Response from Jack’s Ever GREEN Painting Company Jack Fecker, Owner Nick Inlow, General Manager From the outset of the project, we were told by Client that they had completed many remodels in the past, and that they would be the acting General Manager. Typically, our General Manager, runs the project, however, in this case, we deferred to the client per their demands. Client: Jack, owner, did not know Level 5 wall smoothness; Nick Inlow, Gen. Manager, did know Level 5. Response: This is true. Nick Inlow is an expert in drywall smoothness. Client: ‘Once they primed, I would ask a question and Nick would say ‘oh, you can’t tell until the paint is on’. Then I asked questions after the first coat of paint was on and the excuse was ‘you can’t tell until it’s finished’. Response: Before we ever primed the walls, we were asking repeatedly when the drywall contractor was going to come and fix the walls. Client responded that we should not worry about it, and to go ahead with the painting and not wait for him. After we primed, we asked Client again when the drywall contractor was going to repair the walls. Client again made it clear that she was in a hurry to finish and that we should just go ahead and complete the painting and stick to the current schedule instead of waiting for the drywall contractor to repair the walls. Client: ‘I asked how they could work without proper lighting and I got another excuse. I thought it was odd that they had no lights of their own.’ Response: It was daylight when we were doing the work, and the house was filled with light. We have two double sets of lights and we used both sets of lights on this project. Client: ‘The last day when they were finishing up, Nick and the crew started to detail ALL the drywall issues and said the drywall needed a lot of work. I was shocked and wondered why he painted the walls knowing the drywall needed work.’ Response: This client had asked to be the General Manager of the project. In all painting projects, it is customary for the GM running the project to stop the painting at any time and go over any issues that exist…not wait until the job is ‘finished’ and then say, ‘it’s not ok to their liking…’ And most importantly, we asked Client on more than one occasion before…and during the painting, when the drywall contractor was going to come and repair the walls, to which she responded that she was in a hurry, and wanted us to go ahead with the painting without waiting for the drywall contractor. Client: ‘Every wall had a different paint texture and you could see roller marks all over the walls. Response: Only 30% of the walls needed any redoing, and we agreed to do so without question. Client: ‘We had a paint consultant come in because Jack and Nick were clearly unqualified and not honest with us.’ Response: Every person is entitled to their opinion on who is ‘qualified’. We do more than 200 jobs/year and have maybe 2 – 3 customers of that number who are not completely satisfied. We do everything we possibly can to ensure the satisfaction of our customers, if they allow us to do so. This Client did not. The extenuating facts here are: The Client gave her story to the paint consultant, not the facts as related above We also wanted to be there when the painting consultant was present, however, were not asked to do so. In addition, the Client throughout the process defended the drywall contractor, and insisted that all wall imperfections were a result of the painting…not true.In my more than 50 years of business, I have learned that there are going to be a few customers that are not going to be happy, no matter how hard you try to please them. Response (cont.): Regarding honesty: Perhaps our greatest calling card in the market place is our integrity. If we made ‘dishonesty’ a practice in our business, I would not be considered one of the premier painting contractors in this area for more than 21 years. We would not have earned Angie’s List Super Service Award each year. We would not have some 129 ‘A’ rating reports on Angie’s List. In addition, if we had lied throughout this process, why then did the Judge for the Bellevue Municiple Court, after hearing all the facts of this case, award us more monies then we were asking for in our claim when the Client had refused to pay us? Why did the Client wait for nearly a week after we were completed with the job to bring up any of the issues stated herein? Why did the Client refuse to allow us to come back and remedy any of these issues when we had offered? And why, after 7 months, and the ruling of a Judge rendering the Client’s stop payment on our check illegal, is this matter still being pursued? Client: ‘Then all of a sudden their computers were not working or they didn’t get my emails.’ Response: It’s interesting that when the Client changed their mind and had hired another painting contractor, that they couldn’t be bothered to use the phone. Up until that point, the phone had been used to hire us, and at many other occasions. Our computers were down for a one and a half days, however, all phones were working, and she had my direct cell line as well as Nick’s. The Client could have easily reached us by phone. Client: Regarding drywall contractor, meeting with, concerns over, dishonesty. Response: The drywall contractor was not forthcoming with all the facts. This was not about us. Our sharing of the facts has never changed. Their stories, the Client and the drywall contractor’s, has changed several times. Client: ‘The paint issues complicated the drywall…’ Response: In fact, it was the reverse. The drywall issues and the lack of professionalism on the part of the drywall contractor complicated our painting, and made it a costly project for us. This has been a time-consuming nightmare for our company. We did this work in late October, and now, 7 months later, we are still dealing with this Client, ever after a Judge has declared a fair decision in this matter. I did speak to the drywall contractor last month, and he is still dealing with this issue as well. Client: ‘They claim to be high-end painters, but they are not.’ Response: Why is it that the Client was continually praising and acknowledging our work to us for a period of two weeks, and then once we were finished, refused to accept our work, labeling us as dishonest and incompetent? My guess is that the Client was declining taking up these drywall issues with the drywall contractor, who was someone the Client knew; that this was going to be more complicated in their mind than laying any blame on the painters. Client: ‘It was like they were trying to cover up the drywall issues with paint instead of telling us what they were finding.’ Response: From the beginning of the project, we were following the instructions of the Client who had stated they were the General Manager of this job…paint that wall, then paint this wall, etc. We had also asked, before we primed and painted, on different occasions, if the drywall contractor was going to repair the walls, to which the Client responded that she was in a hurry, and wanted to get the job done, and that we were to go ahead with the painting. This was the Client’s demand, and we followed her request, inspite of our notifying the Client that there needed to be some drywall repairs. Client: ‘They should have stopped once they saw the drywall needed work.’ Response: Again, as mentioned earlier, we asked the Client when the drywall contractor was coming to fix the walls, to which she responded that she wanted us to go ahead…that she was in a hurry, and that we were to stick to the current schedule. Again, the Client was the General Manager of the project, as they had made clear to us, and we followed their instructions accordingly rather they argue with them, and as they’ve mentioned, they were on the job every day as this was their living residence. We did everything we could to let the Client know that there was drywall repair work that needed to be done. The Client ignored our warnings at the time. Our Final Comments: When we had finished the project, all except for the final touchup, the Client handed me a check for all work done so far, and then proceeded to stop payment on that check, without notice to us. The Bellevue Municiple Court Judge made clear to the Client in the courtroom that this was an illegal action, and awarded us a settlement accordingly. The Judge also apologized to our company, after hearing the facts, that he couldn’t award us a higher amount as compensation for our time, materials and labor. This summarizes what our company had to deal with throughout this ‘nightmare’ (Client’s word) of a job. Jack's Ever GREEN Painting Company Jack Fecker, Owner Nick Inlow, General Manager