The worst contractor experience I have ever had (both Exceptional1 and ExceptionalOne -- same company). They do careless work, and take no accountability for the collateral damage they cause in the process. I was selling a house and needed them to do several tasks for me.
The first job was to install a radon gas removal system. The day after they worked around my basement sump pump, it coincidentally died. I called Dan to tell him it died. I have installed every sump pump in this home for the past 17 years, so I am very competent at diagnosing a burned out sump (when it is hot and just hums, it's toast!). He offered to send his guy out (I assumed it was to install a new sump, since this one was clearly dead), and he told me it was going to cost him $125 to do it. I didn't really care what it costs him. They broke it. They can fix it. His guy shows up with no tools and tells me he needs to run to Home Depot to get a wrench. By the time he got back, I had the lid off the sump pit, and had the old sump removed. His guy left, and I had another conversation with Dan. He told me that his guy agreed that the sump was dead. No sh-t Sherlock! He also told me it wasn't his fault since it seemed to be working the day before when his guy left. After dissecting the old pump, I found that the pump had gotten debris lodged in it from being moved around when they were working on it. This caused it to jam, overheat, and fail. Dan stood by his position that it was merely a coincidence that it failed right after his guy had worked on it. I bought a new pump and installed it in place of the old one using all the existing lines and fittings. A simple swap out. Dan's guy came back the next day to finish up some other work he had left to do (paint the outside PVC vent pipe), and he also reinstalled the sump lid. Then he sent me a bill charging $125 for his guy to come out with no tools and do nothing the first day, and then another $125 to come back the next day to reinstall the lid (a trip they were already going to make to finish the install anyway). He offered a $100 discount in an attempt to not burn his relationship with the realtor who gave him the job. Net overcharge to me $150 + the cost of a new sump pump + my time to get and install the new pump.
His second task was to clean gutters and repair or replace bent gutter screens. They sent me a bill before they completed the work, or so I thought. When I questioned the bill and when the work would be done, they told me it had been completed. The gutters were still buried in leaves, and screens were still bent up. They sent me a couple photos of some clean gutters, and I sent them some photos of some clogged gutters and bent screens. Their office manager told me that new leaves had probably fallen into the gutters. Okay, I can buy that. It is fall. When I questioned all the bent screens, she told me that the workers saw some squirrels, and that squirrels probably did it. Seriously! Rogue vandal squirrels waiting around for their guys to leave so they could sabotage their gutter work! At that point, I was done speaking with them. I figured the next thing they were going to tell me was that unicorns assaulted their workers on my job site. I paid the bill, and promised that I would share my story with the world.
The moral of the story is... find another contractor. These guys create more problems than they solve. They take no pride in their work, and no accountability for their mistakes. read more
