Let me start by saying that the rating and review provided here is solely based on my interactions with Jorge and the lack of customer service present. I'll summarize briefly and then provide full details below for potential customers:
PROS: Friendly over the phone and in person, can provide a "general" estimate off the top of his head.
CONS: Seems to provide emotional based quotes off the top of his head, communication is severely lacking, follow through is almost non-existent.
I reached out to Jorge via email for an estimate for horizontal wooden fences and a few gates. I wanted to replace my older, rusted, and outdated fencing at a property that I've been renovating.
Fencing and construction are not my element, but I was able to fully draft up 3D renderings of my intended design, along with a close approximation of how much material was needed in linear feet. I'm a small business owner myself, so I try to be respectful of other business owner's times. I mention this because all of these things were provided to Jorge in the hopes to make his job of providing an estimate easier (and quicker). I was also very upfront with Jorge letting him know that since this is not my forte, I was doing my due diligence in requesting bids from multiple contractors.
Jorge was able to provide me an approximation of costs based on two different materials over the phone even before his walk through (standard vs higher tier.) I was comfortable enough with the initial estimate, but also expressed wanting him to take actual measurements to better refine his quote, since it felt like he was estimating on the fly.
On the day of the walk-through Jorge seemed very knowledgeable. He wasn't concerned with the technicalities of the job and stated he would get me a quote within a few days after he secures costs for materials. I also had some additional requests (painting of my bricks & power coating of the steel to be used) that he said he could provide quotes for. This is where the professionalism ended.
After about a full week from our initial meeting I followed up with him via text, and he stated that my quotes were done, but that he was waiting to put the figures into a proper PDF before submitting them to me the following day. I figured sure, no problem.
Three days pass and still nothing. Finally, I get a missed call from Jorge while I was in a work meeting... He left no voicemail and when I attempted to call him back, radio silence. He later sent a text message that the project would cost "about X dollars."
At this point I was a little confused. Where was this PDF that he was preparing? Was this the cost for just the fencing? Did it also include the additional requests I had? Why was there not an absolute number on the quote, and the word "about" was used in front of the amount? Do I have to anticipate this dollar amount increasing? Why was there no follow-up info either via text or voicemail? So many questions!
After attempting to contact Jorge, he simply texted saying that he was on an install job and that he would contact me back the following day... And just as before... silence. I tried to be understanding and gave him a few days just in case he was swamped with finishing a job, but after another week I reached back out again.
Finally, he responded with answering one question: Yes, the price is X dollars including your additional requests.
Great - we finally have a starting point! So I follow up with my question again... asking if his quote is firm since he constantly used the word "about" before giving a dollar amount. And again... silence. I'm tired of this game.
I tried to respect Jorge's time by giving him as much information as I could in order for him to just give me some quotes. He was reluctant to give the same respect back. It's disappointing because I wanted to give him a shot. He's young, and his business is new, and honestly, I sort of liked him as a person. But his business etiquette is severely lacking.
For comparison, I had two other contractors come out to do the same estimates. One was able to calculate all costs for me on the day of, before even leaving my property. The other was able to provide it to me within a few days. Both of these other vendors were also able to break out simple costs for me (cost to seal wood, cost for original gate removal, cost for materials, etc.) Jorge was not willing to do any of these things. He simply stated that his prices were lump sum contracts. Which was a shame, because I wanted to understand if I could bring the pricing down by removing some additional options I requested of him. Keep in mind my project was in excess of $10,000.
Overall, I'd say if you're looking for someone who respects your time, I'd have a hard time recommending Jorge. His inability to even give firm numbers, or explanations on why things are "about" this price, are pretty lacking. He has much to learn when dealing with customers. You've been warned read more