that would have gone over like a turd in the punch bowl. And just think! I was going to ask him to provide proof of his business license, bonding and insurance! By his reaction and utter dismay at me asking for the T&M, he probably would have keeled over with a coronary had I gone down that path!


I mention turd and Michael Moore shows up. Hmm...


I should have seen it coming - BOB wasn't very personable and really couldn't have cared less. When I walked up to his truck, he made me wait a good 2 minutes before coming out (I was standing by the drivers side door watching him scribble), when he did come out he quickly handed me his card, never shook my hand, never looked me in the eye, and first things out of his mouth were, "So what do you need done?". Not good.

BOB get's an big fat "F" for loosing business for his company. He also gets very low marks for being quite standoff-ish and a little rude. He gets an acceptable mark for communication skills, since he did call me 4 times in a week period to cancel 3 of his appointments with me. BOB gets another huge "F" and a "ZERO" for not being able to manage his time and for canceling 3 times. I guess it was BOB's subtle hint (wasted on me apparently) in the 3 canceled appointments, that his company M.A.K. Construction doesn't want my $4k or $5k measly dollars and to go "piss up a rope".

Having not experienced M.A.K. Construction's work first hand, I would be remiss to provide any feedback on their abilities. With that said however, if BOB reflects anything about M.A.K. Construction's abilities, skip them and tell everyone you meet to skip them. I know I will. What M.A.K. Construction doesn't know or realize is I'm going to tell all of my 30-something homeowner friends about this little incident in a very negative light. I wouldn't wipe my keester with M.A.K. Construction anything at this point, (now where did I put BOB's card...) nor would I wish "BOB" upon my enemies. (Well... maybe I would)

Some little factoids to keep in mind:

- Bad experiences will be told first hand to 18 to 25 people
- Good experiences will be told first hand to only 5 to 7 people
- A contractor who won't provide separate time & materials or at least provide a labor estimate, should be AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS.
- Reputable contractors will work with you on either a fixed contract or Time & Materials contract - if they don't you're being hosed. Don't use them.
- Always verify a contractors a.) Business License with the State, b.) Their insurance license is up to date

The last one is very important. For example, if you hire a contractor without verifying they have these things and say, one of the crew falls off your roof and breaks a leg, AND it turns out the business didn't have insurance after all.... guess who gets sued? That's right, very good! You do. And guess who also pays the hospital bills? Right again! You do! And guess who's fault it is? That's right (man you are a sharp little dude!) You're at fault! A court of law will always find in favor of the business, since it's the hiring parties responsibility to verify the validity of the hire-e.

Can't wait until the next company comes out! Woohoo! Should be fun!