First of all, we must mention that we have heard from family friends that Fixitall’s workmanship is very good and we have no reason to doubt this.
Our problem was with the contractor’s attitude and ability to communicate clearly with us about the project. There was some major miscommunication about what our own role in the renovation would be and because of this, the contractor became frustrated, belligerent and verbally abusive on the first day of work at our place.
When we confronted him calmly the next day about the altercation, he apologized but quickly became belligerent again. We fired him and asked him to leave, at which point he refused to give us back our spare key until we paid him a very high and apparently arbitrary sum.
He ended up returning the key and we settled the matter with advice from our lawyer, but not without a lot of stress.
I hate to leave a bad review for someone who not only came highly recommended, but who also is the relative of a family friend, but our experience was so bad that we feel we must register it. I hope that the contractor was having a bad week or something and that this is not the way he normally treats clients.
As a side note, he was frequently late to meetings with us and once forgot one altogether and didn’t show up. He also incorrectly estimated the square footage of tiles we would need for a floor and kitchen backsplash. His figures turned out to be completely inaccurate and we had to order a lot more tiles later.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $13,500.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Their contractor-client communication needs a lot of improvement. Also, treating clients well goes a long way.
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Don't hire a contractor you don't feel comfortable with. We should have taken the lateness and unprofessional behaviour as a warning sign, but we just grinned and bore it and hoped the end result would be worth it. No end result, however, could be worth the way we were treated.