[Original review was at 3.5 stars rounded down to 3 stars. However, I received some VERY unpleasant…read morecommunication from the "branch manager", Eran Chan, subsequent to my review post. He demanded that I provide my identifying information, ignored my request for privacy based on the review, and made accusations that I used a fake contractor. It was irksome enough to remove an additional star. Remainder of review remains in tact.]
As first time homeowners, we discovered that the market for construction/ remodel help is difficult to find in San Diego. It's hard to filter out the reliable reviews from those who are associated to the business owners. This is heavily prevalent on Yelp and exceptionally so for service providers: it's important to notice how many of those 5 star reviewers have (1) no yelp activity, (2) no yelp friends, and (3) created the yelp account close in time to the date the review was placed. You should be cautious of the veracity of these reviews. With Treeium, you'll find a that there are some valid reviews and some questionable. I lend mine as one backed by evidence. To date I am the only Yelp Elite reviewer. I'd be happy to pass along my complete sentiments privately.
I selected Treeium from -- you guessed it-- yelp. My husband, who's the more calm and friendly individual between us two, was the one to receive the initial marketing pitch from the company (we'll leave identification of individuals private). Overall, I would say they do a great pitch. The representative that they send is friendly, knowledgeable, and conveys a strong level of confidence in how the project will go, etc. The individual came back a second time to talk to me with my husband.. and even I was thoroughly convinced by the pitch.
Once you sign the paper, that's where the rollercoaster ride starts.
The first guys that came in were kind enough to lay down carpet covers to avoid stomping around in our Asian household (read: NO SHOES INSIDE) and on our brand new carpet. Subsequent contractors were less respectful and didn't bring shoe covers. We had to lay down our own carpet covers. Thankfully I wasn't present for most of the process because I'm sure I would have raised hell through each phase. They were relatively timely on the breakdown and removal. There were strong initial attempts to protect our property and minimize the construction mess. But once the actual work started, it seemed like there was just problem after problem. There were many pros and cons.. pros are evident by the final bathroom being done (finally).. My biggest qualms however were:
(1) PRICE: we had to pay for a lot of additional things after the quote that just kept getting tacked on the original quote. It was frustrating to find out that certain tiles or things that we wanted were unavailable or could not be incorporated. We had to settle on several aspects. There is a payment plan option to make it more palatable. In retrospect, I think the project was on the higher end of what we could have found elsewhere.
(2) FAILURE TO MEET TIMELINE: this is the MOST irksome part. We were told 4-6 weeks.. it took almost three months. With the various contractors that are required in any one job, I understand that the more parties there are.. the more likely there will be scheduling problems. But the timeline was edging on unreasonable.
(3) AVERAGE COSMETIC JOB: I have never heard a contractor tell me your wall is crooked, therefore, there will be a gap between tile and wall in order have a straight tile surface. It's a minor aspect but gap bothers me every day like an itch in a spot you can't reach. Also, the white tiles that were chosen were shaved at the corners, leaving ugly brown rounded corners amidst the white tiles. Another itch. Also, we opted to keep the bathtub. They cracked the bathtub with removing the old parts around the tub. Rather than fix the tub, we were told we could pay more for someone to fix the cracked porcelain or go buy our own fix it kit. After all the extra costs, we opted for the fix it kit.. which i think is ridiculous. Oh but by the time we got around to it, the tub started to rust in the places where they damaged it.
When you step back and look at the overall reno, it does look better than what we had. We're generally happy with the final product (my husband more than I)... and it is definitely an improvement. We did refer Treeium to another group of friends who did an even bigger project, but they had the exact same complaints we did so I feel that our comments are valid and verified.
Prior to the unpleasant communications received from Eran Chan, I would have been happy to share that Treeium is *capable* of doing a good job and that we might return. With his harassment, I don't foresee our return or further referral.
