Phalan Construction & The Handyman

"Thank you member for taking the time out of your schedule and doing this unexpected report. It puts a smile on my face when I hear someone is pleased with me, my work and work ethic. It's a great thing you took the time, and to hear when someone is happy where it is all too easy to report if someone is dissatisfied. I am glad you were happy with the way we communicated through e-mailing, per my companies websites instructions. It worked great for both of us and for you, your schedule and how you communicate with your type of work. As we most likely would have played phone tag where my hands are usually too busy to pick up. My office is in my office not at someone else's home and rarely in my vehicle. I am glad you liked my vacuum is much as I do and how I would even hold it up while cutting through the dusty drywall. Thank you once again and it would be great to do some more projects for you when you are ready, it was a pleasure."

"I am sorry I cannot answer everyone's e-mails while I am busy with prescheduled work. If I was to answer everyone's e-mails on a daily basis I would have no, too very little time to actually perform work “get my hands dirty” for my customers that have prescheduled jobs. If I was to answer everyone's e-mails promptly no one would be happy, my customers would not have their projects finished and I would not be making money or paying my bills. Not to mention trying to find time for anything that remotely resembles a personal life, doing the things that interest you. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. MORE IMPORTANTLY- If you had read my company profile on Angies(which you did and got my company info) it specifically states:Thank you for your interest in Phalan Construction! CONTACTING ME BY EMAIL WORKS BEST THROUGH MY WEBSITE http://www.phalanconstruction.com or at [email protected]. Please understand if I AM UNABLE TO RESPOND TO YOUR E-MAIL REQUEST OR PHONE CALL within a reasonable time, it is due to pre-scheduled work. I am interested in your project and if your to do list is still undone, please re-contact me at a later time. Thanks again. INSURANCE ESTIMATES, REALTOR ESTIMATES, SOME IN-HOME ESTIMATES MAY REQUIRE A FEE.......... Please allow more than 3 days for a response. I wish as many people that contact me were really interested in having work done not just a free estimate, as my time is just as valuable as theirs,if not more as the estimate I am providing is my livelihood and I do not get paid at a 9-5 job. If you had went to my website as requested on my angies listing, you possibly would have tried email and gotten a response that I am to busy at this time and please try me later.I would have been happy to give you a free estimate through email to see if it was worth pursuing for either of us. Through years of experience,99% of the time my estimate is accurate and true.Upon acceptance of this rough estimate I would have invested more time and finalized the details for a starting date."

"Thank you member for taking time out of your schedule and doing this report as I have found, jobs well done can be easily overlooked. I am very pleased you are happy with the work I performed, and professionalism of what was done at your home as well as my approach leading to the start of your project. I look forward to doing follow-up work for you in the future"

"Hello member, thank you for taking the time and posting a response. Equally important thank you for taking the time, reading other reports and posting your observations on my performance and professionalism. I am ecstatic that you were satisfied with both my work and also my approach to the start of your project. It eliminates a lot of needless wasted time, running around which frees up my time so I can be working on someone's home, attending to their repairs,fix it lists and projects. I look forward to completing your future to do lists and project ideas."

"I must say I never recall a voice mail from the members name mentioned above and I am sure I would remember with a unique name like that, not to mention I always write down who has called me on a daily basis even if I am to busy or don’t have time to return the call. Which I have looked back and not found any message that comes close to your name or even a message regarding any siding painting at all. Are you sure you had the correct number? MORE IMPORTANTLY….If you had read my company profile on Angies(which you did and got my company info) it specifically states:Thank you for your interest in Phalan Construction! CONTACTING ME BY EMAIL WORKS BEST THROUGH MY WEBSITE http://www.phalanconstruction.com or at [email protected]. Please understand if I AM UNABLE TO RESPOND TO YOUR E-MAIL REQUEST OR PHONE CALL within a reasonable time, it is due to pre-scheduled work. I am interested in your project and if your to do list is still undone, please re-contact me at a later time. Thanks again. INSURANCE ESTIMATES, REALTOR ESTIMATES, SOME IN-HOME ESTIMATES MAY REQUIRE A FEE.......... Please allow more than 3 days for a response. I wish as many people that contact me were really interested in having work done not just a free estimate, as my time is just as valuable as theirs,if not more as the estimate I am providing is my livelihood and I do not get paid at a 9-5 job. If you had went to my website as requested on my angies listing, you possibly would have tried email and gotten a response that I am to busy at this time and please try me later.I would have been happy to give you a free estimate through email to see if it was worth pursuing for either of us. Through years of experience,99% of the time my estimate is accurate and true.Upon acceptance of this rough estimate I would have invested more time and finalized the details for a starting date."

