ABACO DOCK & LIFT CO/MILLS CONSTRUCTION CO INC

They never showed up to do the work

I was told that I would receive a call back with a time for them to visit and repair lift. They never called. I called and left messages TWICE and did not receive a call back either time.

Left message on voice mail with Susan Wallace for estimate on dock repair .  My call was never returned

Because Abaco stalled and lied, I finally called another Angies list company to do the work.

Prompt reply to phone & emails
provided all details requested
professional
flexible drop off hours
plus
price value for INDOOR storage

I called and left 2 voicemails over the course of a week, never heard back.  Called the next week and finally spoke to Tom, who was mowing his yard.  He said he'd call me back after that, never heard back.

Contacted Abaco to discuss our project. They made an appointment and came to our house to estimate the work. We discussed the job and issues I have had over the years related to the shoreline. They sketched a plan to show where the work was to be done and detiled the size andtype of stone that would be used. Installation timing was agreed upon. They requested a 50% deposit at time of work order acceptance with the balance due upon installation.
I did have to call them after about a month to firmly schedule the installation date. They arrived as promised and did a very good job installing the material around our dock and shoreline. They were very careful not to damage our property or that of our neighbors which was a challenge given the tight quarters in our bay.
We have had this type of work done 2-other times during the past and Abaco did the best job of anyone to date. They used larger rock which should hold up better over time and performed the work in a professional punctual manner.
I would recommend their services for shoreline maintenance based on our experience.

He (Tom Mills) owns a lift company too. They removed our boat from our lift in our cove, and transported it to storage. They completed the repairs and were supposed to deliver the boat on or about 05 May. While delivering he found that our lift was in "too poor a condition" to leave the boat there after all the "tender love and care" he had given it. My wife never authorized them to keep the boat, and specifically told them in an email to leave it because we couldn't afford a new $9,000 lift at the time. I will admit that because of her work schedule the communication was spotty, but that is no excuse for the liberties he proceeded to take. Apparently they had already removed our boat from the water by then. He was also arrogant enough to recall to me that he took better care of our boat than we did...? This conversation took place when i returned home in late June to learn that the boat was not delivered. After talking to him on the phone I went to his shop where we discussed what had transpired. They could not produce anything stating or suggesting they were authorized to keep our boat, and he was demanding another $600 for his efforts to save our boat from ruin.

I assumed he meany well at that point, I pointed out that in fact we did not authorize nor wish for him to keep the boat this long... but assuming he did mean well I offered to pay another $250. He insisted on the full amount and became quite patronizing and rude. By the way when i went to my boat in his shop it was on the wrong trailer. This was prior to the 4th of July weekend and I just wanted the boat so I said fine... whatever it takes to get my boat by tomorrow I will do, and I paid what he demanded at the ramp the next morning.

I drove the boat to my lift, and the lift worked exactly as it had the previous season. It was used and had a slight lean back toward the rear. The fuel was at around 1/8th of a tank (we left it at around 3/4 full), there was an empty wine bottle and cork in the sink, the fresh water system wasn't winterized resulting in a separated nozzle in the front. the keel storage space was filthy, a door seal for the main storage was literally falling off, the battery was completely loose from the retainers (and he admitted charging it just prior), the emblems he replaced fell off within 2 weeks, the velcro retention straps for our canopy were almost disintegrated and the exterior looked like nothing had been done aside from a wipe down. Literally I mean there wasn't a sign of waxing.

This was all verified within 10 days of our receiving the boat by "The Kings of Clean" which is a detail service that also does full service boat storage.

Whomever may be reading this... this story sounds like a reality show, but I assure you that after agreeing to paying $3100 for his services I would not go to all this trouble for an additional $500 (he lowered it at the ramp)!! I am not exaggerating in the slightest and I have a small claims suit pending against him.

This guy and his company is the epitome of 'Flim Flam man".

Beware!!!

