Okay, reducing to 1 star based on the ridiculous response by the owner…read more
(1) He said I'm bringing up the rat problem 2 years after his sealing work, and well past the 1-year warranty mark. In fact, I notified him of the rats returning SIX MONTHS after his sealing work (and he didn't reply). I attached a screenshot of my text message to this review to prove it.
Did the rats overcome his exclusion methods, or did they survive for six months in the attic w/o food or water and then migrate to where I could hear them? The former seems more likely, but we'll never know, because, as I said, he didn't deign to reply when I asked him about it. Which also means, the warranty is useless if he doesn't actually honor it.
(2) He said he "got rid of rats". He did not. He did only the sealing, I caught the rats myself, as per our agreement. (Then six months later, well within the guarantee period, I heard more rat activity.)
(3) He said that I "let my warranty expire", putting the blame on me. Not true. First, I contacted him *within* the warranty period, and he didn't reply. Second, he never billed me for the warranty renewal when the time came up. Third, I contacted him again, after the initial warranty period, asking how to continue the warranty (e.g., pay a re-inspection fee plus the warranty extension?), but yet again, he didn't reply. So, it was impossible for me to renew my warranty, because he flat-up ghosted me.
(4) I didn't "give a bad review because we won't coach him on doing an enclosure for his rental property", it was because, in part, he didn't REPLY to my repeated inquiries about that (as well as his not responding to my message about rats returning within the supposed warranty period). Multiple other contractors have been happy to take my money to provide some education and training about their trades, and if Matt didn't want to do that, that's certainly his call, and he could have said simply so. But he didn't, instead he just blew me off.
(5) It's rare that you see a business owner insult his customers (e.g., "This guy has no life." WTF?!) It's funny because had he made a normal, customer-focused response, he might not have lost any business, but now he definitely will. Who wants to hire someone who's so contemptuous of anyone who dares to relay their bad experience with the contractor?
(6) He says "As a customer he gets a no-star rating." So exactly what was my transgression here? Trying to report that rats returned within the first-year warranty period? Asking if I could hire him for additional work? Trying to contact him multiple times and getting no response, *before* posting online that I tried to contact him multiple times and got no response? Yeah, I'm a real jerk that way.
If Matt doesn't want bad reviews, he might consider replying to his customers when they make inquiries to him, and then not blaming the customer when they point out that he wouldn't respond to their messages.