"Hello member and thanks for taking the time and doing a report for me. I am glad you are happy with the quality of my work and cleanliness as it is part of the job. Also I am happy I could meet your expectations with price as that was not an easy shower to demo considering the materials that were originally installed. Don't forget I hung the new storm door which it was necessary to alter the opening and installed new aluminum first. I am happy you have found me and I could come in and take over, where another contractor had failed. It's always a pleasure doing work for great people and I look forward to doing more work for you in the near future. Thanks again."

"Thanks member (unfortunately they only allowed to refer to you as member) for taking the time and doing a report. It is a pleasure doing business with you. From your grades I am happy to see that you were satisfied with me and the quality of work. I would like to address the fact that I only charged you for one-way travel, to the job. That is the same for everyone. I must add that I did finish all of the work which we originally discussed, but there were some additional items such as an additional board by the garage door and also painting of the replaced the areas. I still have the original list of items that I am reading from. Not only did I finish those items within the time frame originally discussed but also I did additional items which was not included in the original timeframe. Such as replacing a piece of wood on the slider jamb in addition to the original filling discussed, remove and reinstall a small piece of gutter in order to replace the fascia, sprayed primer to water stained wood and plywood, paint prep-caulking, filling of holes and cracks in more than a few areas in which I performed work. I did call you when I left your house the last day and told you there was an additional board that needed replacement on your garage door area and I would be happy to come back for that and do the painting as well which was never originally discussed. You remarked you were leaving on vacation and would reconnect with me when you got back. I would be happy to come back out and do the additional work for you. As far as explaining my billing and price I would have to refer you to the third and fifth reports down from yours, as I have researched and explained my billing in detail in these reports. Foremost I must be fair to myself and my business. I would also add the fact into why corporate America continues to rise in costs, has yet to slash their prices and how it effects my business on a year to year basis. Once again it was a pleasure and I would like to do more work for you. I am sure we will reconnect shortly."

"Thanks member for taking the time from your schedule and doing a report. It is always great to hear when someone is satisfied with my work. I hope with those items being repaired you were able to get your house on the market in time and it sells. I'm glad you found a carpenter-repairman you can rely on for your future projects."

"Thanks member for writing a report. It was a custom repair, and I am glad I could save you the expense of replacing your entire bay window. I am happy that you were satisfied and it is always a pleasure to do work for great people who have an understanding of how much can be involved in a job. Look forward to doing the work on your porch."

"If all the satisfied customers whom I've connected through Angie's did reports for me there would be too many to read, it seems to be primarily the complainers that take the time too.Wonder why they don’t?I’ve asked. Sorry to hear your microwave broke a year later, it had nothing to do with me and it was a higher end model. I followed simple instructions,installed the venting according to them and it was working correctly. I have installed about 15 or so microwaves and never had a problem with the microwaves themselves or the venting. Although I was not happy with the appearance you said it was fine because you were planning on redoing your kitchen.I now wonder if your remodeling the kitchen and if it was the original appliance man that could not remove your old microwave,which I did,that suggested it was improper. As far as your grading on each of the categories: price, quality, responsiveness, punctuality, and professionalism I would have to to refer you to 2 reports down. My response regarding the categories in grading is a carbon copy to Kathleen Marchand. The only comments I would like to add to your report is the simple fact that I never take my time, or make things take longer than necessary that is not my work ethic nor my personality. I am definitely not lazy, one who can't sit still while working and need to see progress and results to feel honest and true. Not to mention the simple fact I hate my day to drag by, I like a fast focused productive work environment.That is my work ethic. Yes I bill by the hour. I have found just recently with over 23 years of experience this to be the fairest way for both parties in knowing that I am giving 100+ percent.”Fair days pay for a fair days work” without “:loosing my shirt” on a job for unforseen items or irrelevant items that are added to the original work.Even as small as they may seem to be they may add up to time quickly,which I have no problem doing but obviously should be paid. You never know how a job may go,sometimes less time than anticipated sometimes more. But at least its fair that way. I also deduct time, if there is any that is not devoted to your job. We also discussed future projects with optimism and which you were not discouraged with my pricing or quality of work. Also I would like to add I just left another Angie's list customers home who had another service company in their house to do work. The final flat rate bill came to $3500. There were two guys there for approximately 7 hours and had very minimal materials involved. You can do the math. The customers had nothing but good things to say about them. Based on this and similar stories, I would say my billing is more than fair. My response regarding the categories in grading is a carbon copy to member 2 reports down. Please read this report as I have found that in each category I had treated respectively the same as in that member's report"

"Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to do a report. Great to hear you were satisfied with both the work and my work ethic.Always a pleasure to work for great people. Looking forward to providing knowledge,advice and doing future projects with you. Congratulations on your new home. Bob"

