See above. I hate dealing with companies that do not have live people answering the phones during office hours. I realize that lines may become tied up, people need to use the bathroom, etc., but to get a recording again and again and again over time is super frustrating. If a crew is going to be late, they need to let their boss know, and someone (the crew or the boss) MUST call the customer/client to let him/her know. That's what cell phones are for. Especially because I'd let them know in advance that I'd have to be leaving the house for a while and wanted to be sure to talk to the crew before I left. No drinking alcohol on the job. Maybe I was wrong about this, but if I wasn't, it should stop. Using a customer's toilet is something that should be discussed in advance. I'm not unwilling to do it (we're all only human, after all), but generally no one working outside the house ever asks.
Description of Work: I needed to have a gate to close off one end of my driveway to keep deer out of my backyard garden. I was in a hurry, because my fruit trees were in bloom, and in past years, I had lost at least half of my fruit crop to the deer that ate the flowers and the setting fruit. Because my driveway is very narrow, it needed to be one piece that could be swung into the backyard, so I could drive my car in and out of my garage. After I e-mailed, Teresa Mitchell set up an appointment to see the location and get more information. She arrived punctually, was very pleasant and professional, and said they could do the job within about a week. After not hearing from her when she said she'd respond, I e-mailed, then called the office and kept getting a recording. When I finally got a human being, she explained that Teresa had come home from a weekend conference ill and she didn't know when she'd be in. I explained the urgency of my situation, and she promised to get back to me soon. Teresa did e-mail the next day, but all she gave me was the figures for labor and materials (which I thought were a bit high, but I didn't have time to shop around), no description of any kind. I e-mailed back, and got a more complete definition, with more detail as I requested it. When I didn't want redwood treated with chemicals, she was happy to use redwood that was not. We set up Friday, March 8, at 10:30 for her crew to start work. I had a medical appointment and needed to leave the house by 10:45, and no crew arrived had arrived, and no one called to let me know when they would arrive. When I tried to call the office, all I got was a recording. I went to my appointment and called the office from there, but still just got a recording. When I got home around 12:30 or 1, two men were busy working on the gate. They were friendly and pleasant. They finished building the gate around 5. One of them put trash in my compost (green) bin by mistake, but apologized and removed it promptly. One of the men asked to use my toilet at the end of the day, which made me somewhat uncomfortable (normally, I don't allow anyone I don't know into my home -- I'm an elderly woman who lives alone). When he did, I thought I smelled alcohol on his breath. It didn't seem to affect the quality of his work, but I don't think it's a good idea, as a general rule, for anyone working with drills, saws, etc., to drink alcohol. I'm quite pleased with the gate, although there were a few issues that I hadn't anticipated (keeping it open, and only being able to open it from one side), but I never brought these up, so it's not the contractor's responsibility, but mine. So far, no deer, which is all I care about. I think the work itself was done nicely (and efficiently); there are just a few "don'ts" (described below) that I think this company needs to address.