SANDERSON'S PAINTING

Alvin responded immediately to my call for an estimate and showed up on time to review the job. As I was telling him about what the other painters had said they would and would not do, Alvin assured me that he would do it all - powerwash, scrub mildew, remove shutters, sand, patch, repair a gutter, etc. The overview of the job, which took other painters about 15 minutes, took twice as long because Alvin kept telling me what a great painter he is and what a great job he would do for me. His estimate was very, very high compared to other estimates but he came highly recommended by a contractor friend so I figured he would do twice as good a job with prepping the house as the other painters. This was before I had joined Angie's List. Alvin and his crew showed up on time for the job. However, he did not bring - did not even own - the sanding equipment he needed so he spent a while running around to find that. Meanwhile, his crew began to paint, without doing much of the prep work for which I was paying so dearly. They only powerwashed a few parts of the house and did not patch at all, or at least not well, the woodpecker holes in the back which I had specifically pointed out. Shutters were not removed and the gutter is still broken. After bragging about how long he had been in business and how he could estimate a job in his head, he estimated 3-4 days and $600 in materials. Then did the job in 1.5 days with $300 in materials. The only thing he did not cut in half was his exorbitant price. When his crew left, there was a broom in the bushes, a caulking gun in the ivy, a garage door painted shut and scraped paint everywhere. Alvin did come back to clean up and fix the garage door, but he should have done this before he left the job. One reason I paid so much was that Alvin has a 2-year guarantee on his work. When I was writing the check to pay him, he began to back out of the guarantee - he could only guarantee his labor. If the paint started to peel, it was the fault of the previous painter. I did have him put in writing that he would fix any peeling but I really do not expect to see him if I have problems. I believe I am a very fair and accommodating person. I have never submitted a complaint anywhere against anyone in my life. However, I feel so ripped off that I need to warn other people about this man. If he painted as much as he bragged, I would not be writing this.