I met with the owner of this company in May of this year. He sounded ok and had a plan for improving the insulation in my house by replacing siding and putting in new windows. We planned on having his people start around Sept. I later met with his step-father who was the project estimator and got a quote. At that point, the step-father asked me for a $1000 deposit, so that they could "get me in their books", he said. Yet they did NOT have a set DATE for when they could do the work. Only days later, they CASHED the $1000. Since I was out the money and did not hear any set date for when they planned to start the work, I called once every 2 weeks. Throughout that time, they kept telling me they do not have a set time. Kind of fishy, don't you think? NEVER in the 6.5 years I've owned this house and hired contractors, have ANY of them taken a DIME from me until they START the WORK....And CERTAINLY NOT before they've even SET a TIME that I can EXPECT them to start. They had excuses like not knowing the weather conditions and not being able to predict months in advance. But I called them RIGHT UP until only WEEKS before mid-Sept. They kept telling me that they still planned to start the work around that time and there were no issues nor set-backs. But still NO set date...And they still had my money. I was still hanging in suspense. THEN, one day in early Sept, I get a call from the step-father, informing me, for the first time, that they CANNOT do the work ANY TIME this season and won't be able to get to me until next spring. I sure wish they'd have told me that sooner! The step-father had to give me the lamest and most ludicrous excuses, with no accountability what-so-ever. Oh, yes. They DID refund my $1000 deposit that I paid for nothing, months ago. And, yea...I don't like to publicly trash local contractors, realizing they work hard, have stressful situations, hardships, unforeseen events, etc. But there are MANY all over this area who do excellent work, who do NOT string anyone along, who, at the very least, have the common courtesy to forewarn their customers if there are issues, set-backs, or if they can't do the work before months go by. I've NEVER met ANY that have taken a cent from customers until they can commit to getting the work done. Most won't until they've actually started. As it turns out, I'm really glad that these guys will never get any business or money from me! I have now hired an excellent builder who is hustling to get the work done before winter and is earning his pay. It's not fair to all the others like him, as well as customers who rely on accountability, if I do not express my concern and warn others about the unacceptable business practices I experienced with Central Maine Exteriors.