Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  08/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  ** Dec 15, 2021 - Contract was provided from Word of Mouth Painting LLC (Jeffrey B***) ** Late Spring 2022 - Vendor completed partial work on items #1 & 3 on the contact ** Sept 13, 2022 - $200 deposit provided (check # 1144) ** Sept 16, 2022 - Items 1 and 3 were completed. Total invoice was $1900, less 50% of deposit, balance due $1800 paid (check #****). At that point Jeff B*** indicated he would deduct the balance of deposit ($100) upon completion of item #2. Jeff indicated at this time, he was short staffed and would have to complete the contact in the Spring 2023 due to his backlog of work. ** July 2023 -- Jeff did not respond to multiple attempts to contact him in July since Spring had passed and he had not returned to complete the work. Note that I would not have made attempts to contact him, if he had communicated that he would not be back, (per his email attached) I would not have paid him $1,800 letting him keep the extra $100 deposit that was for the garage work Item 2. ** July 25, 2023 - We reached out via his website chat; he responded harshly, with false accusations, and said he would not be back to complete the contract. ** July 25, 2023 - Jeff communicated in his harsh email that I was reported to the BBB and yet, I have not had any opportunity to respond to that as his accusations are false. ** I am requesting the 50% deposit of $100 that is pending. No need to complete the contract. No account number on contact. Estimate #****

  Business response

  09/20/2023

  BBB spoke to the business and the following was relayed: I refuse to do the 2nd job for her that she requested.  I will not be returning to her house.  The 1st job is completed, plus some.   I did not charge for extra work that I did for this customer, some examples include sanding down the painted walls because the customer complained that after we left the day we painted the walls, her dog's hair got on the wet paint.  Another quick example, is work I did for her on the fireplace that she asked me to do.  I did not charge for those things.  It was a verbal agreement, I've never had a problem like this with a customer before.  I've been in business for years and I've never had a BBB complaint before.  I should have never taken these people on as customers.  I refuse to do the 2nd job after the way my guys and I were treated by this customer on the first job.  The $100 they are asking for has already been returned to the customer, actually more than that, in work that we did that we did not charge her for.  That was explained to the customer, and accepted before the extra work was completed.  The customer even acknowledges this in her complaint herself.   If she continues to threaten me via constant messages, emails, phone calls, and social media- I will file harassment charges.  

  Customer response

  09/25/2023

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For the 2nd job, he probably thought it was under-estimated and he wouldn’t make enough money on it, so his strategy was to make up stories about us as an excuse for not returning. When he was leaving, after getting the $1,800 check, he was friendly, and we discussed his return to do the Garage when the weather permitted; probably in the spring. After cashing the check, he decided to just Hate us as an excuse. There was no "extra" work performed. There was no dog hair in the paint. Our small dog has short hair and doesn't shed. The work on the Fireplace was included on the Estimate as part of the $850 charge:  "Fireplace Slab- Apply two coats". He says it was a "verbal agreement" ? All the work was documented and priced on the Estimate. When he finished the painting, he left before reinstalling the Front Storm Door Glass. When I later tried to install the window, I was shocked to find the Latching Mechanism was completely painted over and inoperable. It has to slide freely up and down to work.  I had to spend several hours scraping the paint off the 74 inch window latch to allow it to move again. See photos  "Storm Window Latch 1",  "Storm Window Latch 2".   He also painted the back door weatherstrip.  It's soft and flexible so the paint doesn't stick, and it looks like crap. See photo "Back Door Weatherstrip".  I guess these two screw-ups could be considered Extra Work. Some areas of poor workmanship include the Front Door Edge and Garage Side Door.  The Front Door Edge was not completely painted. See photo "Unpainted Front Door Edge". This is clearly not painted; it's not from scraping on the door frame, which would leave horizontal scratches. There's also the Garage Side Door, which was not properly prepared for painting, so the rust is coming through. See Photo "Garage Side Door". For the financial part: We Paid $200 + $1,800 = $2,000. Jobs: First Part $850 + 3rd part $1,050 = 1900 due. We overpaid $100 to apply to the 2nd Job, the Garage, which was not done. We want the excess $100 returned.  Regards,  ****** *******

  Business response

  10/13/2023

  BBB spoke to Jeff at the business and the following was relayed: After consideration of the customer's concerns and the additional work that was done at no cost, I am sending the customer a check for 1/2, $50, as a goodwill gesture and I hope this will resolve the situation. 

  Customer response

  10/16/2023

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me contingent upon the check being valid and accepted by my bank. I should know within a week.  Regards,  ****** *******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