ERIK BISTANY

I searched for "Custom Finish Carpenter" online and Erik's name came up. We spoke on the phone and I immediately liked him: polite, accommodating, and just downright nice. He came by the next day (on time), took a look, and said he would try to repair it first. If that didn't work, he could fabricate a new window. This sounded totally reasonable to me. He took the old, broken window with him and said he'd call me "tomorrow." Eric didn't call "tomorrow," but a week later he called to say he could not repair the window, and he doubted I would want to pay to have him fabricate a new window because it would be "very expensive." I was happy that he was looking out for me, but I asked "how expensive" he meant, and he said $500. This was actually a GREAT deal, since the alternative was to replace 8 windows for $10,000! So I said he should go ahead. That was that last time Erik ever called me about the job. A week later I called for a status update, and he said he hadn't been able to get to it, but he'd call me soon. I felt this was OK -- I'm sure he was very busy. Several weeks later I hadn't heard back. I phoned him again, and this time he said he could not do the job. He was just too busy. I asked him to return the old broken window and he did. Just to be clear: I do NOT blame Erik for turning down the job or being busy. I do blame him for the poor communication, letting me sit for weeks without any updates. I think he's probably just a nice guy who is lousy at scheduling. I'm sorry I never got to see his carpentry -- we have several other (larger) carpentry needs and I'd hoped he would do a good job on the window so we could move on to the others.

(Story above) he was prompt, curteous, sent photos of work completed before delivered. Wonderful work.

Overall it went well. After completeing the deck, we were not 100% satisfied with the result and Erik was very easy to work with and very professional in coming up with a solution that we were satisfied with the result.

We were not particularly happy with the end results. He was lacking in most of the areas regarding quality, responsiveness and punctuality.

From the minute we sat down and we spoke to Erik. He gave us an estimate and was right on target. No surprises! He kept us posted on everything and at the end of everyday would explain what work he had done and what was left to do! He is immaculate. You don't even know there was someone doing work! He always calls right back if you have a question and gives you all you options. It couldn't have been more pleasant.