I approached Hoffman at the beginning of March to install a new handrail, newel post, balusters,…read moreand fix a broken step for the primary staircase of my home. Once the work was done, we would have them then install a runner. We were excited to use Hoffman from all of the amazing examples that they shared on social media of staircases and homes they 'claim' to have renovated.
The sales team in the store was as you would expect for a boutique mom & pop shop... an air of pretentiousness in a relatively humble environment. After insulting my wife & I by assuming we were looking for a budget-friendly deal, we ultimately were left to search the store and pick out the runner we wanted. After deciding, we scheduled measurements for the following week. As we attempted to leave, the salesperson insisted on following us out into the parking lot to put samples in our trunk, however, I believe this was a further attempt to 'size-up' our budget based on what we drove.
Anthony, the third generation in this family-run business, showed up at my house the following week. He was here for approximately 20 minutes, took the measurements, and advised he would be in touch in about a week once all of the materials were in. He advised everything needed to be special ordered. The job was quoted at $4,000. I accepted.
One, two, three, then four weeks go by without hearing from Anthony. As it had been a month, I called the store to find out what the cause of the delay was. They advised that the materials were expected to be in at the end of the week, and apologized for the delay. I was completely understandable, as I was just happy to have Hoffman come do the work in the first place. Afterall, the pictures they continued to share on social media looked amazing. I wanted the same in my house.
Three more weeks go by, then I get a call from Anthony saying they are ready to start the work. I was thrilled.
Anthony's 'team' showed up on a Friday towards the end of April. They demo'd my existing handrail and newel post. As they went to replace the broken step, they realized that Anthony ordered the wrong thickness, and the correct one would have to be special ordered (again). Given that 8 weeks had already passed, and frustrated, I called Anthony and advised rather than ordering 1-custom step, please replace all steps with standard thickness ones. He apologized and advised that the total cost of the project would now be $6,000. This was still well within my budget so we agreed, and the team would be back the following week to continue the work.
The team shows up the following week, rips out all of the stairs, and replaces with 'new' ones, and 'finishes' the handrail/newel post. After two coats of stain, Anthony texted me and advised the project was done and we were ready for Carpet.
Here's where the story really gets interesting:
--Nothing installed was special ordered and is readily available at Home Depot.
--Each of the 11 brand-new stairs they installed had scratch marks, pencil marks, or dents.
--The newel post had approximately 50 blemishes from improper sanding/staining.
--The balusters were installed upside-down! Then corrected via using glue and wood filler to partially cover all of the knicks and holes they just put in the brand-new materials.
---They did not stain the visible undersides of the new steps
--They did not stain the backside of the handrail against the wall
--Multiple sharp/jagged edges were left exposed
--They did not clean-up their worksite, leaving half eaten fruit in my garage.
--They used two different types of balusters after they 'fixed' the original mistake.
--They did not come with their own sufficient materials and used my personal table saw/miter saw.
--I come to discover that the 'team' Anthony sent to my house had not worked for him before, and were effectively unskilled day laborers.
--At no point did Anthony ever come to check on the work.
Clearly, Anthony/Hoffman contracted this project out, in an attempt to make quick cash off an unsuspecting customer.
I called Anthony and told him to come look at the work. Originally, he was very combative and continually corrected the language I was using to describe the work his team did to my house (if the work looks like ..... it probably is). He tried to persuade me to let him come back and try again, but as he already dragged this process on for 2+ months and had his team at my house 5+ times, I was not interested. Given my dissatisfaction and the clear evidence that he had tried to scam me, he fully refunded my deposit and did not charge me for the work.
I didn't want to write/post a review but given that Hoffman is still actively advertising their stair 'services', I felt it necessary to share my experience.
p.s. the pictures hardly do justice to how poor the work really is.
