I believe that a glance at my review history will assure the reader that I strive to be fair and rational in my reviews. I give praise when earned, and I criticise when I believe that a service provider has been unreasonable, unethical, or has provided inferior service. Here I will neither praise nor criticise, but simply provide as objective and respectful a summary as I can muster. I am confident that Kevin's work is every bit as masterful and professional as other reviewers have noted, but unfortunately we never got far enough for me to experience it.
Yesterday, I called Kevin Finney about our bedroom closet. Years of use and some heavy contents had resulted in sagging, causing the doors to slip off their tracks and rendering the drawers almost immovable.
Over about ten minutes, I described the problem and answered Kevin's questions. Kevin was in the middle of a job, and was unable to write down my name and contact information. He told me to send him an email with all of the information I had already given him. Once he had time to read my email, he'd get back to me within a few days, come within a week to look at the job, and it would be about a month before he could do any repairs. I complied with Kevin's instructions, and he sent me back an email a few hours later saying he could swing by today on his lunch break and look at the work, without specifying a time. I responded asking him to call before he came.
Rather than call, Kevin simply showed up at my door at 12:25, as I was preparing my lunch. He examined the job and began explaining causes and potential remedies. After about ten minutes, I interrupted to ask whether he could provide me with an estimate of time, cost, and scheduling. Kevin replied that a job like this could only be done on a "time and materials" basis, and it would take as long as it had to take: his regular rate is (I believe) $50 an hour or $400 a day.
When I asked for a ballpark estimate, Kevin said that it could take a day or two. I said that it was important to me to know what the maximum charge could be. He responded, "We could cap it at, say, five days..." and then seeing my expression quickly added "or three, or whatever was relevant." He added "I haven't even decided whether I'm going to do it for your or not," and "it would probably cost you a lot less if you do the finishing work yourself -- puttying, sanding, and painting." I told him I could not do any of that, and he asked me if I wanted him to paint the entire surface of the repaired portion or just "touch ups," and I said he should quote for both.
I suggested that Kevin get back to me with a written estimate in his own time rather then take up both of our time while he continued to explain the details to me. He responded, "No, explaining the details is part of thinking it out for me," and continued his monologue. He then noticed that his hands had become greasy while feeling his way along the door rails, and he walked into my kitchen, where I was preparing food, and washed his hands in my sink, over my dishes.
Kevin returned to the bedroom, replaced a drawer he had removed, and then announced that he had decided to pass on the job. "I'm sorry if you feel I wasted your time," he said; "but I'd rather not take the risk. You know how these jobs are; there tends to be a certain amount of scope creep, and I'm not comfortable estimating at the outset how long it will take or how much it will cost." We shook hands, and he left. read more