"I do not feel that your grading reflects your report accurately. If “It is quality work” that should deserve better than your grading. Same as responsiveness I had always called you back within the same day and same with e-mail. Also punctuality when I told you I'd be there at specific times I was there. All these traits would reflect my professionalism that is how I run my business. As far as my pricing I have done a lot of research lately and found that I am in line with many other handyman in the way I am billing. Not to mention other service companies and what they bill. Prices range and they are equivalent, less, or if not more than I am. Im sure you could have paid less for someone with a less skill set. But would you have gotten the quality? Furthermore as a professional I am not justifying the cost associated with running my business compared to someone else's business. I did not ask you to justify your husband's salary and what it provides for you and your family, from a quick observation. Also obviously his salary has no business costs associated with it. Most important your husband's salary or anybody else's that I do work for is irrelevant because my price is non bias from you or to anyone else.Nor does it effect the quality of my work or my work ethic. To dig deeper in the cost of your job, I did fall within the time we discussed (“He gave me an estimate and stuck to the time allotted”) but where you really got more for what you bargained for was the fact that originally I was under the impression that it was a regular vent hood and regular stove. You purchased top-of-the-line, over the top items, fancy, with a suspended hood. A custom install. These products take someone with skill not to mention I altered your cabinets so your appliances would fit, saving you the cost of replacing them. Also did some wall patchwork, installed some trim, and install the small piece of counter that was not originally planned. Also to mention the fact every time I came to do work you arranged to have the other contractors there directly in my workspace which I did accommodated professionally. But the simple fact is it was regular equipment and no one was standing in my way it would taking far less time than I originally quoted you. We also discussed doing other work which you did not seem to shy away from pricing at the time. I also feel this report was partially personal due to the fact you were so upset with the contractors that were there doing your addition on your home. 70% of the time you walked by me, you expressed your disgust,anger for your contractors. Did you write a report on them?"

"Thanks member for taking time out of your busy schedule to do a report. Great to hear you were satisfied with all the work. My pleasure and looking forward to doing future projects with you. Bob"

"If you had read my company profile on Angies it specifically states:Thank you for your interest in Phalan Construction! CONTACTING ME BY EMAIL WORKS BEST THROUGH MY WEBSITE http://www.phalanconstruction.com or at [email protected]. Please understand if I AM UNABLE TO RESPOND TO YOUR E-MAIL REQUEST OR PHONE CALL within a reasonable time, it is due to pre-scheduled work. I am interested in your project and if your to do list is still undone, please re-contact me at a later time. Thanks again. INSURANCE ESTIMATES, REALTOR ESTIMATES, SOME IN-HOME ESTIMATES MAY REQUIRE A FEE.......... Please allow more than 3 days for a response. I wish as many people that contact me were really interested in having work done not just a free estimate, as my time is just as valuable as theirs,if not more as the estimate I am providing is my livelihood and I do not get paid at a 9-5 job. If you had went to my website as requested on my angies listing, you possibly would have tried email and gotten a response that I am to busy at this time and please try me later.I would have been happy to give you a free estimate through email to see if it was worth pursuing for either of us. Through years of experience,99% of the time my estimate is accurate and true.Upon acceptance of this rough estimate I would have invested more time and finalized the details for a starting date."

"Thanks member for doing a report. First, would like to say it was a pleasure working for you and look forward to your future projects. Your absolutely right it had taken sometime for the work to begin. Like my site says if you dont get a response from me, Im busy getting caught up. I could spend countless days in the office yet never get closer to my next project, so I choose to keep focus. I do need to be paid for my work as in all Industries. I agree the payment by the day was an aggravation, but necessary financially. I will strongly consider a weekly payment plan for any longer duration jobs, I may encounter. I am glad you were happy and able to utilize my skills in a wide variety of projects. Again, look forward to future work."

"Thanks member for taking the time to do a report, Im glad you were happy with the custom door install and storm door. Keep me informed about the future work we discussed."

"Thanks for taking time and putting this report together. It was a pleasure doing work for you. I was thrilled you had confidence and trust in me to start the job without meeting first. I look forward to another fix it list in the near future."

"Thank you Charles for doing my first snow & ice report. Glad I could stop the leaking before it got worse. I hope this will open the door for more emergency service. Possibly you need the interior refinished or some other projects. Always a pleasure working for you."

"Thanks for taking the time and filling out an unexpected report. It was a pleasure doing the work for you and was glad I could fix the previous nightmare that was left behind. Look forward to future projects."

"Thanks for taking the time to do a report. Glad I could help you tighten it up before the cooler weather.Let me know when you would like to proceed with some other items. Pleasure."

"Thanks for checking in and writing up a report. It was a pleasure working with you.Dont forget I also did your stair landing reframe and flooring.Look forward to taking care of that other door knob issue soon."

"I wish as many people that contact me were really interested in having work done not just a free estimate, as my time is just as valuable as theirs,if not more as the estimate I am providing is my livlihood and I do not get paid at a 9-5 job. If you had went to my website as requested on my angies listing, you possibly would have tried email and gotten a response that I am to busy at this time and please try me later. For this I am sorry and will soon update my Angies listing to reflect the same."