I sat with this update for a while, so it'd be from a neutral POV instead of an emotional one... and then the holidays/life happened.
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About 45 minutes after posting my initial review, Joe (the first to come by the house) called to follow up on his visit, saying he'd forgotten about us & that he'd schedule an appointment with their stucco guy for next week because he was out of town. We agreed to a date & time & hung up.
20 minutes later, Joe calls back. My husband thought it odd that he'd called again so soon & put the call on speaker. It was Joe saying he got an email about a negative review on Yelp & how it mentioned they ghosted us & they hadn't. Then he asked, "Can you tell your wife to take down the negative review?" My husband explained that I'd posted it before he called, & Joe responded with, "Can you ask her to take it down?... Please?" & that's when I spoke up. I told Joe that businesses are not supposed to be asking or pressuring people to take down their negative reviews, that we'd see how the rest of the experience went, & proceed from there. He mumbled "ok, thank you," we said goodbye, & got off the phone. But that would not be the last time someone brought up this review.
The follow-up visit came, & we were introduced to Mateo & Zach. We spent a good 30 mins walking around the property, noting everything that needed to be done, discussing possible solutions, etc. Within a day or so, Zach sent us an estimate detailing the work that needed to be done & what each portion cost. We put together some questions we had, & when he called Zach to go through them, Zach took that opportunity to bring up the review. I don't know what was said on that call, but my husband told him we'd be amending it after everything was complete. Mateo's thorough assessment of our home & the scope of work he proposed is WHY we ultimately hired this company. If not for him, we'd have gone with someone else.
Here's where the communication issues became more frequent. After making the initial payment, we were told that the job would be starting on Friday or Saturday, but likely Saturday, & they'd let us know. When no one came by on Friday, we called to ask if our project would start on Saturday or sometime next week. Once we got date/time figured out, we were set. That Saturday, four contractors arrived by 9am but they never told us they were here, nor did they tell us when they were leaving (this is the first time I've had this happen with contractors). Within a few hours of chipping away at stucco & rotted wood, someone got a little carried away with the jackhammer & made 2 holes through our dining room wall. When we mentioned it to one of the guys, he advised the others to jackhammer at a downward angle to avoid further damage. There was no remorse, no offer to repair the damage - nothing. When they weren't jackhammering, they were sledgehammering. This also caused damage to part of the wall around one window frame from how hard & often they went at this one area (see pic attached).
By midday Tuesday, no one had been to the house. My husband called, spoke to Maurice, & expressed his unhappiness with the lack of communication, how no one informs us when we can expect someone to arrive/leave, what's getting done that day, as well as the fact that up until that point, no one from TruColors had been onsite to check in on the work & make sure it's being done correctly & per our estimate. We had some concerns & had no one to talk to. He said he'd have Ray, a QC Manager, come by Wednesday & address any concerns we had. After that call, someone came by our house to drop off equipment & supplies & later do some pressure washing. Again, there was no communication about next steps after we just had a conversation about this.
On Wednesday, they started the stucco work & prep work before it came time to apply weatherproofing & paint over the next few days. Ray came down to talk to us & answer any questions we had, address concerns, etc. We opted not to bring up the interior damage because, by this point, we were tired of it all & would either fix it ourselves or find a handyman to help later. From that day on, communication improved, & the rest of the process went as we had hoped it'd be during the first half of the project.
Paint started the following Monday & took about 1.5 days total. The painter let us know when he arrived that he'd be painting the house &, if we had any concerns, to just let him know. Both days before leaving, he asked us to walk around the property & see if there was anything we wanted to point out or thought needed further attention. He fixed anything we flagged & was efficient.
Overall, we're happy with the outcome & quality of the work, but communication from the office left a lot to be desired. I would probably give this company another chance in the future, but I would like to see an improvement in communication moving forward. read more