I was a CalCo customer and they damaged my property and then accused me of a crime on the internet when I asked them to take responsibility. Don't let the same thing happen to you.
UPDATE: Paul’s corporate, word-smithed reply is filled with blatant untruths and gross misrepresentations. His baseless allegation that I attempted to extort a cash payment is ridiculous. I have never felt so personally violated by a business in my life.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: I didn’t want to have to leave a negative review because, apart from smashing a company box truck into my parked car, the installers (Noah and Daryl) did decent work on my shower. However, my experience with CalCo’s sales team and ownership has been so troubling that I feel I must warn other potential customers about it. I have included screenshots of texts and emails so that their content cannot be disputed by the owners. I expect that one of them will reply to my review and try to cast doubt on my experience.
In December, a salesperson (Ben or Matt, I can’t recall) visited my home to go over shower replacement options. He pressured me to sign a contract on the spot, urging that the price would increase substantially "as soon as he walked out the door." Admittedly, I gave into his pressure and signed the contract without obtaining quotes from other companies: my first mistake.
On March 21 at 8am, I watched as Noah backed a CalCo box truck into my parked car, causing obvious damage to my front bumper. Daryl notified the salesperson handling my account (Matt), who asked me to get an estimate from a local body shop. I naively wanted to give CalCo the opportunity to remedy the situation directly. As a result, I did not immediately file a police report or an insurance claim: my second mistake.
On March 24, I sent an estimate from a reputable body shop to Matt. For the next two days he told me hadn’t had a chance to discuss it with the owners, and on March 26 he stopped responding altogether.
On March 27, I left Matt a voicemail and sent an email to him and the owners (Paul and Andrew) requesting an update, as the lack of communication was worrying to me. That afternoon, Paul called me and rudely informed me they hadn’t responded because “they were busy” (for comparison, his reply to this review took only 2 hours), demanded video evidence proving CalCo’s employees caused the damage, claimed (falsely) that his employees told him it was “just a light tap” and couldn’t see any damage, and suggested that because I live in Lancaster City and park my car on the street I should expect that my vehicle will naturally receive damage. He brought up that I told Noah my car had been sideswiped on that street once before, which I had told Noah because he was visibly upset about the accident and, out of kindness, I was trying to make him feel better about making an honest mistake; but I'd had that damage repaired through my insurance and there was no damage to my bumper until Noah backed into it. When I mentioned my intention to leave honest reviews of my experience, Paul accused me of “threatening his business” and implied that because I had not immediately filed a police report or an insurance claim, I was not being truthful about what happened. He was rude, condescending, and disrespectful. I eventually grew tired of Paul’s bullying, ended the call, and immediately filed a police report.
I regret trusting that as neighbors and members of my community, CalCo's owners would take responsibility for their employee's actions. I have learned a hard lesson that just because someone is your neighbor does not mean that they’re your friend.
If you are considering hiring CalCo, I would offer the following suggestions based on my experience:
1. Don’t let them pressure you into signing a contract on the spot. Get quotes from other vendors before signing anything.
2. Don’t expect them to honor verbal agreements. Get everything in writing.
3. If they damage your property, document it extensively and create an official record of the damage as soon as possible.