RM Painting Interiors & Exteriors

I first hired them to repair and paint some baseboards and then said, I would later hire to paint walls near the baseboards in the kitchen and a small hall way and stairway base, basically but not even all of those areas, just the damaged ones. He even charged me extra for paint, painting materials, tape, paper, you name it. At $30 per hour, the person they sent was as slow as molasses, weeks went by for a few baseboards in kitchen and a hallway or two, and two edges on some column bases my dogs had chewed. Then, owner Alberto said that the worker, Ricardo he KNEW was slow (!) Further, the owner Alberto, tried to bill me for 8 hour days, when I had texts from his worker letting me know his approximate arrival time (between 9:30 and 10, often) and when he left (which he texted he was leaving at 4:00, when he would already be gone, by the way). Plus his lunch hour he took, it clearly is nowhere near an 8 hour day. Owner relented only because I had the texts but still protested, saying his worker "told" him he worked 8 hours a day (!). Next, I told Alberto NOT to send a slow person again, and what would it take to do the walls in the adjacent areas that baseboards were painted and he said it would take two people, two weeks of 8 hour days. I couldn't believe that and he said, for sure it would, as he is in the business, and would "only" charge me $2000.00 for two men for two whole weeks. Based on the $30 per hour previously charged, it seemed like a better deal. But then, he showed up BY HIMSELF on the first day to paint, saying he didn't have anyone else to help. I told him I worried about that and he said he has done this for many years and to trust him. Okay--well, he got there late every day--between 10 and 12 or later, and left in mid afternoon or no later than 4 every day for about five days and then a half day on the sixth day. FINISHED! I said I was supposed to get 160 hours of painting work for the $2000 not 30 hours, like I got and he said, "Well, I'm fast" and he strongly argued that it doesn't matter if I told you one thing and did another, you agreed on the money amount and you need to pay that amount. I told him the amount agreed was BASED on the time and the man hours. Well, if he was experienced in knowing how many men and how many hours and days then why charge me for TWO people for two weeks that HE claimed it would take and THAT'S why he needed thousands of dollars. It gets worse, on top of that, a few inches from where he was painting he did NOT even bother to cover my silk drape, claiming he didn't need to because he'd "be careful." Well, sure enough, he spilled paint splash on my drape (and a smaller spot on the adjacent sheer) and he didn't tell me. I saw the spot and asked him about it and then he claimed he didn't do it and had no idea how that big spot of paint got on the drape (or sheer), mere inches from where he had painted and kept denying it with weird explanations such as, "Since I'm a good painter, I didn't do it," And, "If I did it, don't you think I would know it?" Nonsense like that. Worse still, he said that he could clean it off, as he was experienced. I then saw him walk down the hall toward the drape with what I knew to be Goo Gone by the color in the bottle and so I ran to him and begged him to stop and there he was, putting Goo Gone on my custom silk drape saying it would work! Goo Gone, on the bottle says specifically NOT to put on silk (or other products) and then it left an oil spot that was spreading. So, now the custom drape, where there is NO other fabric available (several years old) to replace it, is damaged and irreplaceable, basically, or else whole series of drapes would have to be replaced that go down the long hallway on every French Door and at the other end of the hall, unless I can figure out out a way to conceal it another way. Dry cleaner said they couldn't promise much change in appearance and him rubbing on it with the Goo Gone, caused a break in the fabric as well. On top of all this, when I refused to pay Alberto $2000 for many reasons, that he would actually owe me money for the damage, but just to be overly generous, that I would still pay him $30 for the $30 hours work and get back to him about the drape if I could fix it, he got really mad and wouldn't leave. I felt forced to pay him $1200 even though that would be $40 an hour PLUS he left me with a destroyed custom drape worth more than that. On top of all of this unfair pricing and damage and denial and all of it, he and his son, keep calling and calling me telling me the I cheated him out of $800 (the difference between $2000 and the $1200 I reluctantly paid him) and that he did NOT put that paint spot on the drape and that the Goo Gone, also doesn't matter, and I must immediately pay him more money (!) So, I overpaid based on what he was supposed to do for the timing of things and the work hours, and then, he damaged fabric and then, he and his son continually harass me several times a week. And his son even told me I had to prove that his dad got the paint on the fabric and didn't care that his dad only did 30 hours of painting work. When I told him my cameras don't focus on that drape, he then claimed I am lying about his dad being responsible and said he would hack into my security camera system. Irresponsible, unfair pricing and unprofessional behavior and harassment.