Cathy Marsh, owner at EW Tompkins, is using multiple outlets to retaliate against my unfavorable review of her company so I would like to take the time now to elaborate in more detail why I gave a 1 star rating. My initial review was short and sweet stating they cancelled TWO appointments, ultimately backing out of the job altogether and putting my company in a bind. She then went on to post on Facebook, Google, and took
the liberty to create a Yelp business page for my company just so she could post a nasty review. The most disturbing, however, was that she directly emailed my boss three times telling him to fire me. Following my review I felt bullied by Cathy, and suspect this is not the first time she has intimidated others into feeling like they cannot share their experiences
The owner of my company and I have over 40 years combined in the industry. We have made and maintained positive, professional relationships with hundreds and hundreds of reputable contractors across the country. We hire contractors to perform work for our client owned properties nationwide. The situations vary but, like in this case, some are bank owned and tenant occupied with a property management company which makes scheduling a little more difficult. The tenants also have varying degrees of knowledge on the status of the property they live
in.
In this case, the bank owns a rental unit located on the floor above a dry cleaning business. The dry cleaning business's unit is not managed by the property management company. The business contacted the property
management company to advise them of a water leak suspected in the rental unit above them. The property management company contacted the bank who agreed to have the leak addressed in the rental unit and then sent us the work order to get the work taken care of. I reached out to EW Tompkins to get a quote and throughout our email exchange explained the situation to Cathy, making sure to tell her that it was the business below the tenant's unit who suspected the leak. I also explained the process of contacting the tenant for scheduling and if that is not successful it is standard protocol to place a notice for access on the front door of the property on the day of the appointment. The bank pays an additional fee to contractors just to post this notice which I offered to
Cathy. She declined and later stated that these practices are "fishy".
Our first appointment was scheduled on Monday for Wednesday at 2pm and confirmed with the tenant. On Tuesday, Cathy emailed me to tell me she had to book an emergency appointment during our time slot and told
me to reschedule for Thursday or Friday. I confirmed that Thursday at 2pm would be good for the appointment. Initially I was unable to reach the tenant so I secured another local contractor to post the notice for access, however, later in the day I did confirm the new appointment with the tenant. Cathy asked several questions about the tenant, if the property was in foreclosure, if it was a foreclosure would her plumber be safe entering the unit, which bank owns it, how she would be able to access the unit, for a work order, etc. I answered all of her questions and provided a work order for her records. After all of her questions to me she called the tenant herself to ask questions to which the tenant replied she was unaware of the leak (she was very aware of the situation but unaware of a leak because it was suspected to be coming from underneath her tub so she was unaffected) and she did not know the dry cleaning business below her (why would she need to know the dry
cleaning business below her?). Following her conversation with the tenant she emailed me to back out of the job saying it was too complicated. I asked her to please reconsider as I jumped through several hoops to ensure we have access to the property for the time she scheduled the appointment. She in return ignored my emails from
that point on, and contacted my boss in an attempt to get me fired because of my unfavorable review.
I tried to attach my entire email exchange with Cathy Marsh but the review was too long. As I stated, my initial review was explaining my frustration with her cancelling and backing out on two scheduled appointments. I was able to find another contractor to do the job (the tub needed caulking and the sink was backed up). My feedback on my experience with EW Tompkins should not have turned into Cathy
making it her mission to have me fired. This information should be known for anyone contemplating hiring this company, most specifically dealing with Cathy Marsh. read more