To begin with, the estimator stated that I would be emailed an electronic copy of the complete estimate since the yellow carbon copy was faded and barely legible. Additionally, he said there would be a video/slides with the detail of exactly what would be done for my records. However, this was never provided to me. This is the first example of poor reliability from the company. I would also like to note that on the estimate, the estimator recorded all of my contact information including my cell and email and was directed to contact ME directly for all communications even though my architect had scheduled the estimate. Not ONCE was I called or emailed throughout this entire process.
Second, the job was quoted to take 1.5-2 days max to complete. On day one, the contractors did not arrive until almost 10am. It was later explained that there was a personal emergency which caused the late arrival which could have been overlooked except that they left promptly at 3pm (and the next TWO days arrived at a similar late time). Given the very short work day on the first day of the project, I expressed extreme concern 3 separate times over ensuring the work was completed on time by conclusion of the second working day, I was provided grave assurances that it would be completed as originally quoted. On day two of the project, there was yet again a late arrival. By 9:30am when I called the scheduler, I was informed it would be another 1+ hour before they arrive because they had to pick up some items and were stuck in traffic. One would assume, if you left the job site at 3pm the day before and have a full day of work to complete on day two, you would acquire these items the afternoon/evening before. Continuing with day two, an additional two workers were brought in to help out in completing all of the activities. This was appreciated as there was no way the original two workers were going to be able to complete all activities as scheduled.
At 3pm on day two it began to rain; it was stated that the rain was preventing the cement from sticking so they would need to come back the next day. However, there was still the rest of the drain to lay in one of the rooms, the sump pump and piping had not been installed nor the pipe out the back to drain from the sump pump which all were left to do in addition to laying the concrete. Since our hands were tied, further adjustments to our schedules were made to accommodate the additional time for completing the job. The foreman stated he would be there promptly at 8am however due to "traffic again" did not arrive until 9:45am. This right here shows the level of reliability as if one was stuck in traffic the day before at the same time, then one would assess they need to leave earlier to account/avoid the traffic, and if you are going to be late, you communicate with your customer to reset expectations as they have made arrangements around your schedule. As became my normal routine, I called the scheduler again to determine where the workers were. After my phone call on day 2 to the scheduler (Wanda), all further calls were sent to voicemail and never followed up on. After 2.5 hours more, the work was finally completed on day 3.
So to recap, the original quote was for 1.5 to 2 days of labor. Day 1 was 10am-3pm (5hrs), Day 2 was 10:30am-3pm (4.5hrs with 4 people), and Day 3 9:45am- 12:15pm (2.5hrs) totaling 12 total hours of work. Yes this matches the original quote, however because the workers were unreliable in their time management, this took part of an additional day to which I had to take time off of work to ensure someone was there. Within 10 minutes after the job had completed, a phone call was received to my architect who set up the original estimate asking for the remaining payment. Funny how this part of the process they were extremely eager to communicate and followup on. I do feel the additional amount of time I had to be off work coupled with the unreliability of their company should have warranted some type of a credit in the final bill, however there wasn't. I would not recommend this company to anyone in the DC-MD-VA area unless you are willing to just "go with the flow" and not have them show up to work when scheduled. read more