The lift works well, and they did a good job installing everything. The only issue I had was with the pricing. When the crew was doing some dock work, I was chatting with them, and they noticed one of the hinges that connected two sections of dock was loose and was making quite a bit of noise. They said that it was easy to replace, and that they had an hinge in their truck. Well, they were correct, it was a quick and easy repair, and involved a hinge assembly that was available on the internet for about $20. The total repair took about 30 minutes, and combined with the $20 part, and the fact that they were already there on-site, I expected a reasonable charge. When the bill came, everything else was as agreed upon, but the charge for the hinge was an eye-popping $435!!! I called Tom, and he told me that they use only "Top Quality Parts". I told him that the part he used is absolutely identical to what was available online, and that they didn't even replace the entire assembly! Thye actually re-used one of the pieces. Tom said that $435 was a fair price, and told me to pay the bill. I told him that I was there when they did the work, so I know it only took 30 minutes, and with an inexpensive part, and the fact that they didn't have a trip charge, I said that $435 was absolutely outrageous! I got a quote from another dock repair facility (LakeMaster) and they said that the repair would be about $80 if they had been on site, including parts (I didn't tell them the situation with Abaco, I just wanted to know what they would charge). I paid Tom at Abaco $150, which is almost double what his competitor charges, and Tom is still mad and won't work with me until i pay the rest. I have asked him repeatedly to tell me what justifys the cost, and he never has had an answer, he just says to pay the bill. I would recommend being careful here. They do good work, but Tom is a huckster.

Excellent!  Our dock has been brought back to life! 
I called for a quote and they responded promptly.  Came out and educated me on what work needed to be done to get the end result I wanted.  I told them there was no hurry in getting the repair done.  The gentleman said he would work our repair into his existing work, since it was a small job.  I was fine with that and told him that in the next month or two would be fine.
About 2 weeks later we decided to have a party at the end of the month.  I called Abaco Dock and asked if our job could be moved up.  To my surprise, they did the repair the next day!
I was so pleased with the repair and the responsiveness.  If we ever replace our dock, I will call Abaco Dock!

unknown

Called mid-October to arrange meeting for estimate on dock repair. Was told Tom Mills would call me back to set appointment when he returned from vacation 11/4. No call received from Tom Mills. Called 2nd time 11/9 and spoke to Susan Wallace who said she would have Tom Mills call to set appointment. No call received from Tom Mills. Called mid-November and spoke to Tom Mills. He came to appraise current dock situation and offer repair alternatives. Said he would provide estimate for repairs promptly. Never heard from him again.

They have did several projects and they did a great job on all of them. www.theonlinebikini.com.

Unsatisfactory. They used the old wood and nails. The wood they used was real bad. They were suppose to replace all the wood, used some new wood but mostly the old lumber.

Two young men arrived from Abaco; moved their heavy tools down to the dock. They then pulled two anchoring posts, relocated the dock back some three feet to its original position. They then drove the posts back into the ground, reanchoring the dock assembly. They also raised the dock ramp back to its original position by placing heavy rocks under it.

They were professional and came out very quickly. They worked through the rain to fix our dock that was under water.

The project was completed on budget and ahead of schedule. Because the dock was larger than our old one, it required them pulling out the 2 poles which anchor the dock into the lake bed, and driving them back in to the lake bed in different locations. There was a problem with one of the poles being driven back into the lake bed due to a stump at the exact spot. So, Tom and his son came out on a Saturday afternoon to make it right. They are a very reliable company and do top notch work.

Abaco Dock towed our boat from Geist, analyzed our boat and was unable to fix it. They sent our boat to another boat repair in Cicero. They offered to fix our boat for 1500- 2500. We opted to get our boat repaired at another boat repair company after the improbable explanation for damage was given. The cost to RETRIEVE our boat was $465.00!!! This did include towing and another $190 for the other company to "look" at our boat. I would not trust either company with any business in the future.

It went fine. I was told it would be a couple of weeks before they could get here, and it was a little longer than that. I had told them it wasn't an emergency.

On time,and finished promptly.

MR MILLS, THE OWNER, WORKED PERSONALLY WITH US, HELPED DESIGN DOCK, OBTAIN PROPER PERMITS FROM CITY, AND INSTALLED DOCK. VERY PLEASANT EXPERIENCE, ESTIMATE HONORED EXACTLY.

unknown

HAVE ALSO USED THEM AS SUPERIOR DOCK CO. THEY REPLACED A BOAT DOCK RAMP, A BOAT LIFT FRAME AND CANOPY DUE TO A FALLEN TREE. SINCE THEY ARE THE ONLY COMPANY THAT RESPONDED, I DO NOT KNOW IF THEIR PRICE IS FAIR. I THINK THEY MAY BE A LITTLE EXPENSIVE. BUT, THEY HAVE BEEN RESPONSIVE AND THEIR WORK SEEMS HIGH QUALITY. ONE COMPANY (RECOMMENDED BY ANGIE''S LIST) DOESN''T DO REPAIRS. ANOTHER COMPANY DIDN''T RETURN MY TELEPHONE CALL. A THIRD COMPANY DID NOT RETURN MY CALL, WHICH HAS HAPPENED AT LEAST TWICE IN THE PAST. THEREFORE, I WOULD GIVE THE THIRD COMPANY A POOR RATING.