Specialty Wallcovering

"Thanks for letting me do the job"

"I am very disappointed to read such a negative review from my client and want to address their concerns. First, they gave me a C on punctuality. I worked for them just two days. The first day I was asked to arrive at 8:45 am and I arrived a few minutes early. The second day I was asked to arrive at 9:30 am and I arrived right on time. She texted me at 9:00 am and said she had returned earlier than expected from a morning appointment and I could arrive earlier than 9:30 but the appointed time was 9:30. I have no idea why they would give me anything other than an A in that category. Second, they gave me a D on professionalism, quality and overall. I have been a professional interior painter for more than 23 years. Last year, my first on Angie's List, I received a Super Service Award designation. I received an overall grade of A from every review last year and every review thus far in 2016 prior to the client review. I pride myself on being a perfectionist and while no one can always be perfect, I know my work is always professional quality. So why do I think the client gave me such a poor review? Here are some facts: after completing the first two of the three rooms I was contracted to paint, husband said the rooms "look great" - when I completed the third room on the second full day of work, husband was not around although he had earlier told me that room was also looking "great" when I had it more than half done., Upon completion, the wife stated that she was not going to pay me because she thought the last wall in that third room was not properly covered. She tried to point out the perceived "flaw" that she was seeing but I couldn't see anything at all wrong with that wall. The botton-line was she refused to pay me and said she wanted to wait until her husband could look at it. Even though I saw absolutely nothing wrong with the completed work, I offered to return to repaint that one wall. She said she would discuss it with her husband. The next message I received from her was that she had decided all three rooms needed to be repainted. (Incidentally I had applied two coats of white Sherwin Williams paint to walls that were already white so it wasn't like some dark color was being changed to a light color and wasn't covering adequately.) She also said that due to a busy summer schedule that there was no time I could come back and that she and her husband would repaint all three rooms. She offered to send me a check for $200.00 for the two days of work I had completed instead of the $525.00 storefront package we had agreed on before I started the project. My standard hourly rate is $40.00 an hour but I had quoted this job at less than $33.00 an hour. What she was offering was less than $13.00 an hour so I refused her offer. With no other more reasonable offer and no opportunity being given for me to return to repaint the only wall she had mentioned as less than satisfactory. I am left with no option to resolve this. One of my best friends is a retired university business professor who also has done consulting work with many companies teaching them customer relations management skills. He told me after hearing about this situation that all companies eventually encounter that one client who cannot be satisfied regardless what you try to do. The client even mentioned before I started that they had had a conflict with a previous painting contractor. My gut said don't take the job but, unfortunately, I accepted the contract and now can't get paid."

"Thank you"