AAA GENERAL CONTRACTING INC

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Initial problems included trouble getting AAA to put into our contract the proper description of work and materials. We also found out later that our contract was missing several terms required by Mass. law to be a part of home improvement contracts. If the contract had included the required information regarding Home Improvement Contractor registration, we would have discovered that state sanctions against AAA owner Stephen Pascoe included a reprimand and fine against his HIC registration and a past suspension of his Contractor Supervisor License (CSL). Work began on our house before the necessary building permit had been obtained. A necessary electrical permit was never obtained, and the work was illegally done by an AAA employee who is not a licensed electrician. That work created a safety hazard, and we had to hire an electrician to correct the problem. More than 10 months after our deck was completed and in use, we found out that the final inspection on it had never been done. Steve was not aware of this because he was not involved at all with the deck and other items that, as CSL holder, he should have been. The deck, fortunately, did pass inspection, though the inspector made recommendations. There were many delays with this project--workers were not scheduled to come or were scheduled to come but were canceled or simply did not show up. There were delays in ordering our doors and windows. We did not receive the Pella windows called for in our contract. There was a problem with the order and AAA told us that if we wanted the Pella windows stated in our contract, we would have to pay more than the price stated for them in the contract, or we could choose a different, cheaper window company. Thinking that we had no choice, we ended up having lesser windows installed. The workers were often careless, and much of the work done was not thorough. We had to tell the project manager (or Steve Pascoe, when he finally entered the scene) what the workers had missed, as AAA neglected to assess the quality of the work done or what the workers accomplished each day. For example, caulking of the window trim was part of the window replacement, yet we had to have workers come back repeatedly for missed areas. One window had caulking overlooked four times. When we pointed out a half-inch opening still needing caulking, Steve belittled us. Paint got on the newly-built deck (the first time the house was painted and then again the second time, even after bringing the matter to Steve's attention). Workers were not always prepared. One painter took a bucket that was under an outside faucet, stood on it, broke it, and left the pieces on the ground without telling us about it. Another painter didn't have a ladder with him and had to come another time to reach the second floor. He asked to borrow a step stool. By the time one was brought out to him, he was standing on a small, wooden side table that he took from the backyard. Another time a worker needed to do some touch-up painting and asked if we had a paintbrush that he could use. The project manager came to do some work one day and could not do all he intended to do, as he said that he hadn't known that one of his workers had taken the caulk gun out of his car. The contract stated that a dump truck would be brought to the site for all related debris, and all related debris would be removed from the property as needed. Instead, many items were thrown into a heap in our backyard and left for weeks. Some garbage was then removed, and more was added to the pile. Several weeks passed before all the garbage was removed. We had to pick up from around the yard many screws, nails, and bits of wood that were left on the ground. The only item completed by the contract-stated ending time of 4 weeks was the insulation. Almost 5 months after starting work, some siding and trim repair remained to be done, as did some outside work on the windows that were installed during the winter. This work, as well as the repainting of the exterior of the house, was due to be done in the spring of 2012. The repainting was necessary due to negligence on the part of the subcontracted painters--despite our attempts to get them to stop, they painted when it was too cold out and too late in the day; the paint even froze on one side of the house. Despite attempts on our part, June and July of 2012 went by with no work being done. Because AAA caused so many delays and Steve Pascoe went back on his word several times, we asked him to sign a contract that would enumerate the remaining work and when it would be completed. Unfortunately, AAA did not do the work according to the terms of the second contract either, nor did they finish within the time specified. When we objected to deviations from work plans, on two different days Steve became angry with us and contacted his workers by phone and told them to leave our house. Our deck, completed in late November 2011, received its final inspection on October 9, 2012. We made our final payment on October 9, 2012, almost a year after work started on a project that was supposed to take four weeks. The lack of professionalism we observed includes: Steve Pascoe yelling at us on the phone; Steve hanging up on us twice; Steve berating us in an attempt to get us to not hold him to parts of the contract; at times, very slow response from AAA to our calls or e-mails (days or even a week); Steve and the project manager often changing times that we were to meet to discuss work; and an employee wearing an "I 'heart' strippers t-shirt with a silhouette of a stripper and a pole." Steve Pascoe was very unpleasant to work with and the overall experience with AAA General Contracting was terrible. After our ordeal, we filed a complaint with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (which oversees home improvement contractors) against Stephen Pascoe and AAA General Contracting for state violations. In July 2013, OCABR reprimanded Stephen Pascoe's Home Improvement Contractor registration.

There was flooding in the area, so there were emergency charges. I think they're expensive. I haven't always liked their work. They will show up for emergencies, but they didn't install the water heater correctly in the past. Two years after they installed it, the area flooded because the water heater wasn't far enough off the floor. They didn't give us a very good break on the new water heater. The water heater wouldn't have been ruined if they had installed it high enough. They installed the new water heater too low, as well. I contacted them, and they fixed it. They gave us a $250 for a $600, and I thought that was obnoxious. They have shown up during blizzards while I had water coming through my ceiling. It's a mixed bag. Their prices have been outrageous for certain jobs. They aren't super cheap, but they aren't always out of line. They are very responsive. They are very punctual. They can do a lot of different things, and they'll show up in an emergency.

They didn't go by the plans about 90% of the time. He formed the concrete wrong in order to save money and now the concrete is shaped incorrectly and is different from the plans. The concrete is still encased in the wood and I have had to take them to court because the work has yet to be completed correctly a year after I contracted with them.

Overall, it was a poor experience. The plumbing and electrical was done fairly well, quickly, and efficiently. Some of the workers seemed competent and knowledgeable. The rest of the work that was done resulted the worst contract experience I have ever had.

AAA General Contracting Inc had a pretty fair price. The quality of the work was marred a little because they broke some things. They also got started a month later than they had said they would. They were very responsive to our calls and acted in a very professional manner. They used a metal detector in the clean-up which I thought was very impressive.

This company is not what I would call the cheapest place around, but the honesty and integrity levels are there. The owner would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He will tell you how to do something yourself if you can avoid having to pay him to do some minor type of thing in your house. He is always really good about communicating with us and letting us know what is going on. We just think he's a great guy who is really trustworthy and worth every penny.

This was the worst experience ever. When I signed the contract, AAA seemed to be reasonable. As soon as the work started, however, they were extremely unorganized, sloppy and cheap with their work and materials, careless with my property, rude (Steve Pascoe, the CEO), and expected payment prior to completing work sufficiently. They damaged my personal property not even in the rooms being worked on and expected me to overlook damages. They pinched pennies on everything. They used workers who always did the bare minimum to get the job done. The president could not have cared less about doing a decent job or making sure his workers knew what they were doing. He expected me to make sure work was done right even though I explained upfront that I am often out of town and did not have time to manage the work myself. He used extremely rude pressure tactics to try to get me to pay for lack of service and for inadequate work even after I had paid most of the contracted price pro actively.